(A/N: For those that want to know, Amanda Rodgers hasn't boarded the ship yet. She is mentioned later in the story though.)
Chapter 5
Harry had had a little trouble sleeping. With some effort he'd managed to get up without waking Kim. Now he was in the living room and very quietly looking at the NEWT Study Guide he now possessed as of yesterday evening. It was amazing how much was in it. The Ravenclaw version had so much more in it than the one he'd seen Katie Bell use once. He used his special tricorder to take a picture of each of the two pages in the open book and let the device digest the information.
He'd fallen in love, metaphorically speaking, with the little device. Sure, it had all of the sensors and so forth that a normal tricorder had, but it was so much more. The biggest difference was that its display was twice as large as normal; plus it had a lot, lot, lot more storage capacity, and its computing power was easily ten times more powerful. It was like he had a full normal computer in it and that made his life a lot easier. He'd already thanked Straarelk once for the device, but the more he learned about it the more he wanted to thank the old man again.
This work was also really exciting. He felt like he was recreating his school books and he was learning so much more about magic; some of the extra notes from the 'Claws were really insightful. When he yawned, he also realized he had to get some more sleep as his shift was starting soon. Maybe a kip on the couch…
— — —
Worf had arrived an hour early, even after completing his normal morning workout. He was running a diagnostic self-test on all of his systems when the communications system beeped at him. When he saw the frequency the message had come in on, he immediately played it.
He looked up to tell Lieutenant Commander Data the issue when the door to the lift opened and Captain Picard entered.
"Captain," Worf started, drawing the man's attention, "we just received a distress call from a research ship that has encountered hostile conditions and was crash landing on a large asteroid. After that brief explanation it's gone to an automated message with coordinates. We are probably the closest Starfleet vessel." The Klingon suddenly looked alarmed. "The automated message just stopped midway through the transmission."
"Mr Worf, transfer the coordinates to navigation." Picard saw Data leave the command chair and head for the navigation station. "Mr Data, how long will it take to travel to that location?"
"It will take two hours and 47 minutes at warp nine," Data answered easily.
"Make it so, Mr Lyle," the captain said to the man at the helm position. "Can anyone tell me what's at or near the area those coordinates are in?"
"Nothing, Captain," Data said after only a few seconds of research. "It is an area of deep space outside of all solar systems. This is the star map of the area." It appeared on the main view screen.
"At least a large asteroid traveling at sub-light speeds shouldn't be hard to find," the captain remarked as he looked at the star map. The destination showed as being no where near anything and it was an area of space that was well mapped.
— — —
Harry forced himself up when Kim had wakened him. He now wished he hadn't stayed up for two hours last night, but he really hadn't been able to sleep. He did manage a minimal breakfast before he was off to work.
He trudged into main engineering to see what the day would bring. It didn't take but a few seconds to notice that the warp core was working hard. "What's up?" he asked to Ensign Willis.
"Some rescue mission," Willis replied.
Harry nodded and checked the computer. A checklist awaited him for inspections. Shrugging, he got to work inspecting various systems and sub-systems for any physical issues.
— — —
"We're entering the area reported," Data announced to the full first shift bridge crew; even Riker was there, who normally covered the last half of first shift and the first half of second shift. Troi was also present.
"Any sign of the asteroid, Mr Data," Riker asked. "They don't normally move all that fast."
"It's on short range sensors, Commander," Data reported. "It's 1.2 billion kilometers from here. It's moving at .498 the speed of light."
"That would be worth research," Riker commented.
"Indeed, Number One," Picard nodded. "Helm, warp 2 to approach and then match course and speed."
"Captain, I recommend we don't approach too closely." Data swung his chair around. "Sir, it's covered in Anaphasic energy at a very high concentration."
"How high?" Picard asked instantly.
"Approximately two orders of magnitude beyond Earth normal. I'll be able to get a better reading as we get closer." Data turned back to his station so he could look at more sensor data.
"Captain," Riker said to his superior in a quiet voice that only Troi and probably Data could hear. "Considering who we had visiting us last evening, who he concentrated on, and now what we've found, I find it hard to believe this is a coincidence."
"Yes, I was jumping to the same conclusion." Picard touched his communicator. "Picard to Yeoman Potter."
"Potter here, Captain."
"Mr Potter, please come to the bridge immediately. Picard out."
Three seconds later all heads on the bridge turned to the location of the quiet crack that sounded in front of Data's station near the main view screen. "How can I help, Captain?"
"Mr Data, please put the asteroid on the main view screen. Mr Potter, does that look familiar to you in any way?" Picard asked about the object they had just arrived at.
Harry turned then backed up to stand next to Data's station so he could see the whole screen. "No, sir."
"Did either of the Q mention an asteroid or a rescue mission?" the captain continued.
"No sir. Why?"
"Mr Data, your readings?" Picard requested.
"Yes sir. Mr Potter, that asteroid has 91 times the amount of Anaphasic energy as on Earth," Data reported. "Captain, I recommend we do not approach closer than 20,000 kilometers for the ship's safety."
"Would that also include a shuttle craft?" Riker asked.
"Yes sir," Data replied, "all craft should maintain that distance. Also, transporters will not work to bring anyone from the asteroid's surface."
"That's going to make rescuing them difficult. Have we found the crash site yet?" Riker asked.
"No sir. We just started an orbit and I'm still searching," Data informed them.
Harry considered the problem. He did a quick conversion in his head and came up with roughly 12,000 miles for 20,000 kilometers. The furthest he'd ever Apparated was 300 miles … or had he? When he went to the Borg ship, how far had he really gone? Was it easier to Apparate through space or really a vacuum? Why hadn't he asked this question before?
"Err, Mr Data," Harry said hesitantly, "when I Apparated, or traveled, to the Borg ship and back, how far did I go … each way in round numbers?"
"You traveled approximately 10,000 kilometers," Data said instantly.
"So half of what we need now, but it didn't seem so hard," Harry said slowly, thinking it through. Could he fly on his broom? How would a broom work in space? Probably not the time to find out.
"Hmm, I see what you're trying to do," Picard said. "Mr Data, now that we're closer for a better sensor reading, can you give us a better safety margin for the ship? Can we get any closer?"
"I wouldn't suggest closing more than another 3,000 kilometers. I have also found the crash site. I will have to show it in the infrared spectrum due to lack of light." Data pressed a button and the screen changed. There was a lot of purple which they couldn't make out much. But two spots that showed as medium blue and one small spot that was a dull yellow and near one of the blue spots. "The yellow-green spot is the research vessel. I do not know what the larger medium blue areas are. I'm sorry, Captain, I can find no life signs; but the sensors are having trouble because of the Anaphasic energy, so the crew could still be alive."
"Captain," Harry wondered if this would really work. "I have an idea, but I'm sure Commander La Forge and possibly others will need to look this over as well as build it."
"What's your idea, Mr Potter." Picard gave the young man his full attention.
"Sir, the distance is really the only problem. I know the transporters won't get me there because of the interference. Maybe I can Apparate that far but maybe not. The only thing that will help is to find something that will give me a ride. I think that if I'm wearing an environmental suit that I could be launched out of the ship towards there. I can Apparate when I'm half way to get there safely."
"What about coming back? You'd also have to bring back a crew of two or three, but I'd think it'd be at least two," Picard pointed out.
"Yes sir, that's where Commander La Forge comes in. I need a small rocket. It doesn't have to go far, just half way and I wouldn't think the gravity there would be very high so we wouldn't need much fuel, or so it seems to me," Harry reasoned for them.
"I'm very uncomfortable with that idea," Picard told him. "There is too much risk."
"Mr Potter," Riker tried. "Could you do it in two jumps, like the first half then a second jump for the last half?"
"Maybe, but I really need a place to go to. I've never tried going to," he held up air quotes, "out there somewhere".
"Launch a platform that will be about half way and put lights on it," Riker suggested.
Harry considered that. "It might work. It'd be helpful to give me a picture on the screen when going down and make it stay in approximately the same place. We'd have to harden the controls like has been done for my communicator, but I think that might work."
"Since electronics would be a problem, you need a natural source of light," Data said. "I would suggest something that is naturally phosphorescent, perhaps a slab of it, for a marker. We can launch it from the Enterprise and Mr Potter can travel when it's at the correct distance."
Picard nodded. "Very good, try that as quickly as you can. Mr Data, please assist them with your idea. I'll send Commander La Forge to meet you in the shuttle bay where the larger replicator is."
— — —
Harry was impressed they had something ready in less than a hour, but it wasn't overly hard. It was nine slabs that were each a meter square by two centimeters thick of a material Data knew about that glowed. The nine pieces where connected to form a bigger slab of three meters by three meters. They had even created a rod of the stuff for him to hold onto for light. It had been sitting under a bright light to help it even more.
Geordi had had the idea to put a small rocket on it that would light a few minutes after launch to counteract the launch force, and to have it burn long enough to mostly stop it all in space, but take long enough before the rocket to quit that the platform would be near the half way point.
Briefly, the Enterprise dropped another 3,000 kilometers and the slabs had been launched fifteen minutes ago and were drifting to their position. During the wait, Lieutenant Ellis was explaining how to use an environmental suit, one that he'd just added shielding to in order to protect it from his magic as much as he could.
Now he just had to do it.
Everyone watched the monitor for the distance to the platform; it was getting close. Most were nervous. The medical team standing by seemed the most nervous, none more than Dr Crusher. Only Dr Sorrd seemed totally calm.
"Harry," La Forge said softly as the young man waited with his faceplate up, "be really careful. Also, do not try to land on the platform but go to a place beside it. If you land on it you'll probably start tumbling and it'll be really hard to stop that since you haven't had Zero-G training yet."
"I understand."
"Get there, get them, and come right back," Geordi continued. "If the breather in the suit fails, you'll only have a few minutes of breathable oxygen in the suit in order to save yourself. Your small bottle of extra oxygen is for an emergency only, like if you get stuck; don't use it to extend your mission. Don't be a hero; be safe."
"Yes sir, I'll do my best." Harry's nerves started to kick in, but he did his best to ignore them.
Everyone saw the rockets burn out and they looked at him. Data noted the numbers and said, "The platform is in position, Mr Potter."
Harry looked at the platform on the monitor and said, "Here goes. I'll be back in a few minutes." Dropping his faceplate and sealing it, he took the light rod from Ellis and walked to the force field that kept the atmosphere in. With the vision of the platform in mind, he Apparated to be right next to it.
He looked around and did see the platform drifting next to him. He couldn't see the little ship from here, but again he thought of the image he'd seen on the monitor and Apparated there. Surprisingly to him, he actually dropped gently the last few centimeters, showing there was gravity here. It wasn't much, but there was some as had been predicted.
Holding his light rod up, he looked around. A brief flash of a reflection showed him where he needed to go and it wasn't far away. Now that he was down, he noticed that the lights on his suit were flickering; they died a few seconds later. Too much magic for them even with his protective work he knew. His breathing sounded very loud in the now quiet suit.
As he traveled over the strange ground, he noticed the rock had an unusual texture. It reminded him of something, but he couldn't quite place it. There was no sand or other debris, just hard rock.
In less than a minute, he was looking in the window of a small craft. No one was seen. Not sure what else to do, he Apparated inside. The first thing he did was look at a small mechanical device Data had replicated for him in case his suit lost power. It was a simple hollow tube, but with one end closed and a diaphragm in the middle. The closed end contained one atmosphere of pressure, the open end represented his current environment. If the diaphragm bulged to the open end, he was in vacuum; if it stayed normal, he was in a probably safe area. The diaphragm was flat so the seals on the little ship had kept the air in - that was really helpful.
It didn't take him long to find the two researchers. Both were in a suit, but both were also without their helmets. Fearing the worst, he looked carefully and found each of their chests were rising and falling, even if only minimally. Relieved, he grabbed their helmets and attached them to the suit, as Ellis had done for him.
He was about to Apparate back when an idea hit him and he groaned. There was nothing like being stupid and forgetting your abilities. It was only a small risk, but he broke the seal on his right glove and didn't hear a hiss so he took it off. The air in the craft was cold but survivable. He pulled out the wand he'd placed in that arm and put it in his hand. Thinking of the shuttle bay very carefully, he tapped the wand on each helmet and cast "Portus". Then he tapped each helmet again and each disappeared - hopefully to where he had planned.
About to do the same for himself, Harry looked out of the front window of the craft and saw the outside again. It was molded to the window perfectly. There was no way the ship found or made an indention in the rock the exact shape of the craft. Plus, the Transparent Aluminum that was the "windshield" should have broke or at least bent when the craft crashed. Suddenly, he realized what he was probably looking at, although he hadn't studied the previous live example all that much a few years before; he had studied his gloves for Potions though.
Geordi's instructions warred with his desire. One minute, he determined. He cast "Portus" on his light rod and turned on the extra oxygen tank so it was barely on. He also put a warming charm on his suit to help his friends see him and what he was doing. Putting his wand back in his suit and his glove back on, he Apparated outside and started bounding or skipping as that seemed to be the easiest way to move - just as Ellis had told him.
— — —
Less than two minutes after Harry had left, the two researchers appeared in the shuttle bay one right after the other startling everyone even if they were expecting Harry to pop back in. The medical team rushed over immediately, opening the faceplates and doing a scan. "They're alive!" Crusher exclaimed before telling her staff, "Get them out of these suits."
"Where's Harry?!" Geordi looking between where the two men were on the floor and the monitor showing the outside. The screen was split so the platform area was on the left and the area for the crashed vessel on the right. He was in neither place.
"There he is, but what is he doing?" Geordi was not pleased as he watched the very warm white spot appear near the ship then it started moving away.
After a moment Data said, "I would surmise he's going to check out the nearest blue area. Perhaps he found something."
"I told him to come right back," Geordi pointed out.
"I have noticed that it is common for the people on away teams to disregard their own safety when they think there is a good reason to do so. I myself have even done so," Data commented. "It is not always rational but it almost always works out. Notice, he is now at the edge of a blue area."
"I also notice," Geordi said, "that his heat signature is fading. He won't have long to get back. The shuttle is already down to the green spectrum. Wait! Where did he go?" Harry's now yellow dot had disappeared.
— — —
Harry looked at the cave in front of him. His one minute was probably up, but he was so curious. The ground was a skin, he was sure. If it wouldn't have been so unbelievable, he would have claimed he was standing on dragon hide. Walking forward carefully, he stood in the cave opening and ran his glove over the side wall. It felt like rock, but…
"I HAD WONDERED-"
Harry dropped the light stick and dropped to his knees, instinctively slapping his hands to the side of his head, even if it wouldn't do any good. Thankfully the painfully booming voice in his head had stopped instantly.
"I'm sorry," was whispered in his mind. "I didn't mean to hurt you."
— — —
On the bridge of the Enterprise, Deanna Troi suddenly screamed and passed out, sliding to the floor. Picard slapped his comm-badge and ordered, "Medical to the bridge," while Riker rushed over and straightened her out. She was breathing but had a horrified look frozen on her face. Picard looked back at the screen, split with the two images just like La Forge was watching in the shuttle bay. The captain couldn't help but noticed that whatever had happened to Troi had occurred mere seconds after Potter's light had disappeared into the blue area.
— — —
Shakily, Harry grabbed his light rod and held it up. To his immense surprise, a semi-solid Sirius Black was standing in front of him. He would have rubbed his eyes if he could have; instead, he just blinked.
"I thought it might be easier to talk to you this way, with a form familiar to you, although we don't have long. Speak, I will be able to hear you."
"Who are you?" This was almost beyond his imagination.
Sirius smiled. "I have had many names over time. For now, The Great Dragon will do."
"I'm not even sure what to ask," he barely managed to say. His mind was tumbling with only fragments of thoughts. If he could have, he would have said this is what incoherent was, but he couldn't think that clearly.
"I know, which is why I don't reveal myself often, but I wanted to meet you and for you to meet me, even if you aren't really ready yet. You need to know of my existence for one day you'll need me."
Harry was starting to find his thoughts. "You make that sound something like a prophecy."
Sirius smiled again. "I have been the source of prophecies before."
"Are you a Q?" Harry blurted out, not quite sure where that'd come from. Then again, this seemed like a really powerful being.
Sirius actually laughed. "I know the Q and the Q know me. We leave each other alone." He bent down and picked up something and held it out.
With a trembling hand, Harry reached out and took it. It looked like a dragon scale with a small hole in the middle and was the size of the palm of his hand. He looked up at Sirius.
"It is something that will help you when you're in space. Keep it with you. It is also time for you to go; your friends on the ship are worried and you have what you need for now."
"So I'll see you again some day?"
"Someday. If it helps you, do try to not Apparate more than the 10,000 kilometers you did today. Good-bye my little dragon." Sirius reached out and touched a finger to his light rod and Harry felt the pull of the Portkey.
He landed in the shuttle bay of the Enterprise and promptly fell back on his bum, still holding the light rod in his left hand and the scale in his right.
Geordi was the first to get to him and he watched Geordi unlock the faceplate and open it. "Harry, are you all right?"
It wasn't until right then that Harry felt the loss of the dragon and magic he'd been surrounded by. "Never better, literally." He felt energized and, well, right deep down.
As soon as the suit was stripped off of him, Dr Crusher did a scan on him and almost freaked out based on her expression. "Your Anaphasic energy is off the chart. Maybe you should sit down."
Instead of sitting, Harry stuck the scale in his pocket and pulled out his wand to cast his Patronus. His stag was gone and in its place was a dragon that looked solid, scaring everyone but he and Data, and even the android took a step backwards. Harry walked forward and petted the dragon and it felt solid. It roared once and then faded away.
"I feel great, Dr Crusher," he grinned. Then just because the idea seemed funny to him, he transfigured the glove of his suit into a liter container before conjuring a liquid that filled it; he definitely felt an energy drain from that. Another transfiguration on the other glove for a lid and he sealed it. He'd wait to see if it stayed or not, but with so much energy, he wondered if he should do more of that.
"You're back on the chart after whatever you did, but your levels are still far above normal."
"I'm good now," Harry said with a shrug before looking at his superior. "Commander, do you mind if I take this stuff to my room?"
"No, go ahead, but then head to the bridge. The captain would like a debrief, and I'm sure an explanation for your adventure," La Forge told him.
Data spoke loudly. "I think everyone should watch the monitor!"
All turned to see the asteroid glowing slightly and then it started changing shape. It didn't take long for the round shape to become what looked like an animal with the body and two long wings taking most of the mass that had been the asteroid. A tail and a neck with a head also unfurled. A few flaps of the wings and the dragon left them with a streak of light, leaving the crashed small ship behind.
Harry looked at the lower corner and saw that it/he had left at the speed of light. He also noted the vector of the flight and memorized it, although he'd verify it later.
While everyone was still staring at the monitor, and even he would admit to being amazed, he took the opportunity to Apparate to his room. First he saved off the flight vector of the dragon. Then he used his tricorder to analyze the liquid he'd created. Sure enough, it registered as latinum. He really wondered if it would stick around. Just because he could, he did a couple of transfigurations on a pair of socks for another liter jar and lid, then conjured more latinum and sealed it. He wondered what a liter of latinum was worth as he hid them in the closet, but he could find out later.
After changing out of his slightly sweaty clothes, he went to the bridge the normal way. Ensign Yarnley directed him to the bridge conference room. Heading in, he wasn't overly surprised to see all of the senior staff waiting for him. He noticed Troi didn't look so good, but he still pulled up his mental shields as high as he could.
"Please take a seat, Mr Potter," Picard began. "Most importantly, I'd like to say thank you for rescuing those two men. Without you, I don't believe we would have been able to have done it."
"You're welcome; I was happy to help," Harry replied.
"As for the rest, I'll try to hold my curiosity for what happened at the end. Please explain what happened after you left the ship, including your disregard of Commander La Forge's order." Picard didn't look so happy now.
"Yes sir. As I'm sure you saw, I made it to the small ship. When I couldn't see anyone when looking through the window, I went inside. I found there was still atmosphere and the men were still alive although without their helmets. I remembered some magic I had forgotten about before and used that to send them back.
"I was about to return myself when I noticed a big inconsistency. The ship had crashed into the rock but there was no damage to the front of the ship, not even to the front window. The rock was perfectly molded and contoured around the little ship."
"That is a significant inconsistency and should not have been possible," Data confirmed; La Forge and Riker each nodded.
Harry continued. "My light also showed the texture of the rock better there and I recognized what I was looking at. It wasn't rock, it was skin, or more specifically scaly skin." He handed the scale he'd brought with him to his right to Geordi. "You can look at a sample.
"I'm sorry for … stretching your order, Commander," Harry said to La Forge, "but I had to go look. I had to know if I was really seeing a new life form. So I turned on the extra oxygen ever so slightly and gave myself one minute to investigate, now knowing I could easily return.
"I found a cave and entered. There I found a being, I guess you could say. No, it'd probably be better to say it projected an image for me to talk to and I'm certain it was talking to me in my mind as I think we were still in the vacuum of space.
"It … he told me he'd wanted to meet me, making me wonder if he arranged all of this. When I asked if he was a Q he said he knows them and they know him and they leave each other alone. I'm sure that meant he did cause this to happen and bring me here. He also said that one day I'd need him."
"Mr Potter," Riker looked at him very seriously, "do you think this entity influenced you to disregard Commander La Forge's order and go to him?"
"I-" Harry stopped and really considered the question. He'd always been a little curious, part of what got him into trouble at Hogwarts from time to time. "It is possible although I don't think he forced it. I think it more likely that he allowed me to see something that made me curious enough to go look, which means he looked into my mind enough to know what would get me to go look and used that. I felt like it was my choice though even if it wasn't."
"Dr Crusher, Counselor?" Picard queried.
"The mind is a tricky thing," Crusher said slowly as she considered it. "We have encountered other beings who can read minds and manipulate us."
"Did you feel any malevolence?" Troi asked him, "Any at all?"
"No," Harry replied. "In fact, his first few words hurt me because they were so loud in my head. When he realized that, he stopped immediately and whispered an apology and told me he didn't mean to hurt me. I think he just didn't, uh, calibrate his power correctly at first."
When no one said anything for a moment, Data asked, "Did he name himself? We should make an entry for this entity."
"He called himself The Great Dragon." Harry realized suddenly that Dragon had called him Little Dragon at the very end. Did that mean something or was that just because Harry was magical and Dragon considered himself the source of magic and so something like an ancestor? But then again, Harry came from another dimension. Did that mean there was a Great Dragon there too?
The scale came back to him on his left, handed to him by Worf. It was slightly warm in his hand making him realize what he was supposed to do with it.
"Thank you for your informal report, Mr Potter," Picard said. "Please create a formal away mission report and send that to Commander Riker. If you come to any new conclusions or have any new insights, please amend the report. Also, I believe I will require you to have a check up with Dr Crusher once a day until she is satisfied you've suffered no harm from this."
"Yes sir." Harry stood, recognizing the dismissal. As he reached the doorway, he Apparated back to his room to find Kim waiting on him and then pulling him into a tight hug as she demanded he tell her everything. He'd have to replicate a leather string later for his new medallion.
It was a week after Harry's big rescue and he was still feeling pretty good. Dr Crusher had told him he was cleared after two days of check-ups, even if his levels were a little higher than in the past. Harry attributed that to his new medallion that he always wore except when sleeping, and he still had his generator lights there. In fact, he'd even stopped wearing his portable generator since the medallion fulfilled that purpose.
He was also making good progress on his archival work. He was personally still working through charms, although he was almost finished with it. As for just raw scanning, he'd already scanned everything on Ancient Runes and let his tricorder make a number of correlations that looked interesting. He'd be studying that topic next.
Kim came rushing into their quarters while he was starting to scan the section on Arithmancy. "Did you hear the news?" she gushed.
"I hear a number of things, so which one?" he asked as he put his tricorder down to talk with her.
"We're going to Khitomer! Something about dropping off some supplies, but we're going to Khitomer!" She was very excited.
"Right, I think I did hear that one, yesterday in fact," he said casually.
Kim glared at him. "Why didn't you tell me then?"
"Because I didn't know it was important to you?" He was genuinely puzzled.
"Of course it's important," she retorted.
Harry considered it for a moment and it hit him suddenly. "Oh, because you hope to find others like yourself there?"
"Yes, exactly. I know that most of the population are normal Klingons, but it's my chance to find others like me and connect to them and the Klingon culture," she said, willing him to understand.
"Sure, that makes sense, except that you told me you grew up with your guardian around Klingons and you've been teaching me the culture and language," he pointed out.
"Well, yes," she admitted, "but not as an adult. Not as someone who is on their own. Not as … me," she finished.
Taking a moment, Harry considered it all and thought he understood a little better. "I see."
"I'm going to go talk to Worf about going there; back later." Kim left without another word or glance.
Harry sat there for a moment and considered it all. There were several things he could take away from the conversation, depending on what he assumed. In the end, he decided he was more confused than anything. He returned to his scanning of the book and not worrying about Kim until he knew more. He was getting used to her actions, but she still surprised him from time to time.
It was two days after Kim had heard the news and she had just received permission from Worf to transfer to Khitomer that morning. Harry finished his shift by replacing a cable that looked suspect, so really preventive maintenance. He saw Geordi talking to someone and almost walked over, but this didn't seem like a Geordi problem. Turning to a computer he sent a message to Commander Riker and received a message back almost instantly to meet in his office in an hour. That would work.
Harry sent a message to Kim that he needed to do a little extra work and would join her for a late dinner. With an hour to kill, he found another task that needed done - a door that was having problems - and grabbed a few tools to go look at it.
The door fixed and his time almost up, Harry took a lift to Riker's office and pushed the alert button. The door opened instantly.
When he walked in, Riker looked up from his computer screen. "Mr Potter, come in and take a seat. What can I help you with?"
"I'm sorry to bother you Commander, but I'm really confused about something and need some help. When I came here you said you'd help me with things like that…" he ended hopefully.
"Of course." Riker leaned forward, elbows on his desk, and with a genial smile. "What seems to be the problem? Although I think I can guess the most important part."
"Oh?"
"A girl and K'mpok to be specific," Riker told him with a grin. "Girls are always a little confusing and she's from another culture."
Harry sighed. "Yes, she's at the heart of it. I… Look, she uh, well, she found out the ship is going to Khitomer."
Riker nodded.
"She plans to go there to live and I don't know what to do," he told the man.
Riker lost his grin. "I see. I can list your options, but what was said when you talked with her about it?"
Harry sighed again. "That's part of the problem. She goes off about how great it will be. How much she wants to find others like her. Oh, and how she can really participate in the Klingon culture now that she's an adult. It all just comes flying out and I can't even get a word in edgewise.
"I suppose," Harry hesitated, "I suppose part of the problem is that she's made up her mind that she's going and she hasn't ask me to come, or even what I want to do. Assuming I can, do I just go too? Do I wait for her to bring it up, but then what if she doesn't? Do I take this to mean she wants to break up with me? Or…" He spread his hands and made a confused and questioning face.
Riker nodded sagely. "Those are some good questions, none of which you can answer. Harry, I'm going to give you some advice, even if it's really obvious. You need to sit down and talk to her about the two of you. You're not married, so the two of you going together is not an automatic thing. However, she may really want you to come but she's so caught up in the new feelings that she's not thinking it all through. You're going to have to find a way for the two of you to talk.
"Now, that advice given, I can also tell you what your options are to help you in your talk, beyond the obvious of you staying here while she goes.
"First, Starfleet doesn't normally require anyone to serve for a long period of time. If you were to go to Starfleet Academy, they would expect you to serve for at least two years, but that doesn't apply to you. So the bottom line is that you can quit Starfleet if you want.
"Second, you transfer to the Starfleet outpost on Khitomer. I'd have to check, but they generally have a hard time getting people to serve there voluntarily; meaning, they have to assign people there so most only stay for a minimum year. If you volunteer to go, they ask you to stay for at least six months. It is almost a certainty I can get you transferred there, if you want to go.
"Lastly, you can take a leave of absence. Normally, you can only take a year off before you have to either start serving again or quit. There's no pay during this time, but the point is the time is yours to do what you want…" Riker grinned, "like figure out if a relationship is going to work out or not.
"I will say that I'd be sorry to see you go if you take one of those options. I view you as an up and coming star if you want to be. I also have no doubt Geordi will be sorry to see you leave, as he's said something similar to me. However Harry, don't you worry about us. You do what's best for you. Also, if you do decide to leave for a while, please know that you'll always be welcome to come back and join us.
"Does that help you?" Riker leaned back in his chair and watched the young man in front of him.
Harry thought about it all for a moment. "Yes it does, thank you. It sounds so easy when you talk about it."
Riker smiled at him. "Most of it is easy, Harry. The hardest part will be talking with K'mpok and coming up with a decision, or so I'd think."
"I think you're right," Harry told him while thinking about how to do it.
"Once you make a decision, the correct channel to go through will be Geordi. Let him know and he'll start the paperwork if you leave, or be happy that you're staying."
Harry snorted. "Yeah, I can do that. Thanks, Commander!"
"I'm glad I could help. Perhaps now would be a good time to talk to her while this is all fresh on your mind?" Riker suggested.
"Yes sir, I'm supposed to meet her for dinner anyway." Harry stood. "Thanks again!"
He walked away and thought about how he might approach this as well as just wondered what he wanted. He was committed to Kim as long as she wanted him, but what if she didn't?
Walking into his quarters he found Kim waiting. They left immediately and went to the main mess hall. He listened to her talk about her day and Khitomer. Again, he was hardly able to get a word in because of her excitement. He was happy for her, he really was, but Riker was correct; they were going to have to talk about this.
When they finished dinner, Harry jumped in and said, "Let's go to Ten-Forward and get a drink and look at the stars."
"All right," she replied. "I wonder what drinks they have on Khitomer that I haven't tried before. I also wonder if they have any specialty foods you can't find anywhere else. Or maybe…"
Harry nodded and made the appropriate noises as needed. In Ten-Forward, they went to the bar and got a drink. Harry saw the table in the corner was open and headed to it. As they sat, he pulled his wand out under the table and cast a Repelling charm around them to keep people away and a Muffling charm on the pair of them, in case they had an argument.
Kim looked at him. "What did you just do?"
"I just cast a spell so we can have some privacy while talking. Kim, we have to talk about us," he told her.
"What's to talk about?" she asked, looking honestly puzzled.
"You've been talking almost non-stop about going to Khitomer." When she started to protest he held up his hand. "I understand you're excited and I think I understand why. It's fine that you're excited. However, not once have you mentioned anything about us in the last two days. What about us? What are you expecting to happen in about five days? What are you expecting … of me?" There, he'd said it.
Kim just looked at him for a moment. "I thought you'd come and enjoy it."
He raised an eyebrow. "You never asked me what I wanted. You never invited me. You never said anything."
"Why should I have to?" she raised her voice slightly. "Of course you'll come."
"Of course? Like I have no choice? Are you going to try to force me to come?" His voice went up a little, though he wasn't aware of it.
"Of course, where else would you be?" she asked, surprised at the turn of the conversation.
"I know what it was like for you when you were younger; you also said you never had a choice in your life. You also know I was the same way and hated it just as much as you did. Think about that." He waved his wand to break both privacy spells and Apparated away.
— — —
Kim stared at the empty chair for a moment before her eyes narrowed. She stood and turned to storm to their quarters and almost ran into Guinan, who was carrying two drinks.
"I brought you something," the hostess said.
"Excuse me, but I really need to go talk to someone," Kim said pointedly.
"I really think you need to drink this first." Guinan sat the glass down on the table and sat in Harry's seat. When Kim continued to look at her, the woman waved her hand towards the girl's chair in invitation and smiled.
Kim stared a moment longer before she sat in a huff, her arms folded over her chest and stared back.
"You were talking a moment ago and, even from across the room, it was obvious that didn't go so well. So I thought perhaps a drink and a few minutes with me might help. Would you like to share or shall I guess?" Guinan asked before she sipped her drink.
"Guess," Kim said challengingly after a moment.
"It's not hard to notice that you're a person who likes to do things and will make what you need happen. I've also noticed that Harry also is a doer and will do what needs to be done. You'd think that would work well all of the time, except that I've also noticed you each 'do' differently.
"You seem to live more in the moment. Harry seems to live a little more purposefully. Neither is wrong, but they are different. Some of the issue could be cultural, but more likely it's the way you were each raised. You want to jump in and do it now, in this moment. To borrow an Earth phrase, Harry likes to look before he leaps, but when he leaps he will be all in. The different approaches is the root, or close to the root, of your disagreement. How's my guess?" Guinan sipped her drink.
Kim reached down and picked up her drink and sipped at first for a taste before knocking back half of it, then placing it back on the table. "Maybe," she finally and grudgingly admitted. "He did mention something about how we each were brought up and how we're alike but different.
Guinan smiled. "To further my guess, is it fair to say that if you're told to do something you don't like that you might want to do the opposite at times?"
"Yes," she grudgingly admitted.
"So you approach things by rebelling. Harry doesn't seem to be that way, at least if he has time. Sure, he can jump in with both feet if he has to rescue someone, but right now he has the time to look at things. That means he's going to carefully consider his options. Have you talked about options for the two of you?" Guinan asked slyly.
Kim grumbled for a moment. "Not really."
"Hmm, perhaps trying it his way for once; I think you'll find it easier to convince him of what you want. Are you going to finish that?" Guinan pointed at K'mpok's glass as she took another sip of her own drink slowly, watching.
Kim drained her drink and pushed the glass forward. "Thank you," she said quietly, starting to get up before stopping. "Do you know where I might find him? He can go almost anywhere on the ship, including places I probably can't."
Guinan smiled at her and tapped her comm-badge. "Computer, location of Harry Potter?"
"Yeoman Harry Potter is in the main mess hall," the computer answered and then beeped to end the transmission.
"Good luck." Guinan rose to leave.
"Wait," Kim cried as she jumped up. "How did you know all of that."
Guinan smiled again. "I'm observant and a very good listener." She walked back to her bar thinking 'mission accomplished'.
— — —
Kim walked into the main mess hall and saw Harry sitting in the corner; this was one of the last places she'd have expected him to be, which might be why he'd picked it she considered. He was looking at his special tricorder, one that she couldn't even do anything with. She knew that because she'd tried once.
Walking over she sat down quietly across from him. He glanced up at her before returning to whatever he was doing. Part of her wanted to hit him on the side of the head to try to knock some sense into him so he'd take this great opportunity, but Guinan's words came back to her. Harry was also a 'doer', as evidenced by her being here because he had rescued her - twice. He was not a Klingon … yet did that really matter when he was capable of acting like one when needed?
"Harry, what do you want? What do you want to do about Khitomer?" she asked finally and softly, hoping to get his attention.
He looked up at her for a moment before he switched the tricorder off. "I don't know," he answered. "What about us?"
"I still like you," she told him honestly.
Harry snorted and smiled slightly. "I suppose that's good because I still like you."
When he didn't say anything else, Kim thought she understood now. Was this what growing up was like? "Harry, would you come to Khitomer with me? I'm sure we can find something for you to do besides living with me and letting me keep you warm at night." She knew she'd done the right thing when he smiled a true smile.
"I think I'd like that," he told her. "I have three options. I can quit, transfer to the outpost there, or take a leave of absence."
She nodded. "How about a transfer? I know you like Starfleet."
"I can do that. I'll tell them tomorrow," he told her.
Kim reached out and grabbed his hand that was on the table. "Come with me and let me make it up to you. I'll be like an Earth girl and you can do what you want with me."
Harry laughed and pulled her up. "How about 80% Earth girl and 20% Klingon girl?"
She growled throatily at him.
"That's a good start," he told her with a smile as they left the mess hall, heading for their quarters.
Geordi La Forge looked at his computer screen then at Harry and sighed. "I'd try to talk you out of this but it's not for me to guess why you want to transfer."
"I'm sorry," Harry told him. "I'm still committed to K'mpok and Commander Riker told me there was an outpost there I could transfer to."
"It's small, maybe three or four people, I think," Geordi told him. "There won't be much for you to do, but I guess you can use it to learn what you want about engineering."
Harry looked down for a moment and back up. "If - when things go bad and I want to leave, will I be able to come back or will I have burnt that bridge?"
Geordi shook his head and smiled. "Harry, you'll always be welcome back, especially when you're at the lower ranks. If you were a Lieutenant Commander or higher, it might not be allowed; but as a Yeoman it won't be a problem. This will slow your promotion down a little, but other than that it won't hurt you at all."
"All right, thanks, I appreciate it."
"You might have a difficult time leaving the planet as few Federation ships go there," Geordi told him, "so keep that in mind for when you decide to leave. If a ship has recently visited, there might not be another for at least three months and as many as six or seven months more."
"I can do that."
Geordi rose and held out his hand so they could shake. "Keep showing up for the next three days. I'll give you the last day before you go to do what you want."
"Thanks, I'll go work with Lieutenant Ellis some more. She said she wanted to show me some of the computer systems." Harry left feeling like that had gone reasonably well, although he felt a little bad for leaving so soon after starting.