22
Malcolm was all set to fly the shuttle but the moment he looked in Lili's eyes – really looked at how red they already were – that seemed impossible. "Haddon, pilot the shuttle," he said. He went to the back and sat with Lili.
He offered her his handkerchief. "Here, keep it," he said.
"Th-thank you."
"Come here," he said, and put an arm around her. He leaned in and briefly touched his lips to her hair, hoping she didn't feel it and no one had seen the gesture. "Just cry." he whispered.
=/\=
"That was better than last time," Treve said.
"Yes. A lot less fumbling," Jennifer said, smiling. There was a small campfire burning nearby, lights flickering on their bodies.
"Did I, did I displease you last time?"
"No. But there's something to be said for experience."
"True. You know, Polloria and Baden are such hardliners. If their faction stays in control, we will probably be outlaws for the remainder of our days. However, however long yours are."
"Treve, you keep saying things like that. Just how old do you think I am?"
"I, I suspect that it would be foolish of me to, to answer that." he smiled. "But I think your signs of aging are different from ours."
"Treve, I'm only twenty-seven years old," Jennifer said.
"Oh. Well, that explains your, um, vigor." he kissed her. "Another round?"
"We should sleep," she said, "Despite the fun, you and I need to find some place tomorrow, where we can stay a while, and set up a temporary shelter. Sleeping under the stars is no good when it's raining out."
"I'm glad you're here," he said, "I may even love you a little bit."
"I may even love you a little bit, too," she said.
=/\=
Jenny was waiting at the Shuttle Bay. She looked at Lili. "Oh, Roomie. How do you feel?"
"Like a shuttle hit me."
"I'll take her back to quarters," Jenny said.
"Very well." Malcolm replied, the shoulder of his uniform damp. "You'll let me know if, if anything," he said to Lili. "Although I know there's nothing that, that can be done."
Lili nodded and they departed.
=/\=
The shuttle arrived in the bay. "C'mon, Old Man. Time to pay the piper," Travis said. MacKenzie kept his rifle pointed at Doug, but lowered it once the shuttle hatch was opened.
The Empress was waiting. "Huh. I see you failed," she said.
"She was dead when we got there," Doug lied. "Del was, uh, killed in action. Haddon here should move up a grade."
"Yes. We'll go in tomorrow for another strike. This time it'll be with both shuttles. We still don't have transporter capabilities." Hoshi commanded. "In the meantime, get to the Mess Hall and take control of Game Night. It's getting too rowdy and Jun can't sleep with all the racket."
"Empress, we really should talk about the mission." MacKenzie protested.
"You gonna keep me longer than I want to be here? Oh, that's not a good move, MacKenzie," she said, "Travis, you're with me. Haddon, dismissed." She left with Travis, who followed eagerly.
"Babysitting drunken crewmen? Ha, that's almost as good a punishment as what I had in mind." MacKenzie said to Doug.
=/\=
"Father, I think we need to make contact," Treve said, back at their home.
"Treve, we are going to be judged tomorrow, the next day at the latest." Chawev said, "There's little sense in it."
"For a day, you and I are still free men." Treve replied. "Apologies mean nothing. We need to see if, if we can take any sort of action to rectify what we've done to these people. That woman – she looked as if we had removed a planet from under her and she was falling in space."
"They are not our equals."
"No, Father, I respectfully disagree. And, and even if I am wrong, we still must try. The night people – they mean something to us. But to them, to the humans, it seems, it means more to them if it's someone who's right there. We should determine if there is any way – any way at all – to bring the night here."
"There are legends." Chawev allowed. "Sketchy details. It's a part of why the dishes on Point Abic were constructed. That much I know."
"Then I know who we should contact," Treve said.
"All right." Chawev said, "Let us try. Be with who you desire."
"Yes, Father. Be with who you desire."
=/\=
Back in their quarters, Lili just sat and rocked and cried.
Jenny didn't know what to do. "I, I can't tell you to stop." she finally said, "If I were you, I'd probably be bawling, too."
That made Lili stop for a moment. She dabbed her eyes with the saturated handkerchief. "It's, it's like this. It's like, I guess, like being a widow. Only there's no body. Except there was a body. It was, it was Jay's, and it was two years ago. So I've been through that part already, kinda. And now the real feeling of it all is smacking me."
"Just let it out."
"I, huh, it's not fair. I mean, we both knew this was coming. It was such a nutty thing. And, and it all happened so quickly. It hasn't even been two weeks and I'm just, I'm devastated. I, uh, I should get my, my mind off things. I should go to work."
"What, and cut your hand off with a knife? You're not in any condition to go back," Jenny said.
"But, but, no matter how I feel about things, people need to eat."
"They'll find someone to fill in. Delacroix's actually been doing pretty well."
"Del? Huh. Never pegged him as the cooking type."
"Well, he's not very creative," Jenny said, "But what he does is adequate. Nobody's starving."
"I should thank him, maybe write him a little note that can go in his file."
"Lili, you, uh, there's stuff on your PADD. Don't know if you want to read it."
"Stuff?"
"Yes. We, um, he was able to read and write on it for a while. He, uh, he wrote you a letter. I'll, I'll leave you alone to read it."
=/\=
The Mess Hall lived up to its name. It was smelly and disorganized, and currently chock-filled with inebriated crewmen. The game was on the widescreen: the Ganymede Hunters versus the South American Pistoleros. The Pistoleros were at bat – Ty Janeway and Lefty Robinson. The Hunter pitching was Aditya Balakrishnan and Amanda Cole. The windups were interrupted, and the batters charged the twin mounds.
"Boys and girls! Fight in the first ten minutes! Anyone who bet on that can go double or nothing!" Masterson yelled over the din.
It wasn't the only fistfight. Two crewman argued over a mug of synthbeer and ended up whacking each other in the jaw. Doug only intervened when the weapons came out. He went back into a corner. This was not a good place to spend time. He didn't want synthbeer, didn't want to watch the game and certainly didn't want to be around slobbery drunken people. He spent his time looking around the room.
Haddon and MacKenzie were in a different corner. He was grabbing her bottom. Masterson approached them. Someone turned the sound down on the widescreen. "This oughta be good." Ramirez yelled from the back.
It was a quick match. Masterson staggered and fell and became sick when MacKenzie hit him in the belly with a chair.
"I'm with Mas – uh, MacKenzie now!" Haddon announced to the assembled mob.
The sound was turned back up on the widescreen. A commercial. "And this fight was brought to you by Picard Synthbeer." It switched to a slick ad. Ty Janeway in full uniform, with a stunning dark-skinned model wearing nothing but a pair of what looked like high-heeled cleats. Janeway addressed the camera. "Picard Synthbeer. It goes down ..." he smiled, "smooth." Back to the game. The Hunters were winning.
Doug got up. "Okay, okay, turn it down. Empress wants the kid to sleep. So either watch in your quarters or slap on earbuds. And that means everyone." He left.
=/\=
Lili sat in bed, reading. "Forever, Douglas." she whispered softly.
She began to type.
'Doug,
I learned a long time ago that you never say mine when it comes to the people you love. It's been almost forty years but the lesson applies now more than ever, I think. I want you to know, though, if you can ever see this, that it is forever.
– L'
Spent, she put her head down on the pillow. "I'm afraid to sleep." she whispered to the empty room. "I'm afraid there will be nothing."
=/\=
In the halls, Doug was heading back to his quarters. Tripp fell in with him. "Got a minute?"
"Maybe."
"I, uh," he looked around furtively, "I got the transporter working again."
"That's not what the Empress said."
"No. Only three people know it's up. Tell me, what's that planet like?"
"Hot. There's game animals. Medical care. Don't know how the people are but there's a lot of forest. It seems sparsely populated so there's room. Planning on a little Shore Leave?"
"Planning on permanent Shore Leave." Tripp said, "But I need some help."
23
It was a large room, and it reeked of synthbeer and pretzels, spiked with a little vomit.
"Down in front!" someone yelled behind Lili. She ducked.
"I said, 'down in front'!" the person yelled again.
"I already ducked!" she yelled back, then turned around and was face to face with a familiar man. He looked like, who was he? The picture on Jenny's desk. Her fiancé. "Frank Ramirez?" she asked.
Ramirez didn't hear her. "C'mon, Dr. Morgan!"
Morgan turned. "Very well. Cretins." he departed.
Lili looked around. Drunks everywhere. Men groping various women. Strange uniforms. Dim lighting. No one seemed to notice her.
There was a communications chime, and she awoke.
=/\=
The main conference room was filled with Executive level personnel. Lili arrived last, still tired, uniform on. It was only fifteen hundred hours, but she wasn't hungry and wasn't sure she could function.
"Ah, good." Captain Archer said when he saw her. "On screen."
Hoshi fiddled with some controls. Treve and Chawev's faces filled the room's screen.
"So you have a proposal for us?" Jonathan asked.
"Yes. We have – I will come clean with you, Captain." Chawev said, "By doing this, we are hoping for a decreased punishment from our government."
"Well, the motivation is immaterial so far as I'm concerned," Jonathan said.
"Captain, we have made, we have made contact with our counterparts." Treve explained. "It is, this is a rare thing. We consider it to be a form of, of incest."
"But we have news, and we believe it may be good news." Chawev added. "Treve's counterpart is with a female human. An engineer. And she believes that, in particular due to a boost from the sodium vapor flares between Ub and Fep, this will work."
"An engineer?" asked Tripp.
"Yes. She said her name was Jennifer," Treve said, "She seems to be a rather old woman."
Lili smiled slightly. "Jenny's a lot of things but old is not one of them."
"Be that as it may," Chawev said, "she is familiar with both your style of ship and hers. And thinks that a crossing-over is possible."
"A crossing over?" asked Malcolm.
"Yes," Treve said, "We think it may be possible – with enough power from your ship, the night side's ship, the stellar sodium vapor flares and our resources on the surface, to bring a night person over to your side. Permanently."
=/\=
"Permanent?" Doug asked quietly. "How so?"
"Here's the plan." Tripp said, steering Doug into an unoccupied conference room. "We set the transporter to go to the planet. I don't really care where so long as we don't land in two meters of water or anything like that. Beth and I transport down. You lay charges on the coordinate computer and the transporter pads – any of the pads we don't occupy – and, once you've confirmed we're safely down, you set 'em off. Even though the coordinates are recorded elsewhere on the ship, they'll be in such a panic they won't notice that for a while as they'll be busy putting out a large fire. And shuttles are slower than transporting, so even if they get a shuttle out and pointed in the right direction, we're gone from our landing coordinates. And with most sensors down, and the two most senior engineers gone, no one's gonna be too good at determining where two humans are in a sea of Calafans, who have fairly similar physiology. Blend in with the locals as best we can, you can probably guess the rest."
"And my benefit in all this?" Doug asked. "Other than giving the Empress what-for?"
"Well, I figure you can shove MacKenzie off to Engineering if you like. They'll be shorthanded there. Or send over anyone else you don't like. Build your team with any new lackeys you want."
"No. I got a better idea. I go down too and we set the charges to go off on a timer," Doug counteroffered.
"Or that." Tripp said, "There's no confirmation that way. Plus little cover. With my plan, Beth and me, we get some cover."
"You're asking a lot of me and not providing a lot of benefit," Doug pointed out. "I mean, what makes you think I don't want to be gone, too?"
=/\=
"What are the specifics?" T'Pol asked.
"The process is three steps." Treve explained. "At least that is how Jennifer sees it, and I think she is correct. The first is collection, the second is amplification and the third is transmission. The collection portion is performed on her ship – which she estimates has about two to three times the power of your own. The, the subject reconfigures the transportation device to accept considerably more power than usual. And then sets coordinates – which we will provide – placing him in the midst of the thickest placement of dishes on Point Abic. Transportation would take longer than usual as there is no room for error and the touchdown has to be perfectly precise."
"How long are we talkin'? More than a few seconds in a transporter stream is pretty torturous." Tripp said. Hoshi nodded.
"About an hour, but it must be this way." Chawev said, "This is no mere transport; it is moving this man over to the other side of the septum between the two planes. It is going to take some time."
"He's a soldier," Lili said, "And strong."
"What's the amplification piece?" Jonathan asked.
"The dishes will pick up the signal. For the subject, it shouldn't feel any different. The dishes will then project the signal to its final destination, which is your ship." Chawev explained.
"How long does that part take?" Travis asked.
"Much less time. A few minutes at best," Treve said, "But it's the final piece, transmission, that will take the longest."
"Getting the subject from our surface to your ship – I assume to your transportation pad – will take the better part of a day." Chawev said, "Your ship has less power than the other one and, well, as I said, this is no mere transport."
"That kind of waiting will be bad." Tripp advised. "I don't think anyone's been in a transporter stream that long without suffering from pattern degradation."
"We don't believe that will happen," Treve said, "But of course we cannot be certain."
"Did you – have you spoken to Doug about this? What does he think?" Lili asked, daring to hope a little.
"Oh, we didn't know which human male he was." Chawev said, "Didn't want to target the wrong one, you know."
"So he doesn't know?" Hoshi asked.
"Not yet. We will need to make contact and inform him, also give him the specifics," Treve said.
"Can't we just give him a PADD with the info?" Tripp asked, indicating his own PADD, which was on the table in front of him. "I mean, you want to see him and all, Ensign, but he should have this info in writing."
"You cannot truly just leave equipment on the other side," Treve said, "He would be able to type on the device and read it but not move it anywhere. And the preparation will take a little while and movement to a few places. Plus, of course, we must be certain that the right person knows what to do. And that person needs to have it impressed upon him that time is of the essence. The sodium vapor flares provide enough of a boost to make this scenario possible at all. And they are fading. Starting the process tonight – giving him perhaps an hour to prepare and reconfigure the vessel – is our best possible shot."
"I don't know if I can make contact properly anymore," Lili said, "I was just there, before this meeting, and didn't see him and no one could hear me."
"It's gone asynchronous," Treve said, "Which happens when a less skilled contactor is asleep and the subject is awake. You'll need a bridge over the septum. I can, my father and I, we can do that, through meditation."
"I'm no engineer," Lili said, "I don't know if I'd be able to explain what needed to be done. And, I admit, I'll probably be distracted."
"Can, um, can you take a passenger with you when you make contact?" Malcolm asked. "That seems to be what Ensign Crossman was, on the other side. Is that correct?"
"Yes. She was a passenger. She isn't a contactor at all. She was making physical contact with my counterpart at all times," Treve said, "A passenger on your side – particularly one who stayed awake – would absolutely need to maintain physical touching with the contactor."
"I volunteer." Tripp said. Malcolm gave him the slightest of looks but it was gone in less than a second.
"Commander?" Lili asked.
"Yes. I volunteer. You said it yourself, you can't explain the nuances. But I can. That all right with you, Cap'n?"
"We need to discuss this. Stand by." Captain Archer said. The screen darkened for a moment. "Impressions? And make them quick."
Travis said, "I don't pretend to know a lot about this, but I think people should be happy."
"He did help us find Lili." Hoshi pointed out. "I think we owe him."
"There may be a tactical advantage to bringing Major Hayes here," Malcolm said.
"The Major could be a dangerous individual, possibly a criminal." T'Pol said, "And this course of action is risky and unproven, and could damage the ship."
"Even if the Major himself is no threat, he could be carrying any manner of microbes that we would have no immunity to. It could be like European settlers bringing smallpox to the Earth's New World," Phlox stated.
"You all know my position," Lili said.
"I agree that we're risking damage to the ship." Tripp said, "But we're here to explore and to, to take risks. And I don't think this is a foolish one."
"Give me a moment to think, then get them back on, Hoshi," Jonathan said.
=/\=
"So you'll do it the way I like?" Doug asked.
"All right." Tripp said, "You got an hour to get ready and pack whatever you want. We gotta take advantage of most of 'em being too drunk to care. And don't forget to pick up the charges."
"'Course not, I'm a professional."
"Yeah, I know, Old Man." Tripp said.
=/\=
"Objections are duly noted," Jonathan said, "And we will make sure that Hayes goes to Quarantine immediately upon arrival. No reunions, no talking, no detours. He runs to Quarantine, with Tripp here running the transporter. Tripp will get Hayes to Quarantine as fast as possible. And the Ensign, too, of course."
"Thank you, sir. I don't know what to say," Lili said.
"Well, we don't know if this will work at all," Malcolm said.
"True. But for now, there's but one thing to do," Lili agreed. "Commander Tucker, let's go to bed."
24
There was the barest blip, slightest register of an eyebrow very, very slightly arching, and it was gone in a split second. If Lili hadn't been looking directly at T'Pol, she would have missed it completely. Lili tried not to listen to gossip. She had no idea that that particular rumor had been true.
T'Pol said, "This connection should be monitored. Commander Tucker has never experienced it before."
"I would suggest that I observe as well," Phlox said, "If the Ensign cannot get to sleep, I can provide a mild sleeping aid, if necessary."
"Uh, you do realize I just have Ensign's quarters. There isn't going to be a lot of room," Lili pointed out.
"We'd better go now." Tripp said.
=/\=
Beth Cutler took Jun's hand. "We're going to go play with the pretty knife again!" she exclaimed, trying to sound enthused.
"Knife! Knife!" Jun squealed, running down the hallway to Sick Bay.
Dr. Morgan was less than thrilled to see them. "I've lost six animals because of you."
"Tell it to the Empress." Beth said, "It's time for him to practice, before dinner. Haven't you got something you feed to the snake?"
"Hmm. Yes. A mouse." he produced a cage with a small brown mouse in it. "Jun, my boy! Come here and play."
"Thank you, Doctor. I'll, uh, I'll be back later." Beth said.
"I'm not his sitter. You are." Morgan said, "And I'll need to get new supplies soon. The number of experimental animals is not infinite, you know."
"Yes, of course. I'm, uh, I'm going to the Empress right now, and I'll request your new supplies personally," she said and ducked out before he could say anything more. In the hallways, she started down the way to the Empress's quarters and then turned once the door to Sick Bay was closed. Beth walked quickly to her true destinations: first the Mess Hall, then quarters. Then the place where she'd agreed to meet Tripp.
=/\=
Tripp and Lili walked together as Phlox and T'Pol walked ahead of them. "Uh, I only have one of those really small beds," she said.
"Oh?"
"Well, I'll probably have to go to sleep more or less right on top of you, Commander."
"Ensign," he said quietly, "uh, if I get, um, aroused in any way, you won't, uh, tell anyone, will ya?"
"I'll be discreet."
"Oh, thanks," he said.
"Do you have a sweetheart on the ship?" she asked.
"Not anymore," he said, looking straight ahead and with a tone that indicated she should drop the subject quickly.
"My fault for bringing it up," she said.
"It's nobody's fault." he grunted.
"You should, um, you should take the right side," Lili said, "The left side of the mattress is harder."
"Did you know, Princess, you were sleeping on a pea?" he asked. "Or, well, more like a coin of some sort. We couldn't find it in the database, though."
"Hmm. Well, I've heard this system being referred to as a crossroads a few times," Lili said, "Maybe it's like the ancient Phoenicians on Earth. They were traders, so their coins are found all over the place, in all sorts of unexpected locations. Ah, here we are."
"Ladies first."
=/\=
Polloria paced around. "Yimar, you're not doing it right." she whined.
"I'm the High Priestess now," Yimar said, "I'll do what I like."
=/\=
"Okay, um, here, you lie here, Commander," Lili suggested.
"And, here, hang on, lemme move my arm." Tripp said, "And you should call me Tripp. I, uh, I don't share a bed with anyone I'm not on a first names basis with."
"That seems wise," Phlox said, while T'Pol busied herself looking at the picture on Jennifer's desk.
"Okay," Lili said, "Put your left arm here, around my shoulder. Other one in front, on my belly, I guess. That good?"
"Yep."
She turned her head back to him and kissed him on the cheek. "Good night, Tripper."
He kissed her back on her cheek. "It's just Tripp."
"Oh, sorry."
=/\=
The Mess Hall was easy. Beth grabbed six vegetable paste tubes, and stuffed them into her pockets and sleeves. She tried not to attract attention while getting back to pick up her bag. The halls were mainly empty, due to the game being on. "Piece of carrot cake." she whispered to herself as she hustled to the rendezvous point.
=/\=
Yimar sat on her mother's bed with Chelben. "I wish you could hear me," she said to Yipran. "I do miss you so."
=/\=
Doug went through his things quickly, and packed the only things he wanted. Everything else, it was waste material, so far as he was concerned. The medal for strafing a Denobulan village by himself? Into the disposer. Ganymede Hunters paraphernalia? Trash. And uniforms? Except for the one he was wearing – gone. He picked up his PADD and began to type.
'Dear Mrs. Donnelly,
I would like to apologize for causing the death of your son, Lucas, about thirty-five years ago. I realize that this apology comes very late but I did want to be sure you got it.
Sincerely,
Lt. Cmdr. Douglas J. Hayes'
Next one.
'Dear Mr. Shapiro,
I would like to apologize for causing the death of ...'
And on and on for fourteen letters. And then one more.
'Dear Mr. and Mrs. Delacroix,
I would like to apologize for the recent death of your son, Brian, while on a rescue mission. I was his commanding officer for that mission, and failed to prevent his death. Brian was a good security officer and had a promising future.
Sincerely,
Lt. Cmdr. Douglas J. Hayes'
He put the letters in the queue to go out whenever long-range communications were restored and took one last look at the picture of the nine-year-old Lili. Then he turned off the PADD for good and grabbed a small duffle and his phase rifle. The dagger was in the sheath at his side, and the smaller knife was in his boot. Ready.
=/\=
The room was shadowy.
Lili and Tripp stood in the middle of it, holding hands. "Anybody there?" Tripp asked.
It was Treve. Or, rather, two Treves – one was pale, the other ruddy. And Jennifer, who had complicated coppery scrollwork on her arms and was holding onto the ruddy Treve's arm. "My father, uh, our fathers, will be here soon. Then we can make contact." the pale Treve explained.
=/\=
The weapons supply closet was not well-guarded. Torres was there, but hammered on synthbeer. "Old Man!" he slurred when he saw Doug.
"Uh, sure. Look, don't you wanna get a refill?" Doug asked.
"Refill? Oh, huh, s'posed to be here."
"No time to talk about this," Doug said, and punched Torres in the jaw. Torres was out. "Thanks," Doug said, helping himself to charges. He quick-marched it to the rendezvous point – the Observation Lounge.
=/\=
"Did she just move, Doctor?" Yimar asked hopefully.
"There are few miracles." the doctor explained. "But you can sit here and talk as long as you like. Perhaps she can hear you on some level."
=/\=
"What took you so long?" asked Tripp.
"A short conversation and some correspondence," Doug explained. "Hiya, Cutler."
She smiled slightly. "I can't wait to leave here."
Doug was about to answer her when the room changed.
=/\=
There were seven people in a shadowy room, but all Doug saw were crystal blue eyes. "Lili!" he exclaimed. "How? Uh, what's going on?"
Tripp answered, "Hayes," he indicated his hand on Lili's, "this is the only way I can talk to you."
"S'okay," Doug said, "I trust her. Only the second woman I've ever trusted." He took Lili's free hand, his thumb rubbing her fingers.
"Aren't you gonna, like, kiss her?" Tripp asked. "Not that I'm a voyeur or anything."
"Tucker, do you realize how awkward it is to kiss your girl when she's not only holding some other guy's hand but your ex is also watching with her new fellow?"
"Hayes, my ex is busy observing this whole thing. Awkward doesn't even begin to describe it."
"We need to act quickly." The ruddy Treve said.
Tripp explained the situation to Doug. "Well, I'm no engineer, either," Doug said, "I can try but I dunno if I can get this all to work as perfectly as it needs to."
=/\=
"Hayes! Hayes! Snap outta it!" Tripp said.
"It's like he's in a trance or something." Beth said, "We don't have time for this."
Tripp grabbed the Old Man's shoulder to shake him out of it, and the room changed.
=/\=
"What the hell is going on here?" Tripp asked, blinking several times to get used to the shadows and wondering why he could no longer see Beth. He only recognized Hayes and Crossman out of a group of eight people.
"Holy cow," Lili said. She turned to the Tripp she was touching. "I do believe that's your counterpart. Tripp, say hi to, uh, Tripp."