You can't be saved
Oblivion is all you crave
If there's some left for you
You don't mind if you do
– Robert Palmer (Addicted to Love)
=/\=
"Y'know, you're like a starving man," Empress Hoshi said to Milton Walker. They were in her Ready Room. The cot had been upended in their frenzy. She slowly began the somewhat complex process of getting dressed again.
"Well, as I had mentioned, it has been a while," he replied, "in the Eligian Order, I was not permitted to so much as touch a woman, you see."
"But I bet you touched a few men, eh?"
He was about to answer her when there was a Communications chime. "What now?" Hoshi whined, answering it.
"Ma, we're picking up energy readings from the most remote planet in the Lafa System. I think that's the one called, uh, Kira, do you know this?" Jun asked.
"It's Lafa V," Kira said, "here they don't number based on distance from a central star because two of the four stars have their own planetary systems. So they do it by planet size."
"Yeah, yeah, c'mon," Hoshi tried to hustle them along, "can we catch a point somewhere in here?"
"Sorry, Ma," Kira said, "we got serious readings. It's heavy industry."
"But didn't we already know about that?" she complained, "Sheesh, do I hafta do Tactical, too?"
"No, 'course not," Kira backpedaled a bit. "It's just, if they're manufacturing starship parts, I gotta figure it's all happening there."
"What do the natives claim is being made there?" Milton asked, pulling his pants back on. Hoshi glared at him. That was not his place. He did not seem to notice her growing wrath.
"They say it's for metal jewelry-making," Jun said, after checking a record.
"Not a chance," Hoshi said, "that's a front."
=/\=
They were sitting in Joss's living room, having coffee and tea. Jia was busy putting the baby down for a nap. Rick said, "So tell me why I'm here. Other than for a nice visit, of course."
"We saw a time ship," Lili said, "it opened up, what would you call it, Malcolm?"
"Some sort of a portal, I suppose."
"A portal, then, and I'm sure it was to the mirror. The whole atmosphere just got charged and weird. Then the ship slipped through and the portal slammed shut behind it. Since the ship looked a lot like the Wells, we figured we'd have to let you know somehow."
"What was the name of this ship?" Tom asked.
"It looked like X-Cap. Can that possibly be right?" Lili asked.
"The Flux Capacitor," Rick said.
"Possibly," Malcolm allowed.
"Definitely," Tom said.
"That ship was stolen," Rick said, "and I guess now we know where it was taken."
"Do you think they knew, uh," Lili's voice trailed off.
"About me not being able to go to the mirror during this time period?" Rick asked. "It's okay, Tom knows. And, yeah, you all do."
"You told us back when, well, I was barely pregnant with Declan. Melissa was barely pregnant with Neil. Now they're in their thirties."
"I wasn't pregnant with anyone," Norri joked.
"No, but you were infinitely patient, thank God!" Melissa said.
"You were talking about theft," Malcolm said, steering the conversation back.
"Yes," Rick said, "there's a faction looking to, well, they think they're perfecting time, but the reality is that they're just messing around. Everything they do seems to have serious negative consequences. We keep putting it back, and they keep tearing it down."
"Why would they take a ship? I assume they had some other means of time traveling otherwise, right?" Norri asked.
"They did, but we don't know what it was," Tom said, "But ya'll need a time ship in order to go to the mirror."
"So for some reason they want the mirror," Malcolm mused.
"It might just be for the purposes of escape," Rick said, "their hiding place was found out. I bet they have more than one hiding place, the Perfectionists. Such an absurd name for a, argh, they're like bulls in a china shop."
"So this group is clumsily trying to, somehow, repair time?" Malcolm inquired.
"That's about the size of it," Rick said.
"What do they consider to be improvements?" Lili asked, "Do they want Hitler to win, or something like that?"
"Actually," Tom said, "it's the opposite. At least, that's what I've observed so far. They try to save the good guys. They try to be the good guys. But that turns everything on its head. They tried to save an Arab leader named Anwar Sadat, and instead they ended up destroying Islam and creating a huge theocracy in our time period."
"Destroying Islam? That's no good", Norri said.
"And the rest of it," Melissa added, "it's like it's calculated to make you feel as guilty as possible."
"And then you'll embrace their cause," added Malcolm, "instead of restoring the proper timeline, like I imagine you're supposed to."
Rick sat there, lost in thought for a moment. "Richard, are you all right?" Lili asked.
"I, uh, just figuring something out. Um, Tom, we need to start determining what you'll be doing in the mirror."
"Assuming they don't know about your restrictions," Malcolm said, "why would they have cause to go to the mirror, and in this particular year?"
"They wouldn't," Tom said, "at least, I don't think so. There's no really significant events I can think of."
Rick checked his PADD. "Actually, that's not strictly true. The Empress discovers a manufacturing plant for Constitution class starship parts. It takes a while – the parts aren't perfect – but it's a threat to her, as the Defiant stops being unique, and she loses her tactical edge."
"The Defiant is still around?" Melissa asked, "Doug was on it over thirty years ago."
"It's the same ship," Tom said, "light years ahead of the rest, even when it's not running optimally. Ya'll can see why she wanted to retain the exclusive."
=/\=
"Maneuver over the north pole of that planet, what did you call it, again?" Hoshi asked.
"Lafa V," Jun said.
"Right. Let's start taking scans. Anything, anywhere."
"That'll take forever," Milton complained, "how about just checking for any sort of heavy industry?"
"Concentrate on heavy industry," Hoshi said, annoyedly, "let's talk." She grabbed Milton by the collar and threw him back in the Ready Room.
He approached her. "Empress, I am not so sure I can perform again, quite so quickly."
"We're not here for that," she snarled. "You will never openly contradict me again. Clear?"
"Sorry, Empress. Lost my head there for a second." Milton glanced around the Ready Room. He had no friends on the Defiant – Hoshi was anything but a pal – and, while he knew he would be able to get back to his own universe in the Flux Capacitor, he was also painfully aware that Fluxy was being watched 24/7. There was nowhere to go, no one to confide in and nothing he could do about any of it. He had gone to the mirror in order to avoid being sent to the notorious Gemara Prison on Berren Five.
And now Gemara was beginning to look like a walk in the park compared to where he currently found himself.
=/\=
Whoa, you like to think that you're immune to the stuff, oh yeah
It's closer to the truth to say you can't get enough
You know you're gonna have to face it, you're addicted to love
– Robert Palmer (Addicted to Love)