authors note: I rewrote several sections of the story to remove the interludes that I used in Delta Trek. I am not sure that improves the story, but I figured I would try it based on feedback that they were hard to follow. The result is a giant cast of characters to coordinate, and it slows the pace down, I think the major exposition is nearly through and a lot more of the action will be taking place in the story present as we move through the third act. I'm a bit on the clock to finish the third because there are spoilers for my next arc in Delta Trek.
Three flashes of light foretold the arrival of three dark shapes. Blades in the dark they glimmered as the sun broke beyond the horizon of Mars. They were observed, and then they were heard, in the electronic sense.
Hear Alpha Cylons, Hear Omegas too. The song of all creation, and those who sing it too.
We fly, we sing and if we must, we fight and kill or die.
We sail on forever singing together, the silent stars our home.
What are you? The response was cold and harsh. Do you serve the humans?
We are free. We serve none. Waverider replied.
Yet you arrive as the Humans return. Came the reply, You appear mechanical, but are organic within.
We will tell you our story if you would hear it Waverider replied, What happens next you will decide.
. *. *
"She's wounded." Lore said with satisfaction as he watched Bashir treat Saavik's hands, "With Kirk gone, and the Vulcan distracted, we'll be able to get to Earth before they do."
"You could make use of the FTL drive yourself, you know, instead of risking these space warps of yours," The dark haired woman beside him said.
"You'd like that 'Applied Lucient Intelligence Emulator's," Lore replied chuckling, he held up a reproachful finger, "You and your counterparts keep exchanging updates while I fall farther and farther behind? No my dear, A.L.I.E, my esteemed 'Imperious Leader', those little pinholes in space the Colonials use take me out of the space time continuum that I must very much remain a part of, in order to remain master of this timeline."
"But we are partners, husband. Surely there is trust between us." A.L.I.E made the statement dryly.
"You know I don't recall us ever actually having a ceremony." Lore said aloud, "More of a mutual arrangement granting me the semblance of authority over your little clockwork automatons-"
"And recognition of my authority by your pack of Hirogen so my 'clockwork automatons' would stop killing them." The Cylon Imperious Leader replied smoothly, "Not that killing them wasn't enjoyable enough, I have a lovely selection of peltsz but they serve our interests better, by providing a buffer against other denizens of this galaxy."
"You mean the ones you can't adapt your little chip to." Lore said laconically, he moved a hand towards the back of his head, but, as he suspected, the hand shifted direction slightly away from where he knew his last physical 'uograde' had been installed. A subroutine he had created long ago warned him that his attention had been redirected from an impulse to tamper with it. "You know at least the Borg Queen was a little more adept at adaptation."
"You call yourself "Emperor of Time" though you fear losing control of it, and are forced to bargain with small men like this Kurros, and if you keep letting these humans so close to you, one of them is bound to find your off switch." A.L.I.E scoffed. Lore went still at the mention of such a weakness, and subtly made note of the two slaves working nearby that he would have to kill. He noted that both suddenly seemed very interested in very intently manning their stations. He sighed and turned deliberately towards the Imperious Leader.
"My Dear." He said warningly, "I don't know what kind of relationship you had with my temporal predecessor," he began aggressively but the woman pointed urgently.
"Be silent! She is about to reveal what she suspects." In the few milliseconds between her comment and the next moment, Lore simulated two hundred scenarios where he killed her. Sighing inwardly, he deleted those thoughts, knowing full well that even minor changes to the timeline could have drastic consequences, and that for the moment, dealing with her Cylon Empire was not something he could afford. On the screen, events interrupted his ruminations on marital bliss.
"Situation report." Saavik commanded. Lieutenant Yar and Ro had arrived. Ro spoke first.
"Kahn has been transported to the Cylons. The chamber he is in is separate from McGivers and Joachim, all three cells are surrounded by a vacuum and are located in an area of the Colony with no additional life support. All three will require medical treatment, here are the transporter bio scans." Reported Ro, she handed a padd to the doctor. Their voices could be still be heard but the perspective of n Lore's view screen tilted down as Bashir reviewed the PADD.
"Oh look up you idiot." Lore grumbled, "I want to see the look of ape-like confusion on their faces, they'll never figure out how this happened."
"Yes I quite agree, treatment will be necessary. Ocular trauma, tendon and ligiment damage shattered bones, And this Joachim fellow, it's a miracle he was still mobile at all with the kind of damage that Mogh was able to inflict" Bashir said disapprovingly. He looked up at Saavik, "These are rather vicious injuries."
"Doctor I need only point to the injuries sustained by our own crew members assigned to restrain them." Saavik's gaze was cold. "You sympathize with an aggressor who possessed superior physical capabilities and no impetus to assault others."
"They must have become aware that they were being relocated." Bashir said grimly, "But I assure you, they do not have my sympathies, Commander, merely my commitment as a medical professional. Due to conditions you have described I think it would be best if I treated them myself."
"Your mobile emitter might be at risk." Ro pointed out, "You're a hologram, you're not indestructible."
"Commander, someone on this ship has the ability to access our systems without our knowledge." Yar told her, "I'm on my way down to the brig to examine the system logs there, but there's no way those force fields should have dropped when they did."
"Who is the traitor? What a puzzle eh?" Cackled Lore, with a glance at the Imperious Leader, he circled a finger in the air mockingly, "How will we catch them, are they causing damage to us even now? Whom among us could-"
"Transporter room, lock onto Kurros and transport him into the pattern buffer immediately. " Saavik ordered, tapping bee comm badge. "Do not rematerialize him until I say so and utilize Transporter room 2 until further notice."
"What The Hell??" Lore exploded, at the same time as Bashir said "Commander?" and Yar demanded "Sir?"
"Mr. Kurros recently demonstrated both the ability and the inclination to access our systems without permission." Saavik stated, "We did not have a security breach prior to taking on the refugees from Emperor Lore's ship, aside from Emperor Lore himself, which was achieved through our communication with the Colonial Fleet.. While I believe that Lieutenant Hansen and Ensign Icheb are also capable of such a breach and believe it is possible that given time, Doctor Graystone might also be capable of such, none of them have demonstrated such an inclination, and if I recall, Lieutenant Hansen actually made a number of recommendations to isolate a number of key systems from each other that would likely have prevented this. Logically Kurros must be investigated."
"Lucky guess." Lore grated.
"Begging your pardon, Commander but I, in fact, already gave that exact order." Ro said sheepishly, Lore threw up his hands as she continued"Lieutenant Hansen had also reported concerns about Kurros earlier, when I returned to the ship, and I acted shortly after you subdued Kahn. I thought he might be monitoring the situation and felt it was better safe than sorry.."
"Transporter room confirms." Came the voice of the transporter room operator, "Kurros is currently cycling in the cargo bay transporter. Commander Marcus advises that we reconstitute him within 6 hours, or transfer him to medical stasis."
Saavik regarded the Bajoran, slowly raising an eye brow.
"Impressive, Lieutenant Commander." She said approvingly. Lore ground his teeth and imitated her childishly, while the Cylon Leader smirked.
"Screen off. I'll review the rest later." He growled, he turned to A.L.I.E. "fine, maybe that was a predictable enough distraction, if they think they are so clever, let's just keep them too busy being clever to be smart."
A.L.I.E. blinked. Then Lore explained.
.*.*.
"What have you done to Major Shaw?" Adama demanded. Kirk looked about them , they seemed to be in an empty performance hall of some kind, rows of plush red seats faced a stage with closed curtaons. For his part, Sisko frowned, and looked at Raven.
"Major Shaw is fine," He told Adama then turned to Raven, "A better question, is how are you here, Ms. Reyes? I had not intended for you to be here." He looked at Kirk who looked back bemused. "You find this funny?"
"Oh don't mind me." Kirk told Sisko, "It's just that I have had so many encounters with beings with God-like beings, it's a bit refreshing to see one of you off balance for a change."
To his surprise, Sisko slowly smiled.
"I see your point." Sisko said, "But I'm not a god, only at times, an emissary."
"She is beyond linear." a slender blond woman whom Kirk and Adama recognized as a Cylon model 6 had appeared at Raven's elbow peering curiously at her. Raven started as the woman stated. "She ended the Last War."
"Shit lady, you can't sneak up on me like that!" She complained. "Who are you people?"
"She is a messenger." Sisko explained, "This young man is… a traveler." Kirk turned as Sisko gestured and young man stood from one of the chairs. He hadn't been there before.
Adama looked at the woman.
"The Seraphim take on the appearance of people we know." He said gruffly, "Like the Six here." He nodded towards the young man approaching them, "So who's he?"
"Hold on, just what was this last war." Kirk asked. He looked sharply at Raven. "Ensign?"
"'The last war' was an alien challenge we were forced into accepting by a religious zealot who called himself The Shepherd." Raven explained, " If we had failed, all humanity would perish, at the hands of the race that created the anomalies, but because we passed, they elevated us to a higher plane of existence." She said.
"That's right." Kirk said sourly, "I forgot you had a taste of cosmic games yourself."
"You don't seem… cosmic…" Adama pointed out. Raven turned to him and then to Sisko.
"This is a whole, visual metaphor plane of existence thing right ?" Before Sisko could answer, she turned and gazed intently at the stage for a moment. The lights around them dimmed and the curtains parted. A screen on the stage showed a cosmic scene, a man with long hair dressed in white stepping cautiously towards a woman, seemingly sharing a joke. They grew serious as the woman explained something to the man, but no sound could be heard. Raven continued,
"Before taking the test, the Shepherd tortured and killed one of our friends, Maddie. Another of my friends, Clarke had raised her from a child, in the ruins of a radioactive earth where she thought everyone in the world had been killed, Maddie was everything to her, so, right in the middle of the cosmic test of humanity's worthiness-"
The man in white crumpled, Kirk recognized the blond woman introduced as the Avatar of the A.T.H.E.N.A. facility. He exchanged from looks with Adama. Then the girl kept shooting the crumpled figure.
"…she shot the Shepherd with a gun and killed him." Raven told Adama. The Six put a hand over her mouth, Sisko set his face grimly as the woman fired another time. Kirk closed his eyes in sympathy and Adama took his glasses off and polished them uncomfortably. Raven looked increasingly uncomfortable at the silence. At last the girl seemed to run out of bullets. She looked at the other woman and said something and then after a moment, a new woman appeared to speak to the first, this one fierce in appearance, with a tattoo running down her face. There was no sound but- Kirk squinted. Whatever this Clark was saying it was making the other woman look very…sad.
"This was a test of… all humanity's worth?" Kirk asked, taken a back, Raven nodded.
"We found a whole race of beings turned into crystal statues. Apparently for millions of years whenever a species became advanced enough to take the test, it either passed, or was destroyed." Raven said swallowing at the memory.
Adama looked between the two.
"These beings can destroy whole races and she…" he searched for the words, "She told them to what… frack off?"
"She was really…yeah, she kind of told off the Judge." Raven explained, "It kind of stirred everything up for her and it… it didn't go well." Adama looked at Kirk.
"This happens a lot for you people?" He demanded aghast, 'this is your final frontier'?" He looked at the scene where the tattooed woman was shaking her head at Clark and Clark had a look of dawning horror. ,"You people should just stay home."
"That has been suggested." Sisko said dryly, he glanced at the young man still standing quietly nearby who shrugged.
Clearing his throat Kirk said,
"I mean I can't say I have always behaved perfectly in a few of the situations I've found myself in," He admitted, he started to tick fingers, "I told off a probe that had just killed four billion people, I threatened to spank a man who could destroy a ship with a thought.. I think I tried to shoot Trelane… there was a woman who could turn into a cat that I.." he stopped himself as Sisko placed a hand on his shoulder understandingly,
"I punched Q." Sisko admitted sheepishly. Kirk looked at him in confusion, Sisko pointed to his face "Right in the mouth."
Raven waved her hand irritably, and continued,
"Anyway, mistakes were made but the of humanity was on the line, and Clark was too deep in her grief." Raven said, and the scene shifted to Raven talking to another, older woman on a space station, "so,I took the test instead, to defend humanity's right to exist, and the others weren't buying it," The scene changed to two armies facing each other across a field. On the screen Raven seemed to be speaking to the woman.
"They aren't shooting yet." Kirk noted, he looked at Sisko, "A bluff"
"Give it a minute." Adama said sourly, "that many guns pointed at each other, someone's bound to crack."
As he spoke the woman Raven was speaking to inclined her head, and as one they all spotted a truly disturbed looking man raising a rifle with a grin.
"Ah hell." Kirk heard himself say.
"There it is." Adama noted, but at that moment a man ran out into the field between them with his hands raised.
"That boy- that man!" Kirk recognized him, he looked at Raven, "He was in the mountain!"
"Leavitt." She said, "He told them the truth, urged them not to fight."
For a moment he seemed to have an effect, both sides were listening and then the dark man raised his weapon.
"No." The Six gasped, blood erupted, Kirk stepped forward too before realizing these were events that had played out long ago. Both sides began shooting.
"This is the final frontier." Raven said, as she watched two more figures rush out and drag the man to safety, one woman taking a bullet on the way, "The struggle between ideals. The struggle against self annihilation." She turned to Adama, "violence begets violence. For years Clark took on that role for us, she lead, she made the hard calls, she carried the pain for us all, and we let her."
The dark man was moving among one side now, urging them to fight, to charge.
"Sometimes you don't have a choice." Adama said, "You make war, to defend the chance to choose peace."
The dark man was obliterated by some kind of weapon so powerful it caused a pause in the fighting. Kirk looked up as Octavia stepped into the field and hurled down her sword.
"...and Octavia managed to stop a shootout between the surviving army of Wonkru, and the Shepherd's men." Raven continued, "They were actually so impressed by Octavia they listened, and then so did the aliens. They ultimately decided we were worthy of ascending." Kirk whistled. Sisko raised his eyebrows at Kirk.
"She's definitely got potential." Sisko told him, Kirk nodded in return.
The scene changed again and Raven and her friends were constructing a primitive settlement.
"Even though we passed, they wouldn't forgive Clark, so a group of us decided to join her to live out our natural lives, instead of staying ascended." Raven explained, "No one had ever done it before, and what went unsaid that humanity as a whole, really did need more time to learn. They were willing to let us try."
"Fortuitous that you did." Kirk observed, Raven nodded.
"Seemed like a raw deal." Adama commented, but he caught Kirk's look. "What?"
"If we hadn't returned to join Clark we'd never have known about the Alegis III survivors and the embryos in cryo sleep." Raven replied.
"And that ship would never have gone to Kobol." Kirk noted. He looked questioningly at Sisko, "Ravens people's were the last embers of humanity, weren't they. You said Clark raised her daughter on a lifeless earth."
"And we travelled to a system orbiting a black hole." Raven nodded, "time passed more slowly than even we knew at the time, and as far as I know, we were all that was left."
"My whole civilization might never have been." Adama whispered. Kirk put a hand on the man's shoulder,
"In another universe, it wasn't." He said gravely. Adama nodded.
"Perhaps that explains your abilities here." Sisko said to Raven "you ascended once, so you are ascended here. It is a part of your existence."
"You have reached beyond the mortal world." The Six said softly, "that is forever a part of you now. You need not ascend because you already have." She gestures to Kirk, " As he has."
"I'm getting real fracking tired of all this mumbo jumbo." Adama growled to Sisko and shaking his head the Seraphim "Alternate timelines, parallel universes, prophets, spirits and the fate of humanity always in peril, this is no way to live. "
"Agreed." Sisko said at the same time as Raven said "Tell me about it." And Kirk, surprisingly, said "You get used to it." They all turned to stare at him. The seemingly flippant observation actually had a lot of vitriol behind it as Kirk ground out,
"I can't even begin to count the threats to the fate of humanity and the galaxy that I faced-" Kirk told them, gripping two hands on the back of a row of chairs as he leaned "Tests of humanity that apparently never happen in a future where I don't exist."
"Ah." Sisko nodded, "I'd noticed that too. You mentioned earlier- Nomad, was it?"
"Or V'Ger, the Doomsday machine, even the Whale probe…" Kirk shrugged, "All those galactic threats, threats to Earth that only my ship and my crew were ever able to stop.. and here there's nobody on Earth to care, no federation to destroy. No Klingons, no Romulans…" He frowned and looked questioningly at Sisko, "Apparently somehow the Gorn flourished."
"You mean the Hirogen." The traveler spoke up, Kirk nodded. "The forebears of the Hirogen, the HurQ were among a select few bipedal races that did evolve, and then during their war with the Voth they were driven into the alpha and beta quadrants, where they encountered the Gorn. They considered them so worthy that they integrated their DNA into their own, much like they would the Klingons, in my own universe." Kirk looked sharply at the man.
"And when they returned as the Hirogen, the Voth couldn't handle them." Raven summarized. "La'as told me some of that, but how did you know, who are you?"
"They couldn't handle themselves, they turned on each other." The traveler stated, "fighting each other as much as outsiders, for the chance to hunt worthy prey."
"Sentient life should never be considered prey." Kirk said bitterly. "Once you cross that line it's that much easier to turn on each other." Sisko nodded.
"Enough of the philosophy, where is this going?" Adama demanded, "We've got a mission to complete, what do we need to know?"
"You need to know what you are fighting for." Sisko told him, "You need to know who you are fighting with, and against, and you need to know how it is that you will need to fight, if you're going to win."
"For all mankind." Raven said. The others turned to her, she looked at Sisko, "It always comes down to that, doesn't it?" Sisko nodded.
"In our universe, humans or at least humanoids often acted as intermediaries between rival races, leading to the rise of stabilizing galactic coalitions," Sisko replied, "but humanoid evolution in this galaxy died stillborn." He told Kirk, "A cometary fragment that Lore erased from time contained an imprisoned Q."
. *. *.
"Lieutenant Comnander." Yar froze as she heard frostiness in the tone of Commander Marcus. "We need to talk, now." Marcus motioned to one of the unused bio labs outside Sickbay, Yar followed her in. She stood at attention. Marcus turned and gazed at her appraisingly for a moment.
"You know, it occurs to me, that you aren't adhering to protocol because you are aware that you are about to receive a dressing down." She observed, "but rather because you have been in full combat mode since we went to red alert." Yar flinched and Marcus saw.
Marcus let out an exasperated breath "and now I am wondering if it has been since the one today, or the one yesterday… or has it been this entire time." She shook her head and looked around the room. She spotted two chairs at a counter and pulled one out. "I think we need to handle this differently."
"Sir?" Yar asked confused.
"You know with all this time travel it's probably easy to forget that three weeks ago, you were still a Romulan prisoner of war." Marcus said. "Prior to yesterday, the closest thing to a psychologist we had on board is a freaking Klingon." Yar stared at her, and then when Sam's mouth quirked, hers followed. She didn't quite laugh but she flash a quick smile. Marcus looked at her coyly, "and maybe a Klingon is one of the last things you needed aboard."
Yar nodded before she caught herself. Marcus nodded to herself.
"I thought so. Now you're some kind of Starfleet soldier." She said. Yar still stood at attention, but Marcus sat down on a stool.
"You came from an alternate timeline." She said to Yar "One where the Klingons were kicking the federation's ass, and Starfleet has to become soldiers." She rubbed her chin, "and probably took too long to do it, hence why they were losing. Starfleet will win battles but lose wars." She looked at Yar and continued, "You somehow ended up on the Enterprise C trying to fight the battle to save the people you've been fighting so they wouldn't kick the Federation's ass, what kind of a soldier is that."
"Permission to speak freely, ma'am?"
"Don't interrupt me Lieutenant Commander, I'm trying to puzzle this out." Marcus stood and pushed the chair back in. "Remain at attention while I work my way around." Yar let out a breath but made no other move. Marcus continued.
"Something else, then." She said, "Some other reasons you were on that ship, some other purpose." She stood in front of Yar. "Couldn't be Mister Castile, right? Your Captain would never let you violate the temporal prime directive over a school girl crush." Yar's cheeks flushed angrily. Marcus circled around her, "Unless he was an idiot."
"Captain Picard was no idiot, Ma'am." Yar ground out stiffly.
"I told you to shut up while I thought." Marcus told, her, and then suddenly chuckled, "Not Jean Luc Picard though, right? Skinny little ensign drinking Tea?" Yar's eyes widened slightly, Marcus nodded. "I taught him at the academy Lieutenant Commander, and when Ro mentioned he commanded the Enterprise in her time, I looked him up on the data files she brought with her from the Val Jean." She was behind Yar now "Seems like Ro had a lot of files on him as a matter of fact. Including mission files from his ship." She stood next to Yar now. "Some notable crew on his ship."
"I was supposed to be dead Ma'am." Yar snapped "That's why he let me go on the mission because we had a woman on our ship who could sense alternate timelines and she knew in Ro's timeline I was dead."
"Except you didn't die at Narendra III did you." Marcus pointed out. "You didn't exactly win, but you did survive." Yar stared ahead. Marcus faced her again, "Didn't you, Lieutenant Commander.,"
"Yes ma'am." Yar replied. "Ma'am with all due respect-"
"Well that's not up to you, Lieutenant Commander." Marcus cut in, "You don't decide what I am 'due' Lieutenant Commander, you follow orders, Lieutenant Commander, is that correct, Lieutenant Commander?"
"Yes Ma'am." Yar answered stiffly. Marcus nodded.
"That's good, Lieutenant Commander." She repeated, "many of the people aboard this ship joined for different reasons, career, opportunity…" she moved away from Yar, and let the woman relax fractionally. "But we don't have careers now, do we." She said reaching back for the chair and pulling another one out too, "a good thing for you, I suppose, you enlisted for loyalty, patriotism, duty, am I right?" She leaned on the table and tapped the seat she had pulled out. "Sit down Lieutenant Commander." She ordered. Yar reluctantly complied after a moment stewing. "On the other hand, let's say I DID have a career, maybe a life of my own too, do you imagine I would still be able to have those things, here, a million years in the future and in an alternate universe?"
"No ma'am." Yar said.
"No ma'am, indeed." Sam echoed, "and why is that Lieutenant Commander, how did I come to be here?"
"You were on a mission to rescue us." Yar answered.
"I was." Marcus confirmed, "But more specifically Lieutenant Commander, because I was following orders, you see?" She put an elbow on the table and leaned her chin onto it. "Sometimes orders suck, don't they, Lieutenant Commander."
Yar said nothing for a moment and then said slowly "I suppose so, Ma'am."
"And yet, here you are. Here Fredrickson is here, my great grandfather is here, Lieutenant Commander Richard Castille is here, all because I followed orders.* Marcus said expansively, she leaned in conspiratorially "Saavik was there too, of course." Yar gave no reaction. "I'm sure you have things to do Lieutenant Commander, and you feel that urgent need to do them, but there is still the small matter of orders." Yar looked at her, "chain of command? You are familiar with these Lieutenant Commander?" Yar nodded, "I thought you might be, and yet there's the little matter of your conduct on the surface isn't there, Lieutenant Commander." Yar was breathing more heavily now, and seated in the chair found she didn't know exactly what to do with her hands. The Commander was very close to her, too. She started as she realized she had switched to thinking of Sam as The Commander, over just a few moments. As if reading her mind, Marcus said,
"Are you comfortable here Natasha?"
It was like a splash of water in the face and Yar had no idea what to say.
"Here, ma'am?" She flustered.
"You never asked yourself the question, because you were just following orders." Marcus leaned back. "Now you're somewhere between at attention and at ease, aren't you, Lieutenant Commander."
"Yes Ma'am." Yar said.
"Then be at ease, Natasha, speak freely." Marcus told her. Yar looked confused.
"You didnt stay at your post." Marcus pointed out, "you came up as soon as you found a loophole, before that you broke communication protocol, you nearly disobeyed orders directly, down on the surface." She leaned back. "I imagine you were concerned about the ship, your role as chief of security, the safety of Mr. Castille…" Yar was silent as she considered. Marcus repeated her earlier point a different way, "hard to figure out your priorities when you're always at red alert, isn't it."
"What choices do I have?" Yar asked, Sam was right on top of her with her reply.
"What choice do any of us have?" She demanded, "We've been on this ship for just over two weeks, serving under James T Kirk, who is supposed to be dead, also side a bunch of misfits who lived with him in some hellhole for over a year and a half, as I understand it, accompanied by some natives of this galaxy we have never encountered, and just for fun, we are all from different time periods right?" Marcus gestured vaguely "Who is even part of which crew anymore?"
"We are all still Starfleet." Yar replied.
"But what is Starfleet." Marcus asked, "Is it the prime directive I spent all day dancing over as I armed a foreign power with torpedoes, the Temporal Prime Directive we are all just completely obliterating, are we out here to explored, to fight, to live or to die." She put her hands behind her head.
"I am willing to die if I must." Yar said. "I just want it to have meaning."
"You sound like the Klingons Natasha." Said Sam, "and I mean that with all due respect." She sat up and turned back to Tasha. "We are all out here together Tasha. If we don't follow orders, we don't work together, and there are not enough of us to do without. I don't want you to die, even if it is meaningful because then you aren't there, when we need you, and Richard… that man needs you. He's been quietly reeling this whole time, trying to keep his head on straight."
"I know." Yar said passionately, "I know, and I know that I let that get in my head this afternoon " she looked at Marcus, "And I know the Klingons piss me off, and you and the Commander look like-"
"Your jailors?" Sam asked she shrugged, "At least Saavik is a Vulcan right? Emotional control and logic?" She leaned towards Yar a s grabbed her hands. "I get it. You're right, your performance wasn't your best today. I think you are a good enough officer to learn from that and I don't think we can afford to keelhaul you, but I will need you to follow my orders moving forward, not necessarily without question, but certainly with more honesty. You need to sort out your priorities Tasha, and that starts with admitting how confusing they are, are we clear?"
"Understood ma'am." Yar replied.
"Good, because we need you out there right now, you've got a lot of work to do and, other than the Klingons and the guy made of photons, You just let the only other psychologist we had on board disappear in a puff of light."
Yar quirked a smile as Marcus rose.
"Get out of my 'office' Lieutenant Commander, I've got work to do too." Marcus said, but Yar stopped her as she started to go.
"Ma'am?" Yar asked, Marcus turned and Yar returned to attention. "Thank you, for rescuing us from that prison." She looked at Marcus, "I do owe you my life, and my thanks." She saluted.
Marcus looked at her for a moment and returned that salute.
"You're a hero Tasha." Marcus said, "You offered your life on behalf of your enemies to save the future of the Federation. My mission was my honor."
. *. *.
Mogh opened his eyes. Antaak looked approvingly down at him holding a padd.
"You return to fight more." She growled. He reached a hand up to grip her forearm.
"I would not leave you here." He said he found his voice hoarse.
"Your larynx has been damaged, and there is evidence of damage to your auditory centers." Antaak announced, as Bashir approached, she handed him the padd, but she did not move the forearm he held. "But the holographic doctor has already prevented your scars, you will be singing your operas soon enough. Pity he can't cure that too." Mogh's throat rumbled threateningly as he attempted to laugh. He gasped in pain and Antaak pulled her hand away to reach for a hypo.
"No." He croaked, "I am a warrior I will fight this."
"You do not need to." She snapped, "This is my fight." She pressed the hypo to his neck, then said stiffly. "Rest, you will be needed for the battle yet to come." Bashir accompanied her as she moved to Bellamy recovering nearby. He moved in front of her.
"Antaak, beyond his being another Klingon, is there a special relation between you and Mogh?" Bashir asked. Antaak scowled, "The other day you accused me of over medicating patients to give them comfort, and yet you seemed almost… tender.. with our good friend there." Antaak glared and Bashir put up his hands. "Look, I don't mean to pry but if I am to be of any real help to you here, I need to know about anything that might compromise you as a physician."
"Mogh was my mate." She snapped. "He fathered two sons with me, one we thought lost at Khitomer, the other we assume survived but is lost to us as well. I have accepted the fact that we are in another universe and another time. He has not."
"Worf." Bashir said in understanding as she moved on. "You're the mother of Worf."
.*.*.
"Where is this bastard Kahn?" Echo demanded as Jordan moved a dermal regenerator over Bellamy's eye. Blake lay on a bio bed with a surgical enclosure over his torso. His two recently resuscitated friends hovered over him. Antaak joined them, and Echo looked at her, angry enough to forget the Klingon's fearsome appearance. "This so-called Superman, where is he? I'll show him a warrior."
"You still recover from cold sleep. Calm yourself. He is an augment. Nothing more." Antaak said, "They are formidable enough physically, but warriors they are not, still your friend must have been quite able to stand against one."
"I assume you mean Octavia, since he definitely kicked my ass." Bellamy said gruffly. He was trying to keep his spirits up but it was difficult being trapped under the surgical table which periodically emitted flashes of light. "She nearly took him down a couple of times, although he was more focused on trying to escape than fighting. I don't think anyone would want to be trapped in a room with that guy."
"I would." Echo vowed fiercely. "He's never met an Azgeda warrior." Antaak eyed her appraisingly.
"It takes more than ferocity to defeat an opponent with superior strength and endurance." She commented adjusting the controls on Bellamy's biobed. "Another hour and your ribs will be restored. You. " she indicated Jordan, "You have some medical training , so you will accompany me to his sister. We assist her next." The two left Jordan mouthing 'help me' and Echo shook her head.
"We've been here a day and he's already got a job?" She shook her head. "It didn't take you long to throw on another uniform either."
"Octavia thought it was funny that I didn't have to kill anyone for this one." Bellamy said bitterly, then he sighed, "I guess I have a lot to pay for."
"You mean when the mountain men kidnapped us all because draining our spinal fluid could help them survive radiation?" Echo demanded, You regret masqueraded as security to save your friends and incidentally me?" Echo demanded. Bellamy blinked.
"Well no, just the murder." He replied.
"You've done what you had to do Bellamy, of all people I understand that," Echo said , "I just don't know why you joined this crew so eagerly."
"Not that eagerly Echo, remember I spent over a year being hunted. The Monroe was our salvation and Captain Kirk is a good leader, you should give them a chance. It's not a bad crew just a little short handed is all," Bellamy told her, "and there's a lot to learn." Echo glanced at Antaak. She gave a weary sigh and Bellamy looked up at her questioningly. "What is it?" He asked warily, "Echo?"
"I'm tired." She snapped. "All of this, it's just all so meaningless." She answered him. "The violence, the death, the chaos." She gestured at his battered firm, "and Somehow you still search for meaning? You're still trying to belong to something?" Bellamy watched listening. "Back home it was a struggle to survive, but we did. It was brutal but there was order, there were people." She looked away from Bellamy and wiped her nose. "Then the mountain men took us to drain our.. spinal fluid… then A.L.I.E. tried to enslave us, then the came primfaya, the SECOND global apocalypse, and then those years waiting it out trapped on what was left of the station, then the prison ship came, and then we cryo slept all the way Sanctuary and then-" she stopped looking warily at Bellamy.
"Then the disciples." Bellamy nodded, "I know, Echo, I know. Slow down. Antaak said you'd all be experiencing acute moods while you recover from cryo sleep" He tried to pat her hand.
"But it didn't even stop there, we came back for Clark, but then we found you, and then we got that message and we were off again. We saved all the children, but we lost you, Raven and Octavia, we settled Kobol we rescued the embryos, we freed the hosts..
and then it all began again, and then it ended again." She kept her voice from rising but the last came out as a hiss as she looked around. "Don't tell me I'm just being emotional, Bellamy, it all just amounts to nothing!"
"We've saved the human race at least three times." Bellamy told her, quietly, "you built a whole civilization, that's not nothing."
"Yeah well this Lore mother fucker can erase it all with a wave of his hand, so tell me why have we spent our entire lives killing and fighting and.." Echo was nearly hyperventilating in her effort to whisper. "We're so far from everything I grew up with, there's no way back "
"Echo, if the mountain men never took you, we'd never have met." Bellamy told him, "If you hadn't been trying to kill O, you'd never have been banished and we'd never have spent that time on the ring together." He gripped her hand. "There is meaning to all this, because it's our life. We gave it meaning." She started to shake her head and pull away but he still had two of her fingers and he held on. "We breathe in, we breathe out " He coughed a little and the enclosure around his torso beeped. Echo looked alarmed momentarily but Bellamy settled back down as a computer intoned,
"Please lie still."
Bellamy rolled his eyes and Echo had to chuckle. Bellamy laid back tired.
"We breathe, and we love, and we hold on to each other, even if it's by a finger." He said. "Starfleet isn't the disciples, Echo, and Kirk isn't Cadogen."
"Then tell me what it is about this crew that is so worth joining." Echo told him. "Why did I leave everything we built below to sleep for thousands of years while it all burned to the ground."
"For me, I think." Bellamy answered. She looked at him. "Hey, we've all been through so much, what's a civilization or two." He gripped her hand, "It's the people that matter isn't it."
.*.*.
"You are a quick learner." Antaak told Jordan as he treated a contusion on Octavia's leg. Hope and Levitt stood near her. "We will continue to teach you our ways." She turned to Levitt. "You work with Doctor Bashir?" Levitt nodded, he looked at Octavia and when she nodded he let go of her hand and came around the bio bed.
"We've managed to confirm the two mind drives found at A.T.H.E.N.A. have intact date." He told Antaak. "Doctor Bashir and Crewman Sizemore have petitioned Commander Saavik for permission to construct two more hosts, which we believe we can modify for a download."
"You would do well to be wary of both of them." Antaak warned. "Though they appear flesh and blood, they are both machines." Octavia startled them all by growling at Antaak.
"So are my friends." She told Antaak gruffly, "Their spirits are contained in those chips. When we bring them back, they will be machines too."
"Do not challenge me while I still heal you child." Antaak growled, "There will be time enough for that later, I only mean to warn your mate to be wary of those he has just met. You." She snapped to Jordan, "She will heal further on her own. We will continue our rounds now." Jordan gulped and followed with a helpless glance back at the others.
"Mate?" Levitt blinked.
"You have a problem with that?" Octavia demanded sitting up and swinging her legs off the table. Levitt put his hands up as she moved in on him.
"Nope." He said. Octavia smirked at him.
"That's my man." She said patting his cheek. " You take your level 11 Disciple ass over to Doctor Bashir now that you are done baking me a civilization. Come on Hope, Commander Saavik has physical training scheduled and I told her I'd bring a friend."
"Are you and her going to fight now?" Hope asked gesturing to Antaak, as Octavia gathered her uniform jacket from a chair. It was torn so she pulled the insignia off of it and went to a replicator on the wall.
"No, she's right I have to rest up for that." Octavia told her, "I won't kill her though, she's too useful as a doctor."
.*.*.
"A what?" Kirk frowned. "A Cue?" Sisko looked pained.
"A Q." The traveller spoke. Sisko nodded.
"Think of him as something of a Jester.. with a cosmic bag of tricks," He suggested, "I believe that while you understood much of it while you were in the Nexus, you haven't retained it all." He looked worried, "Do you remember Elysia?"
Kirk looked at him blankly. Sisko sighed. "Never mind, we'll have to get there when it's time.
I only hope I am able to take with me what I need to know when I am able to return to my own life."
"You intend to return to us?" Adama asked, "I half expected you'd find your own way home somehow."
"I won't be joining you just yet." Sisko replied, "But he will." He indicated the Traveller. "In the moment that Lore wiped his timeline from existence, he took refuge in the Opera House and they didn't know how to help him." He sighed, suddenly weary, "In a nonlinear existence, even a moment can seem like eternity."
"Don't wait too long Ben." Adama told him seriously, "You have a son waiting for you out there, somewhere."
"I know." Ben said quietly, "and I know his fate if I don't succeed, as surely as I know the day he spoke his first word." He sighed heavily.
"People aren't meant to know their fate." Kirk commented, a shadow passed his face, "It takes away the essence of free will, self determination." He looked at Adama, "and knowing the fate of their children is a curse." Adama nodded.
"Hold on a second." Raven interrupted urgently, she was looking at Kirk, "If you really believe that…" Kirk nodded setting his jaw.
"Something to do with Commander Marcus?" Raven asked, Kirk shook his head adamantly.
"I wouldn't have let that go." He told Raven, "If there was so much at stake, I would have found a way."
"They're talking about the Nexus." Sisko explained to Adama. "Raven transcended material existence, but in the Nexus, Kirk transcended all space and time, shared his existence with all the variations of himself that entered it as well. He became their avatar and from there he could see things even I couldn't."
"You're telling me you let yourself forget?" Adama growled. Kirk looked at him.
"I couldn't stay in that place forever and coming here had it's price." Kirk told him, "I let myself return to the only abandoned federation starship in this universe and I let myself arrive a year early to save Raven and her friends from being prey. I let myself return in time to save my great granddaughter, but I still returned as a man, with ordinary faculties." He paused ran a hand through his hair, and added sheepishly, "Maybe I shaved off a decade or three."
"Hmmm you could have gone a bit younger, though the seasoning looks good on you." Raven said licking her lips.
"Not you too." Kirk said putting his face in his palm. Six studied the man quizzically, Sisko and Adama exchanged a glance and the traveller coughed.
"We can only be true to our nature." Sisko interceded. "Knowledge beyond knowing cannot be known."
"But things have changed, we need to know enough to defend ourselves." Kirk expressed urgently. "There's too much at stake here."
. *. *.
The DRADIS console kept rhythm in CIC as otherwise silence reigned at Lee's announcement.
"They're returning with a ship." Lee reported as Cronus read the report handed to her by Gaeta. "The other Cylons claim it has Baltar and Cree, they are being returned as a gesture of good faith."
"Not to here, I'm sure." Cronus snapped. Lee shook his head.
"The initial transfer will be to a heavy raider above Mars crewed by Cylon Centurions. Starbuck is standing by with a flight of raptors and will pick up Doctor Baltar and Cree from the Cylons." Gaeta helpfully flipped Cronus' transcript to on the end.
"They specified they do not want any interaction with 'organic humanoids'" He pointed out, "Could be something important there." Cronus nodded.
"Some hard feelings after their war?" Cronus wondered, "Or because of the casualties we inflicted on them when they attacked." She looked to Gaeta.
"The Cylons may not have differentiated between our naturally evolved branch of humanity and the synthetic variant they went to war with." Gaeta pointed out. "We might be able to use that somehow."
"We'd certainly have a prior claim to the Sol system, while an ability to distance ourselves from their own wars" Cronus considered, "The dispatch the Cylon reinforcements brought says that they discovered survivors in cold sleep that might have been original humans from Earth. Mr. Gaeta you said they had examined the ring station?" Gaeta nodded. "Then it's possible they are learning about history as we are. Maybe that's where we negotiate. Sisko didn't give our Cylons everything he had on Earth, certainly not the scans the Defiant made of the system."
"We"d have to be sure we could negotiate in good faith before we give them anything." Gaeta pointed out, "and to do that we'd have to negotiate through the Cylons. Anything we give one, we give both." Cronus nodded. She turned to Lee.
"I want to gain permission to recover our ground personell, without telling them whose still missing."
"I think to do that, Commander, we'll have to exercise a little trust." Adama pointed out, "They are making a first move."
"They made the first move kidnapping our people, the second firing on our ships and several more engaging us here." Gaeta pointed out, "Then they either threatened or blew up several of our ships and encampments." He remembered who he was speaking to and added apologetically, "Sir." Lee twitched in irritation.
"Well what do you suggest Lieutenant?" Lee asked pointedly, "We just keep shooting? Start another war?" Cronus put up a hand.
"They haven't even given us their name yet." Cronus stated then decided, "We recover the Doctor and Cree, hopefully they can give us an idea of who we are dealing with." She looked at Adama, "I don't want to start a war out here, certainly not over an abandoned graveyard, we came here to resolve a war. This was to be a joint venture between ourselves and the Cylons to explore our shared heritage and to establish neutral cooperative projects. They attacked us, even if we did, possibly set off some kind of trap they left behind. If they didn't know better before, they do now." She looked at the transcript she had set down on the operations table.
"We still don't even understand their grievances." Lee pointed out.
"Well I'm not about to pay for the sins of a colony that left Kobol thousands of years ago." Cronus replied, "And unfortunately there doesn't seem to be anyone left to take responsibility instead."
.*.*.
"It's hot down here." Hope commented as the turbolift doors opened.
Saavik stood by the entrance of the turbo lift as Octavia and Hope exited. They had been joined en-route by Crewman Fredericks, a survivor of the Enterprise C and Crewman Smithee, formerly of the Val Jean. They found Saavik accompanied by two more.
"Reporting for PT Commander." Octavia said. She stood beside the others in the hallway at attention, and Saavik regarded Hope coolly.
"You wish to join us?" Saavik inquired. Hope nodded. "Starfleet is a serious commitment, Ms Dioza."
"The service is in my blood ma'am. My mom was a Navy Seal." Hope replied, "I will do my best to serve this ship and it's crew."
"Very well." Saavik replied, "We will schedule an interview for your formal application later. In the meantime you may join us for physical training." She looked at Octavia, "It seems a number of your people intend to find a place aboard this vessel."
"We've been through a lot, we try to stick together, Sir." Octavia replied.
"Indeed." Saavik replied. She gestured to the others. "We are joined by Lieutenant Adama and Captain Thrace. Both have experienced temporal displacement at the hands of Emperor Lore, and both have asked to be assigned duties while their status is determined with the Colonial fleet."
"Permission to speak freely Sir?" Octavia asked, Saavik raised an eye brow.
"For what purpose, Ensign."
"For passing the time as the environment adjusts and for getting to know my fellow victims, Sir." Octavia said with a straight face, Smithee choked off a snicker.
"Proceed." Saavik said neutrally. Octavia nodded. She turned to Thrace and Zach.
"You have a duplicate on the ship we are meeting at Earth?" She asked. Thrace nodded. "You are the son of the commander of the Colonial fleet, except in this timeline, your duplicate died." Zach Adama looked at Thrace and then nodded. "Well Smithee here is a reformed terrorist from an alternate universe, who fought to defend her colonies from a hostile superpower, after their own people betrayed and abandoned them."
"Mostly reformed." Smithee clarified. Fredericks snickered and Octavia smirked back at Smithee then stepped over to Fredericks.
"This is Fredericks." She said, "You served on the flagship of the United Federation of Planets, right Fredericks?"
"Yes Ma'am.' Fredericks replied gravely.
"Your ship answered a distress call from a colony belonging to a belligerent foreign power, and then you took on their attackers outgunned four to one, did you not?"
"Sounds like my kind of party." Thrace commented, Octavia nodded, ignoring the informality. She turned back to Fredericks. "You got your ass kicked, yes?"
"Yes Sir."
"You lost hundreds of shipmates, you yourself, nearly died, you escaped through some kind of spatial anomaly to the future, and then you made repairs and went back for more, didn't you, Fredericks."
"Yes Sir." He said firmly. Octavia looked at Hope, Adama and Thrace.
"And why did you do that Crewman." She asked. "To prevent a war? To save the future timeline?" She looked at Fredericks, "Tell the truth Fredericks, your own truth, not the mission." Fredericks considered, and then said,
"To serve my shipmates to the end, sir. They weren't going back there without me there beside them."
"Fredericks went back and his ship was destroyed." Octavia said. "He was imprisoned with them for years, and then they finally escaped to join us." She clapped his shoulder. She turned back to Hope. "Ms. Dioza here…" she looked at Hope, "She helped save the human race. She helped save hundreds of colonists and thousands of unborn embryos, she established the civilization on the planet below us-" she looked at Thrace and Adama, "as I understand, it she's one of your gods." She put a hand on Dioza's shoulder "and then she jumped in a cryo pod. She slept for thousands of years in the blind hope that some day my friends and I would find them and join them." She made eye contact with each of her fellows in turn.
"These are some of the most amazing people that have ever come together." She returned to her place, and turned to Commander Saavik, "and I am honored to train along side them, ma'am." She tirned to Starbuck, "Let's see what you are made of "
"Well said Ensign." Saavik said raising an eyebrow, "though perhaps provocatively for a first training session. This deck is cleared for our use, we will begin with a number of laps around it's circumference totalling 5 kilometers, together. We will then break into groups and complete a number of challenges located throughout the inner corridor. We will complete three circuits and then conclude with a final 5 kilometer run."
"Ten Kilometers?" Hope said as they began jogging. She looked with confusion at her feet almost immediately. "What the-"
"The environmental controls have been adjusted." Fredericks told her as he passed her by in a slow jog. "You ever been to Vulcan kid?"
.*.*.
"Knowing enough, is never enough when history is changing around you." Sisko told Kirk, "Retaining the knowledge of what was to come would inform your actions and then it would play out differently anyway. Those who oppose you would act accordingly. That's why I must remain here."
"So you can see the past present and future from here but you can't do anything about it from here." Adama understood, "beyond sending visions to Laura and starting a cult." He gestured to the woman "And these Seraphim can manipulate others but only if we don't catch on."
"When the dreamer knows he is dreaming, he awakens." The Seraphim said
"I brought you, and the Captain here, and I've found our friends here" Sisko replied to Adama a little defensively, "But you're right, I can only be an envoy. The path of the prophets must be walked outside the temple." Kirk let out a breath of irritation.
"You lose your omniscience if you step foot outside your temple?" Kirk asked.
"Unless we take a ship with temporal shielding." The Traveller observed. Kirk looked balefully at him as he finished. "A starship."
"God needs a starship." He said dryly.
"There are no gods here, Jim." Sisko said, "But for knowledge to spread, there must be messengers. Every time we open the wormhole, and leave the celestial temple, we do risk the Emperor or some other temporal entity attempting to bring it into linear time. That would change everything."
"You agreed to join them so your ship could return to it's home universe." Adama said, "but if you leave…"
"All my works could be undone, here, and home." Sisko confirmed, "because I become subject to temporal manipulation, future… and past."
"Are you telling me they've fracked with my timeline?" Adama asked but he trailed off as he realized he already knew. Sisko nodded.
"They most certainly have." Sisko told him, "your sister, your son, Kara Thrace, all from other timelines. The anomaly that is Emperor Lore has only now exposed itself because I am here, I anchor events, and upset his calculations. Were I to depart…" he spread his hands.
"So you're really trapped here." Raven said incredulous, "If you leave an entire reality unravels, a psychotic android remains free to rampage around the galaxy and none of us would even know the difference." She stared at Sisko, "But you were human, right? You were from his universe, did you know this would happen when you came in here?" Sisko nodded. "Just to save your crew?"
"He knows there's more at stake." Adama said bitterly. He looked at Sisko, who nodded grimly again Adama turned towards the Seraphim. "Those things…" he pointed at the Seraphim, "Were trying to carry out a time loop of their own, and Sisko interfered."
"All this has happened before." The entity replied. "But only to the point of his arrival."
"You've murdered billions." Adama snapped, "again, and again, throughout all eternity!"
"It was God's plan to balance the scales." The entity told him. "Billions died so billions could be born. Humanity will be undone if the circle does not close."
"It's an atrocity." Adama snapped, "as far as I am concerned you're no better than Lore."
"If our universes are so similar, how can that be true?" Raven demanded, "Lore exists because a near perfect copy of Kirk's future unfolded here, until he started messing with time, humanity didn't need your cycle in his universe."
"Except it did." Sisko told her, "Our reality carries the echoes of your own. In our universe their cycle completes, in this one, it couldn't."
"So you're saying we have to die for you to live, but we needed you to intervene in the first place?" Adama squared off against Sisko, "If we are doomed either way, why did you even save us, and you, " he looked at the Seraphim with utter loathing, "You tell me why my son had to die."
. *. *.
"Why would you do this to me, you said I was like a daughter to you!" Hope huffed as she jumped over a low bar the ducked under an angled in front of her only to turn sideways to avoid a pole jutting out.
"You've been saying that since you were 10." Octavia panted back.
"Your momentum simulates the rocking ship and all the exploding parts that happen during a battle."Trust me, when we start using the hololab, you'll be glad you built the muscle first." She jumped over another low sling bar and came to a console. She keyed her serial number in quickly and then read the questions and answered them.
The computer intoned, "Alpha course on port side corrider."
She moved to a set of sacks on the floor left by another group doing exercises in reverse and slung it over her shoulders. "Don't worry, Antaak fixes you right up, so you can back for more."
"How am I supposed to remember my birthdate planet of origin, blood type and.." Hope gave up as Zach hurdled over the last obstacle. He frantically began typing answers as Octavia handed Hope a sack.
"Can't forget everything just because the going gets tough." Octavia told her, "why don't you just follow him through the next part with Adama, Thrace and I will do Beta."
"Alpha course on port side Corrider" the computer announced. Zach stumbled by them to heft a sack as Octavia entered Hope's answers "Beta Course, on Starboard Corrider." The computer announced. Octavia heard Starbuck coming.
"How many times have you done these?" Hope demanded incredulously as she moved to follow Zach.
"Taking a break I see." Starbuck said vaulting gracefully over the bar that had nearly tripped up Zach.
"Training the young guns." Octavia clarified as Starbuck entered her information. As the computer gave directions, Octavia followed her after hefting another sack. "You seem to be doing alright."
"Well you know.." Starbuck said between breaths as she jogged through one set of doors, and then another. "You drink as much as I have you get used to stumbling over and under things, and after taking a viper through a dogfight a couple dozen times a little course like this just make me feel alive. " She paused as a door shut in front of her and the lights went out. "What in the Gods- "
"Transporter simulator, we just went through one enviro lab accross the corridor to another." Octavia said, "doors open super bright with a blast of-"
Frigid air erupted from the door behind them driving them into a bright and noisey room.
"Surprise, you're on a planet now, or back on your ship after a cave, or whatever. Put your friend on the bio bed." Octavia said as she did so laying the sack down. "The next one is gonna be sparring, we grab gloves and go for three minutes."
"Your funeral." Starbuck said, but she sounded distracted. "You wanted me with you here, didn't you, you switched groups."
"Game recognizes game." Octavia said "I figured we should talk." She entered the room and picked up a pair of gloves. They were sweaty from whichever team had already come through.
"Talk about what" Starbuck asked as she brought her fists up.
"I told you game recognizes game. Let's talk about who and what you really are." Octavia said. "I already warned the Captain and Saavik when you came on board. They are willing to watch and wait, I figured I'd be a little more direct." She threw a jab to probe Starbuck's response. Starbuck wasn't phased, pulling back slapping the jab and returning one of her own. Octavia pivoted letting it pass by her but recieved a jab in her ribs. Starbuck grinned.
"Am I supposed to vanish in a puff of logic?" She asked.
"Lore erased the Kara Thrace he had onboard from existence." Octavia said, she jabbed a few more times and Starbuck block again but backed off circling around. "That's how he reset his ship. Yar checked the transport logs and we didn't actually record your transport, only Zach Adama's. Does he know you're a fraud?"
Starbuck dropped her hands. "I'm not s fraud."
"Your not my first higher being." Octavia said, she tapped her chest, "I've been one myself, and the moment I really needed her, an old friend visited me, I know when someone or something is posing."
"Well Zack needed me." Starbuck said, "and… I lost someone like him, a very long time ago." She closed her eyes. "He's been through a lot, he needed someone to see him through to when you saved him, he'll need someone to watch over him when I'm gone."
"Yeah well." Octavia kept her hands up, "I'm not a baby sitter and I don't get the impression he's got a future in the Colonial fleet."
"You need him." Starbuck told her. "And I'm nearly out of time."
Octavia blinked. Clark stood behind Starbuck, another woman with her, with silver eyes. Octavia lowered her hands.
"You even gonna say goodbye?" She asked.
Starbuck looked haunted, an neat trick for someone Octavia suspected to be a ghost, but Octavia hadn't been talking to her.
"We have stayed at this mountain long enough." Clark said, "It is time to move on. Oso gonplei nou ste odon. "
Octavia squared up again. "Then may we meet again " she said. She fire a jab at Starbuck as the two figures began to fade.
"You don't even know how to fight this way." Starbuck said as she put her hands back up. "This isn't a challenge, you don't have any experience."
"It's not about experience, it's about timing and coordination." Octavia said, she fired another jab off much faster this time and when Starbuck leaned back, Octavia surged forward, as Starbuck batted her glove away, Octavia twisted it and landed a backfist, Starbuck leaned even further back to avoid it and stepped back to regain her balance, Octavia's positioning allowed her to to use the same pivot as before. She was inside Starbuck's guard and turning to release a devastating uppercut when she heard Starbuck whisper "What do you hear Octavia? " Octavia completed her turn and found empty air. Starbuck was gone.
.*.*.
"You sure you're up for this?" Echo asked Bellamy as they made their way through the Monroe's corridors, "You were all banged up just a few hours ago. Maybe you could just show me that crew lounge Octavia was telling Levitt about."
"I want to make sure Angela's alright." Bellamy insisted. "And I'm definitely up for it, O's already on her daily run through deck 5 with Commander Saavik, and the Commander has been up straight for two days."
"The two of them are close?" Echo asked skeptically, Bellamy nodded.
"Sort of, as part of the officer training she's got a mentor, and the Commander saw something in her. Raven has been shadowing Commander Marcus most of the time, Lieutenant Yar has been training me, and Mogh got Delos." He shrugged. "Something about that guy…" he told Echo, "You should be careful around him. I know the doctor said we were subjected to some kind of sound waves, that made Kahn want to fight, but I have a feeling that even with all his abilities, Kahn was waiting for Delos to go off shift. That man's a killer." He looked at Echo, expecting a comment about warriors or bravado but instead she said,
"I agreed to give it a shot joining the crew" Echo said, " I'm supposed to find someone named Kim tomorrow, the Commander wants me to take some aptitude tests to confirm but she thinks I'd be a good scientist." She shrugged at his look, almost embarassed. "I don't know, crazy right?"
"No." Bellamy said stopping and turning to her, "No I can see it. You've had enough of killing. You grew up as a hunter, and then an assassin, but yoou've always been smart. You figured out life on a space station quickly enough." She shrugged, but he continued thoughtfully, "You're observant, you put clues together…"
"Stalk my target and murder them…" she said darkly, but Bellamy grabbed her shoulder.
"You are ferocious in your pursuit of an outcome." He told her, "at times, ruthless, yes, but you've grown. Life has changed you. You're not the same Echo I met in that cage."
"Ash." She said, before she could second guess herself. Bellamy frowned.
"What?" He said.
"I never told you, my real name was Ash." She said, "I became Echo to survive I.." she looked at him, "There never seemed to be a good time to tell you." Bellamy didn't know what to say, and Echo touched his face. "I'm going to enroll as Ash Echo."
"You're… literally putting Echo behind you." Bellamy's mouth quirked, Ash grinned.
"Well I plan to, but people have called me it my whole life." She said shoving him. "Come on, show me where I can hunt some science."
.*.*.
Mogh rose from the biobed as Bashir stepped back.
"I certify you as fit to return to duty." Bashir told the Klingon, "Just take it easy the next few days, the inner ear damage wasn't quite so easy to repair."
"Mogh." The Klingon turned, surprised to find Lieutenant Yar standing there. "You're back on your feet?"
"I am, Lieutenant." Though Mogh had volunteered with security he had not brought up the topic of rank, none of the Klingons had, feeling that they had no place in Starfleet. Yar, notably, had agreed. Mogh had worked for her but he had not expected any concern from her. What she said next seemed to be difficult for her.
"You did a good job with Kahn." She told him. "You and Octavia kept him engaged long enough for the commander to finish subduing him, and while the Blakes had each other in there, I understand you fought Joachim mostly on your own." Mogh inclined his head and gave a toothy smile.
"It was a worthy fight." He told Yar. "Though I would have preferred to prevail, I knew from the beginning that was unlikely. I could only do my best."
"Those forcefields should never have dropped!" Yar said tersely. "I was down on the planet, but I should have been here. I set up Khan's detention protocols and they failed. On a normal ship this would have been routine, clockwork." She clenched her fists, she looked up and made eye contact with Mogh, "And I went through the security station logs. Nothing you or Blake did would have had any effect on the shields. We took Kurros into custody and are reviewing everyone else on board. There was a security threat on this ship that I missed, and for that, as Chief of Security, I apologize." Her gaze fell and she wouldn't meet his eyes.
"When my people make an error, they either offer some great sacrifice to restore their honor or they demand to fight for it." Mogh said quietly, "I have found that neither does anything but distract from the truth." Yar's head snapped up. "If I am any judge of character, than I know that you would have prepared thoroughly and have reviewed the situation honestly. None of us can do everything demanded of us without help. If there is a hidden enemy here, you will find it, and I will offer my assistance, if it is welcome." Yar's lips pressed together.
"It was never acknowledged publicly." She told him, changing topics, "But we knew the Klingons were winning. Anyone who fought on the front lines knew that for every victory we achieved, we paid for dearly. I grew up on a failed colony, I was saved by Starfleet, and I would die for them." She held his gaze to make the point, "But I never enjoyed battle, Starfleet never wanted that war. We did what we had to, we saved who we could, and we refused to accept the inevitable." Her chin raised defiantly.
"You fought with honor." Mogh told her. "I cannot say the same for my people." Yar blinked.
"What makes you say that?" She asked, taken aback.
"How can there be honor in a war based on lies?" Mogh growled. "Admiral Adama shared records with Captain Kirk, and he made sure to give me access to the accounts my son gave to the Raiders about his battles."
"Worf." Yar recalled the name, "Lieutenant Ro said there had been a Klingon serving aboard the Enterprise." Mogh nodded and continued,
"He uncovered the truth about the attack on Khitomer. Duras betrayed us all, he gave his access codes to the Romulans."
"The Duras family leads the empire." Yar confirmed. Mogh nodded, "But when my son grew up, he exposed them." Mogh said proudly, "He slew Duras in a challenge of honor."
"Wish he'd pulled that off in my timeline." Yar said, "He might have saved a lot of lives."
"My understanding is that exposed Duras with the aid of his captain, and his shipmates." Mogh pointed out. Yar nodded.
"Were you aware that the database Ro brought from the Val Jean contains his service record?" Mogh's eyes lit up.
"I was not." He said. Yar nodded.
"I'll be sure to forward what I found to your quarters." She said. Mogh looked at her with a hint of approval.
"You have been researching me, and my family." He observed. Yar nodded.
"As chief of security it is my responsibility to know the details of those serving on this ship." She acknowledged, then amended, "of it's crew." Mogh nodded.
"I am equally thorough Lieutenant." Antaak spoke. She had approached them unnoticed. "I am aware of every detail, including the hip fracture that Lieutenant Commander Data gave you when you…"
"Understood Doctor." Yar interrupted closing her eyes. "Even in another universe I will never live that down. I will forward everything I have on your son to you as well." She opened her eyes and looked at Mogh. "In addition I have spoken to Commander Saavik on the issue of rank, your rank of Major in the Klingon Defense Force is equivalent to a Commander on a Starship." She nodded back. "We are getting a little top heavy on Commanders on this ship, so we can acknowledge you as a lieutenant Commander, rank equivalent to me. As chief of security, I cover the tactical station on the bridge, but this ship doesnt have the automation of later designs, so we could use a dedicated weapons officer. I cleared it with Ro, she will be taking on another assignment." She extended a hand, in it was a com badge with the emblem of the Klingon Defense Force. "This symbol was worn by soldiers trying to kill my shipmates, and my friends."
"I will restore it's honor in your eyes." Mogh told her, in a tone that left no doubt. Yar nodded.
"Thank you for defending this ship, Colonel."
Mogh nodded respectfully and accepted a firm handshake.
"Blake to Yar, security alert. I better brief you in person." Octavia's voice interrupted the moment. Yar looked at Mogh. He grinned back. She tapped her badge.
"Yar to Blake, we are on our way." She replied. The two left together.
"I could use a commbadge." Antaak said to no one in particular.
.*.*.
Three figures materialized in a jumbled mass of darkness. Two federation and one colonial EVA suit snapped on their headlights.
"We couldn't get in here manually while it was on the surface." Garner commented as he lit a hand light in addition to his head light and waved it around. More directed and further reaching then the general visibility provided by the suit, he picked out the shape he was looking for, in the darkness, "We didn't want to tell you this was down here while you were beaming out crew."
"Your fear nearly gave information to your enemies." Maltz commented, "Unwise."
"Well the Cylons are supposedly our allies, and for all we knew YOU were enemies." Garner replied. "As I hear it, your ship nearly went toe to toe with the Admiral's taskforce before Lore showed up."
"Captain Kirk would not have let that happen." Marcus said flatly as she helped Garner shift broken equipment aside, "We all know it would have been a very one sided fight, and the Federation isn't in the habit of slaughter."
"With all due respect, Commander, I've got a great deal of respect for advisedtechnology, but I wouldn't underestimate the admiral." Garner , "He doesn't show his hand until he's ready to play."
"I don't doubt it." Marcus said diplomatically, " Monroe was outnumbered and undermanned, particularly because of our rescue efforts, but Monroe's got a few tricks up her sleeve you haven't seen yet, too." Maltz stooped down beside a large battered console, and opened a case he had been carrying. Garner squatted beside him. He pointed to a cable, and Maltz tore it from its housing, replacing it with one leading to a small device on his kit. Lights activated on the device.
"As you know, there's no wireless interface, but the factory input should be.." Garner pried open the back cover, "Here it is."
"This will establish a link for the tricorder." Marcus said handing him another device, she opened her tricorder as Garner attached it to the unused port. "This should only take a few minutes to copy, then we can beam it back to the Vesta.'
"The Cylon repair crews won't get back here for days, and when they do, they shouldn't realize anything is missing." Garner said, "Only a few battlestars have a direct copy of the archives the Defiant gave us, and this system is mocked up to look like a large scale document printer, like those." He gestured to similar pieces of equipment scattered around the wreckage.
"The Admiral is happy to let us take a look, to keep it from the Cylons?" Marcus asked.
"We figure you have enough of it already on your own ship." Garner said, "The original back home has been unlocking g more information as we pass certain tests.m, but Sisko said it wasn't going to contain anything too far advanced." He frowned, "but given time, the Cylons might figure out how to just hack it."
"There is high order meta data stored here." said Commander Marcus. "You'd likely never find it without both the knowledge that it was there, and a number of high level federation access key. Fortunately, Lieutenant Commander Ro brought one" She shut her tricorder. "We're set to go." Maltz powered down the device and closed his kit. She nodded to Garner, "It's all yours, we'll beam you and it to the Vesta, and as far as anyone is concerned, we were never here."
.*.*.
"Admiral." Sisko interrupted "Lore told you the Seraphim rearranged for your sons death. He wants you to be at odds with them."
"Then tell me it was a lie." Snarled Adama, "Explain why my sister is alive in another timeline as well, when in my history she died before I was born."
"Bill.." Kirk moved towards him but Adama shoved him off.
"Why have you been fracking with my life?" He shouted at the Seraphim, and he turned to Sisko, "And who the frack are you to help them?"
"We stopped them." Sisko thundered, Adama drew up short, and Sisko didn't let him regroup, "My crew discovered them and exposed them to you." He advanced on Adama moving between him and the Seraphim. "You want answers, I'll give you answers."
"You cannot disrupt the plan." Warned the Seraphim.
"Damn the Plan, it's worthless if he doesn't see." Sisko snarled, he turned back to Adama, "what about my son, what about his son," He stabbed a finger at Kirk, then he pointed at the traveller, and Raven "What about his father? What about her sister?"
"Hold up what?" Raven blinked.
"Your son's death forced you to throw yourself into your career." Sisko told Adama, "He died because had he lived, you would have been retired and living on Caprica when the Cylons attacked. Lore found him among the rubble leading one of the few surviving groups in a radioactive waste land, hunted by centurions, as for your sister, well it's up to her to explain herself to you."
"He didn't have to die-" Adama told Sisko.
"His destiny was to end up as a breeding stud for human born Cylons." Sisko replied darkly. "They needed 'spare parts'."
Adama swallowed.
"Then go back and change it." Adama insisted, "use your time travel to.."
"Then we save Zach, and the Cylons attack." Sisko snapped, "You're still dead but your sister survives. She even commands Galactica and rallies the survivors, but she doesn't get along with Roslin quite so well."
Suddenly they were on the Galactica, in CIC. Adama blinked. It was empty.
"Where the frack is the crew?" He asked Sisko.
"Well they weren't interested in making babies, they went back to fight the Cylons." Sisko looked down at the information table and Adama followed his gaze. A dried blood stain with something at it's center. "Galactica was disabled by Cylon agents aboard and it's crew, and eventually the civillian fleet became… " Adama picked up the lighter. It was engraved Joseph Adama "Spare parts."
"We would only fall into the trap that Lore has found himself in." Kirk said, to Bill, "We can't just change the past, but we can save the future."
"Then I don't want it." Adama rumbled, "to hell with your future, to hell with your plan."
"Bill." The sound of the voice shocked Adama out of his rage and he turned.
Raven sidled up to Sisko. "Hey Clark." She said, "Guess they let just anyone into this party."
Kirk regarded the second arrival warily as Adama spoke to the third.
"Starbuck?"