Disclaimer: This is fanfiction. Anything you recognize is not mine. All characters and events in this story are entirely fictional.
-=oOo=-
L'Nea immediately began to review it. Jadzia sat beside her and did the same.
"This has potential, but the scope is enormous," said Jadzia.
"It's better than our ideas so far, but we are going to have to pull in at least Kosh and a bunch of others. This is going to probably be an all hands task," said L'Nea.
"I'm thinking we need to divide the mission between making sure they survive it and making sure we stop that ribbon. If your idea works does it keep them safe?" asked Riker.
"It would be way better if they weren't on the planet, though moving it is also an option, I guess," said Neela.
"The problem with moving it enough is we almost need to move all the planets along their orbit paths, to avoid destabilizing the whole system, and it is such a slow process, that it is probably useless. The ribbon will follow the mass centers. Still, I agree we have to do something. Evacuation can be done well ahead of time," said L'Nea.
"Can that planet contribute anything of value?" asked Lafiel.
"Possibly materials if we need to build a lot of things. It can't all be hauled between dimensions," said L'Nea.
"Does anyone want to do first contact? We are obviously making an exception because of the situation," said Riker.
Lafiel glanced at Jinto who nodded.
"Jinto and I are willing. We also need to search for other worlds," said Lafiel.
"I can upload a program to show you where to search and likely worlds for them. That more or less exists now, and I'll get it to a runabout soon. That way they can be a part of it," said L'Nea.
"What about if we fail to stop this ribbon?" asked Sobaash.
"We will save who we can. Will it stop at this universe?" asked Riker.
"I don't know. It's probabilistic. The more energy it has when it finally shifts will increase the odds of it making it to another, but this was all theoretical, apparently for the Galaxy Federation as well. Sure we have more or less the same theories. That doesn't mean we are right," said L'Nea.
"Can we use the gate tech from the them?" asked Samson.
"Maybe. Regular portal pairs, that don't leave the universe are more feasible. The type they have that cross dimensions, well, this universe has already taken a stability hit. Massive use of that kind of tech is in this circumstance is not a great idea. They would know for sure, but we might be limited to conventional dimensional drives," said L'Nea.
"So we need to stop the ribbon here. Failing that, we need to reduce what it feeds on and save who we can save. We are not giving up on anyone, but if this threatens more than one universe, we have to keep the big picture in mind. Jinto, Lafiel, your mission is authorized. Pyrrha, Celeste, Piper, can you work with them. You will likely need to help them move as well, at least initially?"
They nodded.
-=oOo=-
Aditu was preparing to create another message to the stars in the vague hope of getting help when her phone rang. She picked up the corded phone and said, "Hello?"
"Hello there. Can you understand me?" asked Lafiel.
"Yes. Is there a reason why I shouldn't be able to?"
"We use a device when we don't know the language. I know you will find this hard to believe," said Lafiel.
"Let me guess, your the aliens I've been asking for help from?" she said sarcastically.
"Yes, but you don't believe me."
"What gave you that hint? Look I'm very busy." She hung up the phone.
She then vanished in transporter light only to reappear in the common area of the runabout.
Lafiel held out her hand and said, "Hello. I believe our conversation was interrupted."
Aditu fell down and then moved backwards. "Don't hurt me."
Lafiel blinked and then sat down herself. "I am not going to hurt you."
"You kidnapped me!" she accused.
"I'm going to send you back. I did, however, want to talk first."
"Who are you?"
"I am Lafiel."
"Aditu."
"We are looking at your ribbon. It is quite serious."
"We know that."
"We are going to try to stop it, though it is very difficult. I am here to try to organize an evacuation of your world."
"What? We have like a billion people."
"One of the groups we are working with can make actual portals. We can also move people quite quickly. I cannot promise if we can move them all and setup a new world in time, but we can surely help a very great deal."
"Why is your hair blue?" asked Aditu.
"I was born that way. It is normal for my species."
"You alone?"
"No, we thought just meeting me first might be better, though I think Celeste and Piper are better at these things," said Lafiel.
Jinto walked out.
"You have funny ears," said Aditu.
Jinto laughed. "Yours are quite fetching. Lafiel's are better though."
"Are not," said Lafiel.
Aditu looked at Lafiel again in curiosity.
"See, she agrees," joked Jinto.
"Jinto you are being silly," stated Lafiel with an amused smile.
"Maybe a little." He reached down and helped Aditu up who at first was hesitant in accepting his hand.
"Your warmer," she said.
"Are we really?" asked Jinto.
"Can you really find us a new world?"
"We can. How do you want to proceed?" asked Lafiel.
"How am I supposed to know? I had a job to ask for help from aliens that didn't exist! It was decent money."
"I could come down with you," offered Lafiel.
"Your hair is a funny color," she repeated from earlier.
"My hair is a very good color," insisted Lafiel.
Aditu giggled.
"I suggested dying her hair so she looked almost like your species. I was quickly overruled," said Jinto with a smile.
"Is anyone else here?" asked the young woman.
"A few more. They look sort of like me," said Jinto.
"I want to see them."
Pyrrha with her red hair and green eyes, Piper with her black hair and blue eyes, and Celeste with her blond hair and brown eyes walked out
"Her hair is funny too," said Aditu to Pyrrha.
"Red hair is not common among your people then?" asked Pyrrha.
"Never saw it before. Blond is common, though usually it is more silvery blond like mine. Black also occurs, but less often."
"So, perhaps we could give you a communicator and send you back down, or one of us can go with you," offered Piper.
"Is there anyone else?"
Jinto laughed. "Are we really so bad?"
"I'll take you. You seem harmless."
"Gee thanks."
Lafiel laughed. "Could I come too? Jinto is my friend."
"I guess. I have no idea what I'm doing, and I'm late to record the next one and um, that doesn't matter anymore, does it?"
"I doubt you will find a group better able to handle this than us, but by all means, keep asking," said Celeste.
"So, how do I get back to where I was?" asked Aditu.
-=oOo=-
Just as her boss walked in to ask what was taking so long Aditu, Lafiel, and Jinto materialized. He passed out.
Lafiel managed enough with her limited telekinesis so he landed softly.
Aditu walked over and shook his shoulder.
"Aditu, I had the strangest dream."
"Don't pass out. It wasn't a dream."
"Who are they?" he asked.
"I'm Lafiel. This is Jinto."
"Hair dye?" he asked.
Jinto chuckled softly. Lafiel glared. "Hey, I love your hair," said Jinto.
"It is not hair die. They are, apparently, aliens who answered our call," said Aditu.
"That's absurd."
"That's what I said."
"We honestly can help. Do you have any worlds you were considering exploring?" asked Lafiel.
"Stay there," he said.
"Okay," said Lafiel.
They waited patiently before they came back. A half dozen officers of some type in green clothing were holding staffs of some kind, that appeared to glow slightly at the end. One appeared to be their leader, since she had a more elaborate version of the same uniform. She approached them.
"Who are you?"
"I'm Lafiel. This is Jinto. We answered Aditu's call."
"I'm going to have to ask you to come with me," said the woman.
"If you wish, though it delays us helping your people," said Lafiel.
"Just come with us please."
"Alright."
-=oOo=-
An hour later Celeste popped into their jail cell.
"Having fun?"
"Enormously," said Jinto.
"They are watching us via a camera," said Lafiel.
"I know. I thought I'd be part of pointing out that this was pointless."
"Is it really?" asked the woman who had brought them as she came through the door.
"Pretty much," agreed Celeste.
The woman sighed. "Are you all well? A representative of the government will be here soon."
"We are fine," said Lafiel.
"Can you really help us find a new world?"
"Yes," said Celeste.
"How?"
"We have a space ship and are decently good at moving people between worlds," added Jinto.
"What about the ribbon?"
"That's more difficult. We have a possible plan to make it not interact with the worlds it collides with. It is drawn to gravity wells so it is colliding with quite a lot. We don't know if that plan will work, but we also just began," offered Lafiel.
"How does that work?"
"Sorry, I don't know and even if I did, that technology is not ours to consider discussing."
"Needless to say we are taking it very seriously, as is the other group we have brought in," said Jinto.
"How could you move enough people to a new world to matter?" asked the woman.
"Even one matters, but we can move ourselves potentially a thousand or so a day, and if we do get portals setup with the Galaxy Federation's help, we can move a lot more," said Jinto.
"How come we haven't heard of you before?"
"First, we would ordinarily not approach a world that is doing just fine without us and doesn't even have faster than light travel. Second, we aren't from this dimension," said Lafiel.
"We have been sending out that distress thing for three years."
"Again, not from this dimension. Only the fact that our ship actively looks for such things allowed us to find this," said Lafiel.
"We've only been in this dimension a bit more than I think about fourteen hours. That's correct isn't it?" asked Jinto.
"More like fifteen or sixteen now," said Celeste.
"What did you do before?"
"The ribbon is exceptionally dangerous, if our understanding is correct. It must be stopped, and not just to protect your world, but this universe, and possibly other universes that might be in danger if we fail. We started there. We were then sent to begin figuring out how to move you to a new world which should be safer," said Lafiel.
"You just said the Ribbon thing endangers this universe," said the officer.
"Yes, but that will take decades at the rate it is going, and we could be wrong. We ca find you a far safer world for now, and if everything goes bad, well we hope it doesn't, but we can save probably millions to other universes, if we absolutely have to. It's not easy, but we can do it," said Celeste.
"So worst case what a few percent saved? Really?"
"That's the worst case. We haven't failed at anything where we all worked together and don't intend to now," said Jinto.
"Best case we protect this world, so at least all the animals and such are fine and you can move back. That is what we hope for. Obviously we can't force you to do anything. We are here to offer you the option," said Lafiel.
"Can't or won't?"
"If your asking whether we would try to save you even if you didn't want to be saved? Well, we do ask that you not put us in that position. Obviously anyone adult has a right to do what they want, but I really hope you will work with us. We aren't doing it to benefit us. It is a lot of work," said Celeste.
"Can you prove any of that?
"Is there really a reason not to want to at least send some of your people to a new world? It's not as if we are picking the world for you. We will see what is available and you can choose. For that matter, if you have one in mind far enough away, we can use that," said Lafiel.
"If we knew of a habitable world we would be trying to build a ship to it," pointed out the officer.
"They nominated you didn't they?" asked Celeste.
"They wanted to nominate Aditu as the first person who talked to you. I'm Renna."
"So, feel like getting together a few people and helping us go find you a new world?"
"Just like that?"
"Well we will probably need a power plant we can draw power on to help transport people. We already checked yours. They will work fine," said Celeste.
"What else do you need?"
"Depending on how far away the world is we need sealed transports to preserve air, but likely only for minutes. Longer is safer though," said Celeste.
"So a people carrier?" asked Renna.
"Probably. We can help modify them if need be, or even add oxygen. It isn't ideal, but in a situation like this we have to get stuff going and take some small risks," said Lafiel.
"And when could our people be on this new world?"
"Today if you wish, assuming it will support life as is. We really need one that will. We don't have a lot of time."
"Does it have to be one?"
"No, but it is easier to help you if your not too spread out. If you can take care of yourselves after we transport you, then we can spread to several, if you want."
"Aditu, I, and Galan will go with you. What else do you need?"
"Well, if your serious about moving as quickly as possible, then I'll stay here to transport more people there whenever they find a there. If so, I'll need to be taken to one of your generators. It doesn't matter which one, other than it being one of the bigger ones. I'll also need to be able to see what I'm moving and some other minor things," said Celeste.
"And people carriers full of stuff?" Renna asked.
"More or less. You should know what you need, and it is not as if you can't send someone with it."
"I'll make sure someone takes care of you. Can you eat what we eat and drink what we drink?" asked Renna.
"I can eat what you eat. It isn't a problem."
"Alright."
-=oOo=-
Galan as it turned out was a very old elf, but also seemed to be the expert in they needed in figuring out which world to use. The first world they found was an ocean world, with less than five percent land mass.
"According to my analysis this world, is marginal at best. We are in the summer season, and it is going to get a lot colder," said PIper.
"We can take the cold, if we need to," said Galan.
"I can bring people to it, if you wish, or we can try to find a better one. We really should do that anyway," said Piper.
"What is the downside of sending people here?" asked Aditu.
"They are going to freeze in winter and we have to come back and move them," said Jinto.
"We should move on for now," said Renna.
"Continuing the search pattern," said Lafiel.
"Well, it looks like we might not find a new world today," said Jinto.
"Yes, that was optimistic," noted Pyrrha.
"We will find one. It will just take a little time," added Lafiel.
They ended up finding another marginal the next day. This time it was clearly too hot and too limited life.
The fourth day they found a perfect world. It did have way too many snake like creatures, but Galan assured them they could deal with them.
"So how do we do this?" asked Aditu.
"The island here looks like a promising starting point. There are no animals on it, but plenty of vegetation and much of it is likely usable. Some is likely edible. Making rafts or even a bridge to get to shore is easily feasible," said Pyrrha.
"Rafts. I don't want snakes in my home," said Aditu.
"The warriors can start culling them," said Galan.
"Seems reasonable to me. Let's get started," said Piper.
-=oOo=-
Celeste smiled when Piper informed her they were ready, and the first group should bring plenty of people ready to kill snakes. She gave them the details. They organized the first bus like vehicle half full of equipment, the rest with people. She leaned back into the chair they gave her deep near the reactors and looked at the displays they cobbled together viewing the busses in question. With practiced ease she leaned into the reactors, lifted and pushed. The eight vehicles and people they had ready lifted up a bit and vanished. Several minutes later they were caught by Piper and Pyrrha and settled gently on the island.
"We really need to get you a communications array. I assume you don't have any FTL communications?" said Celeste.
"We do not."
"Do you have any telepaths? Most have some potential and I'm willing to train."
"Not that I know of. How would you know?"
"Usually we just check people one by one. Wait, there is a machine that might work to give some better guesses. It isn't that complicated," said Celeste.
"Can you get us details on how to build such a machine?"
"I don't have the plans memorized or anything. Actually, let me get them to replicate a book or something, then I'll fetch it from Piper. Hold on."
Ten minutes later Celeste handed them a book. "Automatic translation is sometimes not entirely right. You can come ask me if something doesn't make sense. Also, run that by some others to make sure it is safe before you hook it up. Again, automatic translation and different species, but it was based on the electroencephalograph from our mom Rowan's universe."
"I think I understand."
Piper also sent back a basic subspace radio satellite that Celeste ported into geosynchronous orbit. It wouldn't directly give them the technology, but they could send messages back and forth. It was about the biggest thing their replicator could manage, but it worked.
Before morning they had another twenty bus loads ready to go. Celeste eat breakfast and then coordinated with Piper to send out this group. They also got word that Shion's group was bringing, well, basically craft about double the size of a runabout. They would stay in orbit above each world, beam people up upon request then directly route them through a gate and back down to the target world. That was in place a weak later and only required a single person at each station to maintain it.
Lafiel's group continued to hunt for alternative worlds and ended up finding two more that were almost as good. Shion's group brought two more stations. That was about the limit, and even then, they had to alternate between which gates were used, since only one could be active at a time. Still, the fact that they could beam from anywhere on a world to anywhere on the next world was a huge advantage. Piper and Celeste weren't idle either. They were focusing on bigger things. All in all, within a month of starting, the elves had hope of being able to save the vast majority of their people.
A few days after that Shion and Riker beamed down to talk to Aditu, Galan, Renna, and the rest of the ruling council. Shion spoke first.
"I would like to present to what we plan so far, but first, we want to make sure you have what you need for now to move to the other worlds."
A very old elven woman stood.
"Aerin, you need not stand," said an old elf next to her.
"I will stand and show respect."
"As you wish."
"I wished on behalf of all of Lothlorien to thank you for all you have done. Even if this threat did not exist, we are safer not all in one place. We are doing okay with the rest. Your machines never rest, and we know that your people are exhausting themselves for us."
"Your welcome. So far the people we have maintaining them have kept up. There may be a few hours here and there in the coming days, months, and years were they have to be brought down for hopefully no more than hours for maintenance. We will tell you ahead of time when we can," said Shion.
"Thank you."
"Our plan to stop the ribbon is much the same as it was. The technology has evolved, but we basically need to mass produce many thousands of small satellites. They regrettably will not survive their task. Over time those satellites will protect planets and large asteroids from being consumed by the ribbon, which should weaken it," said Shion.
"How can we help?"
"We are already building an automated construction platform on one of the planets Lafiel's team surveyed. We would also like to build one here. The exterior shell and structural components you can produce, if you want to. We can adapt the design. It need not be that strong. Once the ribbon makes direct contact with the satellites they will explode. We can't stop that. Even certain woods will work long enough. The main thing is the internal components. We hope to build some of those here as well, though I regret that we have to keep control of the technology. I do apologize for not trusting you there, but my government is not giving me an option."
"Can we see them in operation?" asked Aerin softly.
"Of course. There is large asteroid on its course we plan to mitigate later today. Falcon, the ship that first met you, and Athena, my own ship are leading this effort. You and your parties, within reason, may come on one or both ships. We have no problem with seeing what you produced used and used correctly. We just cannot release sensitive technologies."
"Sensitive technologies that could save a universe," added Renna.
"The right chemicals, that otherwise are poison can cure some diseases, but they are still very very dangerous. The risk is just too big to release the technology. Falcon's crew has access, and we will authorize that have a need to know, but we have not authorized them bringing it back to their governments," said Shion.
"We will do our part. Where people are needed, we will help. We will come with you today," said Aerin.
"Thank you," said Shion softly.
"Is there no way to have more people to train the telepaths we have found?" asked Aditu.
"We have not expanded that, mostly because if it isn't an emergency, everyone is busy, but we are working on it," said Riker.
"I am willing to try to bring some of ours, and Captain Riker is likely willing the same if we can create an understanding to in the future some of those we train can be called upon a reasonable number of times when help is required," said Shion
"This should be done, if we possibly can. We have done all we can, but they will need trained telepaths to continue movement between and on their planets. The gates are great, and that has given us time to train, but they have a lot of talent that should be nurtured," said Celeste.
"I will ask Empress Ramaj as well, but she may have a similar request as Shion," said Lafiel.
"We will of course give aid where aid is given. We owe much already," said Aerin.
Riker said, "We are sorry for having to ask, but this is all relatively new to us as well. Many of those we need have to be pulled from important areas. Yes, your need is more urgent, but there are a lot of governments and bureaucracies that have to suddenly do without that help they have begun to rely on. You agreeing to that much helps. We will help them with alternatives, where we can. I would bet if we contacted the FSP we could get some of their trainers, and not just in telepathy and teleportation, but other skills. They too would like another source of talented people, either for an emergency, or they would likely also find many places for your people, should any wish it." Riker sighed. "Celeste is right. We focused on your immediate needs and ignored your long term potential. We will fix this. It likely helps that we don't need strong people to begin most training. They are the rarest. We will do our best to get you the help you need."
"You seemed upset. Why is that?" asked Aerin.
"Do you know, if this was a human world with the same tech development, we probably couldn't extend nearly as much trust? I'm not upset with you. I'm upset how many times we see the same foolishness in our own people. We will get what trainers we can. I also would like to offer as many of your people a way out of this universe in case we fail."
"Agreed," said Shion.
"But we want to save our people," said Aerin.
"We want you to as well, but some probably are better to get to safety. New parents and young children at least. Some with notable potential may be able to go to other worlds for training," said Riker.
"How many could that save?" asked Aerin.
"Millions perhaps. We can't wait. If we fail to stop the ribbon, there is a good chance this universe will eventually be destroyed. It must be an ongoing effort. We must plan for the worst. Please do not doubt our intention to save this universe. We are going to do our best. There may also be other people here that have to be saved. We have no time to waste," said Shion.
"I'm not sure we warrant such comparisons to your own people. You are here after all. We will humbly accept plans that insure at least our children and those that care for them survive," said Aerin.
Riker and Shion nodded. Riker said, "One of the reasons we don't release technology or even generally let those civilizations that cannot travel faster than light know we are there, if we can avoid it, is because, we hope actual maturity as a civilization comes along with it, so that when they get the ability to do terrible things, they don't. Your civilization knew for years this was coming, and you didn't break down, you buckled down and got to work. Humans do that sometimes, but we have also looked at your history. Frankly, if you had faster than light travel, you would be a prime candidate for membership in our Federation, at least if you were in our universe. As it is, when this is over, I'm inclined to propose it regardless."
"The Galaxy Federation is also an option. When this is over we would welcome such a conversation, and should you wish to come to some of our worlds now, you would be welcome to," added Shion.
"The Abh Empress I am certain would gladly offer any who wish it home in our universe. You might think about that, not just for us, but any of these groups, or like was discussed the Federated Sentient Planets, which is the same galaxy, but a different group," added Lafiel.
"I would like Aditu and Renna to view these places," said Aerin.
"Okay, I believe we can do that. I can probably get the Defiant re-tasked. We will need to coordinate with Shion on that trip."
"It's not a problem. I can tell them you are coming, but we should try to double the purpose for the trips and collect those teachers we need. I don't want a single trip to be underutilized," said Shion.
"Agreed."
-=oOo=-
Aditu really disliked this FT medical person who insisted on all these silly tests before they could see the Earth Prime, whoever that was.
"Was that really so bad?" asked the man.
"Yes, it was highly irritating."
"Don't you have medical talents that can just do a quick check? I thought for sure Diana said you did," said Celeste from next to her.
"Unfortunately, they are not that common. Your Diana's sister?"
"I am."
"She has been great. We have all been spoiling their children."
"Diana has children? I didn't know we were that out of touch," said Celeste.
"Twins, recently."
"Really, I must do my duty and help spoil them," said Celeste.
"Is any more of your family here?" asked their doctor.
"Piper is here. I wasn't aware Diana would be here."
"Didn't you know? Peter retired. Jeff Raven is now Earth Prime, though they were very tempted to give it to Diana. I doubt it would matter really, given those two."
"No, I didn't, though Diana knows I'm in the building now."
Two small pops appeared with Diana and Jeff appearing side by side.
The doctor glared. "I had not officially cleared them both yet. Celeste is not scanned."
"They have better medicine than we do. They are fine," insisted Jeff.
"Come here Celeste. I've learned to do that much. I still can't heal, but spotting disease I have down," said Diana.
Celeste walked forward gave her sister a hug. Energy crawled through her.
"Your fine. How did you get stronger, and there is something else."
"Something else?" asked the doctor.
"If everyone must know, we helped some magic users with not very much control of their magic, particularly one of them. I well interacted with them telepathically and part of their magic hitched a ride and setup shop. There are more details, but nothing medically relevant."
"I'll decide what is medical relevant," said the doctor.
"I'll tell you what, I'll get my doctor to beam down and he can decide if it is medically relevant."
"You cannot teleport randomly in the FT building!"
Jeff coughed.
"What are you hiding Celeste?" asked Diana curiously.
"There is nothing medically relevant to me being near Jeff. Trust me. I am not sick. There was just a change I have to deal with."
"Well what kind of magic did you get?"
"I can't do much, at least not yet, but I can heal a little now."
"Really?" asked Diana.
"Sure. Does anyone have a scratch or anything?" asked Celeste.
"The doctor can give me a small cut, if he wants," said Jeff.
"I am not cutting the Earth prime. I'll cut myself first."
"Okay," chipped in Celeste.
"You just don't want to go through that procedure," said Aditu.
"Hush, he had forgotten about it," said Celeste in a stage whisper.
"I have not," said the doctor dryly. He then pulled out an alcohol wipe and wiped down his right forearm and then removed a new scalpel from the drawer, opened it, and cut a thin line no more than an inch long. Seconds later it welled blood. He then turned to Celeste and held out his arm.
She took his arm in her hands without touching the blood. Her energy and something else trickled through it and it just vanished, but the blood that was there remained. The doctor took another wipe and wiped it away before inspecting it carefully.
"Can you teach that?"
"No. I can point out the three I interacted with if anyone else wants to try to repeat that? They are at Stafleet academy with their friends," said Celeste.
"Really? Just learning to communicate telepathy and such?" asked Jeff.
"I wrote down the details. Are you serious about sending someone?"
"Yes, I'll go myself," said Diana.
"If anyone repeats the rest of what I say, I'm going to be really annoyed. Understood?" asked Celeste.
"I understand," agreed Aditu.
"I'm a doctor. I can't reveal it," said the annoying doctor.
"My, well libido was kind of doubled afterward. No idea if it would happen to the next person, or if it can be duplicated."
"Diana should go now," joked Jeff.
Diana jabbed him in the ribs. "Be serious dear."
"You are dealing with it appropriately?" asked the doctor.
"Yes, I'm in a sort of committed relationship. We haven't decided if it will become more. What started this is I have a resonance with Ami and keep thinking about her. I even kissed her once, when I was more influenced. I'm dealing with it. She, well, when she is a year or two older, we will see. It is very annoying, having my hormones lead me around," said Celeste.
"I can imagine so, having your body betray you so," said Aditu softly.
"But definitely not contagious right, not even to your, err partner?" asked the Doctor.
"No, she is the same, though I think she finds me amusing at times," said Celeste fondly.
"Then you are I suppose cleared, though I'd like a copy of your records if you are going to return," said the doctor.
"Fine."
"So Starfleet academy and?" asked Diana.
"Ask for Ami first. Ami is awesome. Very very smart. No, it is not just hormones. Check her actual records. Usagi and Michiru were also involved, but Usagi can't keep a secret to save her life. Talk to Ami or maybe Michiru to start. Usagi's over powered magic may be part of it. It was a merge with those three," said Celeste.
"You really do like her?" asked Diana carefully.
"Yes. As I said, I kissed her once and once only on impulse before I realized how uncharacteristic my behavior was. She was just under eighteen at the time, and may still be, if not by much. Nothing else happened, but she is very impressive and incredibly intelligent. Yes, I know part of it is the resonance, but yes, I like her, whether that is chemical, magic, or psychic, I don't know, but I do, perhaps as much as Ekuryua."
"Perhaps we should recruit her, or her whole team," mused Jeff.
"I'm sure there is a line by now, but by all means, your welcome to try," added Celeste.
"Why are you here?" asked Jeff.
"Aditu is from universe really we are working in. In that universe we found an energy ribbon, that may be the result of a failed universe collapsing. The Ribbon will intersect her world in about four and a half years, destroying it, if our plan fails. We are using technology from the Galaxy Federation to establish what they refer to as the reverse Hilbert effect generators that pulls entire planets out of phase with space time. It is not easy or simple, but we put about thirty or forty of the satellites around a planet, and the planet seems to emerge unscathed. We still don't want anyone there when it hits. We need to deny the ribbon as much mass as we can, so it hopefully collapses. It is a very long term effort involving work on a wide scale. We have established several alternate worlds and using the Galaxy Federations portal tech we have began moving them off that world. This is deadly serious. The Galaxy Federation refers to the ribbon as a Galaxy eater. It was theoretical to them before we found it."
"You have been busy. How can we help?" asked Diana.
"We gave them the electroencephalograph design from here, and even made some, so they can try to filter who has more potential. They have tweaked it and found a lot of people with talent, and not remotely enough to train them. We would like to see if you can provide some trainers, and perhaps some homes? We are going to be moving out as many as we can from that universe," finished Celeste.
"Your concerned something won't end well then," said Jeff.
"There is a significant chance we ultimately fail and in ten or twenty years that universe is destroyed. We are estimating it right now at four percent," said Celeste flatly.
"I didn't know the number," said Aditu softly
"L'Nea only recently figured out that estimate and Momo agreed. It is very new, and might be wrong. It is, however, the number we have."
"Well, I'd have to talk with the government, but I'm almost certain we would take their entire population, and yes we can provide trainers, particularly if they agree to work here for a time," said Jeff.
"We should talk to Peter. I bet he would love to help," said Diana.
"Maybe. He can be gruff at times, but he is still an excellent trainer," agreed Jeff.
"If you can guarantee the tech won't get abused we might be able to get you a ship, or maybe you could provide some of the crew for one of ours. I don't know, but if we are serious about moving who we can from that universe to be safe, then we need to get moving," said Celeste.
"Whatever it takes," said Jeff.
"Can telepaths do anything?" asked Diana.
"We were planning for after its fixed, so they could move around well we hope four worlds, and do all kinds of other things. They have a lot of natural talent. You won't regret helping them. As for us making the energy ribbon vanish, I have no clue," added Celeste.
"I'd rather get people to safety, then if we fail, we get our people out. Are they the only populated planet?" asked Jeff.
"Just because we haven't found another, doesn't mean there are not dozens. It's another reason to get moving on this."
"Agreed. Would you permit me, or at least my wife to read you?"
"Both is fine. Aditu you can join in if you wish."
Aditu held out her hand and they all joined hands into a pile as Celeste went over recent events in detail.
When they were done Jeff said, "I'll talk to those that need talked to. Diana, will you talk to Peter and organize such help as can be had. I'd honestly prefer we just start bringing people here and teaching them here, but some are going to need to stay and help there. How many ships can run each day, or is there a limiting factor?"
"Shion ran the numbers. Assuming we pack a ship that normally holds a thousand with say five thousand, and it does one trip a day and you use ten ships, which is about the maximum they would normally allow due to the excessive traffic causing possible dangers, then your at 50 thousands a day, which is still nearly 55 years," said Celeste softly.
"So most will die if we fail," said Aditu sadly.
"Yes, but we hope to save at least the majority of young parents and many children, no matter what. Shion's group is going to monitor the dimensional stress levels, which will be highest in the universe that is already taking damage from the ribbon, but those are the numbers we are using as an estimate. It's actually somewhat lower than Shion's initial one.."
"Then our universe, assuming we are one of several would get a fraction of the stress from the travel," said Jeff.
"Not really. If they were using their dimensional portals then yes. Those would evacuate much faster, but as they increase the risk to both sides, and increase the risk of the ribbon finding a path into another universe, we cannot use them. This universe will be fine, or at least at no higher risk than any other. They may still go to several, but that would be for logistical reasons," said Celeste.
"We will do our part. I'll make sure of it," said Jeff.
"Thank you. We will owe you a debt," said Aditu.
"Don't worry about it. Their Alliance came to save us, when we needed help. We are just doing our part," said Jeff.
"I would like to hear about that sometime."
"Sure thing. Celeste or I can let you know, or really almost anyone here. It is a well known story," said Diana.
Aditu nodded.
-=oOo=-
They ended up heading to a very remote estate on Earth to meet Peter Redinger. They were soon let in with Peter sitting around an old style fireplace in his living room as he tossed another piece of wood on the fire.
"Nice show," said Diana fondly.
"I don't understand," said Aditu.
"He has a perfectly good heating system. There is no need to burn wood. He is also independently very wealthy, even with all he gave to Deneb and other places," said Diana in amusement.
"I wanted to," said Peter in annoyance.
"So will you?" asked Diana.
"She is very beautiful," noted Redinger.
"Behave," chided Diana.
Aditu blushed.
"Yes, I'll help organize it, and kick the right doors open to help them out, even help teach, either here or there."
"Have you not learned to fly? I know you certainly have the potential," said Celeste.
"No, this annoying one is not a very good teacher," he said obviously referring to Diana.
"Well, perhaps we can help," offered Celeste.
"Perhaps. I sense a few others in orbit. Shall you call them down? None of this transporter stuff. They come under their own power," said Redinger.
Celeste looked up and then a minute later Ekuryua, Pyrrha, and Piper appeared in place.
"You helped," noted Redinger.
"Ekuryua can't port on her own. Pyrrha could, but there is no reason to risk it, and it was just courteous to do so," said Celeste.
Celeste held out her hand to Ekuryua. They touched for a moment. Ekuryua then nodded unconcerned.
"Shall we begin?" asked Redinger.
"Want to tag along Aditu? It's usually good training," said Celeste.
"Sure."
They joined hands in the middle and then at some unspoken sign they all separated and stepped back. Redinger looked at Ekuryua curiously. "It seems Celeste's efforts is having a notable effect."
Ekuryua didn't even blush. "Yes, my abilities have increased considerably. I almost didn't notice your subtle probe."
"Behave Peter," chastised Diana.
"Fly then. You certainly can link deeply enough with Celeste to access that," said Peter.
"Alright," said Ekuryua.
"I'll give you all I can. Be careful," said Celeste.
Ekuryua smiled, and then rose up into the air, and suddenly started flying around the room, including doing somersaults and impossible motion as if gravity was purely optional to her, moving from walking on the ceiling, the wall, the floor, upside down. She clearly was enjoying herself.
"Okay Ekuryua I'm going to slowly pull back my contribution. Pull from the larger merge or yourself. I'll catch you should you fall," said Celeste.
She nodded without speaking. Her flying became a little jerkier before smoothing but was now slow and careful. She touched down.
"And your done for the day. Tag out. That was no doubt a good workout for you," said Redinger.
"I want to do that again, later," said Ekuryua.
"Probably should have someone to watch, just for caution sake, but sure," replied Celeste.
Ekuryua nodded then tiredly sat against the wall.
"Now then, I think the elf is next." Redinger focused and loosened two golden hair clips that held Aditu's silver blond hair back. He then floated them in the middle of the air.
"Take them back, not with your hands. You have all the potential here in the world, including my own, direct it, learn it, understand it," he said.
"I did not know I had the potential.. The machine."
"Ignore the machine. Do it. You have the potential."
She focused and the golden clips twitched. She focused harder and they came to her before stopping.
"You don't have to block her first attempts Peter," said Diana irritably.
"Try harder. I'm not blocking you that much."
Aditu focused and pulled. Redinger gestured and she was thrown sideways into the wall, hitting hard. Her hair pins were embedded into the hilt into the wall.
Celeste walked over and said softly, "Can you move? Don't worry if you can't. I'll help you to stay in that position if you are in pain."
"I am only bruised, I think. Can you use your trick?"
"Yes, just tell me if anything is odd. Your physiology is a little different."
Celeste held her hands as her energy swept through her. Aditu then stood normally.
She walked over to the wall seeing her hair clip. "That could have been lethal. Thank you Peter."
"My fault. You had access to too much power and we didn't react in time. Slamming you into the wall was me trying to salvage a bad situation in not enough time. You have my sincere apologies. About a third of that was yours. You have plenty of potential. I'll pay whatever it costs to have the clip replaced or remade."
"You already have paid. You taught a very valuable lesson. I shall have to be more careful."
"Pyrrha, think we can pull that out of the wall without damaging it more?" asked PIper.
"We can try."
They focused their combined abilities and the hair decoration slowly removed from the wall it was embedded in.
"It's not damaged," said Pyrrha in surprise, even as they handed it back to Aditu.
"It is quite old. I didn't expect it to be undamaged, but I am glad it is." She put it back in her hair.
"Well Peter, still want to try, now that we are all a little older?" asked Diana ruefully.
"Yes, but give me a short time to calm down. He turned to Aditu. I'm going contact a prime healer and have her check you and Ekuryua, just to be sure."
"As you wish, but I am certain Celeste healed my bruising."
"Diana, could you go fetch Rowena. She has consented to come," said Peter.
"Sure." Diana vanished.
They appeared back half a minute later with Rowena rushing over to Peter and checking him first.
"You know I called you for others."
"You always call me for others. I make sure to check you first, so it gets done."
Diana smiled.
"What has he been doing that had his adrenalin so elevated?" asked Rowena.
"Telekinetic practice was done in a way it should not have been. It probably advanced Aditu's skill significantly, but it was, I believe, a stupid risk in hindsight. Peter saw the danger and kinetically shoved Aditu out of the way, but her life was briefly threatened," said Diana.
"What exactly happened?" asked Rowena.
"Peter floated her hair clip in the air then demanded she pulled it back while linked to us. She was a lot longer than expected and also drew a lot more from us than we expected before we cut it. The ornament was embedded in the wall. I have no idea why it is in one piece."
"Where?" she asked as she turned away from Peter.
Diana touched the wall where the holes still were. Rowena ran her hands through it. "That is old hardwood. The force needed to do that is clearly potentially lethal."
"I know. I screwed up. I just knew that if we could get her to make the jump. I screwed up," said Redinger.
"Don't do it again. We go slow in the beginning for a reason," said Rowena.
"Is it not partially my fault?" asked Aditu.
"No. It is Peter's and to a lesser extent the other three that didn't stop this. None of them likely expected you have enough potential to do this, but they were those trained. They were wrong. Now let me see you."
"As you wish. As long as you are not like the doctor at the building."
She chuckled. "He doesn't have the best bedside manner. Now, just give me your hand momentarily."
As Rowena held her hand, light seemed to crawl along her body before vanishing. Rowena said, "Your fine, remarkably so in fact." She turned. "Now who else?"
"Check everyone except Diana. I know she has had a recent check," said Redinger.
"You know they have to allow it right?" asked Rowena.
"Sure, why not. I'll go first," said Celeste.
She took her hand. Light briefly ran through her body and vanished. "Your fine, but odd. I sensed your energy in Aditu. Your work?"
"Yes. I'm not a healing talent. Its weird. It's magic if you can believe it."
"I'm still touching you. You couldn't lie to me if you tried now. We may talk later."
Celeste nodded. Rowena turned to Piper and Pyrrha and checked each before saying, "You two are interesting. Your energies are bleeding into each other. You know that?"
"Is that a problem?" asked Piper.
"No. You might see some side effects if you two do separate, but I see no health concerns. If such a problem does occur your welcome to come to me and I'll do what I can."
"Thank you," said Pyrrha.
"Healing primes, including my sisters who have it, always impressed me more than our own skills," said Celeste to Aditu.
"I can see why. That is a precious ability," said Aditu.
Rowena then held out her hand to Ekuryua, who took it. Energy flowed through her, but then focused around her head for a couple minutes. "I would like to keep you at least overnight. Your welcome to do this, and I can tell Celeste is being very careful, but your mentally more tired than you let on and you need a bit of healing. Nothing big."
"No," said Celeste softly.
"Oh don't be a drama queen. She is fine. You have been suitably careful. I suspect had I inspected this one a few weeks ago I'd have seen the same issues." She pointed to Pyrrha. "Your fine. She is fine."
"Will I need to have more treatments?" asked Ekuryua.
"Stop by another prime healer within say a month, one more time, and you should be good, or you can come back to me. Either will do. Failing that, I want you to avoid any telepathic contact for one week at that time."
"I understand. That is quite simple to do. Perhaps Celeste could visit Ami?" asked Ekuryua.
Celeste blushed furiously. "Have I no secrets?"
"I want you to ask her to become a member of our crew when she graduates. She is very pretty," said Ekuryua.
"Your shameless," accused Celeste.
Ekuryua nodded.
Diana and Aditu giggled.
"Well let's try my attempt at flying, now that we have a healer here to put me back together should I fall," said Peter.
They linked again, without Aditu and Ekuryua, and with Rowena.
"Let's see you finally figure it out Peter," said Rowena.
"Somehow I don't think Celeste or Piper here are going to let me be that deeply linked."
"We are providing what you need. Deal with it," said PIper dryly.
And he did, slowly moving off the ground and moving around.
"Your at about thirty percent our help," said Celeste.
"Twenty maybe," added Piper a few minutes later.
"No change," said Celeste a few minutes after.
"I know, more or less. I'll have to get someone to help me practice. It's enough for now. Jeff and I will gather the people you need, but it will take a little while," said Peter.
-=oOo=-
Aditu began reviewing what happened with Renna. The short meeting had become so much more, yet it was most promising.
"Can you do that again?"
"I think so, but I want a few more lessons before I try. Seeing my ornament buried in that wall was not a good feeling."
"I should think not. You say he apologized?"
"Profusely. None of them expected me to have that much significant potential. I think I have more kinetic talent than telepathic, but I'm not sure. This is all so crazy from what was supposed to be a part time job someone had to do."
"We adapt. I was just the local section chief, so I'm not that much different. A part of me wishes I was back doing that."
"Me too, not that any of them mean harm, but it is so strange at times. They taught Ekuryua to fly, mostly because I think those two linked on a very very deep and possibly dangerous level to pull it off."
"And she is the one Celeste is spending time with?"
"They make an oddly good couple. Its a pity they won't be able to have children," said Aditu.
"I think they have a way around that. Someone mentioned something. I forget where."
"Really? That would be useful at times."
"Is there something I should know?" asked Renna teasingly.
"No, though the one old man made a pretend pass at me. He was probably quite handsome in his youth."
"You weren't interested, were you?" asked Renna curiously.
"No, but he is a very good teacher. We shall have to make sure to avoid sharp objects and things that might impact people, but, it was, well it is hard to explain it, but when my hair clip shot at me I spent half a moment being thrilled at how fast it was coming and that I had done that. By the time I was considering trying to move Redinger had already spotted the problem and slammed me into the wall. Believe me, I'll take being bruised verses skewered any day of the year."
"No kidding. You still feel fine after Celeste healed you?"
"Yes. Rowena checked but there was nothing more to heal. Celeste's attempts felt warmer somehow. I honestly don't understand it. Neither was bad, but I think more of her feelings were in it somehow."
"These Prime Healers. We have to try to train our own, well that or convince one to stay."
"Many of them quite admired my form," noted Aditu.
"Interesting. Your pretty of course."
"But no more than yourself. They seem to spend less time on physical perfection. It shows on some, unfortunately.."
Renna nodded.
"My guess is we will have some that can become prime healers, or near enough. I was curious about Celeste's explanation for her healing. It seems she gained what she calls magic accidentally, by working with three others much like she did with me, and with it, accidentally an increased libido, which sounds very strange. Ekuryua is apparently her special friend that she first turned to to deal with the issue, not that they seem to mind," said an amused Aditu.
"So, I assume they are going to send more?" asked Renna.
"So it seems. They have no idea if it will work again, and it is not as if Celeste suddenly has the skills of that prime healer. She can, it seems, heal small things."
"From small things big things are built," said Renna.
"I think that is what all this is. We have to, I think, go full speed and evacuate as many as possible. Even going all out only a fraction can be saved, but that is a lot better than no one. No wait, our planet being destroyed, if that happens, which it probably won't, is not the danger. The real risk is for the ribbon to never be stopped. If our universe does someone become lost it might be ten or twenty years, which is potentially twenty or forty percent of our population moved, worst case."
"We are going to owe quite a bit if they do all that, but then their normal job is saving people like us. I have no problem helping there or on any other reasonable cause," said Renna.
"It also depends on no other planet being discovered with people that have to be saved. If they are years in and find another, well, probably they have to switch to them to be fair. We should definitely not miss this chance. I just wish their was a way to be sure it was not necessary."
"I'm sure they do as well. It has to be costly and that is others they can't help."
"I wish I understood these Hilbert effect fields, or rather inverted Hilbert effect fields they are using. They do work, but they are still ramping up production and it takes a lot of effort to build the satellites and deliver them. The ribbon cuts across such a wide area. It is too much. They can't possible affect enough, can they?" said Aditu.
"We didn't even get a name, so you know more than us, not that the name helps."
"Celeste said they are briefly pulling planets out of phase with normal space time, so the ribbon can't consume them. The satellites still explode, but it works, or seems to be working," said Aditu.
"You mentioned magic. I presume that is a real thing, right?" asked Renna.
"So it seems."
"Does that perhaps have a better answer?"
"That's a very good question. Let's go ask."
-=oOo=-
Benjamin Sisko met Aditu and Renna in Calliope's briefing room. They had taken Calliope since it had far larger crew quarters should they have to move more people. Miles was also here, as was Kira.
"I don't have an answer to your question. Does anyone else?" asked Sisko.
"I think we are going to go get that answer, or try to," said Kira.
"Agreed. Ekuryua is going to be here in what a few hours? I'm going to summarize what you said. You can read it, then we will send it to Starfleet to give them a heads up. This is definitely not the time to leave any avenue unexplored," said Sisko.
"Thank you," said Renna.
"No, thank you. I have no idea if your suggestion will pan out. Most don't, but it is also possible you have opened a door to solving this in a different way. Good work."
-=oOo=-
After hearing a small chime, Ami pulled out her datapad. Her eyes widened at the high priority encrypted message sitting there. She turned around and returned to her room and locked the door before opening it. Her eyes widened as she read it in more detail. She pulled out her Mercury computer and searched for the related terms, finally finding a hit on galaxy eater. She swallowed as she continued reading. She immediately closed her database and her Mercury computer before going down the hall and knocking on the door at the end. Setsuna came out wearing a bathrobe and with a towel wrapped around her wet head.
"I need to talk to you now," said Ami.
"Come in."
"You may have a similar message. Here I'll open mine, and also the Mercury computer. Read."
Setsuna sat down and carefully did so, her eyes going wider even before she read the Mercury computer's entries. She was completely surprised.
"Tell the others classes are over. We will catch up later. We have to try to help save a universe. I'm going to go talk to the Dean and let him know," said Setsuna.
"It's the silence isn't it?"
"It would be more accurate to say that Saturn's ultimate attack is a tiny version of this. It is, comparatively, safe. It doesn't consume more than one world before burning out. We are not insane. No one uses that power casually. Saturn least of all since it has a good chance of killing her as well."
"Then a copy of the bonds that protect Saturn and limit it?" started Ami.
"Might or might not matter to something this size. We could be utterly useless, but we will do our part."
Ami nodded.
-=oOo=-
They met again in the main government meeting hall of Lothlorien. There they explained their updated plan. In addition to Setsuna and the others, Rowan, Deanna, Tirla, Mary and Donna were there should someone need healing. The first two would provide additional energy.
"Let me see if I understand. This young one, is going to try to cut the ribbon, at a large risk to her life, thus weakening it," said Aerin.
"We will never let Hotaru die," said Usagi determinately.
"I do not doubt your intent. I do not wish one with such a life in front of her to die for us," said Aerin.
"It is my responsibility. Long ago I was given the duty to safeguard the Silence and should a world be irredeemable, and if not other path existed to save the others, I was to act, to eliminate it, even if it costs me my life. The power I wield is much like what is out there. I'm the only one that can do this."
"You are a young woman. You have no such duty," snapped Aerin.
"Nevertheless, I will try. Let us go and do this thing," said Hotaru.
Riker turned to Shion.
"What are the actual odds you die, versus the odds this succeeds?" asked Shion in a carefully controlled voice.
"Ten percent. Forty percent, we think," said Ami.
"I'm declaring a hold until these numbers can be analyzed and understood, and possibly recomputed. Are there any objections?" asked Shion.
"Whatever you need from us, we will provide it," said Riker.
Shion said, "I need someone even better at magic. Unfortunately, the one world with magic we know of was very primitive. We can go there and read their books or what have you. It might help." She turned to Hotaru. "Do not think I'm stopping a risk that must be taken. I'm also stopping you from executing a plan we don't fully understand, that if you do now, and we have something wrong, we may lose the chance to use later. Even ignoring your possible death, and I most certainly am not ignoring it, I can't ignore that any plan that is not fully understood is a big risk, and judging by those percentages, your estimates are not as accurate as you want. What were your error bars?"
"Too high. There were quite a few estimates to get that far," said Ami.
"We will fix that."
"Q, are you there?" asked Rowan.
Q popped in. "I hope your not expecting an answer, because I've been given very clear orders not to disobey on this one."
"How about dimensional coordinates that would be vaguely useful?" asked Rowan.
"You want me to point you to help," he asked.
"Yes, is that so unreasonable an ask?"
"No, but it will use up what discretion I have on this one," said Q.
"Is there a reason to not do that?" asked Riker.
"I won't be able to do things like maybe save Hotaru here, if she goes too far. If you do this, and something goes wrong, you are on your own," said Q.
"Which saves the most lives?" asked Hotaru.
Rowan's idea, probably. You never can tell how events will play out, but probably," said Q.
"I'll take my risks. I know my friends are with me. I already should have died so many times."
"You probably won't be recoverable if that eats you. There won't be anything left. True death, with nothing more," said Q softly.
"I am the Senshi of Death and Rebirth. I am the soldier of Silence. I will do my duty."
Q snorted. "Don't flatter yourself. Your group has done a decent job of late, but your not that special. Don't be so quick to throw away your life. Shion is correct that until you at least understand the problem you stand a good chance of dying for nothing and accomplishing nothing. Let's see if people have learned."
Q turned to Riker. "If you're on your ship, say Worf is back for some reason, and his great enemy is on a planet and he demands to do mortal combat with him, so he can avenge the death of children or something or other, what do you say?"
"Either stun him from hiding, if it is a situation from which we can get to a trial, or if there is no choice to kill him, just kill him from orbit. I suppose we could also beam him directly to a brig. How is giving someone horrible one more chance to kill you wise? If nothing else, we have better things to do than entertain personal vendettas," said Riker.
Aerin chuckled. "It takes the young too long to learn that. Fortunately, few of our kind go bad, but it does happen, and you bring back no one by being stupid."
"Exactly, and as to your question, L'Nea's toy is about to get an emergency info feed in about three minutes. I suggest beaming up now." Q vanished.
"I want to go," said Aditu quickly.
Riker turned to Shion. "We will figure it out and get back."
"We will hold the fort. I'll start going through the work with them."
"Got it." Riker tapped his com badge. "Bridge crew and Aditu to beam up."
Author's Note: Review, Comment, Favorite, or Kudos.
