Disclaimer: This is fanfiction. Anything you recognize is not mine. All characters and events in this story are entirely fictional.
-=oOo=-
Back in the conference room, the American politician said, "I'm surprised you just left the bridge if you are Captain."
"Sobaash is someone who is more than qualified to have his own ship. I'd hate to lose him, but I'm also not going to waste his talent. Also, this situation is mostly for the engineers. I'm not about to second guess them in such a situation. I'll want it all explained later, but not when time is of the essence. Finally, I didn't want anyone here to feel we had ignored them," said Riker.
"Have you met the Abh Empress?" asked Hu.
"I have, though only briefly. She is very impressive."
"Do you have any tips when meeting her?"
"She is the ruler of hundreds of planets and nearly close to half a galaxy, but it is not as if she does it alone. Basically, do not lie to her, and do not waste her time. Her biggest focus is trying to end the long hostility between the United Mankind and the Abh Empire and also wondering if joining the Federated Sentient Planets is a good idea, even if it seems the only path to possibly ending the hostility."
"I assume she is trying to avoid war," said Hu.
"She would do whatever she believed was ultimately in the best interest of her people, but a war between two such strong groups is going to be costly, and it won't disperse the lies being told about them. She instead..."
Riker was interrupted by his com badge. "We are going to attempt to retrieve the passengers shortly. I'm sending Ekuryua to take your place. I wanted you in sick bay in case any decisions were required. One of them is quite ill. Piper and Celeste are going as well," said Sobaash.
"Understood."
"Well must dash." Riker left.
"I wanted to hear the rest of that sentence," said Hu in irritation.
-=oOo=-
Riker entered sick bay just as Celeste and Piper ported the three onto the floor of sick bay.
"Da'an, we've been saved," said a brunette with close cropped hair.
"He gave his own energy to keep the shield up in the shuttle," said a brown haired man who seemed about the same age.
"I'll help, I guess. Celeste back me up and make sure I don't go too far," said Piper.
"Alright."
Piper sat down next to the barely glowing form and laid her right hand gently on his chest as energy transferred from her to him. Celeste kept a hand on Piper replenishing some of what was spent, even as both their veil's flared white. The form on the floor firmed and solidified.
"I think you should stop there Piper," said Celeste.
Piper pulled back, obviously exhausted. She said tiredly, "After the doctor checks me over, I'm going to my room to collapse. I get that their reactor was dead, but using your own energy to run a shield. I hope I never have to do that. I think he will live, though what effect having more of our energy than his own will have I do not know," said Piper.
"Thanks," said the woman.
"Name is Piper. This is Celeste. That is Captain Riker. The one looking at me in annoyance is Doctor Bashir."
"Lily. This is Boone and you healed Da'an."
Bashir took out a tricorder and scanned her. "I think your fine, though I'd greatly prefer you not do it again." He then scanned Celeste. "Go take her and get some rest. I'll stop by this evening and check you both again."
They walked off. Will knelt down to help move Da'an properly onto a bed. Boone and the doctor helped as well.
Da'an's eyes blinked open. "I do not understand. How do I yet live?"
"One of the people that saved us, or maybe two, kind of gave you energy," said Lily.
"Someone can spare core energy? It seems I owe a debt that I may not be able to repay."
"Why is that? Piper should recover what she used. It might take a week or at worst two, but I didn't see anything of concern," said Doctor Bashier.
"You do not understand. The Taelons have had a dwindling amount of core energy for some time. We are a dying race."
"What?" exclaimed Boone.
"It is not something we planned to tell you, but this discovery is precious behind all words. I think I have more energy than I had before this trip began. I do not feel unbalanced. Am I acting normally?"
"You seem fine Da'an," said Lily.
"You look a bit more human, and a bit more like a girl," said Boone.
"That is no doubt a side effect of what I was given."
"Well for now where can we drop you off?" asked Riker.
"We were traveling to the other side of Earth when the drive failure occurred. I confess I do not entirely know where we ended up," said Da'an.
"Yah, me neither. I was just trying to keep us from dying," said Lily.
Riker tapped his com badge. "Bridge, can you return us to their Earth?"
"We are on our way to what we believe is the correct Earth. We could have been certain if we could have retrieved their craft, but the risk of doing so was high, so we did not," said Sobaash.
"Understood. How long?"
"We are dropping out of the dimensional sea shortly. Two minutes. They were not that far from it really."
"Understood."
"The drive was gone. It should have been safe," said Da'an tiredly.
"I'm not going to second guess my people on the tech matters. They referred to your technology as quite odd," said Riker.
"I see. It may be better if I am seen when you arrive. My people may challenge you," said Da'an.
Riker looked at the doctor who was busy scanning them all.
"There is some radiation damage in Lily and Boone here. It doesn't need treated right this minute, but it does need treated. If they hadn't been shielded they would have likely died."
"Then I suppose follow me to the bridge, that is, if you can walk with help?" asked Riker.
"I will manage it," said Da'an.
-=oOo=-
"We are detecting a settlement on Mars," said Sobaash as they walked in.
"You're work?" asked Riker.
"Yes."
"So, we head to Mars?" asked Riker.
"I suppose so," said Da'an.
"We will be in standard orbit in less than am minute," said Lafiel.
"There is an incoming communications request," said Samson.
"On screen."
"Qu'on, it is good to see you."
"Da'an. We felt your essence nearly fade from the commonality, and yet you are stronger than ever now. Can you explain this?"
"These people know how to apparently transfer and can regenerate their own core energy."
"Its not a common technique and very few know as much as the ones that saved Da'an," said Riker.
"Still, this is critically important information, but what of your shuttle?"
"It is lost between dimensions."
"That is unfortunate, but acceptable, as long as it is not taken."
"So, can we drop off our guests and maybe come back later when we are less busy?" asked Riker.
"I would prefer if Da'an remained with you until this technique could be duplicated, and perhaps others," added Qu'on.
"You have a telepathic, well again weird, but not quite a normal telepathic field going on where you share yourselves. Da'an should not cross far beyond this dimension. He would be harmed," said L'Nea.
"That is most troubling. Are you claiming you go outside this dimension entirely, not just use the realm for travel?" asked Qu'on.
"We do," said Riker.
"May Captain Marquette or William Boone remain at least?" asked Da'an.
"We will remain for a day or two at most, during which time we will seek to better understand the situation. Does anyone wish to beam down here, or shall we head to Earth?" asked RIker.
Da'an smiled.
-=oOo=-
Da'an, Boone, and Lily beamed down to Da'an's North American Companion office.
"What do you make of all that?" asked Boone, now that they were private.
"I think they are in some ways more advanced than we are, which is remarkable, given that most of them are regular humans like you," said Da'an.
"But I'm an implant," said Boone.
"Of course. I could have wished they left us onboard. It seems we are not trusted," said Da'an.
"I wonder why," mused Boone.
"The fact that you didn't tell us you were a dying race, probably didn't help," said Lily.
"I apologize, but it is a deeply personal matter."
"It also makes you desperate and more than a little dangerous," said Lily.
"I do not deny this," said Da'an.
Zo'or walked in. "You have non Taelon energy flowing through you. It is repulsive."
"And yet I feel more alive than I have since before your birth."
"How did they do it?" demanded Zo'or.
"I do not know. I was not conscious at the time. I did not expect to wake again. I had given more than half of my core energy to the ships shields to prevent our death."
"That is not recoverable."
"And yet, I am here now," said Da'an thoughfully.
Zo'or turned to Boone. "What did you see?"
"Two young women. One leaned down and placed her right hand on Da'an's chest. It glowed white. Another young woman was holding onto the first. Her hand glowed. Two necklaces of some kind on their necks became visible, seeming to provide some energy. It lasted several minutes."
"The energy in whatever those were, I can sense that, but it is separate from the core energy increase. I would have died without the later. Would you see?" asked Da'an.
"Very well." Zo'or held out his hand face down. Da'an held his right hand face up and a small amount flowed between before stopping.
"Curious. This is real. I detect no instability," said Zo'or.
-=oOo=-
Boone and Lily entered an old church later that day, then when no one was looking, found their way to a hidden elevator and traveled down at least a dozen stories. When they got inside Boone approached an older man.
"Jonathan, I think we have the break we have finally been waiting for."
Lily's purse beeped.
"What the hell?" asked Lily who opened her purse and dug inside only to find one of their com badges in it.
"Tell me you just did not bring someone else's com device into this area," said Jonathan.
"I didn't. I had my purse the whole time."
"Perhaps I can explain," came from the com badge in Jadzia's voice.
"Do so," said Jonathan.
"We placed the device in Lily's bag without her knowing, when one of our people accidentally sensed Boone's thoughts that it was important Da'an not die. What was relayed to me is he thought the Taelons could end up destroying humanity if Da'an died. We were planning on dropping them off and coming back later, but their insistence on us not simply doing that caused us to delay, and then you courteously lead us back to your little hideout. Remarkable really. The readings we are getting even now from it are quite minimal, and I had to beam inside a room in your church to even reach you via my com badge. That is actually quite good, since these are designed to work around almost all interference."
"What do you want?" asked Doors.
"We are trying to figure out if there is anything near term we can do. We have already seen enough things of concern that would stop us from helping the Taelons more at the moment, but we are also concerned they are here, and do not appear to have humanity's interest as high as we would wish they did."
"You found the shuttle then?" asked Jonathan.
"Yes, they were in the dimensional sea, sort of. Da'an gave much of his energy to keep the shields from failing. He saved Lily and Boone's life. That is simply fact. We would not have got to them in time without his action. In turn we saved Da'an's though it was not easy."
"Why don't you come down, and we can talk," said Doors.
"I'll go get her," said Boone.
"Alright. Keep in mind we were on another task and we have several VIPs that would prefer not to be delayed. Well, they think they are important at least."
"Understood."
-=oOo=-
Jadzia entered the hide out with Lafiel and Jinto beside her. None were armed.
After introductions were made, Jadzia asked, "Now, can you please explain to me the situation with these Taelons. Keep in mind, we are not from your universe. We know essentially nothing. Actually that is not entirely true. We do know one thing. Do you know William has something quite odd in his brain?"
"We do," said Doors.
"You should probably let us remove it. We are fairly sure it will kill him eventually, though Julian isn't sure he can remove it with just what is on the ship. We are fairly sure we can, and waiting will not help, but it won't be entirely risk free."
"It is supposed to expand my mind, and it does that. We removed a component that was supposed to control me," said Boone.
"Well that is up to you. I'm just making sure you knew," said Jadzia.
"I've got the Taelons actions all recorded and in order on my computer. I'll show you," said Jonathan.
"I'll want a copy on some portable device. Importing random data formats can be tedious."
"We will get you it," said Jonathan.
Jadzia, Jinto, and Lafiel watched.
"They left out the whole, by the way, we are a dying race, in their whole, we are doing it all for humanity," said Jinto.
"They are what?" exclaimed Jonathan.
"We were going to tell you, but haven't had time. Da'an admitted it. They were beyond thrilled with that young woman gave him apparently more strength than he had," said Lily.
"Why are they here? First the probe, now this," said Jonathan.
"What probe?" asked Jadzia.
"It's over here."
"Can I see what you have about it? Don't do anything to the probe, whatever it is, just old data," said Jadzia.
"Augur open the files," said Jonathan.
Jadzia began paging through. "This is very very complex stuff. When did this land?"
"Before the Taelons were here by at least a year," said Jonathan.
"It doesn't look like the same tech base as what we have seen of the Taelons. They have this whole gigantic ship on Mars and cities and such. This is quite different," said Jadzia.
"What? Is that another part you hadn't gotten around to telling me?" exclaimed Doors.
"Yes," said Lily.
"Great. Wait if these are different technologies, this is either unrelated to the Taelons or..." started Doors.
"Unlikely. The Taelons are a major power. That much is clear. They likely know who sent this. I'd bet on it," said Jadzia absently.
"Why would a dying people approach strangers? Let's be a little realistic here. They expect us to help them, either directly with their problem of dying, or ..." trailed off Doors.
"The cynic in me thinks they may have an enemy and that probe may be from their enemy. If they needed troupes due to not being able to birth more. I'm guessing. Guesses are not proof," said Jadzia absently.
"That could fit with some of their actions," said Jonathan.
"Maybe, but it is a lot of guess work. My main concern at the moment is you have tech I'm not entirely comfortable with sitting next to you. We can probably destroy it. That is likely the best thing to do with it. What happened when you found it?"
"It killed quite a few people. It created these deadly butterflies and duplicated other things," said Boone.
"It may have important tech we need in it," said Jonathan.
"It may also paint a gigantic flaming arrow in the sky for the Taelon's enemies to come here," said Jadzia.
"I don't like it. It feels off somehow," said Lafiel.
"I agree, though I can't pinpoint it," added Jinto.
"It's tech is extremely advanced with who knows how many failsafe routines. I honestly would like rid of it as well," said Augur.
Celeste appeared next to Jadzia. "Boy you know how to stop a girl from getting sleep she needs."
"I don't want to risk that thing causing a headache. Think you can port it behind the Moon and let Falcon blow it to bits?" asked Jadzia.
"Yes, but I'm not porting back until I rest some. I beamed down to outside the elevator before porting here. Saving Da'an was exhausting."
"Does Riker know to be ready?" asked Jadzia.
"He does, and they are."
"Do it please."
The well around Celeste's neck flared white before the device vanished. "It actually slightly resisted me. Just what are you playing with?"
"Not sure. I assume it is blown up now," said Jadzia.
"Yes. Whatever its strength, it couldn't stand up to a ships main cannon."
"Okay, dangerous alien tech of likely another origin removed.. Hopefully that means no more complications. It would be nice if the Taelons would just agree to leave," said Jadzia absently.
"That isn't going to happen, not unless they get what they want," said Jonathan.
"The problem with saving the rest of their lives is your kind of responsible with what they do with it, and they are near immortal," said Jadzia.
"Then don't," said Jonathan.
"Which gets back to getting them to leave you, and maybe everyone else alone, preferably without having to fight a war," said Lafiel.
Lily turned to Celeste. "Hey, I have a place I sleep when I need to down here. Would you like to go there?"
"No. Coffee please. This is too important."
"I'll get it."
"We are going to have to talk more with Da'an. What does he know about you two?" asked Jinto.
"If you mean does he know we are with the resistance then no, but he might suspect," said Boone.
Lafiel said, "So they would likely do what we want, if we give them what they want, at least till they no longer need us, or we leave. That's not helpful. They are manipulating this group of humans for their own ends it seems, while pretending only benevolence. Exposing that would possibly put them into a place where they would be worse on humanity, or you could possibly drive them off, but if they can travel FTL, presumably they could wipe out the population of this world if they really wanted to. That is also not helpful. Da'an had the capacity for self sacrifice and was doing it, so the potential does exist. That is helpful." Lafiel trailed off and looked at the thing attached to Boone's wrist.
"My skrill?" he asked.
"Is it sentient?" asked Lafiel.
"Maybe," said Jinto.
"Well that is certainly not helpful. If they are forcing a sentient lifeform to serve them that is," said Jadzia.
"Could they really wipe us out?" asked Jonathan.
"Probably. Anyone who can build the odd drives they have, likely can build bombs a means to depopulate the Earth," said Jadzia.
"How did they get like they are? Were they like us, and found some trick to stay alive longer or..?" trailed off Jinto.
Q appeared. Several people drew weapons on him before Doors raised his hand.
"That is a very good question, and the answer is they were and then they thought they found the key to eternal life. Instead they found a way to commit slow motion suicide."
"And you are?" asked Jonathan.
"I'm Q."
"Q, the probe we blew up," said Jadzia.
"Was from their sister race the Jaradians. Good move blowing it up. I don't think they have a fix on this world yet. They also don't have the Taelon's ability to go FTL yet. They will get it eventually of course."
"L'Nea had some kind words about their inter-dimensional drives."
"Yes, I can imagine."
"Do you have any suggestions on how to solve this mess?" asked Jadzia.
"Nope. I'm just here for the popcorn." He snapped his fingers and a bowl appeared. "Want some?"
"Yes," said Jinto.
Q smiled, snapped his fingers and Jinto had a bowl. Lafiel then proceeded to steal some.
"We are going to have to go find the Jaradians at some point and figure out their side of things," said Lafiel.
"They have hated each other for so long it probably doesn't matter anymore. The original cause was the Taelon's gaining eternal (or seeming) eternal life, while their own was greatly shortened," said Q.
"Well I'm sure they will patch that sibling thing right up then," said Augur dryly.
"Quite."
"Are the Jaridians energy lifeforms like Da'an?" asked Jadzia.
"No. They just need their genetics fixed, which you might manage, though it is a tricky one. I suggest phoning a friend or two," said Q as he munched on popcorn.
"I begin to think we are the lucky ones," said Lafiel.
"You probably are. The scientists that originally made your variant to humanity were both very very smart and somewhat lucky to come up with a stable design."
Lafiel nodded.
"So our task list is, fix the Jaridian genome, so at least their children live normal lives, keep the Taelons from mucking with humanity, and possibly save them, and maybe stop the war between them," said Jadzia.
"More or less. Don't you like the important jobs?" asked Q.
"Not particularly. Having to judge weather a race is worth it to help, and if we help them and they go on to subjugate others? I don't like it at all. Not at all," said Jadzia.
"But you'll do it, because the alternative is worse," said Q.
"Are you guys really talking letting the Taelons die?" asked Augur.
"What would you do, knowing what you know now?" asked Lafiel curiously.
"I... don't know," he said.
"I think some are worth saving. It can't be just Da'an," said Boone.
"I think we are busy with our current mission trying to keep one Earth from blowing itself up, though maybe we could trust them on their own a bit now. I don't know. Things were a lot simpler when we just quoted the prime directive," said Jadzia.
"But also more boring, and often more cruel," pointed out Q.
Jadzia nodded.
"We could say transport a group of Taelons to that universe, heal them, and say, you keep them from blowing themselves up for say fifty years and we will bring you back," said Jinto a touch flippantly.
"It's tempting, but given that we don't trust them, doesn't seem workable," said Jadzia.
"One points for creativity though," added Q.
"I think we are done for now. Do you have that device?" asked Jadzia. Augur handed her a tablet and then said, "Just press the button on the side and swipe once it comes on like this."
"Thanks. We aren't going to just leave and not come back. We will help with this, though there might be a delay of a month or something," said Jadzia.
"There is another thing. L'Nea highly suggested they just stop using their inter-dimensional technology. She even said it would be better to give them the tech for warp drive or even hyperdrives to get them to stop. They are damaging the dimensional fabric," said Lafiel.
"But you don't trust them to keep their word, and if you give them standard tech, they could combine it to make a true dimensional drive, but then they can't. Crossing dimensions, unless they do it in groups, will probably kill them," said Q.
"Humans can become inhuman very fast, or Trill for that matter, if we are but pushed. Are they moral underneath and just need help, or are most not?" asked Jadzia.
"You know its never that simple," said Q.
She nodded. "Thanks Q. Is Piper okay? I assume Celeste is, or you would have said something."
"As long as she rests, yes."
"Thanks. I think we should go for now."
"One moment," said Lafiel.
Everyone turned to look at her.
"She has an idea," said Jinto with amusement.
"Why not give our previous task to Admiral Spoor? That would assure it was worked to completion, would it not?" asked Lafiel.
"Because you would not let her live it down if she failed," said Jinto with amusement.
Lafiel smiled.
Q laughed. "For a minute I thought you might suggest giving her this one."
"No, unfortunately these Taelons are dangerous enough that she could fail with only the resources of an Abh fleet. We could too. Her fleet would be better served there," said Lafiel.
Q nodded and vanished.
"That could work, perhaps with a couple runabouts to provide transporters," mused Jadzia.
"Or just give them the tech. They have earned it, haven't they?" asked Jinto.
"Actually, that might be a good way to motivate them. We will discuss it with the captain and the others." Jadzia turned to the rest of them. "Is there anything else? We may be awhile, but we are returning."
"Two groups of friendly aliens come. Funny I trust the one not promising to solve every problem more," said Jonathan.
"You have the important bit. Humanity is not, apparently, at each others throats, and you are working to solve problems, not using problems as way to keep control. Honestly, once the Taelons leave you alone you seem more than capable to handle your own mess," said Jinto.
"Exactly. Just get out of our way and we will be fine."
"And we absolutely will respect that. We try not to interfere at all, but the previous world was going to world war III if we did nothing," said Jadzia.
"He is wrong about one part," said Lafiel.
"Which is that?" asked Jonathan.
"It isn't two groups of aliens. Sure, I'm technically alien, even if my species was created by humans, based on humans, quite some time ago. We have on our ship a lot of my people, but they are a mix of regular humans and like me, so that is two. We have Celeste and Piper which are the daughters of Rowan and Deanna. Rowan is a woman from another part of my universe, with skills much like hers. Deanna is another alien. Betazed's aren't quite human, even if they look it. We have Neela, who is an alien too, but just has the nose crest thing. She is a Bajoran. We also have L'Nea who is the last of her kind, and we just recruited Pyrrha who is a human or near enough from a world and dimension quite different than most. We had a Klingon, who was quite different as well, but he went back to work for his previous captain, saying things were too easy here," said Lafiel.
"I'm not sure I follow," said Jonathan.
"I do. If the Taelons are so benevolent, why did none of those they helped come with them?" asked Boone.
"That, is a very good question," said Jonathan.
"I greatly fear we know, or at least suspect the answer," said Jadzia.
"It's so obvious. The speech it felt so practiced, but they brought only their own kind," said Lily.
"Let's not assume facts not in evidence, but yes, I also have grave doubts," said Jadzia.
"We should go. The captain needs updated," said Jinto.
Jadzia nodded.
"Just as long as we take the elevator and get beamed. If we do help the Taelons its an all hands thing. I think we gave Da'an enough to live on for a long time, maybe even to make his own energy, but I'm not sure," said Celeste.
"Are you fully human? No, that is not the right question. Are you abilities beyond that of humans?" asked Jonathan.
"Is it genetic to an extent? Yes. My one mother was perfectly human, even if she does look a bit fey. She was born on Altair in another galaxy. She is stronger than any of us, so it is possible, but rare. If one of us teaches you, there is a fair chance you at least learn to communicate telepathically short range and shield. Will you be teleporting alien artifacts? Unlikely, but given time and training, well, I'd be surprised if this planet does not eventually develop those like me. It takes a beginning plus effort, but no, it should not be beyond those of this world in time," said Celeste.
"Humanity really has such potential? What about that thing around your neck?" asked Boone.
"It's basically just an energy reserve. I could tap into your electrical system as well. Q gave them out to us as gifts. They are, apparently, a children's toy to his people. As to potential, well..." She rose a few inches into the sky and settled down. "I'd demonstrate actual flight, but I'm tired. Getting people to fly on their own is liable to take longer, but the potential is likely there," added Celeste.
"With no genetic changes, or alien energy or such, just teaching, right?" asked Jonathan.
"Correct," said Celeste.
"We need to go," added Jadzia.
-=oOo=-
Celeste was immediately directed back to her bed by Julian. The rest gave their report. Riker thought about it for a bit and said, "I'm going to go talk to Jean-Luc, and see if he agrees with your suggestion. Afterward we will likely head to Lakfakalle. I lost track of who is on pilot duty..."
"I believe Jadzia wanted to take a turn," said Ekuryua.
Riker looked her way.
"I have passed all the tests. My symbiont doesn't entirely like the interface, but it is causing no problems when I practiced. I figure it is a good idea to get more people familiar to it, even if I would normally only use that interface in an emergency," said Jadzia.
"Sounds good to me. I'll be back." He turned to Neela. "Your a bridge officer. Would you like to schedule some time to learn this interface and the needed skills?"
"I would like that."
"Good, I'm sure you can work with Ekuryua, Lafiel, or Jinto to train. Add me to the list somewhere as well." He turned to L'Nea.
"My physiology is actually different enough that it won't work, though I have setup an interface I can bring up to fly the ship at need."
"Sounds good enough to me. Let me know if I have forgotten anything."
She nodded.
-=oOo=-
Captain Picard and Shion both agreed on the proposal for the Abh. They were heading there next. Riker returned to the conference room with the world leaders. He nodded to those there before sitting down.
"You have the appearance of someone bringing news," said Hu.
"You may find it hard to believe but this universe has more problems than your own. We are going to try to ask the Abh for a favor and have them take over in your universe, with some dedicated help to keep helping with Altair. This will give them a chance for something they want and also maybe help them figure out how to solve their own problem in an environment that is smaller."
"With the United Mankind you mean?" asked Hu.
"Yes."
"Why them?" asked the American.
"They have earned our trust. The task is certainly within their ability and I honestly think they would learn a lot working with you, and you them. I did, however, come to brief you about the leader we hope agrees to take the mission."
"And?" asked the Russian.
"Beneej Spoor is a candidate for the position of the Empress should Empress Ramaj decide to retire, or something else occur. She is genius level intelligence. She will also likely hate the job, but do her best to complete it well regardless. Do not lie to her, or you will regret it, and do not waste her time or you will also likely regret it. Their ships may not be as advanced as ours, but they are still several hundred years in advance of your own. In short, if you force them to act, they may not be able to avoid killing a lot of people as easily as we can. Keep that in mind. They rule almost half a galaxy for a reason."
"Do you really think it will be a problem?" asked the American.
"Not if you don't make it one. I can't predict what her secondary goals might be, but logically the sooner you convince us that you no longer have any intention of killing each other, the sooner we mostly leave, except what help is actually required for Altair and such. The Abh might be willing to do that too. We will figure it out."
"You truly have no interest in our world?" asked Hu.
"Not particularly. Oh, don't misunderstand, we definitely wanted to save lives, particularly those that were completely innocent. Part of the reason we are moving some off your world is to make sure humanity from that Earth survives, one way or another."
"And why is this universe more messed up as you say?" asked Hu.
"There appears to be two older races that were once one, and now both are messed up and trying to kill each other. Humanity is potentially caught between them. They are strong enough they might win against at least some Abh ships, and there are a lot of them, particularly of the ones not on Earth now. The one that is on Earth now, or at least the subset that is, are near immortal, but it is deeply flawed. They are in fact a dying race, without even the ability to have children. If we help them, we save an old race, that claims to be benevolent, but has oddly not brought any of the other races they helped with them, which we find very suspect. One did risk his life to save others, so there is some potential there."
"Then you intend to protect humanity here," said the American.
"Yes. That will happen. Many other details are unclear. We can heal them, and I'm sure they will promise whatever to get that."
Hu snorted.
"Yes, we aren't naive. So, do you think you can try to work with Beneej if she offers it? I'm not asking you to like each other. Just treat your citizens decently and don't keep building nuclear weapons, which reminds me, we will of course get rid of whatever has been reprocessed, yet again before we leave and we can come back again and again and keep wiping it out, so seriously, don't bother. We will also escalate, as required, to stop you from wasting our time," said Riker.
"I'm certainly willing to. Can we get the solar panel tech soon?" asked Hu.
"Probably, though we will give it to Beneej to decide. Come to think of it, theirs might be better. I'm sure they have an improvement on what you have. Perhaps you will get both variations."
Hu nodded.
-=oOo=-
Beneej looked at the three across from her. Two were not the leaders of their countries. One was unlikely ever to be, though perhaps she could change that.
"Shall we go? It's time to return you to your planet."
"You mean we are not taking the transporter thing?" asked the American.
"No, I bullied Lafiel to fly us. I have to make sure she is not getting rusty. Let's go."
"I thought she was a member of the other crew," said Hu.
"Oh she is, but she jumped at the chance, and she is still a Wing Flyer. Besides, I think she wants to impress Jinto, so follow me."
They walked out of the room and eventually to the shuttle bay and entered the Abh shuttle. Lafiel turned back as they entered.
"Are we ready Admiral Spoor?"
"Yes Wing Flyer Abriel, at least once we strap in."
"I understand."
She connected the ends of the chains on her tiara to the slots for them.
"Control, this is WIng Flyer Abriel with shuttle 02-34891 on planned descent route to Earth. Please depressurize our launch bay and prepare for launch."
"Confirmed. Do you want an electromagnetic boost?"
"Yes we do," said Beneej.
Lafiel laughed. "Confirm control. Please transfer boost controls to me."
"You have them. Have a safe journey."
Lafiel turned to Jinto. "You'd better not throw up Jinto."
The engines began to rumble as Lafiel began to bring them online. She gave one last look to make sure everyone was strapped in before saying, "Boost in 3, 2, 1, now!"
They were flattened into their seats.
"We felt none of this on their ship," complained the Russian.
"Yes, they do make it look easy. This is real space travel," said Beneej.
"I have our planned destination as Geneva. Is that correct?" asked Lafiel.
"That will be fine," said the American now that the acceleration had lessened.
"You know you could get us there twice this quickly. Your more than rated for it," said Beneej in a bored tone.
"I was making sure everyone was recovered from the EM boost out."
"I honestly would not oppose taking a bit longer to get down," said Hu.
"Agreed," said the American.
"Agreed," said the Russian.
Beneej rolled her eyes.
"How are the rest getting down?" asked Jinto.
"Oh they are getting beamed down. I thought we would have a little fun. I suppose we can save that for our return trip," said Beneej in a bored tone.
"I'm overjoyed," said Jinto.
"You'll be fine Jinto," said Lafiel.
"What do you think of the new interface they have developed?" asked Beneej.
"It is clearly better, though I kind of miss this one. Nostalgia perhaps? Either way it is not remotely an issue with such uninteresting piloting."
"You find this easy?" asked Hu.
"Sure, an Abh child could manage this," said Lafiel.
"The Abh think of themselves as the Kin of the Stars, and in some ways they are better at space than us, while regular people are better on the ground. The ironic bit is once the technology gets good enough, it mostly doesn't matter," said Jinto.
"This is true. Jinto is becoming a decent pilot with the new interface. We normally work together, because in combat it is almost too much for one person," said Lafiel.
"I would have thought others would be doing some tasks," said Beneej.
"They do, but sometimes the position of the ship dictates weapon choice, and the two are interrelated. Coordination like we can do works pretty well," said Jinto.
"How much faster are you operating than in a typical Abh fight?" asked Beneej.
"Up to about ten times," said Lafiel.
"Interesting," said Beneej.
"Someone is sending several missiles at us. We either request transport or this flight is about to get interesting," said Lafiel.
"Go for interesting. I'm not retreating if we don't need to," said Beneej.
Lafiel gunned it, driving them back into their seats as the missiles appeared on screen.
"Your heading towards them," said the American in panic.
"Of course. They are quite dangerous, and I have to make sure they are following us, so we can divert them," said Lafiel calmly. Jinto smiled.
Beneej laughed. Seconds later they pivoted at ridiculous speeds and now they had four cruise missiles following them.
Beneej pressed a button on her console.
"Yes?" she responded.
"Do you want us to blow up those missiles?" asked Riker.
"And take away my entertainment? I shall be very cross with dear Lafiel if she can't out fly this garbage."
"Well, we are monitoring it. If they get too close, we will beam you out, like it or not," said Riker.
"Understood."
"You don't have guns on this ship?" asked the Russian.
"Not on this one no. We have some that do have them," replied Beneej. She then pressed the transmit button again. "Kufadiss, someone up there better be finding the upstarts that would dare this pathetic attempt. They deserve extra punishment for not even making it interesting!"
"We are working with Falcon. The current leading candidate is the Russian President, but that is not yet confirmed. Stand by."
"I'm not surprised," said the Russian politician.
"What will you do?" asked Hu.
"If it is confirmed, he dies. It is not a complicated thing," said Beneej.
Hu nodded.
"I am flying out over the sea. I assume these missiles will run out of propellant at some point. Beneej can you please confirm I am avoiding all the small craft that might be on the ocean. Some are quite small and hard to detect," said Lafiel.
"Alright."
It was almost an hour later before the missiles finally exhausted the last of their propellant and dropped towards the ocean. Falcon beamed them into space and destroyed them. The shuttle returned to its original destination.
Her chief of staff contacted them. "I just thought I'd let you know that the culprit is dead. It was the Russian leader. We were able to take the shot and we did."
"Good. I find inept enemies quite boring. They didn't even make Lafiel work beyond the mild effort to make sure the missiles didn't hit anything."
"I do apologize for what you will likely find as a boring mission," said Lafiel to Beneej.
"You were the one who came up with it, weren't you?" asked Beneej.
"You can always offer to take the Empress's place. I think she would take you up on it, then you can give me a fun mission to make up for it," said Lafiel.
"Tempting, but I don't particularly want Ramaj's job. I'll leave that job to the Abriels. You are the too serious ones who have led the Empire so very well."
Lafiel snorted. "I have no doubt you would do just fine."
"It's like your passing a hot potato back and forth that neither want," said the American.
"Of course. Ramaj eats sleeps and breaths duty. Lafiel's job, or even this one, is more fun, but yes, if need be I'll take it. My preference is for Lafiel to do so, one day," said Beneej.
"Mine is we somehow figure out this FSP mess, and make sure they do at least as good of a job, and we both avoid it," said Lafiel.
"Do you really think that path will solve the United Mankind mess Lafiel?" asked Beneej.
"In my lifetime, probably not. The hate is very well ingrained. I'm not convinced it makes sense to wait. The reason we control space is to prevent the kind of wars and mess that would keep us from living our and everyone else's lives in peace. The FSP does similar. Honestly, I think they could turn into something more like the Federation, and if the Abh were no longer the visible leaders of half the galaxy, the reasons for the hate should fall away. We would of course take our own positions and continue to do our duty, but no, we cannot hope to reason them out of the position that wasn't reached with reason," said Lafiel.
"Do you think they could do better than you could do?" asked Beneej.
"Some in our Empire would prefer genetic Abh no longer lead. They would likely prefer it. For most it would not matter. The FSP certainly isn't perfect, but we are talking about becoming part, so we can work to improve it. Their tract record is long enough I don't have great concerns, but I do have some. I would not recommend we join now, just that we keep moving forward slowly and see," said Lafiel.
"And if the United Mankind continues to be unreasonable?"
"That is the part I'm not certain about. Our current efforts to convince border worlds to join us via mostly incentives and deals that for a time give them some advantages, but which eventually make everyone equal again, seem to be working. The deals and such we have made at the Alliance's suggestions are slowly eroding the United Mankind. It isn't that there is a magic cure, but we are making progress. Once we control a world we can eliminate the propaganda, or at least reduce it, though again you have to plan for fifty or so years of support. My concern is if we join the FSP that progress may end, since some of our efforts will be restricted. If it ends, and they never join the FSP then the galaxy remains split in two."
"I think your dream of getting out of the job is unrealistic," said Beneej.
"Just remember, if I have to take the job, you aren't going to be able to return to your Duchy. I will want the support."
"Fine," said Beneej.
"You know, you really should find someone you want to have a child with. I need someone to totally corrupt one day with my evil Abriel ways," said Lafiel.
"As if an Abriel could ever corrupt a Spoor."
Lafiel and Jinto smiled.
"Couldn't you just use this Alliance's superior ships to take over?" asked the Russian.
"Too much at once, at least if you value your subjects. Slow and steady gets you there. Fast just breaks a lot of things," said Lafiel.
"Or in other words, a problem not created with technology may not be solvable just with technology. Fundamentally, many, like my own people believe the Abh are evil. They have been taught it continuously. Conquering doesn't change that. You would just end with a lot of deaths and a likely terrorism issue. To even make it work you need a massive amount of ground forces that simply don't exist," said Jinto.
"Which would mean a lot of innocents die," said Lafiel softly.
"You did wipe out our nuclear deterrent fairly fast," said Hu.
"It actually took quite a lot of preparation to do that, though we can repeat it if needed. Either way, obviously all decisions depend on circumstances. We figured we might become the enemy, for a time at least, which might make unity, or we wouldn't. Regardless you have, or rather your people have more time," said Jinto.
"What happened to Elsa?" asked the American.
"She stayed at Lakfakalle. Another ship will be by to take her to the part of the universe where she wishes to study. The Empress agreed to formally sponsor her, so she had someone in our universe representing her," said Beneej.
"I did not know that. I will have to make sure she knows she can call on me, if she has need," said Lafiel.
"I find it fairly unlikely she would need anything that would drag you from your duty, but you will no doubt do as you wish," said Beneej.
"What did she wish to study?" ashed Hu.
"We were actually impressed with her request. Many of us have learned telepathy, at least to a small extent. She wanted to learn how to communicate with animals and be an even better veterinarian. It turns out there are a few with such skills in our universe. She is going to study with them," said Jinto.
"Do you think she can learn it?" asked Hu.
"She will likely learn at least some of it. How much we do not know."
"We are coming in to land," said Lafiel.
"Good, I want to see Lafiel's real skills flying, not this boring stuff," said Beneej.
"Unfortunately, I used enough propellant that anything other than a slow careful launch we lack enough for. I can, however, request additional to be beamed down and load it," said Lafiel.
"What are you using for propellant?" asked Hu.
"Just water. It, does, however, need to be of a very high purity. Admiral Spoor will likely want to contract with one of your governments to supply it. We can and likely will refine it further," said Lafiel.
Beneej nodded.
"I believe I will remain for this, at least if you can assure me it is safe," said Hu.
"Interesting. Sure why not," said Beneej.
"I guess I will as well," said the American.
"I am not being left out," said the Russian.
Beneej laughed. "Let's get some propellant loaded then."
"And here I thought I had lucked out," said Jinto jokingly.
Lafiel smiled.
-=oOo=-
An house and a half later, after breaks and loading, they were back.
"Alright Lafiel, move us into the ocean and put us into battle launch configuration," said Beneej.
"With pleasure. Beginning minimal anti matter thaw for repositioning."
The world leader and potential world leaders raised eyebrows, but said nothing.
Lafiel took off smoothly then set the craft down into the ocean. All their seats leaned far back as the craft angled itself towards the sky from the ocean where it rested.
"Battle launch configuration achieved. Thawing all antimatter. Antimatter is now in a usable state. Logic crystal is finishing final tests for battle launch," said Lafiel.
Test blurred past on the screens as they were ran.
"Tests are complete. Engine preheat is thirty seconds from maximum. Twenty. Ten. Five, four, three, two, one, Launching," said Lafiel.
Lafiel reached over with her free hand and squeezed Jinto's hand as they roared into the sky. Jinto too smiled, as did Beneej, even though they were all plastered into their seats.
"Entering optimal escape trajectory. Continuing full burn."
"You miss it," said Beneej softly.
"A little. We could land Falcon, but with the transporters we have no need. We seldom even take shuttles. Again, there is seldom a need, beyond keeping in practice. Of course, if your actually in a ship to possibly fight, you want to be in one of the newer Alliance ships if at all possible. This is fun, but I actually got confused for a brief moment when I had no weapons I could call on to blow up those annoying missiles. We could have called for help of course, but they were no actual threat to us and it was good practice. I was actually dissapointed that they were even slower than I first estimated. Jinto honestly could have done this, if we had the modified interface."
"I'll leave it to you when there are actual explosives coming, unless you are busy, or something," said Jinto dryly.
"Backing off the engines a bit. We are right at the red line," said Lafiel as if bored.
"And there is Falcon and the Abh ship," said Jinto softly.
Lafiel asked, "Do I need to fly this one back to where I got it, or do you want to finish it Admiral?"
"I'll take it. Go ahead and beam everyone wherever," said Beneej.
Lafiel tapped her com badge. "Change of plans. Can you beam the three others back where they should go, then return Jinto and I to Falcon?"
They vanished. Beneej sat in the chair, connected, and made her way back to her flagship after a quick word with Kufadiss.
-=oOo=-
Hu Zemin considered what he had learned. The person in charge, was, if anything, in her own way more important than who was here before. Those here before had more technological power, but Admiral Spoor potentially had access to just more of everything, though they might need help to get some of it here. More importantly, they had access to technology that was far more in reach of their own scientists, and they trusted it implicitly. Neither Lafiel nor Beneej had any concern with what were apparently state of the art cruise missiles from Russia, even in a craft without weapons. They trusted their craft and their skills to carry them through, and it easily did, even if their allies were quite ready to intercede. Given how much faster that craft was than the missiles it was no wonder.
He called a meeting. The first thing he was going to do is to make sure they built a purification plant for the water they needed, and he was going to see if he could make deals short term, or use excess capacity in existing Chinese ones. He assumed some form of reverse osmosis, but his people could, presumably, verify that with the Abh engineers. Perhaps they could gain water purification technology to sell? That was a thought. He would also discuss antimatter with them, but he doubted that would go anywhere just yet. They apparently had it stable enough they trusted a shuttle's worth of it on a planet, though they also did not make usable the bulk of it, till they were in the middle of the ocean.
Russia was interesting, and more importantly Beneej's second in command's independent action. He was in charge. They targeted his leader. It likely didn't need to get more complex. She would have likely been annoyed had she had to give the order for something so mundane, if he read it correctly. He also thought she was pleased to get rid of one possible headache, at least long term.
He wondered if she deliberately created the trip to encourage foolishness to give the excuse, so as to make her work easier. He would have to be very careful in his interactions with her. He would not underestimate her.
He also found it interesting that two who were likely in the line of succession argued over who would do the job, with each wanting and trusting the other. The reason for the younger not necessarily certain about this plan to join the other group was also simple. She wasn't sure they would finish the job, nor did she have any illusions about the job being easy or pleasant. He supposed there was allure to side stepping the long ingrained prejudice, though he assumed they would just create new lies against the new group. He suspected they would have to continue their slow campaign for a long time. They said as much. Expecting logic and reason to be a solution to a problem that was not created using it, was optimistic at best.
He looked down at his desk, only to see a handwritten note in mandarin on what seemed to be fine parchment.
"We request you treat all of your people equally, regardless of their race or gender. Should you require aid in completing this goal, you may of course ask for it," It was signed Kufadiss.
That was her second in command. He was somewhat impressed he took the time to write in his language. The full request was implied. The Americans, well before they had this current batch of leaders also complained of the same. Well it would provide them a means to keep the conversation going, though he had also been told not to waste their time, and if he was right that the primary reason for that nearly pointless shuttle trip was to fish for an excuse to kill one of the others, well, this was going to take quite a bit of thought. Actually, Kufadiss was the one to give the order, and then casually ask him to be nicer to all his people. "Interesting," he said out loud.
-=oOo=-
Da'an was meditating when Lafiel beamed down into his presence. He changed from translucent to solid and turned to her.
"Thank you for returning."
"That was never in question," she responded.
"Do you trust us so very little?" he asked.
"A few of us have volunteered to remain here for a time to learn about you, while the others seek out your counterparts."
Da'an's eyes widened. "You must not seek the Jaradians out."
"Why is that?"
"You must not."
"If you believe we will lead them here, we most certainly will not do so. They have no reason to come here," said Lafiel.
Another walked in. Lafiel instantly turned and started for her phaser, before changing her mind.
"Agent Sandoval, is there a reason you are here?" asked Da'an.
"The astronauts are here."
"Please send them in," said Da'an.
"You are certain your guest is safe? I did not clear her to be here," said Sandoval.
"Yes. She is authorized to be here at any time."
"As you wish."
Lafiel looked at him curiously as he left.
"Something troubles you about Agent Sandoval?"
"Yes. Do not do what you did to him to any other."
"Are you referring to our implants? What is the problem?" asked Da'an in concern.
"His mind is screaming behind the walls you have placed around him."
"That is very troubling to hear."
"It was very troubling to experience, and I am not as sensitive as many."
"I will ask the Synod to halt further implants," said Da'an.
"Good." She moved to the side as people arrived.
"Captain Manheim, Captain Heart, and the leader of our crew Captain Paul Chandler," said a military officer.
"Are we hear to brief Da'an on our mission?" asked Captain Chandler.
"No captain. President Thomson has made a difficult decision. Your mission to Mars had been canceled."
"Could you repeat that. I don't think I heard you sir."
"You heard me captain. I'm sorry."
"There is no justification for this. None whatsoever. I demand an explanation."
"You have no right to demand anything. You will obey orders whether you respect them or not."
"What about the respect of the taxpayers general? The billions of their tax dollars that went into this project.
"I understand your disappointment."
"What about my crew? Their years of training?"
"That is enough."
"Are you questioning orders of your commander in chief?"
"Where are his orders coming from sir?" asked Paul.
"You are way out of line captain."
"Excuse me," said Lafiel, in a soft voice.
Paul turned to her, as if just now seeing her.
"I will help you get to the places you wish to go."
"Your with the companions aren't you?" asked Paul.
"No."
Da'an said, "Please know that your rage is misdirected. The companions do not dictate public policy. We could not cancel your mission, but I would like to speak to an earlier question about why you have brought here."
"We are listening," said Paul.
"The Taelon Synod has created a program to train the finest pilots on Earth for inter-dimensional travel to galaxies beyond your dreams. We would honor your participation in this program."
"Not in your life sir," said Paul.
Paul started to leave.
"May I speak with you? I said I would help, and I do not mean the mess that is Taelon inter-dimensional mechanics. We could go now to Mars, though given how many Taelon's are there, I see no point in going there," said Lafiel.
"Wait, your saying there are Taelon's on Mars?" asked Paul.
"Of course there are. There is a big settlement there. Does no one know about it?" asked Lafiel.
Da'an sighed. The general that was instructing Paul looked on with interest.
"The Taelon settlement on Mars is not a subject I can discuss, but I assure you it is no threat to Earth," said Da'an.
"Who are you?" asked Paul to Lafiel.
"We are I suppose different aliens, though some of our crew comes from Earth, just not this one. We are dimensional travelers."
"And you can get us into space?" asked Paul.
"I could bring you three into space now, but if you mean helping you develop your own craft, we can likely help, however how much technology we may share is something we have not determined. I do not mean to insult you. I fully back you determining your own destiny with your own technology. Still, if there are problems with your craft I can help you solve them, as can others."
"The problem is the president just killed the program and you said you couldn't share technology."
"There is a difference between giving out a key drive technology and simply helping fix what you do have."
"So your saying you would help bring our program to completion if the president changed his mind?" asked the General.
"I see no reason you should not have basic space travel, at least in system."
"And you Da'an?" asked the General.
"Of course. We have no objection. We just thought it would be better to skip the steps you no longer needed to take," said Da'an.
"I disagree. True wisdom is not given, it is learned. Also Taelon inter-dimensional technology is weakening the fabric of this universe. It is something that needs to be used far less, not more," said Lafiel.
"Even if what you say is true, we have no alternative," said Da'an.
"If you think we ware going to give out a key technology just to keep you from destroying yourselves, you are mistaken. We have grave concerns about the Taelons, and today has not alleviated any of them," said Lafiel.
Da'an sighed. "What would you have me do?"
"Limiting use of your technology in this universe to only necessary trips is a start. You certainly are capable of building craft that do not use it. Do so and do not create any more like Agent Sandoval," said Lafiel.
"I will do what I can," promised Da'an.
The general said, "Perhaps we should talk elsewhere?"
"Agreed. Jinto, beam myself and the four nearest me up."
They vanished.
Da'an sighed, and then went back to meditation, trying to find a path forward.
