Captain Maria Hernandez.
Star Trek: Into the Void - Season One
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Captain Maria Hernandez.
Wow. It's not often that we see our heroes on that side of things. Definitely sobering.
I apologize that I haven't uploaded any new stories yet. I caught a cold and my caregiver is making me rest. Uppity android! Anyways, I should have something new soon. 
Now for the song stylings of @Robert Bruce Scott, @BrotherBenny, and @Gibraltar...
Now for the song stylings of @Robert Bruce Scott, @BrotherBenny, and @Gibraltar...
Actually, I just tested positive for COVID. I’ll post when I can.
Hope you recover quickly and thoroughly! Take care of yourself!! rbs
I tested negative for COVID this morning and I got a little writing done. I was SOOOO bored... Anyways, here are the first chapters. Please enjoy.
Star Trek: Into the Void
Episode Twenty-Four - ‘Under the Rainbow’
By Jack Elmlinger
Prologue
Survival training forms an ongoing syllabus at Starfleet Academy for the duration of a cadet’s academic life. In the first year alone, cadets typically spend two weeks in Malaysia being trained in jungle survival and a further three weeks in Alaska enduring arctic conditions.
In a cadet’s second year, they are expected to survive in small groups for two weeks in the harsh deserts of Vulcan. After this, the environments only get tougher.
It isn’t just the natural environments that the students learn to survive but oftentimes, it is the other sentient lifeforms. Finding themselves trapped behind enemy lines is a possibility that any Starfleet officers might face. So escape and evasion techniques form a core part of their ongoing training. Cadets are trained to hide. How to throw pursuers off of them scent and even how to turn the tables on them.
Right now, the only escape and evasion technique that Lieutenant Liz Tennyson could focus on was the simplest of all.
She ran.
It was nighttime. At least, she thought it was, but there was still enough faint light filtering through the treetops to illuminate her path. Still, it was hardly clear ground and on several occasions, it was only luck that stopped her from catching her foot on a root or a fallen tree limb and ending her flight.
Now, something other than running, came back to her. As she ducked between two trees, she remembered her second year at the Academy. A one day course on the Yorkshire moors led by one Lieutenant Huntington. She had never mentioned it to him and he hadn’t mentioned it to her. To be honest, she would have been surprised if he had remembered her specifically. He must have trained hundreds of young wannabe Starfleet officers and it had been ten years before they served together aboard the Testudo. Her memories of that day were flimsy. She remembered a cold wind and driving rain. More running from faceless pursuers, but she also remembered something that Huntington had said.
“It doesn’t matter how fit you are. How intelligent that you are or how much that you’ve trained. It always comes down to luck.”
Luck was with her now but she couldn’t count on it forever and she knew it. She had to come up with a better plan than simply running. For a start, she had no idea where this forest was or how large of an area that it covered. For all that she knew, she and the others were being driven into an ambush.
Because she wasn’t alone. She hadn’t seen more than a glimpse of the people alongside her in the darkness but it was enough to establish two things. They seemed to be Human and they were undoubtedly running in fear of their lives. She had no idea who their pursuers were, although she couldn’t shake the image of Charlton Heston and his crew being chased by intelligent apes riding on horseback.
Suddenly she took the wrong path and blundered into a low-lying branch. Her momentum carried her through but sharp twigs bit into her face, leaving stinging scratches across both of her cheeks. Strangely, she almost welcomed them. She kept going though, the sound of movement close behind her, spurring her to increase her speed despite reaching the limits of her physical endurance.
She had spent five months, lying on a hospital bed and, despite a rigorous training regimen instituted by Doctor Cassia Lombardi at the insistence of the Captain. She was still nowhere near as far as she once had been. Her legs grew heavier with each step and every breath that she took caused her lungs to ache. Her pulse was racing and she dared not to even contemplate how fast her heart was beating.
Still she moved, driven by fear and adrenaline with the stone cold certainty that she wouldn’t never give up or roll over again.
Suddenly she heard a nose to her left. The sound of a falling person could be heard and it was followed by the sound of several creatures pouncing on the prone target. She didn’t even slow down, not even when she heard a woman’s scream echo out into the night, sending a shiver of fear and a memory of her own past terror to stab into her heart. The tactical side of her brain almost welcomed the scream. The pursuers might have been slowed down by the kill and that would give her vital seconds in her bid to escape.
Despite her revulsion at this thought, Tennyson’s mind repeated a simple mantra to keep her going. ‘Sooner her than me. Sooner her than me. Sooner her than me.’
Suddenly there was a new sound. It came from above as though hundreds of leaves were being struck at once. When the first raindrops began to pummel her head, she was grateful when they cooled her fevered brow.
It didn’t last.
The downpour was a heavy one and her uniform was rapidly getting soaked and it was slowing her down. At least, she was glad that her hair was cut short now. If it was as long as it had once been, she had no doubt that it would be plastered over her eyes and impeding her vision by now.
Light!
Up ahead, she now saw lights through the trees. Part of her brain buzzed her with a warning but she ignored it. She couldn’t run forever and, while there was every chance that the lights represented the enemy, there was hope that they meant friends.
Distracted by the lights, Tennyson got no more than two more steps before she fell. The footing had been perilous enough as it was but now the rainwater had made it even harder and her left foot slipped on a clump of sodden leaves. She tried to keep going, to make it through the trip but it was no use. Her right foot caught an exposed and gnarled root and she fell forward with her right ankle audibly snapping when she did.
Tears clouded her eyes when she hit the forest floor face first. The pain was intense and another person might have passed out with no shame attached. However, Liz Tennyson had survived worse and she knew that she would survive this.
Even if only for a few more seconds.
Despite a combination of tears and rain blurring her eyes, she saw a thick tree trunk, a few meters ahead of her. The trunk was all that she saw now and all that she cared about. Her only objective was to reach it. Using her hands and her left foot, she clawed her way through the mud and detritus and towards the tree.
Streaked in mud and water, she made it, hauling herself up just enough to fall back against the tree in a sitting position. Her chest was heaving from the effort and a strangled sob escaped her lips when another jolt of pain echoed out from her ankle.
The ground that she sat on was soft and already she had sunk a few centimeters into the mud. She didn’t care. Her entire body was almost thick in mud now and her uniform was unrecognizable. Short as it was, her hair was now plastered against her forehead and the pointed clumps of strawberry-blonde hair served only to funnel more water down her face. With her left hand, she swept her hand back while her right hand fumbled in the mud by her side while she glanced furiously around, searching. She found what she was looking for, after a few seconds. Her eyes missed it but her touch didn’t. A severed tree branch, perhaps a foot-long, was slick with moisture and bark came away from it in shards when she picked it up. At its core, it was still solid enough to be used as a club.
The forest was eerily quiet now. She sat against the tree, waiting to make her final, and most likely, futile stand. She no longer heard any movement. The rain drumming against the leaves was the only noise. She was shaking with a combination of fear, the cold, and shock from her ankle that served to cause an unending shudder that racked her body.
Finally she saw something. It was movement dead ahead that was little more than shadows. Two distinct shadows. Although she could make out little else. Someone else was having a much easier time.
“There she is,” came the voice. It was smooth, resonant and very familiar, even though she couldn’t quite nail it down. She recognized the clipped accent but not quite the tone. It was as though someone was impersonating someone that she knew. Someone with an English accent.
Another voice in the darkness sighed. “It’s all too easy,” it said and again the sense of deja vu was uncanny. This time, the voice was even more familiar, accented as if it weren’t the language that this man had grown up with.
Tennyson hefted her makeshift club. “Stay back,” she shouted, surprising herself with how confident and assertive that she sounded.
The two nebulous pursuers chuckled. “It will take more than a stick to stop us,” said the second man. “Do you want her or can I?”
Cold sweat trickled down her spine. Despite the rain, Tennyson’s mouth was as dry as a desert. Keeping the club ready, she patted the ground around her with her left hand, searching for another weapon, another branch, a rock, anything. There was nothing.
“Oh, you can have her,” said the Englishman. “I had my fun with Crewman Kelly after all.” They both chuckled.
“I’m warning you. I’ll kill anyone who puts their bastard hands on me.”
“You talk tough,” said the English voice,” but you’re shaking like a leaf.”
How the hell can they see so well?, Tennyson asked herself.
Now the two pursuers stepped forward into a faint pool of light that illuminated the ground before her. “You’re terrified,” said the Englishman. “That’s good. It adds to the fun.”
His companion chuckled.
Despite the familiarity of the Englishman’s voice, his face was less recognizable. He was Human, perhaps in his late twenties. Although the light was so bad that it was difficult to tell. He was tall with luxuriant black hair parted on the left side. His eyes were pale, almost luminescent in the dark. There was something about his eyes but she still couldn’t put her finger on it.
Her eyes darted to his companion and she recognized him almost immediately despite the fact that he was looking, about ten years younger than when she had seen him, a few short months ago. He was the shorter of the two people. His features were Asian in origin and he had a vicious smile on his lips. He was clean-shaven and he was patently too young.
Still, there was no doubt.
“Masafumi?”
He gave her an exaggerated bow and laughed. It was the cold sound of a predator toying with its prey.
Realizing the identity of one man, she looked back towards the other. Now she re-evaluated his face, taking into account that he might be younger than she remembered. She focused on the eyes, trying to see them in isolation before matching them to his familiar and yet unfamiliar voice.
When her brain made the connection, she verbalized it again, unable to stop herself. “Huntington?”
He smiled and shook his head as though he was amused. “It’s always nice when the crew recognizes their senior officers,” he said. Now that she had made the connection, it was so obvious. He even stood like Huntington. He seemed to be relaxed and yet primed for action at the same time.
“I’m bored now,” the young Masafumi said and he took several steps forward.
Tennyson’s mind was spinning. She still didn’t know what planet that she was on and now she was being confronted by two men that she knew well. Liz gazed up into Masafumi’s face when he came towards her, making her tighten her grip on her clum.
“What do you want?”
Masafumi stopped, a mixture of amusement and confusion on his face. “What do I want?,” he asked her. “Isn’t it obvious?” His smile widened and his lips drew apart. Despite what she had seen, Tennyson’s mind wasn’t still quite open to the impossible and she couldn’t accept the twin fangs that glinted in the feeble glow.
“I want to feed,” he said and suddenly the walls separating reality from mythology in her brain shattered and she knew, with absolute certainty, what he was.
That was when she screamed.
Episode Twenty-Four - ‘Under the Rainbow’
By Jack Elmlinger
Prologue
Survival training forms an ongoing syllabus at Starfleet Academy for the duration of a cadet’s academic life. In the first year alone, cadets typically spend two weeks in Malaysia being trained in jungle survival and a further three weeks in Alaska enduring arctic conditions.
In a cadet’s second year, they are expected to survive in small groups for two weeks in the harsh deserts of Vulcan. After this, the environments only get tougher.
It isn’t just the natural environments that the students learn to survive but oftentimes, it is the other sentient lifeforms. Finding themselves trapped behind enemy lines is a possibility that any Starfleet officers might face. So escape and evasion techniques form a core part of their ongoing training. Cadets are trained to hide. How to throw pursuers off of them scent and even how to turn the tables on them.
Right now, the only escape and evasion technique that Lieutenant Liz Tennyson could focus on was the simplest of all.
She ran.
It was nighttime. At least, she thought it was, but there was still enough faint light filtering through the treetops to illuminate her path. Still, it was hardly clear ground and on several occasions, it was only luck that stopped her from catching her foot on a root or a fallen tree limb and ending her flight.
Now, something other than running, came back to her. As she ducked between two trees, she remembered her second year at the Academy. A one day course on the Yorkshire moors led by one Lieutenant Huntington. She had never mentioned it to him and he hadn’t mentioned it to her. To be honest, she would have been surprised if he had remembered her specifically. He must have trained hundreds of young wannabe Starfleet officers and it had been ten years before they served together aboard the Testudo. Her memories of that day were flimsy. She remembered a cold wind and driving rain. More running from faceless pursuers, but she also remembered something that Huntington had said.
“It doesn’t matter how fit you are. How intelligent that you are or how much that you’ve trained. It always comes down to luck.”
Luck was with her now but she couldn’t count on it forever and she knew it. She had to come up with a better plan than simply running. For a start, she had no idea where this forest was or how large of an area that it covered. For all that she knew, she and the others were being driven into an ambush.
Because she wasn’t alone. She hadn’t seen more than a glimpse of the people alongside her in the darkness but it was enough to establish two things. They seemed to be Human and they were undoubtedly running in fear of their lives. She had no idea who their pursuers were, although she couldn’t shake the image of Charlton Heston and his crew being chased by intelligent apes riding on horseback.
Suddenly she took the wrong path and blundered into a low-lying branch. Her momentum carried her through but sharp twigs bit into her face, leaving stinging scratches across both of her cheeks. Strangely, she almost welcomed them. She kept going though, the sound of movement close behind her, spurring her to increase her speed despite reaching the limits of her physical endurance.
She had spent five months, lying on a hospital bed and, despite a rigorous training regimen instituted by Doctor Cassia Lombardi at the insistence of the Captain. She was still nowhere near as far as she once had been. Her legs grew heavier with each step and every breath that she took caused her lungs to ache. Her pulse was racing and she dared not to even contemplate how fast her heart was beating.
Still she moved, driven by fear and adrenaline with the stone cold certainty that she wouldn’t never give up or roll over again.
Suddenly she heard a nose to her left. The sound of a falling person could be heard and it was followed by the sound of several creatures pouncing on the prone target. She didn’t even slow down, not even when she heard a woman’s scream echo out into the night, sending a shiver of fear and a memory of her own past terror to stab into her heart. The tactical side of her brain almost welcomed the scream. The pursuers might have been slowed down by the kill and that would give her vital seconds in her bid to escape.
Despite her revulsion at this thought, Tennyson’s mind repeated a simple mantra to keep her going. ‘Sooner her than me. Sooner her than me. Sooner her than me.’
Suddenly there was a new sound. It came from above as though hundreds of leaves were being struck at once. When the first raindrops began to pummel her head, she was grateful when they cooled her fevered brow.
It didn’t last.
The downpour was a heavy one and her uniform was rapidly getting soaked and it was slowing her down. At least, she was glad that her hair was cut short now. If it was as long as it had once been, she had no doubt that it would be plastered over her eyes and impeding her vision by now.
Light!
Up ahead, she now saw lights through the trees. Part of her brain buzzed her with a warning but she ignored it. She couldn’t run forever and, while there was every chance that the lights represented the enemy, there was hope that they meant friends.
Distracted by the lights, Tennyson got no more than two more steps before she fell. The footing had been perilous enough as it was but now the rainwater had made it even harder and her left foot slipped on a clump of sodden leaves. She tried to keep going, to make it through the trip but it was no use. Her right foot caught an exposed and gnarled root and she fell forward with her right ankle audibly snapping when she did.
Tears clouded her eyes when she hit the forest floor face first. The pain was intense and another person might have passed out with no shame attached. However, Liz Tennyson had survived worse and she knew that she would survive this.
Even if only for a few more seconds.
Despite a combination of tears and rain blurring her eyes, she saw a thick tree trunk, a few meters ahead of her. The trunk was all that she saw now and all that she cared about. Her only objective was to reach it. Using her hands and her left foot, she clawed her way through the mud and detritus and towards the tree.
Streaked in mud and water, she made it, hauling herself up just enough to fall back against the tree in a sitting position. Her chest was heaving from the effort and a strangled sob escaped her lips when another jolt of pain echoed out from her ankle.
The ground that she sat on was soft and already she had sunk a few centimeters into the mud. She didn’t care. Her entire body was almost thick in mud now and her uniform was unrecognizable. Short as it was, her hair was now plastered against her forehead and the pointed clumps of strawberry-blonde hair served only to funnel more water down her face. With her left hand, she swept her hand back while her right hand fumbled in the mud by her side while she glanced furiously around, searching. She found what she was looking for, after a few seconds. Her eyes missed it but her touch didn’t. A severed tree branch, perhaps a foot-long, was slick with moisture and bark came away from it in shards when she picked it up. At its core, it was still solid enough to be used as a club.
The forest was eerily quiet now. She sat against the tree, waiting to make her final, and most likely, futile stand. She no longer heard any movement. The rain drumming against the leaves was the only noise. She was shaking with a combination of fear, the cold, and shock from her ankle that served to cause an unending shudder that racked her body.
Finally she saw something. It was movement dead ahead that was little more than shadows. Two distinct shadows. Although she could make out little else. Someone else was having a much easier time.
“There she is,” came the voice. It was smooth, resonant and very familiar, even though she couldn’t quite nail it down. She recognized the clipped accent but not quite the tone. It was as though someone was impersonating someone that she knew. Someone with an English accent.
Another voice in the darkness sighed. “It’s all too easy,” it said and again the sense of deja vu was uncanny. This time, the voice was even more familiar, accented as if it weren’t the language that this man had grown up with.
Tennyson hefted her makeshift club. “Stay back,” she shouted, surprising herself with how confident and assertive that she sounded.
The two nebulous pursuers chuckled. “It will take more than a stick to stop us,” said the second man. “Do you want her or can I?”
Cold sweat trickled down her spine. Despite the rain, Tennyson’s mouth was as dry as a desert. Keeping the club ready, she patted the ground around her with her left hand, searching for another weapon, another branch, a rock, anything. There was nothing.
“Oh, you can have her,” said the Englishman. “I had my fun with Crewman Kelly after all.” They both chuckled.
“I’m warning you. I’ll kill anyone who puts their bastard hands on me.”
“You talk tough,” said the English voice,” but you’re shaking like a leaf.”
How the hell can they see so well?, Tennyson asked herself.
Now the two pursuers stepped forward into a faint pool of light that illuminated the ground before her. “You’re terrified,” said the Englishman. “That’s good. It adds to the fun.”
His companion chuckled.
Despite the familiarity of the Englishman’s voice, his face was less recognizable. He was Human, perhaps in his late twenties. Although the light was so bad that it was difficult to tell. He was tall with luxuriant black hair parted on the left side. His eyes were pale, almost luminescent in the dark. There was something about his eyes but she still couldn’t put her finger on it.
Her eyes darted to his companion and she recognized him almost immediately despite the fact that he was looking, about ten years younger than when she had seen him, a few short months ago. He was the shorter of the two people. His features were Asian in origin and he had a vicious smile on his lips. He was clean-shaven and he was patently too young.
Still, there was no doubt.
“Masafumi?”
He gave her an exaggerated bow and laughed. It was the cold sound of a predator toying with its prey.
Realizing the identity of one man, she looked back towards the other. Now she re-evaluated his face, taking into account that he might be younger than she remembered. She focused on the eyes, trying to see them in isolation before matching them to his familiar and yet unfamiliar voice.
When her brain made the connection, she verbalized it again, unable to stop herself. “Huntington?”
He smiled and shook his head as though he was amused. “It’s always nice when the crew recognizes their senior officers,” he said. Now that she had made the connection, it was so obvious. He even stood like Huntington. He seemed to be relaxed and yet primed for action at the same time.
“I’m bored now,” the young Masafumi said and he took several steps forward.
Tennyson’s mind was spinning. She still didn’t know what planet that she was on and now she was being confronted by two men that she knew well. Liz gazed up into Masafumi’s face when he came towards her, making her tighten her grip on her clum.
“What do you want?”
Masafumi stopped, a mixture of amusement and confusion on his face. “What do I want?,” he asked her. “Isn’t it obvious?” His smile widened and his lips drew apart. Despite what she had seen, Tennyson’s mind wasn’t still quite open to the impossible and she couldn’t accept the twin fangs that glinted in the feeble glow.
“I want to feed,” he said and suddenly the walls separating reality from mythology in her brain shattered and she knew, with absolute certainty, what he was.
That was when she screamed.
Chapter One
Several hours earlier…
Liz Tennyson sighed when she examined her reflection in the mirror. She didn’t like to do it but Doctor Durant had insisted that she perform this ritual, every day, without fail. It wasn’t as though he would know if she didn’t. He was a lot of lightyears away after all but for all of his patronizing, he had been a rock that she had leaned on so much since the attack. A few minutes of feeling stupid every day was a small price to pay for that.
“I’m a good person,” she said to herself, her voice flat. “I didn’t deserve what happened to me and I won’t let it destroy the beautiful person that I am.” The first few times that she had said it, she had found it amusing. Now it was a daily penance that she got out of the way as quickly as possible. A routine chore like brushing her teeth.
As the thought struck her, she lifted her toothbrush and began to scour her teeth. It wasn’t that they needed it but it had become part of the daily ritual - the speech and then the teeth. She put the toothbrush down and rinsed it, spitting water back into the basin. Looking up again, she examined her face.
Despite her own modesty, she knew that she was pretty, not sexy or drop dead gorgeous by any means but pretty. Even cut short and spiky, her strawberry-blonde hair was her best feature. Her eyes came next, large and round, bulging slightly in a way that was attractive once she got past puberty which led to all sorts of name calling.
Froggy, Frog Face, or just plain Frog.
Children were cruel but they were seldom original. Her skin was smooth and unblemished aside from a grouping of freckles that ran across the bridge of her nose.
She was halfway through her daily ritual now. The speech and her teeth were done. It was now time for the next step. She reached down and picked up another item. Looking herself dead in the eyes, she slashed tiny strokes across her left cheek with the scalpel, three times. She paused after the third cut, her hand shaking now from the pain and her face stinging while the cuts wept blood. Her eyes stung as well but from tears. Dropping the bloody scalpel into the basin, she continued to look at herself.
She was pretty.
But she didn’t want to be.
She didn’t ever want another man to find her attractive and she didn’t ever want another man to do to her what Lieutenant Bill Reeves had done to her, seven months ago, when he had forced his way into her quarters aboard the Testudo. It would take much more than a positive little speech to ever erase the memory of that.
Cutting herself helped. Despite the pain, it made her feel better, uglier, and safer. The only unfortunate thing was that she had to keep it a secret from the rest of the Wyoming’s crew, even for her Captain. They wouldn’t understand and all too soon, she would find herself shunted back to the Durant Institute. She wouldn’t allow that. Not while Isabel Cardonez, Valian Kandro and the rest of the Testudo crew were missing out here in Sector 29004.
This had to be her secret.
So she reached down and picked up another item to commence the first part of her routine. Speech, teeth, cuts, and regeneration. She ran the dermal regenerator over her cheek several times until the cuts had faded to nothingness in a way that her memory of being raped never would. Now to all of the world, she looked perfectly normal. Despite the fact that her act of vandalism against her own face wasn’t permanent, she still felt better for it, even if the boost was only temporary.
She was strong now. She could cope with whatever the day threw at her. However, tomorrow, she would be back here in front of the mirror.
Speech, teeth, cuts, and regeneration.
It was surprising the things that one took comfort in.
****
Liz left her quarters, a minute later, and she headed for the Transporter Room, knowing that it wouldn’t take her long to reach it. The USS Wyoming was a Mediterranean-class starship that was under two hundred meters long and configured primarily as a transport ship these days. She had ten decks but most of her internal mass was taken up with cargo bays.
Most of the crew quarters were on Deck Two and Tennyson’s were no exception. The Transporter Room was on Deck Three and it was actually quicker to take a Jefferies Tube than the turbolift. It was quicker but less convenient and so Tennyson stopped at the nearest lift and summoned a lift car.
The Wyoming only had a crew of twenty-nine or so. Despite her small size, it was relatively simple to avoid other people as much as possible. Certainly none of the ship’s Engineering staff ever sought Tennyson out unless they had to. Only the unlucky, the uninspired, or the downright useless Starfleet officers ended up on a glorified freighter and the crew of the Wyoming was no exception. The crew seemed to be evenly split down between the three types and to her horror, her Engineering crew seemed to mainly be from the third group: useless.
Oh, no, not that they thought of themselves in that way. They had actually managed to convince themselves that they did a good job. Well, their idea of a good job and Tennyson’s were poles apart and her exacting standards hadn’t exactly made her popular… and she didn’t mind one bit. She was through with trying to be a nice guy to everyone.
When the lift doors opened and a member of her Engineering team, a PADD in their hand, came out, she was a small bit surprised.
“Ah, Lieutenant. I was just coming to see you,” said Ensign Lokay, a young Gallamite.
“I’m sorry, but I really have to get to the Transporter Room. The Captain and I are beaming down to the planet in a few minutes,” she replied and she went to walk around her.
Lokay moved to block her path. “I’m sorry, Lieutenant but it’s important,” she said and Tennyson watched with frustration when the doors closed and the turbolift headed off on its travels without her.
Tennyson sighed, glaring at the young woman. It seemed to have no impact on her. Then again, she supposed that when you had a transparent skull and a brain twice the size of everyone else’s, you got used to people staring at you.
“Okay, you’ve got one minute,” she said, letting every punch of impatience shine into her voice.
“Thank you,” Lokay said, smiling as she handed over her PADD. “I’ve detected some slightly odd readings emanating from the port nacelle.”
Tennyson took the PADD from her and scanned the information contained on it. She frowned. Lokay was right. There was a small variance in the frequency of the last warp field being generated and her frown deepened. It went beyond that. There was actually a small power surge in the port nacelle, even when both of the nacelles were at rest.
“I’ve never seen anything like it before,” Lokay said and at the sound of her voice, Tennyson looked up. The young Gallamite looked petrified and obviously afraid that she had shown herself up in front of her superior officer who was doubtlessly going to explain that such a fluctuation was an everyday occurrence and that she was an idiot for not knowing that.
The relief on the girl’s face was obvious when she replied,” Actually, neither have I.”
“Really? Wow. I kind of expected it to be something routine.”
Tennyson shrugged. “Well, just because I’ve never seen it before doesn’t mean that it’s anything out of the ordinary. Most ships have a quirk or two. It doesn’t seem to be anything dangerous because the warp drive is working just fine.” She smiled but inwardly she was slightly concerned. What she had said was the truth but even the quirkiest of quirks were understandable. The energy pattern coming off of the port nacelle was like nothing that she had ever seen before and she resolved to look into it when she returned from the planet’s surface.
Tennyson had paused for just a second or two too long while she considered this and Lokay took this as a bad sign. “I was wrong to bring this to you, wasn’t I?”
Tennyson smiled. “No, you weren’t,” she said with a shake of her head. “I was just thinking that when I get back, we should look into it.”
Lokay couldn’t have looked to be more relieved. “Okay,” she agreed with a nod.
“Now then, I really do have to go to the Transporter Room. So, if you don’t mind?”
“Oh, sorry,” Lokay said and moved to one side.
Tennyson pushed the call button again. When the turbolift doors opened, she made to step inside but she stopped on the threshold, her presence keeping the doors from closing again. She looked back and saw that Lokay was still standing there, waiting to be dismissed.
“Ensign, I might have given the impression over the last few weeks that I think that most of the engineering staff is stupid.”
Lokay shook her head. “No, sir. You’ve never given that impression.” Her reply was far too fast in coming and not remotely convincing.
Tennyson smiled again and said,” You’re a terrible liar, Ensign.” Lokay furtively looked downward as though not to meet her questioning gaze. “The thing is,” she continued,” I might have been wrong, at least, regarding one member of my team.” At this announcement, Lokay looked up, failing miserably to keep the thrilled look off of her face.
“Keep up the good work.” Liz now stepped fully into the lift. As the doors closed, she still saw the look of unabashed pride in the young woman’s face.
****
Captain Miguel Cardonez paced the confines of the Wyoming’s sole transporter room like a caged tiger.
“Captain, they’re signaling again,” Crewman Jasmine Tali said from behind the control console. “They want to know where you are.”
Miguel stopped pacing and looked over at the young woman. “Tell them that we’ll be along shortly but at present, our transporter is playing up,” he said with a smile while running a hand through his snow-white hair.
“But it isn’t?”
Miguel sighed. “You know that and I know that, but they don’t know that.”
“Good point,” she replied.
Miguel began to pace again, slapping his combadge. “Computer, locate Lieutenant Tennyson.”
Almost as soon as he finished submitting the question, the doors slid open and Tennyson quickly entered, just in time to hear the computer say,” Lieutenant Tennyson is in the Transporter Room.”
Tennyson suppressed a giggle. “You timed that on purpose,” said Miguel.
“I wish. I’m sorry that I was late. I just jumped by one of my engineers on my way to the turbolift.”
Miguel gestured towards the pads on the transporter platform and they both moved to stand on them. “Anything serious?”
Tennyson shook her head. “Nothing that can’t wait.”
“Fair enough.” Miguel looked over at Tali. “Crewman, energize.”
****
A second later and both officers materialized on a stone patio bordering a lavish-looking palace. Most of the space was taken up with a large and inviting pool. It wasn’t for the first time that Miguel wished that the Wyoming had a holodeck so he could go swimming. At the age of seventy-three, swimming was pretty much the only exercise that he got anymore and in the last few weeks, he had really started to miss it. His joints were giving him grief and he found that he could no longer stand for long periods of time. His wife and Chief Medical Officer, Doctor Cassia Lombardi had prescribed an analgesic to help but it didn’t fully mask his discomfort. For a man who had always been active, it was disquieting to discover that age was finally catching up with him in a big way.
Not that he was going to give up.
He had come out of semi-retirement to find his daughter and her ship. He was going to do that, no matter the cost.
“Nice pool,” said Tennyson.
“I was just thinking the same thing,” he said, shifting his gaze to the edge of the patio where a low wall separated the ground that they stood on from the cliff edge. In the distance lay a large city filled with a multitude of golden spires and pale multi-colored domes. The sky above the city was a bright and cloudless blue. “Nice view too.”
“Your appreciation is welcome, Captain Cardonez,” came a voice from their left side. Both of them turned to see a giant of a man walking towards them.
Miguel hadn’t realized that he was so large when he had spoken to him on the viewscreen, a few hours earlier just after the Wyoming had entered Zelket space. Now he guessed his height to be over seven feet. Like all Zelkets, his skin was bronze and his head was hairless except for white bone structures running over his skull and beneath his eyes. His eyes were a bright red and his face wore a friendly smile, despite the rows of small razor-sharp teeth on view.
Miguel strode forward to him halfway and reached out his hand. “Grand Lan’Yiet,” he said, using the man’s official title. “It is a pleasure to meet you in person.”
The Grand Lan’Yiet took his hand and shook it vigorously and Miguel thought that his grip felt like rock. “Please, Captain. There is no need for formality among old friends. You may call me Arlam-Nevu.” His voice was soft and completely at odds with his appearance.
Miguel smiled. “You’ll have to forgive me, Arlam-Nevu. I am somewhat old and my memory isn’t what it once was. Perhaps I have forgotten our prior meetings.”
Arlam-Nevu laughed with a melodic tone that was strangely soothing. “Forgive me, Captain, but it is our custom that once one counts a person as a friend. Then that person’s family are accorded the same privilege. Since I would count your daughter as a friend, it follows that I must count you as one as well.”
“An agreeable custom, but please, call me Miguel.”
“Miguel,” repeated Arlam-Nevu, rolling the sound around in his mouth as though he was testing the word out. “And this is?” He was gesturing towards Tennyson.
“This is Lieutenant Elizabeth Tennyson, my First Officer and Chief Engineer.”
Tennyson stepped forward and she extended her own hand. “Please call me Liz.”
Arlam-Nevu smiled and shook her hand. As their fingers touched, he frowned, ever so slightly.
She saw this and then their handshake broke, she endeavored to counter the uncomfortable silence that had suddenly descended upon them. “Your palace is wonderful,” she said, gesturing to the edifice behind them. “I didn’t get to see this place the last time that the Testudo was here but the Captain said that the attackers made one hell of a mess out of it.” She was referring to the time, almost a year ago, when the Zelket home world of Jor'Ka'Hail had been attacked by the mysterious force that seemed to covet Sector 29004.
“This palace is as much of a temple to the Spirit Web as it is a home for myself. As such it was given priority when the rebuilding work began. You were a member of Testudo’s crew?”
Tennyson nodded. “I was her Chief Engineer at the time.”
“You aren’t now?,” Arlam-Nevu asked her. His tone was nothing but pleasant but there was the hint of a question in his voice.
It was a question that she didn’t want to fully answer. “I had to take some leave,” she said, hoping to leave it at that.
Arlam-Nevu smiled. “And now you travel again to the home of the Zelket and again you serve a Captain named Cardonez. And aboard the very ship that was the first to visit us forty cycles ago. Almost twenty-seven of your years. The Universe’s need for symmetry never ceases to inspire me.”
“After fifty-five years in Starfleet,” said Miguel,” I’m tempted to agree with you.”
“Why does the Spirit Web draw you here?”
Miguel paused for a moment. Tennyson had briefed him on the Zelket region and that they abhorred warp travel and they believed that their Gods lived in subspace but he didn’t want to offend them. Not when he needed any help that they could give him. “It is nothing as enlightened that brings us here.”
Suddenly the Zelket leader jerked his gaze towards Liz. “You look for something.” It was a question but merely a statement of face.
She was taken aback. “Y-yes, we do,” she stammered.
“We’re looking for the USS Testudo,” said Miguel. “She’s missing.”
Arlam-Nevu couldn’t have faked the look of surprise on his face. “
“You didn’t know?,” asked Tennyson.
The Zelket leader shook his head.
“Typical,” Liz said, glancing at Miguel. “Starfleet said that they looked extensively for her but they didn’t even speak to the Zelket.”
“Starfleet seems to not wish for our friendship anymore,” said Arlam-Nevu.
“We were wondering about that,” Miguel said. “We encountered buoys designating this system off limits for Federation vessels. My Second Officer almost mutinied when I brought us here.”
Arlam-Nevu merely smiled, enigmatically.
“Those buoys came after Testudo departed last year,” said Tennyson. “The Captain would never tell anyone why though.”
Miguel looked at Arlam-Nevu with an eyebrow raised questioningly.
“It’s not something that I can discuss as it pertains to Zelket security. In addition, your daughter made it clear that it was quite a secretive matter. Even within the Federation.”
“I won’t push any further but you need to answer one question for me. Did whatever it is have anything to do with the disappearance of the Testudo?”
Arlam-Nevu shook his head. “The last time that we saw Testudo was a year ago when they helped us fight off the invaders. We haven’t had any contact with them since.”
“That’s it, then. We can’t afford to spend any more time looking and we’ve spoken to everyone.”
Tennyson looked at him. He was a vital man who nonetheless suddenly looked his age when hope drained out of him.
“We thought that it was some kind of anomaly or dangerous technology,” he said, talking to Arlam-Nevu and yet not really talking to anyone.
“We have to move on to Starbase One-Four-Eight,” Tennyson explained. “We only got the ship because she was heading this way anyway but we didn’t have very long to spend looking. We tried the colony on Malthea II and visited every world that we could. Hell, we even talked to the Throndrix.”
“Ah, yes, we’ve met with one of their ships. Unenlightened creatures. Even more so than most races,” Arlam-Nevu said without a hint of vindictiveness.
“I know,” Liz said. “For a while, they wanted to steal our ship but a few photon torpedoes soon changed their mind.”
“They arrived here about four months ago. They claimed that the fourth planet in our system, Mantano, was their new home.” Arlam-Nevu chuckled and it sounded like a soft avalanche in his throat. “Needless to say, we quickly saw them off.”
While they were talking, Miguel had moved towards the low wall. He stood there now, his hands on top of the wall while he leaned against it, looking out at the vista before him.
“Grand Lan’Yiet, would you excuse me for a moment?”
Arlam-Nevu glanced at Miguel. “Of course,” he said with a gracious nod.
“Thanks,” Tennyson said softly and she walked over to take a position next to her Captain. “How are you doing?”
Miguel didn’t respond for a few seconds and when he did, he turned his head and she wasn’t surprised to see that his eyes were red-rimmed. “Not so good,” he told her. “I think that I pinned a lot of hope on the Zelkets knowing something.”
“He could be lying,” she replied, lowering her voice.
Miguel shook his head. “No, I believe him when he says that he knows nothing. Why should he lie? You told me yourself that the Zelket have some kind of powerful defense mechanism. If they were responsible, he knows that we couldn’t touch them for it.” He took a deep breath of air. “Besides, he comes across well. I think that we can trust him.”
Tennyson cast a glance back. Their host was standing in the same spot and he bowed his head again when their eyes met. She returned the favor before returning her gaze to Miguel. “What do we do now?”
Miguel shook his head sadly. “I honestly don’t know. We’re due at Starbase in a little over a week and it’ll take us seven days to get there at maximum warp as it is. We can afford maybe another twenty-four hours. It’s not enough to do anything.”
“There are ways,” said Tennyson. “Those engines aren’t in that great of shape. In fact, they might just stop working altogether.” Then she smiled at this recommendation.
Miguel shook his head once more with a sad smile now on his lips. “No, Liz. We’ve pushed things too much as it is and the crew has followed us up to a point. If we try to stretch out our journey much more, then Lieutenant Bressi will really lead a mutiny.”
“Ah, screw him,” she replied. “It’s not like either of us have much of a Starfleet career left anyway.”
“I might not but you do.”
It was now her turn to shake her head. “I don’t think so. This uniform doesn’t fit as well as it once did.” She paused when her mouth suddenly dried up. She was about to tell him everything. About how she still had nightmares. About how she craved the safe confines of her room at the Durant Institute or even how she scarred herself every day. It no longer seemed to matter and she was tired of the lies and the false facade. She was sorry for Miguel’s pain because she felt it too but suddenly she didn’t see why he should be the one to fall apart. If anyone was going to fall apart, then they should all do it. Miguel, her, and even Natalia Huntington up on the Wyoming.
Miguel observed her hesitation but he misread it. “You don’t really think that way. Starfleet is in your blood in the same way that it’s in mine. The same way that it’s in Isabel’s or Valian’s or pretty much anyone else on Testudo.” He took another deep breath and straightened up. “It’s over. We gave it a good shout but at the end of the day, maybe Janeway and all of the others were right. Maybe Testudo and the Lusitania were just destroyed.” His voice cracked slightly when he finished his sentence.
So, that’s it then, thought Tennyson. She was relieved in a way that she could stop pretending that everything was all right and that Testudo had merely been hauled thousands of lightyears into the Delta Quadrant like Voyager had been.
“Lightning really doesn’t strike twice,” she muttered.
“Do you believe?”
The sound of Arlam-Nevu’s voice so close behind them caused them both to jump and turn around quickly to face him. He was standing less than a meter away from them with the same serene smile on his face. His hands were still clasped together in front of him. Neither of them had heard him or even sensed him more.
“What?,” asked Tennyson.
“Do you believe?,” he repeated. “Do you believe in the Universe? Do you believe in things beyond the Universe?” He sighed. “Do you believe that a higher power guides us?”
“You mean the Spirit Web.”
“In part, yes,” replied Arlam-Nevu. “Although there are many such guiding hands. We of the Zelket respect each and every one.” He paused and asked again,” Do you believe?”
“I do,” Miguel said without a hint of hesitation in his voice. “It’s not fashionable to believe in such things anymore but my mother was a superstitious woman and I was raised a good Catholic boy.”
Arlam-Nevu was still smiling but Tennyson detected a hint of regret there now. “And what about you, Lieutenant?”
“I believe in my friends,” she replied, reaching out and taking Miguel’s hand in hers. “I believe in science and I believe in myself. As for any other kind of mumbo-jumbo.” She glanced at her Captain. “I’m sorry.” Then she quickly looked back at their host. “As for any other kind of mumbo-jumbo… Well, as a famous man once said,” ‘There’s no all-powerful force guiding my destiny’.”
Arlam-Nevu’s smile lit up once more. “It is fortunate that you do not believe. Because of that, I might be able to help you.”
“What are you talking about?,” asked Miguel. “Help us how?”
Arlam-Nevu shook his head. “I cannot help both of you. Only her.” He pointed towards Tennyson.
“Me?”
“Yes,” he replied, his tone never wavering from complete serenity. “You. Now, please. IF you wish to try and find your friends, we must go now.”
“Go? Where?,” asked Tennyson.
The leader of the Zelket merely smiled his Mona Lisa smile and walked away.
Several hours earlier…
Liz Tennyson sighed when she examined her reflection in the mirror. She didn’t like to do it but Doctor Durant had insisted that she perform this ritual, every day, without fail. It wasn’t as though he would know if she didn’t. He was a lot of lightyears away after all but for all of his patronizing, he had been a rock that she had leaned on so much since the attack. A few minutes of feeling stupid every day was a small price to pay for that.
“I’m a good person,” she said to herself, her voice flat. “I didn’t deserve what happened to me and I won’t let it destroy the beautiful person that I am.” The first few times that she had said it, she had found it amusing. Now it was a daily penance that she got out of the way as quickly as possible. A routine chore like brushing her teeth.
As the thought struck her, she lifted her toothbrush and began to scour her teeth. It wasn’t that they needed it but it had become part of the daily ritual - the speech and then the teeth. She put the toothbrush down and rinsed it, spitting water back into the basin. Looking up again, she examined her face.
Despite her own modesty, she knew that she was pretty, not sexy or drop dead gorgeous by any means but pretty. Even cut short and spiky, her strawberry-blonde hair was her best feature. Her eyes came next, large and round, bulging slightly in a way that was attractive once she got past puberty which led to all sorts of name calling.
Froggy, Frog Face, or just plain Frog.
Children were cruel but they were seldom original. Her skin was smooth and unblemished aside from a grouping of freckles that ran across the bridge of her nose.
She was halfway through her daily ritual now. The speech and her teeth were done. It was now time for the next step. She reached down and picked up another item. Looking herself dead in the eyes, she slashed tiny strokes across her left cheek with the scalpel, three times. She paused after the third cut, her hand shaking now from the pain and her face stinging while the cuts wept blood. Her eyes stung as well but from tears. Dropping the bloody scalpel into the basin, she continued to look at herself.
She was pretty.
But she didn’t want to be.
She didn’t ever want another man to find her attractive and she didn’t ever want another man to do to her what Lieutenant Bill Reeves had done to her, seven months ago, when he had forced his way into her quarters aboard the Testudo. It would take much more than a positive little speech to ever erase the memory of that.
Cutting herself helped. Despite the pain, it made her feel better, uglier, and safer. The only unfortunate thing was that she had to keep it a secret from the rest of the Wyoming’s crew, even for her Captain. They wouldn’t understand and all too soon, she would find herself shunted back to the Durant Institute. She wouldn’t allow that. Not while Isabel Cardonez, Valian Kandro and the rest of the Testudo crew were missing out here in Sector 29004.
This had to be her secret.
So she reached down and picked up another item to commence the first part of her routine. Speech, teeth, cuts, and regeneration. She ran the dermal regenerator over her cheek several times until the cuts had faded to nothingness in a way that her memory of being raped never would. Now to all of the world, she looked perfectly normal. Despite the fact that her act of vandalism against her own face wasn’t permanent, she still felt better for it, even if the boost was only temporary.
She was strong now. She could cope with whatever the day threw at her. However, tomorrow, she would be back here in front of the mirror.
Speech, teeth, cuts, and regeneration.
It was surprising the things that one took comfort in.
****
Liz left her quarters, a minute later, and she headed for the Transporter Room, knowing that it wouldn’t take her long to reach it. The USS Wyoming was a Mediterranean-class starship that was under two hundred meters long and configured primarily as a transport ship these days. She had ten decks but most of her internal mass was taken up with cargo bays.
Most of the crew quarters were on Deck Two and Tennyson’s were no exception. The Transporter Room was on Deck Three and it was actually quicker to take a Jefferies Tube than the turbolift. It was quicker but less convenient and so Tennyson stopped at the nearest lift and summoned a lift car.
The Wyoming only had a crew of twenty-nine or so. Despite her small size, it was relatively simple to avoid other people as much as possible. Certainly none of the ship’s Engineering staff ever sought Tennyson out unless they had to. Only the unlucky, the uninspired, or the downright useless Starfleet officers ended up on a glorified freighter and the crew of the Wyoming was no exception. The crew seemed to be evenly split down between the three types and to her horror, her Engineering crew seemed to mainly be from the third group: useless.
Oh, no, not that they thought of themselves in that way. They had actually managed to convince themselves that they did a good job. Well, their idea of a good job and Tennyson’s were poles apart and her exacting standards hadn’t exactly made her popular… and she didn’t mind one bit. She was through with trying to be a nice guy to everyone.
When the lift doors opened and a member of her Engineering team, a PADD in their hand, came out, she was a small bit surprised.
“Ah, Lieutenant. I was just coming to see you,” said Ensign Lokay, a young Gallamite.
“I’m sorry, but I really have to get to the Transporter Room. The Captain and I are beaming down to the planet in a few minutes,” she replied and she went to walk around her.
Lokay moved to block her path. “I’m sorry, Lieutenant but it’s important,” she said and Tennyson watched with frustration when the doors closed and the turbolift headed off on its travels without her.
Tennyson sighed, glaring at the young woman. It seemed to have no impact on her. Then again, she supposed that when you had a transparent skull and a brain twice the size of everyone else’s, you got used to people staring at you.
“Okay, you’ve got one minute,” she said, letting every punch of impatience shine into her voice.
“Thank you,” Lokay said, smiling as she handed over her PADD. “I’ve detected some slightly odd readings emanating from the port nacelle.”
Tennyson took the PADD from her and scanned the information contained on it. She frowned. Lokay was right. There was a small variance in the frequency of the last warp field being generated and her frown deepened. It went beyond that. There was actually a small power surge in the port nacelle, even when both of the nacelles were at rest.
“I’ve never seen anything like it before,” Lokay said and at the sound of her voice, Tennyson looked up. The young Gallamite looked petrified and obviously afraid that she had shown herself up in front of her superior officer who was doubtlessly going to explain that such a fluctuation was an everyday occurrence and that she was an idiot for not knowing that.
The relief on the girl’s face was obvious when she replied,” Actually, neither have I.”
“Really? Wow. I kind of expected it to be something routine.”
Tennyson shrugged. “Well, just because I’ve never seen it before doesn’t mean that it’s anything out of the ordinary. Most ships have a quirk or two. It doesn’t seem to be anything dangerous because the warp drive is working just fine.” She smiled but inwardly she was slightly concerned. What she had said was the truth but even the quirkiest of quirks were understandable. The energy pattern coming off of the port nacelle was like nothing that she had ever seen before and she resolved to look into it when she returned from the planet’s surface.
Tennyson had paused for just a second or two too long while she considered this and Lokay took this as a bad sign. “I was wrong to bring this to you, wasn’t I?”
Tennyson smiled. “No, you weren’t,” she said with a shake of her head. “I was just thinking that when I get back, we should look into it.”
Lokay couldn’t have looked to be more relieved. “Okay,” she agreed with a nod.
“Now then, I really do have to go to the Transporter Room. So, if you don’t mind?”
“Oh, sorry,” Lokay said and moved to one side.
Tennyson pushed the call button again. When the turbolift doors opened, she made to step inside but she stopped on the threshold, her presence keeping the doors from closing again. She looked back and saw that Lokay was still standing there, waiting to be dismissed.
“Ensign, I might have given the impression over the last few weeks that I think that most of the engineering staff is stupid.”
Lokay shook her head. “No, sir. You’ve never given that impression.” Her reply was far too fast in coming and not remotely convincing.
Tennyson smiled again and said,” You’re a terrible liar, Ensign.” Lokay furtively looked downward as though not to meet her questioning gaze. “The thing is,” she continued,” I might have been wrong, at least, regarding one member of my team.” At this announcement, Lokay looked up, failing miserably to keep the thrilled look off of her face.
“Keep up the good work.” Liz now stepped fully into the lift. As the doors closed, she still saw the look of unabashed pride in the young woman’s face.
****
Captain Miguel Cardonez paced the confines of the Wyoming’s sole transporter room like a caged tiger.
“Captain, they’re signaling again,” Crewman Jasmine Tali said from behind the control console. “They want to know where you are.”
Miguel stopped pacing and looked over at the young woman. “Tell them that we’ll be along shortly but at present, our transporter is playing up,” he said with a smile while running a hand through his snow-white hair.
“But it isn’t?”
Miguel sighed. “You know that and I know that, but they don’t know that.”
“Good point,” she replied.
Miguel began to pace again, slapping his combadge. “Computer, locate Lieutenant Tennyson.”
Almost as soon as he finished submitting the question, the doors slid open and Tennyson quickly entered, just in time to hear the computer say,” Lieutenant Tennyson is in the Transporter Room.”
Tennyson suppressed a giggle. “You timed that on purpose,” said Miguel.
“I wish. I’m sorry that I was late. I just jumped by one of my engineers on my way to the turbolift.”
Miguel gestured towards the pads on the transporter platform and they both moved to stand on them. “Anything serious?”
Tennyson shook her head. “Nothing that can’t wait.”
“Fair enough.” Miguel looked over at Tali. “Crewman, energize.”
****
A second later and both officers materialized on a stone patio bordering a lavish-looking palace. Most of the space was taken up with a large and inviting pool. It wasn’t for the first time that Miguel wished that the Wyoming had a holodeck so he could go swimming. At the age of seventy-three, swimming was pretty much the only exercise that he got anymore and in the last few weeks, he had really started to miss it. His joints were giving him grief and he found that he could no longer stand for long periods of time. His wife and Chief Medical Officer, Doctor Cassia Lombardi had prescribed an analgesic to help but it didn’t fully mask his discomfort. For a man who had always been active, it was disquieting to discover that age was finally catching up with him in a big way.
Not that he was going to give up.
He had come out of semi-retirement to find his daughter and her ship. He was going to do that, no matter the cost.
“Nice pool,” said Tennyson.
“I was just thinking the same thing,” he said, shifting his gaze to the edge of the patio where a low wall separated the ground that they stood on from the cliff edge. In the distance lay a large city filled with a multitude of golden spires and pale multi-colored domes. The sky above the city was a bright and cloudless blue. “Nice view too.”
“Your appreciation is welcome, Captain Cardonez,” came a voice from their left side. Both of them turned to see a giant of a man walking towards them.
Miguel hadn’t realized that he was so large when he had spoken to him on the viewscreen, a few hours earlier just after the Wyoming had entered Zelket space. Now he guessed his height to be over seven feet. Like all Zelkets, his skin was bronze and his head was hairless except for white bone structures running over his skull and beneath his eyes. His eyes were a bright red and his face wore a friendly smile, despite the rows of small razor-sharp teeth on view.
Miguel strode forward to him halfway and reached out his hand. “Grand Lan’Yiet,” he said, using the man’s official title. “It is a pleasure to meet you in person.”
The Grand Lan’Yiet took his hand and shook it vigorously and Miguel thought that his grip felt like rock. “Please, Captain. There is no need for formality among old friends. You may call me Arlam-Nevu.” His voice was soft and completely at odds with his appearance.
Miguel smiled. “You’ll have to forgive me, Arlam-Nevu. I am somewhat old and my memory isn’t what it once was. Perhaps I have forgotten our prior meetings.”
Arlam-Nevu laughed with a melodic tone that was strangely soothing. “Forgive me, Captain, but it is our custom that once one counts a person as a friend. Then that person’s family are accorded the same privilege. Since I would count your daughter as a friend, it follows that I must count you as one as well.”
“An agreeable custom, but please, call me Miguel.”
“Miguel,” repeated Arlam-Nevu, rolling the sound around in his mouth as though he was testing the word out. “And this is?” He was gesturing towards Tennyson.
“This is Lieutenant Elizabeth Tennyson, my First Officer and Chief Engineer.”
Tennyson stepped forward and she extended her own hand. “Please call me Liz.”
Arlam-Nevu smiled and shook her hand. As their fingers touched, he frowned, ever so slightly.
She saw this and then their handshake broke, she endeavored to counter the uncomfortable silence that had suddenly descended upon them. “Your palace is wonderful,” she said, gesturing to the edifice behind them. “I didn’t get to see this place the last time that the Testudo was here but the Captain said that the attackers made one hell of a mess out of it.” She was referring to the time, almost a year ago, when the Zelket home world of Jor'Ka'Hail had been attacked by the mysterious force that seemed to covet Sector 29004.
“This palace is as much of a temple to the Spirit Web as it is a home for myself. As such it was given priority when the rebuilding work began. You were a member of Testudo’s crew?”
Tennyson nodded. “I was her Chief Engineer at the time.”
“You aren’t now?,” Arlam-Nevu asked her. His tone was nothing but pleasant but there was the hint of a question in his voice.
It was a question that she didn’t want to fully answer. “I had to take some leave,” she said, hoping to leave it at that.
Arlam-Nevu smiled. “And now you travel again to the home of the Zelket and again you serve a Captain named Cardonez. And aboard the very ship that was the first to visit us forty cycles ago. Almost twenty-seven of your years. The Universe’s need for symmetry never ceases to inspire me.”
“After fifty-five years in Starfleet,” said Miguel,” I’m tempted to agree with you.”
“Why does the Spirit Web draw you here?”
Miguel paused for a moment. Tennyson had briefed him on the Zelket region and that they abhorred warp travel and they believed that their Gods lived in subspace but he didn’t want to offend them. Not when he needed any help that they could give him. “It is nothing as enlightened that brings us here.”
Suddenly the Zelket leader jerked his gaze towards Liz. “You look for something.” It was a question but merely a statement of face.
She was taken aback. “Y-yes, we do,” she stammered.
“We’re looking for the USS Testudo,” said Miguel. “She’s missing.”
Arlam-Nevu couldn’t have faked the look of surprise on his face. “
“You didn’t know?,” asked Tennyson.
The Zelket leader shook his head.
“Typical,” Liz said, glancing at Miguel. “Starfleet said that they looked extensively for her but they didn’t even speak to the Zelket.”
“Starfleet seems to not wish for our friendship anymore,” said Arlam-Nevu.
“We were wondering about that,” Miguel said. “We encountered buoys designating this system off limits for Federation vessels. My Second Officer almost mutinied when I brought us here.”
Arlam-Nevu merely smiled, enigmatically.
“Those buoys came after Testudo departed last year,” said Tennyson. “The Captain would never tell anyone why though.”
Miguel looked at Arlam-Nevu with an eyebrow raised questioningly.
“It’s not something that I can discuss as it pertains to Zelket security. In addition, your daughter made it clear that it was quite a secretive matter. Even within the Federation.”
“I won’t push any further but you need to answer one question for me. Did whatever it is have anything to do with the disappearance of the Testudo?”
Arlam-Nevu shook his head. “The last time that we saw Testudo was a year ago when they helped us fight off the invaders. We haven’t had any contact with them since.”
“That’s it, then. We can’t afford to spend any more time looking and we’ve spoken to everyone.”
Tennyson looked at him. He was a vital man who nonetheless suddenly looked his age when hope drained out of him.
“We thought that it was some kind of anomaly or dangerous technology,” he said, talking to Arlam-Nevu and yet not really talking to anyone.
“We have to move on to Starbase One-Four-Eight,” Tennyson explained. “We only got the ship because she was heading this way anyway but we didn’t have very long to spend looking. We tried the colony on Malthea II and visited every world that we could. Hell, we even talked to the Throndrix.”
“Ah, yes, we’ve met with one of their ships. Unenlightened creatures. Even more so than most races,” Arlam-Nevu said without a hint of vindictiveness.
“I know,” Liz said. “For a while, they wanted to steal our ship but a few photon torpedoes soon changed their mind.”
“They arrived here about four months ago. They claimed that the fourth planet in our system, Mantano, was their new home.” Arlam-Nevu chuckled and it sounded like a soft avalanche in his throat. “Needless to say, we quickly saw them off.”
While they were talking, Miguel had moved towards the low wall. He stood there now, his hands on top of the wall while he leaned against it, looking out at the vista before him.
“Grand Lan’Yiet, would you excuse me for a moment?”
Arlam-Nevu glanced at Miguel. “Of course,” he said with a gracious nod.
“Thanks,” Tennyson said softly and she walked over to take a position next to her Captain. “How are you doing?”
Miguel didn’t respond for a few seconds and when he did, he turned his head and she wasn’t surprised to see that his eyes were red-rimmed. “Not so good,” he told her. “I think that I pinned a lot of hope on the Zelkets knowing something.”
“He could be lying,” she replied, lowering her voice.
Miguel shook his head. “No, I believe him when he says that he knows nothing. Why should he lie? You told me yourself that the Zelket have some kind of powerful defense mechanism. If they were responsible, he knows that we couldn’t touch them for it.” He took a deep breath of air. “Besides, he comes across well. I think that we can trust him.”
Tennyson cast a glance back. Their host was standing in the same spot and he bowed his head again when their eyes met. She returned the favor before returning her gaze to Miguel. “What do we do now?”
Miguel shook his head sadly. “I honestly don’t know. We’re due at Starbase in a little over a week and it’ll take us seven days to get there at maximum warp as it is. We can afford maybe another twenty-four hours. It’s not enough to do anything.”
“There are ways,” said Tennyson. “Those engines aren’t in that great of shape. In fact, they might just stop working altogether.” Then she smiled at this recommendation.
Miguel shook his head once more with a sad smile now on his lips. “No, Liz. We’ve pushed things too much as it is and the crew has followed us up to a point. If we try to stretch out our journey much more, then Lieutenant Bressi will really lead a mutiny.”
“Ah, screw him,” she replied. “It’s not like either of us have much of a Starfleet career left anyway.”
“I might not but you do.”
It was now her turn to shake her head. “I don’t think so. This uniform doesn’t fit as well as it once did.” She paused when her mouth suddenly dried up. She was about to tell him everything. About how she still had nightmares. About how she craved the safe confines of her room at the Durant Institute or even how she scarred herself every day. It no longer seemed to matter and she was tired of the lies and the false facade. She was sorry for Miguel’s pain because she felt it too but suddenly she didn’t see why he should be the one to fall apart. If anyone was going to fall apart, then they should all do it. Miguel, her, and even Natalia Huntington up on the Wyoming.
Miguel observed her hesitation but he misread it. “You don’t really think that way. Starfleet is in your blood in the same way that it’s in mine. The same way that it’s in Isabel’s or Valian’s or pretty much anyone else on Testudo.” He took another deep breath and straightened up. “It’s over. We gave it a good shout but at the end of the day, maybe Janeway and all of the others were right. Maybe Testudo and the Lusitania were just destroyed.” His voice cracked slightly when he finished his sentence.
So, that’s it then, thought Tennyson. She was relieved in a way that she could stop pretending that everything was all right and that Testudo had merely been hauled thousands of lightyears into the Delta Quadrant like Voyager had been.
“Lightning really doesn’t strike twice,” she muttered.
“Do you believe?”
The sound of Arlam-Nevu’s voice so close behind them caused them both to jump and turn around quickly to face him. He was standing less than a meter away from them with the same serene smile on his face. His hands were still clasped together in front of him. Neither of them had heard him or even sensed him more.
“What?,” asked Tennyson.
“Do you believe?,” he repeated. “Do you believe in the Universe? Do you believe in things beyond the Universe?” He sighed. “Do you believe that a higher power guides us?”
“You mean the Spirit Web.”
“In part, yes,” replied Arlam-Nevu. “Although there are many such guiding hands. We of the Zelket respect each and every one.” He paused and asked again,” Do you believe?”
“I do,” Miguel said without a hint of hesitation in his voice. “It’s not fashionable to believe in such things anymore but my mother was a superstitious woman and I was raised a good Catholic boy.”
Arlam-Nevu was still smiling but Tennyson detected a hint of regret there now. “And what about you, Lieutenant?”
“I believe in my friends,” she replied, reaching out and taking Miguel’s hand in hers. “I believe in science and I believe in myself. As for any other kind of mumbo-jumbo.” She glanced at her Captain. “I’m sorry.” Then she quickly looked back at their host. “As for any other kind of mumbo-jumbo… Well, as a famous man once said,” ‘There’s no all-powerful force guiding my destiny’.”
Arlam-Nevu’s smile lit up once more. “It is fortunate that you do not believe. Because of that, I might be able to help you.”
“What are you talking about?,” asked Miguel. “Help us how?”
Arlam-Nevu shook his head. “I cannot help both of you. Only her.” He pointed towards Tennyson.
“Me?”
“Yes,” he replied, his tone never wavering from complete serenity. “You. Now, please. IF you wish to try and find your friends, we must go now.”
“Go? Where?,” asked Tennyson.
The leader of the Zelket merely smiled his Mona Lisa smile and walked away.
****
He led them inside and towards a sleek monorail car. Tennyson thought that they were going to enter the city when it took off at high speed. Instead it swerved around the huge metropolis and across an empty desert. The Starfleet officers said nothing during the journey. Neither of them had argued with Arlam-Nevu but simply followed him. Whatever misgivings that they had, neither of them was willing to miss what could be their last chance of finding the Testudo.
When the train suddenly dipped below ground, Tennyson was tempted to say something but she quickly decided that there was no reason to. Wherever they were going, they had placed themselves in Arlam-Nevu’s hands and there was very little that they could do about it.
After almost an hour of traveling, the train stopped. “We are here,” Arlam-Nevu said and as the doors opened, he stepped outside.
“Well, we’ve come this far,” Miguel said, standing. “After you.” He motioned for Liz to go first.
“Oh, my God!,” he shouted when they stepped outside the train into what appeared to be daylight. Tennyson had barely even heard him and she didn’t even register the train moving off. She was so enraptured by the view.
While it seemed to be a poor way to describe it, the platform left off, perhaps three hundred meters into the distance before it branched off into three district bridges across what looked like an ocean of deep blue motionless water that was so wide that each bridge had no discernable end. The cavern was so high that clouds had actually formed and Tennyson could barely see the rock ceiling.
Bright lights that were almost like artificial suns directed their beams on the vision before them and Liz suddenly realized that a light drizzle was showering them in fine droplets of cool rain. It was so warm inside the cavern that the rain was actually refreshing.
Most amazing of all was the rainbow that arced over all three of the bridges. Zelket, some of them in small groups but most of them alone, walked over either way across each bridge.
“This is Shel’Dey’Ven,” said Arlam-Nevu,” the largest body of water on our planet and our most sacred place.”
“Wow,” was all that Tennyson could say.
“Ditto,” Miguel added with a nod.
Arlam-Nevu saw Tennyson glancing at the tricorder on her waist. “You may use your scanning device. You will be surprised.”
She grabbed her tricorder off her belt and began to scan the ocean before them.
“We’re grateful for you taking us to such a holy place,” said Miguel,” but I don’t see how this helps.”
“I am sure that Lieutenant Tennyson will explain it to us, shortly.”
“You’ve got to be shitting me!,” she said, suddenly, jerking her head upwards when she realized what she had said. “I’m sorry. Miguel, there’s a strong subspace field running across the center of those bridges. It’s almost off the scale.” She showed him her tricorder readings.
“It is naturally occurring,” Arlam-Nevu said. “We discovered it, three centuries ago, along with this ocean. In those times, pilgrims had to approach the phenomenon in boats, of course. Nowadays, we make it easier.” He gestured towards the bridges.
“Pilgrims? People willingly walk into that?”
“And out again,” he replied to Tennyson’s question. “I myself undertook a pilgrimage in my thirteenth cycle. I didn’t believe in the Spirit Web back then but this showed me the truth.”
“What happens to you in there?,” Miguel asked, still perturbed by how powerful a field could be generated in this underground cavern.
Arlam-Nevu shrugged and said,” It is different for everyone but it is always important to that person.” He pointed towards Tennyson. “It might be that if you enter it, it will lead you to the Testudo.” He shrugged again. “Or it might not.”
“Why her?,” asked Miguel. “Why not me?”
“Because you believe. It rejects believers. It only wants those who can be converted.”
“That makes no sense to me at all,” said Tennyson.
“Perhaps, but I have tried to enter it again, many times, since my epiphany and I have never again seen anything except the other side of the bridge.”
“What did you see the first time?”
“I would not dishonor it by telling you. Suffice it to say that it was a vision of how my life could have been.”
Miguel looked at Tennyson. “Would it be dangerous for you to enter?”
“You think that I’m going to walk into an un-modulated subspace tear? I think not.”
“Liz, it might be our only chance,” he implored her.
Tennyson looked at him. Then she looked at Arlam-Nevu before she looked at the bridges, marveling that an invisible force that was as powerful as any created by Man rushed across the center of those bridges without leaving a visible trace. “Which one do I take?”
“You’re sure about this, Liz?”
She smiled. “Shut up before I change my mind.” She looked at Arlam-Nevu. “Which one?”
“The freedom to choose is yours and yours alone,” he replied. “However, you will have no need for that.” He pointed at the phaser holstered on her hip.
She hesitated for a moment before she drew her weapon. Flipping it in her hand, she passed it to Miguel before looking at Arlam-Nevu. “Okay, Yoda, it’s your show, but if I find Darth Vader in there,” she said, pointing an accusing finger at him,” I’m going to get you.``
Without another word, she began walking towards the bridges. The central one ran straight but the bridges on either side curved away from the central one and then back in again on the other side.
“Eenie-meenie-miney-mo,” she muttered before heading for the left-hand bridge. “Aw, screw it.”
Walking across the Bridge, she marveled again at how beautiful that this place was and it went beyond physical beauty. There was a serenity, a peacefulness like that she hadn’t encountered before. She was so caught up in her surroundings that she barely noticed the Zelket who walked beside her or passed her on their way back. She didn’t even realize that she had walked into the phenomena.
Until she was suddenly standing in a darkened forest.
“What the hell?,” she wondered but all thoughts of where she might be were silenced in her brain when she heard sudden movement, the sound of people running… towards her.
She didn’t know how or why but something in her brain told her that she shouldn’t let those running feet catch up to her. Without hesitation, she began to run.
He led them inside and towards a sleek monorail car. Tennyson thought that they were going to enter the city when it took off at high speed. Instead it swerved around the huge metropolis and across an empty desert. The Starfleet officers said nothing during the journey. Neither of them had argued with Arlam-Nevu but simply followed him. Whatever misgivings that they had, neither of them was willing to miss what could be their last chance of finding the Testudo.
When the train suddenly dipped below ground, Tennyson was tempted to say something but she quickly decided that there was no reason to. Wherever they were going, they had placed themselves in Arlam-Nevu’s hands and there was very little that they could do about it.
After almost an hour of traveling, the train stopped. “We are here,” Arlam-Nevu said and as the doors opened, he stepped outside.
“Well, we’ve come this far,” Miguel said, standing. “After you.” He motioned for Liz to go first.
“Oh, my God!,” he shouted when they stepped outside the train into what appeared to be daylight. Tennyson had barely even heard him and she didn’t even register the train moving off. She was so enraptured by the view.
While it seemed to be a poor way to describe it, the platform left off, perhaps three hundred meters into the distance before it branched off into three district bridges across what looked like an ocean of deep blue motionless water that was so wide that each bridge had no discernable end. The cavern was so high that clouds had actually formed and Tennyson could barely see the rock ceiling.
Bright lights that were almost like artificial suns directed their beams on the vision before them and Liz suddenly realized that a light drizzle was showering them in fine droplets of cool rain. It was so warm inside the cavern that the rain was actually refreshing.
Most amazing of all was the rainbow that arced over all three of the bridges. Zelket, some of them in small groups but most of them alone, walked over either way across each bridge.
“This is Shel’Dey’Ven,” said Arlam-Nevu,” the largest body of water on our planet and our most sacred place.”
“Wow,” was all that Tennyson could say.
“Ditto,” Miguel added with a nod.
Arlam-Nevu saw Tennyson glancing at the tricorder on her waist. “You may use your scanning device. You will be surprised.”
She grabbed her tricorder off her belt and began to scan the ocean before them.
“We’re grateful for you taking us to such a holy place,” said Miguel,” but I don’t see how this helps.”
“I am sure that Lieutenant Tennyson will explain it to us, shortly.”
“You’ve got to be shitting me!,” she said, suddenly, jerking her head upwards when she realized what she had said. “I’m sorry. Miguel, there’s a strong subspace field running across the center of those bridges. It’s almost off the scale.” She showed him her tricorder readings.
“It is naturally occurring,” Arlam-Nevu said. “We discovered it, three centuries ago, along with this ocean. In those times, pilgrims had to approach the phenomenon in boats, of course. Nowadays, we make it easier.” He gestured towards the bridges.
“Pilgrims? People willingly walk into that?”
“And out again,” he replied to Tennyson’s question. “I myself undertook a pilgrimage in my thirteenth cycle. I didn’t believe in the Spirit Web back then but this showed me the truth.”
“What happens to you in there?,” Miguel asked, still perturbed by how powerful a field could be generated in this underground cavern.
Arlam-Nevu shrugged and said,” It is different for everyone but it is always important to that person.” He pointed towards Tennyson. “It might be that if you enter it, it will lead you to the Testudo.” He shrugged again. “Or it might not.”
“Why her?,” asked Miguel. “Why not me?”
“Because you believe. It rejects believers. It only wants those who can be converted.”
“That makes no sense to me at all,” said Tennyson.
“Perhaps, but I have tried to enter it again, many times, since my epiphany and I have never again seen anything except the other side of the bridge.”
“What did you see the first time?”
“I would not dishonor it by telling you. Suffice it to say that it was a vision of how my life could have been.”
Miguel looked at Tennyson. “Would it be dangerous for you to enter?”
“You think that I’m going to walk into an un-modulated subspace tear? I think not.”
“Liz, it might be our only chance,” he implored her.
Tennyson looked at him. Then she looked at Arlam-Nevu before she looked at the bridges, marveling that an invisible force that was as powerful as any created by Man rushed across the center of those bridges without leaving a visible trace. “Which one do I take?”
“You’re sure about this, Liz?”
She smiled. “Shut up before I change my mind.” She looked at Arlam-Nevu. “Which one?”
“The freedom to choose is yours and yours alone,” he replied. “However, you will have no need for that.” He pointed at the phaser holstered on her hip.
She hesitated for a moment before she drew her weapon. Flipping it in her hand, she passed it to Miguel before looking at Arlam-Nevu. “Okay, Yoda, it’s your show, but if I find Darth Vader in there,” she said, pointing an accusing finger at him,” I’m going to get you.``
Without another word, she began walking towards the bridges. The central one ran straight but the bridges on either side curved away from the central one and then back in again on the other side.
“Eenie-meenie-miney-mo,” she muttered before heading for the left-hand bridge. “Aw, screw it.”
Walking across the Bridge, she marveled again at how beautiful that this place was and it went beyond physical beauty. There was a serenity, a peacefulness like that she hadn’t encountered before. She was so caught up in her surroundings that she barely noticed the Zelket who walked beside her or passed her on their way back. She didn’t even realize that she had walked into the phenomena.
Until she was suddenly standing in a darkened forest.
“What the hell?,” she wondered but all thoughts of where she might be were silenced in her brain when she heard sudden movement, the sound of people running… towards her.
She didn’t know how or why but something in her brain told her that she shouldn’t let those running feet catch up to her. Without hesitation, she began to run.
And then she runs for her life... Really creative. A subspace tear in which enlightenment awaits. And boy does Liz need a healthy dose of that...
Alas, at only 60 I can empathize all too well with Miguel's creaking joints...
Thanks!! rbs
Did I oopsit? Miguel Cardonez is in his seventies.
I'm the one who's 60. Thanks!! rbs
Your avatar doesn't look a day over thirty-five.
It's from a live show we did in Joliet in, I think, 2014, so I would have been 50 at the time.
I’m only forty-six but I feel that old, lately.
I don’t understand. Apologies if I’ve missed something, but this is just Starkers’s old Star Trek: Vesta fanfic from 2001-2009 with the character names changed. I don’t think they’re active in the fanfic world anymore (which is a shame, because the Vesta series was fantastic) but they’re definitely still active on TrekBBS. In fact they’re the OP of one of the stickied threads on this board! Is this being reposted verbatim with their permission?
https://web.archive.org/web/2020101...ekvesta/home/season-1/the-haunted-planet-pt-1
https://web.archive.org/web/2020101...ekvesta/home/season-1/the-haunted-planet-pt-1
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