The Oberth had been ordered to transport dignitaries from the far reaches of the Federation back to Earth to discuss the Dominion and the new danger they posed to the Alpha Quadrant. Even before they left the Academy, Reoh had heard that Starfleet Command was concerned that shape-shifters could have infiltrated the Federation High Command.
Then, hardly an hour ago, President Jaresh-Inyo made an announcement about the bomb blast that had disrupted a major conference between the Romulan and Federation governments at Antwerp on Earth. It was the worst crime to occur on Earth in a century-twenty-seven people were killed. President Jaresh-Inyo had declared a planetwide day of mourning, but Reoh could read more than grief in the eyes of the Starfleet admirals, including Admiral Leyton, standing to one side of the president in his office.
Reoh was knocked off his feet as the Cochrane was. .h.i.t by a phaser shock wave. His stomach clenched as body-memories of the battle at Verdian III came back in a vivid rush. He could almost feel the disrupter blasts, over and over again. Then the panic of the saucer separation. And the crash, when he had screamed like he had never done before, certain he was going to die- "There you are!" Starsa exclaimed, leaning out of her quarters, eyes wide with fright. "What"s happening? Who"s shooting at us?"
The deck jolted again. "That feels like a phaser hit. The shields are trying to absorb the shock." Reoh pushed Starsa back inside her quarters, heading toward the couch. "Better sit down and hang on."
"Will the shields hold?" she asked. "Who is it?"
Reoh was already activating the screen to see outside the ship. "It"s Klingon. No, there"s two of them."
Starsa was gasping in shock. Reoh had never seen her so frightened before. She had always been the soul of courage, without a thought of failure or defeat.
The Cochrane was. .h.i.t again, and they were thrown back against the couch as the valiant ship maneuvered.
Starsa clutched his arm. "Are we going to die?" she whispered.
"Eventually," Reoh had to admit. "Maybe not right now."
It might have been callous, but it did make Starsa stop and think instead of sending her into hysterics. Reoh knew part of her problem was the unstable hormone fluctuations, but her emotional reaction was very real.
She hunched down in the couch, wrapping her arms around her legs, her ruddy hair spreading against the back cushion. "I never thought about it before," she admitted, her voice husky, as if everything inside of her was twisted tightly closed. "Everyone is going to die. I"m going to die. You are." She flinched as the shields took another hit. "I haven"t seen my family in so long."
Reoh took her hand, realizing how inevitable that fear was. "I lost most of my family early. Maybe that"s why I can"t ever forget about death. I think it"s why I failed as a Vedek. What is faith next to that? Nothing you can say or do can avert it."
"So what do you do?" Starsa asked, hanging onto his hand for dear life.
"I try to do the same thing you always did. Just go on. In spite of everything." He squeezed her hand. "Only now, I hope you give us a break and don"t tempt fate so much."
She blew out her breath, shaking her head at the very thought of some of the things she had done in the recent months. It was only when she leaned her head against his shoulder that he realized how close they had gotten in the past weeks. He had always had a special, protective feeling for Starsa. Yet how easy it was to rea.s.sure her, how naturally he put an arm around her shoulders.
He didn"t move until long after the jolting stopped and she fell asleep on his shoulder.
Starsa felt better the moment they beamed down to Hohonoran on Oppala.s.sa. Treatments began at once, and she was required to stay in the medical center while her hormone levels were adjusted and her transition into maturity could proceed at a more steady pace.
After a few days, she hacked into the medical computers and accessed her file. It was remarkably easy after the challenge of Starfleet computers. She read that her doctors were surprised by the onset of her p.u.b.erty, having believed she would be able to complete the course at the Academy and return to Oppala.s.sa before her transition. Starsa didn"t care, even though she was young to mature for her kind. It seemed right to her-she"d been through a lot in the past four years. She should be an adult.
Starsa read everything in her file, then closed it back up like she"d never been there. She wasn"t even tempted to mess with the medical computer, but she had to laugh at her log-skipping virus that had lasted for almost four years. Because of her illness, her practical joke hadn"t even been discussed at the Academy. She wondered if it would fade into the past or be dealt with when she returned. Perhaps they figured it was bad enough punishment to have to repeat this semester"s work during the summer.
She had hardly closed her tricorder when Reoh appeared. He smiled, then stepped over some animal trinkets on the floor. "Oops, almost stepped on your frog."
"Everyone keeps bringing them to me," she explained, gathering up the small animal androids that her people loved to give as gifts. Mostly she was getting Earth animals, and everyone seemed so pleased they could offer her a "remembrance of Starfleet." She didn"t have the heart to tell anyone that frogs and mice didn"t exactly fill the hallways at the Academy. She held up a giant-sized tick before tossing it to him. "Don"t ask what that one is."
Nev Reoh seemed uncomfortable. "The Cochrane is returning through this system day after tomorrow. They called to let me know, in case I was ready to return. You"re doing fine now, so I thought-"
"You"re leaving without me?" she asked, forgetting about the trinkets that were milling around in the basket at the foot of her bed. "You can"t leave without me!"
"You want me to stay? But you have your family here-"
"It will only take a few more weeks of treatments," she a.s.sured him. "Maybe less. Can"t we go back together? It"s such a long trip... ."
Slowly, Reoh said, "I would have to ask Admiral Brand for an extension of my leave."
Starsa put the lid on her trinkets to keep their noise m.u.f.fled. "It would save Starfleet from having to send two ships for us."
"That"s true," Reoh agreed, but he was busy looking at the tick, its legs methodically moving even though it was upside-down.
"And I think I can get you a private room," she told him, watching him closely. "I"ve felt bad about squeezing you in with everyone."
"I don"t mind sharing with your cousins," Reoh denied. "They"re very nice boys."
"And it doesn"t rain here all the time," she a.s.sured him. "It should clear up in a few days. And I"ll be able to go home while I finish the therapy. There"s lots of things we can do then. Go to the simu-races, and the sky-dive. Or if you"re feeling stuck in the city, there"s a big parkland between Hohonoran and Swin, only an hour away. You feel like you"re in Yosemite in Earth ... almost."
"It"s not that I"m bored," Reoh tried to explain. "But you"ve got everyone you need here with you-"
As if on cue, Starsa"s sister and her spouse appeared in the doorway, calling out greetings. Starsa hugged her sister, but she was trying to see Reoh, who was strategically trying to slip away. "Call the superintendent," she urged him, over her sister"s shoulder. "Find out, okay? It would mean a lot to me."
Reoh nodded uncertainly, holding up the tick before placing it on his empty chair. "I"ll do it right now."
"Don"t rush off," her sister protested. "I"ve been wanting to meet Starsa"s caraposa. Sit down and join us."
Starsa felt the heat rush to her face as Reoh stammered and excused himself, saying, "I"m sorry. I have to send an important communique."
Starsa mumbled good-bye, but she didn"t know where to look. No wonder he wanted to get away! Why hadn"t she realized what her family was doing? They had picked up on her feelings for Reoh and a.s.sumed that he returned her admiration simply because he was such a truly good and kind man. She was a fool! After so long at the Academy, she hadn"t counted on the subliminal sensitivity the Oppala.s.sa had for one another, developed from being forced to live on top of one another for centuries. When she realized she loved Reoh, she took it for granted, so they did, too.
Her sister touched her hand. "What"s wrong, Starsa?"
"He might have to leave," she told her, knowing it was useless to lie about her feelings.
"I hope not. You"d miss him terribly."
Starsa nodded, unable to say a word. The question was-would Reoh miss her?
It took a few days, but Reoh finally received a message back from Admiral Brand"s a.s.sistant, a.s.suring him that he could stay on Oppala.s.sa for an additional few weeks. Reoh got the distinct feeling that his request was the least of their worries.
He was watching Starsa"s other sister, Maree, trying to get food into her two boys. They were nearly as big as Reoh, but acted like ten-year-olds, poking at each other instead of eating. Reoh sat in the only other chair in the room, trying to stay out of the way. He preferred this room to the bedroom because it had a window overlooking the living towers of Hohonoran, marching down the steep hillside.
"h.e.l.lo, everyone!" Starsa sang out, as she came through the door.
"Starsa!" the boys called out, scrambling up to hug her. She laughed and tipped her basket of trinkets over, letting the rodents and bugs crawl on the tiled floor.
"What are you doing home so soon?" her sister asked.
"They kicked me out. Mom stopped by and fetched me." Starsa pointed upward. "She took my stuff up to their rooms. I guess I sleep there, but I thought the boys would like the trinkets."
She left them shouting over the intricate constructs, coming towards Reoh. "Hi."
"I"m glad they released you," he said, not sure what to say. Her body had changed in only a few weeks. It was a subtle difference, but a vital one. She even moved differently, more smoothly, like everything now fit together properly.
"I made them send me home," she told him in a confidential voice. He could smell her skin, she was so close. "I want to have some fun with you."
Reoh swallowed, not sure how he could tell her his doubts. The way her sister smiled over at them made it clear. Starsa"s entire family was acting like they were pledged to each other. He wasn"t sure how they had formed that mistaken impression, but he could find no polite way to correct them.
"Let"s go on the balcony," Starsa suggested over the squeals of her nephews.
Outside they heard the din of the city noises, and the low percussion sound of a pneumatic drill, digging the support posts for yet another tower just uphill. But the balcony offered a liberating view of the city, nearly 180 degrees of shimmering forcefields that encased the towers. Reoh moved carefully, barely able to see the rainbow edge of the forcefield at the edge of their balcony. He couldn"t get used to not having a railing.
Starsa went right to the edge, of course. He smiled, glad to see a bit of her fearlessness had returned. He would hate to have her forever bowed down by the loss of her innocence.
She checked to be sure her sister couldn"t hear. "I heard about the failure of the power grid on Earth. And the declaration of martial law. They think there"s an invasion force coming, don"t they?"
"They"re preparing for it," he agreed, not expecting this.
Looking over the city, she asked, "Are you leaving on the Cochrane?"
Reoh hesitated. "I probably should, Starsa."
"Why?"
He was glad she was still looking away from him. She was notoriously blunt, but this could stretch even her limits. "Because of what your family thinks. You know, that caraposa stuff."
"Oh." She wasn"t acting as shocked as he thought she would. "That bothers you?"
"Uh, I thought it would bother you."
She shyly smiled. "I don"t mind it. It"s just my busybody family."
"Really?" Now he didn"t know what to think.
"I know this wasn"t your idea, Reoh. It was thrust on you. You only meant to be sweet, bringing me home and taking such good care of me along the way. They don"t understand that"s just the way it is in Starfleet. We take care of each other."
"Yes, we do." He kept thinking Starsa didn"t understand what was happening, which was not an unreasonable a.s.sumption when it came to her. Yet she basically said she didn"t care if her family called him her "boyfriend."
As if that wasn"t enough, Starsa grinned at him. "Don"t you want to stay with me?"
Nev Reoh felt the tightness in his stomach ease. He never wanted to leave Starsa behind. He wouldn"t be comfortable unless he could personally make sure she got back to the Academy safely. But Starsa was offering him more-or at least it seemed that way. If he stayed, he"d have a few more weeks here and the trip back home to find out how she really felt about him.
"If you"re sure," he said, waiting for her nod. "Then I"ll stay."
"Good!" She beamed at him, then faced the city again, as if those brief words had settled everything to her satisfaction. "But what if the Dominion invades Earth? What will we do then?"
Reoh turned to face her homeworld. He had a lot to see in the next few weeks. He wanted to find out everything there was to know about Oppala.s.sa.
"Don"t worry," he told her. "There"s hundreds and hundreds of starbases, and hundreds of starships. Even if the Dominion attacks Earth, we"ll always have Starfleet."
Epilogue.
"WHERE"S MY TRICORDER?" Starsa called out.
"Check the black bag," Reoh replied from the other room. "I can"t figure out this Carda.s.sian replicator ... and the vent is stuck closed in the bedroom."
"Just be glad we got a posting together," Starsa told him, going in to put her arms around him.
"Not many people want to be on DS9 right now," he reminded her.
They stood arm in arm, looking out the eye-shaped window in their bedroom as the wormhole opened up. They both held their breath until a Starfleet runabout appeared.
"Probably Lieutenant Dax," Reoh said, "with those samples. I should go help her-"
"I"m going to call my family after I check in with O"Brien," Starsa interrupted. "They"re less than a week away. Maybe some of them can come visit?"
Reoh laughed on his way out of their quarters, remembering how he had been thrown headfirst into Starsa"s family months ago when they were first getting together. "Sure, why not? Have them all come."
Ensign Jayme Miranda kicked open the door to her room-finally, after four years of quads, it was private! She did a little hop-skip as she entered, tossing the stack of transport containers containing her growing medical disk library on her bed.
She flung open the curtains, and breathed deep of the mild Paris weather of late summer. The comm beeped before she could fall on the bed and relax.
"h.e.l.lo!" she called out.
"Hi, Jayme," Moll said even before her image had fully appeared. "Welcome to your new place."
"Moll! You look great." Jayme sat up on her knees, pleased that her first call had come from Moll.
"I just got back from dinner. You"ll never guess with who."
"Did you already get back to DS9?" Jayme guessed the answer, as Moll knew she would. "How are Reoh and Starsa? What a couple, eh?"
"They"re happy. It makes me wish I could see you," she added wistfully.
"Ten weeks," Jayme told her, "Midterm break, unless you get sent back to Earth before then."
"I"ll see you soon," Enor agreed. "I can"t tell you how proud I am. The first Miranda to ever be accepted to Starfleet Medical."
"Watch out, galaxy!" Jayme agreed. "Here I come."
Bobbie Ray Jefferson walked along the line of young humanoids, sniffing slightly as he eyed each one. "I"ve never seen such a ... puny lot of new cadets." He didn"t mention the fact that this was the first lineup of cadets he had ever seen. It was his first year teaching Self-defense 101. But these cadets did look much smaller than those he remembered from his first year, though that had been four years ago.
Bobbie Ray sneered at each one as he swaggered by. "You do what I tell you, and by this time next year, n.o.body in ten solar systems will be able to touch you. You want that, don"t you? Don"t you?!"
"Yes, sir!" they shouted as one.
Such bright and eager faces, the best and the brightest from all the Federation planets. Bobbie Ray showed his teeth in a grin. This was going to be interesting.