Author’s
Note: This story is a prequel of sorts
to the four-story arc called “The Return,”
first published in the original Subspace Chatter in 1999.
“The Return” can be found in
the Fifth Fleet Story Archive on the web at http://www.fifth-fleet.org/2374.htm
Spacedock orbiting
Earth
Stardate 44542.6
Earth year 2367
Commodore
Eric Johnson stepped up on the platform at the front of the large main
recreation room. Before him, the entire
450 member crew of the Tikopai-class starship USS Arcturus NCC-1807 was gathered.
It had been just over two weeks since the starship, assigned in 2288 to
a mission of historical research to Earth’s past circa the late 1960’s,
mysteriously arrived in Sector 001 in the year 2367, barely six months after
Starfleet’s devastating defeat by the Borg at Wolf 359. Those two weeks had been spent keeping the Arcturus in deep space, under escort by
the USS Surak II, the starship which
had first discovered the long-lost vessel, while Starfleet and the Department
of Temporal Investigations decided what should be done with the Arcturus and her crew.
Once the
decision was made, word of the ship’s discovery and the fact the crew were all
still alive and the same ages as the day they disappeared, word spread quickly
through the Federation while the Arcturus
was given permission to return to Earth.
Now, with the starship safely moored inside spacedock, the crew gathered
to find out what would happen to them all.
Space, the Final Frontier…
These are the voyages of the starship Arcturus!
Star Trek: Arcturus
“Schooldays, Schooldays…” By PJK
“First of
all, I want to thank you all for your exceptional performance during the last
two weeks,” Johnson announced. “Having
experienced everything right along with you all, I know exactly what many of
you are thinking and feeling. Many of
you are wondering if the Earth we’ve returned to is the same Earth we left
nearly eight decades ago?”
The crew
shuffled in position in reaction to their commanding officer’s speech. Finally, Lt(JG) Idrsu, the Deltan Assistant
Chief Science Officer, took a step forward and partly raised one hand.
“Excuse
me, Commodore,” he said, drawing Johnson’s attention. “But what’s going to happen to us?”
“A lot of
that will depend on each of you, Cueball,” the Commodore replied. “Once all our ship’s systems are slaved to
the spacedock computer, the entire crew has been authorized thirty days leave. Use that time to find your families, however
many may be left, and to consider the options available to you. Some of you may choose to leave Starfleet and
our crew, and that’s alright. Starfleet
has offered to provide training in whatever profession you may choose to pursue
in this new world. But for those of you
who wish to remain in Starfleet, once you return from leave, the crew will
re-enter Starfleet Academy for updated training. This special training will last six months
and include a thirty day assignment to an active ship of the fleet for
OJT. Beyond that we don’t yet know.”
Johnson
looked around the entire two-level recreation deck, expecting more
questions. When no more came, he nodded
to his crew and dismissed them. Quietly,
the crew shuffled back to their duty stations or quarters.
* *
* *
Thirty-two Days
Later…
Kalin Kale
materialized in the transporter facility of Starfleet Command in
As he
stood gawking, an older human man with short white hair underneath a woven
gardener’s hat walked over, looked in the direction Kale was looking, then back
at the young officer.
“Shall I
water your roots, son, or do you plan on moving out of my flowerbed
eventually?” the older man asked.
“Huh?”
Kale asked, his concentration broken.
“I’m
asking if you’re planning on becoming a permanent part of my tulip bed, son?”
the man asked.
Kale’s
eyebrows crossed briefly until the older man in the coveralls pointed
down. The Centauri’s eyes followed the
man’s extended finger and realized he was no longer standing on the paved path
but rather among a bed of thirty centimeter tall red and yellow tulips. Kale jumped back onto the path, his face red
enough to match the tulips, glad he had not walked right into the small pond
the tulips were planted next to.
“I’m
sorry, Mister… um… Mister…?”
“Just
Boothby. I’m surprised you never heard
of me before. I’ve been here tending the
gardens longer than most people can remember.”
“I think
it would surprise you how far back I can remember, Mister Boothby. I doubt you know, but I’m from the starship…”
“Arcturus,” Boothby finished Kale’s
sentence. “And it’s just Boothby.” Kale looked at the Academy Groundskeeper with
shocked disbelief.
“How did
you know?” the Centauri asked.
Boothby
smiled gently as he pointed at the two pips on Kale’s collar and said, “How many
lieutenants do we get here who look more lost than a first-year cadet in
September?”
Kale’s
face blushed red again, then he started to excuse himself so he could find the
lecture hall where the Arcturus crew
were assigned to gather.
“Lecture
Hall Three, Challenger Hall,” Boothby said as he pointed toward a building
across the quad, in front of which a small 20th century space
shuttle model was positioned. “And if
you ever need any more help, you know where to find me, son.”
Kale
nodded, still not entirely sure what exactly the eccentric human meant, before
saying goodbye and moving off across the Quad.
As he crossed the open space, another officer in a gold uniform like
Kale’s fell into step beside him.
“Hey,
Setton,” Kale said as he noticed his Arcturus
shipmate next to him. “How was your
leave?”
“Difficult,”
Setton To’Lock Arbelo replied. “Most of
my family has passed. All that remains
are my two younger…” Arbelo paused for a
moment as the irony of his statement sunk in.
“…Well, used to be younger brother and sister, who are both now over a
century old. They are living on Vulcan
and performing part-time research at the
Kale
sighed as he answered, “I don’t know if I ever told you, but my mother died
when I was seven. My father, he lived
about eight years after the Arcturus
disappeared. I managed to locate his
grave on Alpha Centauri Prime. Now,
aside from the Arcturus crew, I’ve
got no other family left.”
“I’m
sorry,” Arbelo said.
The two
officers finally reached the door to Challenger Hall, where Kale held the door
while a petite young officer wearing a blue Starfleet uniform with her long
brown hair pulled back in a pony-tail walked out before Arbelo stepped
inside. Kale glanced at the woman, whose
face had been framed by a series of brown spots, as she passed him following
his shipmate into the building.
“That
reminds me, Setton. Wasn’t your
Communications Division issued blue uniforms by Braacht when we first returned
to Earth last month?”
“Yeah,”
answered Arbelo, looking down at the front of his gold uniform top. “But starships don’t have dedicated
Communications Divisions anymore in this century, so I’ve decided to train
under the Operations Department instead.”
“Sounds
like we’ll be sharing a few classes then,” Kale said, sounding a little more
cheerful, especially when he noticed the woman who had passed them in the
doorway glance back at him just before the door swung shut. “You know, when I was very little, I always
dreamed of eventually wearing a gold Starfleet uniform, like my mother. Of course, back then gold meant Command
Division.”
Both officers
chuckled as they finally reached the door to Lecture Hall Three and for the
first time in a month rejoined their entire crew.
* * * *
It was
lunch time when Kale stepped out of Challenger Hall. He stopped in front of the shuttle memorial,
still unsure of where on the campus he might find the cafeteria. Looking back and forth trying to determine
his bearings (In his day the old cafeteria overlooked the Golden Gate, he
thought to himself.) he noticed the same petite woman in the blue uniform with
one and a half pips on the collar that he had seen earlier, her long hair still
pulled back in a pony-tail which revealed the rows of brown spots that extended
from her forehead down each side of her neck, walking past.
“Excuse
me, Lieutenant,” Kale said, waving to get the woman’s attention and thankful he
had spent the better part of his leave memorizing the new pips Starfleet used
to denote rank. “Could you tell me where
the cafeteria is?”
The petite
Lieutenant (Junior Grade) stopped walking and looked over at Kale, giving the
Lieutenant the once-over before replying, “Same place it was at breakfast this
morning.”
Kale
frowned, causing the young woman to smile and add, “I’m heading that way. Come with me.”
With a
sigh of thanks, Kale moved into step next to the shorter officer, unconsciously
falling into step with her.
“So, you
new around here?” she asked.
“You could
say that,” Kale replied, realizing he had not formally introduced himself. “Lieutenant Kalin Kale of the starship Arcturus.”
“The Arcturus? No wonder you don’t know where the cafeteria
is.” She held out her own hand to shake
Kale’s as she said, “Lieutenant (JG) Cue.”
Kale
glanced at the petite officer’s hand before explaining he was a native of Alpha
Centauri, where offering a handshake was akin to an insult, a way of stating ‘I
believe I could defeat you in hand to hand combat.’ Cue lowered her hand with an embarrassed
smile as Kale asked, “I’m afraid I’m unfamiliar with your species. Is Cue your given name or family name?”
“Well, my
species, as you say, is Trill, and my so-called given name is Lotus, like the
Terran flower, but I insist everyone just calls me Cue.”
“Why is
that?” Kale asked.
“Because I
hate the name Lotus,” Cue replied.
The two
officers continued to converse as they walked, Cue asking Kale about the
circumstances that had brought his starship almost eighty years ahead in time,
to which Kale replied truthfully that no one aboard the ship knew why the time
warp the Arcturus was using to study
the past had backfired and thrust them all into the future. Kale then began reminiscing about the time
period he had originated from, what some of the Academy professors he had
already met referred to as the ‘late Golden Age of Federation exploration.’
“Yes, I
remember what it was like,” Cue replied, causing Kale to give the petite
Lieutenant a strange look. When she
noticed, she patted her stomach much like a pregnant woman might and added,
“More specifically, Cue remembers.” This
response only caused Kale to look even more confused. The Centauri man stopped dead on the path,
his hands up in front of him in a stopping motion. Cue was not sure if Kale wanted her to slow
down of if he was simply surrendering.
“Cue is my
symbiont,” Cue explained. “You’ve never
heard of a joined Trill?”
Kale shook
his head, saying, “I’m a little behind on my Federation member species
knowledge. You mean you actually have
another life-form inside you?” Cue could
not help but chuckle at Kale’s reaction.
“I’ll tell
you what? Why don’t I buy you lunch and
I’ll help you catch up.”
* * * *
Over the
course of the next several weeks, lunch together became a fairly common event
with Kale and Cue, who usually got together at least two or three times a
week. Cue would update the
time-displaced Centauri on the events that had occurred since the Arcturus had disappeared from its own
time period as well as the new species the Federation had encountered, like the
telepathic Betazoids, the symbiotic Trill, the greedy Ferengi and the efficient
yet totalitarian Cardassians. Kale found
he was learning more from his new friend, a science and medical officer
attending some advanced training of her own at the Academy between starship
tours, than what he was learning during his so-called re-education
classes. And he found the company to be
much more enjoyable too.
“So the
Cardassians are the new Klingons, and the Klingons are the new… what?” Kale
asked between bites of his sandwich as the two sat at a table in the far corner
of the Academy cafeteria.
“The
Klingon Empire is allied with the Federation now. And the Cardassians have been involved in a
border dispute with the Federation for about twenty years, though it’s never
really been an all-out shooting war and there isn’t any kind of neutral zone
like the one that used to separate the Klingons and Federation in your original
time,” Cue explained, helping herself to a bite of Kale’s sandwich as she
rolled her eyes at his reaction to the idea of a Federation-Klingon Alliance.
“Professor
Galen said the Cardassians are extremely overbearing, even going so far as
annexing star systems against their population’s will,” Kale said.
“The
Cardassian government can be very hard-nosed, but not all Cardassians are the
same. I used to be married to a
Cardassian several years ago. It wasn’t
so bad. The scales took some getting
used to.” The admission took Kale by
surprise.
“You look
too young to have been married,” he said.
“You’d be
surprised at just how old I am,” Cue said with a mischievous smile. Kale raised one eyebrow in curiosity.
“And just
how old are you?”
Cue looked
straight at Kale’s face and with a half-smile said, “That’s for me to know and
you not to find out. A lady doesn’t
discuss her age.”
Now it was
Kale’s turn to roll his eyes.
Both
officers resumed eating Kale’s lunch until, a few minutes later, Cue realized
the time.
“I need to
get to a meeting over at Starfleet Medical.
Any chance we can continue your lesson over dinner tonight?” she asked.
The smile
on Kale’s face disappeared, replaced by a look of frustration.
“Sorry. Can’t.
The Commodore volunteered all our ship’s junior officers for campus
building watches. I think he’s trying to
impress the Academy Superintendent. I’m
just a lowly lieutenant, so tonight’s my night manning the desk at Defiant Hall
from twenty-hundred to oh-two-hundred hours.
And I’ve been up since oh-six-hundred this morning.”
“You’ve
got watch at the main lecture hall tonight?
Nothing happens in there after eighteen-hundred,” Cue said with a frown.
“Tell me
about it,” Kale said, still frowning.
“I’ll be lucky if the cadet roving watch passes through my checkpoint
once every two hours.”
Cue looked
thoughtful for a moment before finally saying, “Think you could use some
company to help you stay awake?”
“Sure!”
Kale said, his smile returning.
* * * *
It was
2100 that night, and Kale was having trouble staying awake as he sat behind the
desk at the main entrance of the Academy’s largest lecture hall. Not even the images on the security monitors,
which showed empty hallways, empty classrooms and large, dark, empty lecture
halls, was not helping him shake off the constant urge to yawn. His building roving watch, a second-year
cadet planning to enter the Engineering College, had made his pass through the
lobby thirty minutes earlier and was not expected back for at least another
ninety minutes more. The lieutenant had
just about given up on having any company show up when the main door swished
open and Cue walked in.
“Hey,” she
said.
“Hey,
yourself,” Kale responded.
It was the
first time Kale had ever seen his ‘tutor’ out of uniform. Instead of her usual black and blue uniform,
she wore casual civilian clothes with a combadge attached to the front and her
hair, normally pulled back tight, flowed loosely around her face, covering the
majority of her Trill spots. She looked
around for a chair to drag over to the desk where Kale sat but, aside from the
chair Kale sat on behind the desk, the building lobby was empty.
“Here,
take my seat. I’m having trouble staying
awake sitting here anyway,” the lieutenant offered.
Cue moved
around behind the desk and tossed a padd she was carrying onto it and, before
sitting down, said, “I think the chair’s big enough for both of us. I don’t take all that much room.” Kale started to protest but was cut off when
Cue grabbed his arm and tugged him back down into the seat with her. It was a tight squeeze, but after a short
time Kale found he did not mind in the least, not even when the Cadet roving
watch returned through the lobby, giving the two officers a disapproving look
before entering his code into the security station and moving on to another
area of the building.
“Okay, pop
quiz,” Cue said after another hour of catching up on eighty years of history as
she changed the display on her padd.
“Cardassians are know for…?”
“Spoonheads,”
Kale said with a tired grin, causing Cue to frown, but she continued anyway.
“And
Betazoids are…?”
“Telepathic,
so you should never play cards with them.”
Cue could
not help but smile at Kale’s remark this time before continuing, “And Trills
have…?”
“Very
pretty brown eyes,” Kale said before a long yawn, prompting Cue to blush
slightly in spite of herself.
“Well, I
was looking for Trills have symbionts, but I guess I’ll accept your answer,”
the petite woman replied with a squeeze of Kale’s hand.
In spite
of the fact Kale was having even more trouble refraining from constantly
yawning, he glanced at the chronometer between the security monitors in the
desk and said, “As much as I’m enjoying your company, it’s almost
midnight. Don’t you want to get home,
wherever home is, and get some sleep?”
“I don’t
mind being up late, and I have nothing going on in the morning. And you look like you could use help staying
up for the last couple of hours of your watch.”
“I’m glad
I only have to do this once every month while the Arcturus crew is here,” Kale groaned. “Thanks for your help staying awake.”
“Just say
you owe me one,” Cue said with a wink.
* * * *
Almost two
hours later, Kale’s watch relief, Lt(JG) Setton To’Lock Arbelo arrived, looking
about as awake as Kale felt.
“You going
to be okay?” Kale asked as he turned the desk over to his shipmate.
“I came
prepared,” Arbelo replied, holding up a large container of coffee and a padd
with the procedures of a modern starship’s operations console to study. “I’m ready to relieve you.”
“I am more
than ready to be relieved,” Kale replied.
“See you in our next class.”
The last
thing Kale remembered after being relieved of his watch post was stepping out
into the cool
“Um… Where
am I?” he said aloud, in spite of being alone as far as he could tell. He looked around the bedroom, which had a
distinctly feminine feel to it. Across
the room was a desk with a computer monitor on top of it. Between the desk and bed were a couple of
blankets and a pillow piled on the floor.
Above the desk was a shelf holding several very old bound books. Surprised to find something that would have
been considered rare even in his own original time, he got out of bed to take a
closer look, noticing for the first time his uniform top was folded neatly on
the chair in front of the desk, his boots sitting under the chair. As he stepped over the pile of blankets and
moved closer to the bookshelf he noticed all of the books were children’s
stories, at least half of them written by an author he was unfamiliar with
named A.A. Milne. Two book-ends, one on
each side of the row of books, were a cartoonish orange and black tiger
balancing on his tail and a rotund yellow bear with a red t-shirt. The bookends looked about as old as the books
themselves. Kale started to reach up toward
the books to take a closer look when he heard the bedroom door open.
“Good
morning, sleepyhead,” Cue said as she stepped in, wearing civilian clothes
similar to what she had worn the night before, absent her combadge.
“What
happened? Where am I?” Kale asked.
“You were
practically sleepwalking by the time we left the Academy grounds last night,
and since I don’t know where you’re living right now, I figured I’d just bring
you to my apartment and let you sleep it off.”
Try as he
might, Kale still could not remember anything beyond Arbelo relieving him of
the watch post. “What time is it?” he
asked.
“Almost
half-past eleven,” Cue replied.
“What?!? That late!
I should be in class!” Kale
scrambled to pull a boot onto one foot as he balanced precariously on the
other, pausing in confusion when Cue started laughing. “What?”
“You
really are out of it,” she replied.
“It’s Saturday. There are no
classes today!”
“It’s
Saturday?” Kale said, sounding slightly less frantic.
“It’s
Saturday,” Cue confirmed. Kale collapsed
sitting on Cue’s bed, one boot still half off.
“Come on,
I’ve made breakfast,” Cue said, gesturing out the bedroom door. “It’s not much, I don’t usually make anything
for just myself. Then after we eat I
have something else planned for the two of us.”
And grabbing Kale’s hand, she lead him out into the apartment’s small
dining/kitchen area.
* * * *
After
breakfast, which consisted of a few slices of buttered toast from Cue’s small
household replicator and a cup of freshly brewed tea, the petite woman led Kale
outside. The building in which Cue’s
small apartment was located was close to the Embarcadero. Kale looked gazed around like a tourist, it
really being the first time he had ventured outside the Academy grounds since
the Arcturus had returned to Earth,
and what struck the Centauri the most was how little had changed in more than
three-quarters of a century. The
marble-white Transamerica Pyramid, the rust-orange
Less than
two blocks after leaving Cue’s apartment, Kale was surprised to feel the petite
woman’s hand slip into his grip. He
looked down at their joined hands but made no move to release hers.
As they
walked, between Cue pointing out all of the subtle changes to the city in the
last eighty years, the topic of conversation turned toward the shelf full of
books Cue had collected in her bedroom.
“You don’t
strike me as the type to still be reading kids books,” Kale said.
“There are
many things about me that might surprise you,” Cue responded, pointing out her
favorite tea shop along
“I spent
more time reading Jane’s Fighting Starships and the scientific publications my
father collected than kids books when I was growing up. My goal as far back as I can remember was to
join Starfleet.”
“Well,
you’re in Starfleet now. Perhaps
it’s time to broaden your mind a little?” Cue suggested.
“Maybe I
could catch up. Would you be willing to
lend your books out?”
Cue gave
Kale a skeptical look before saying, “I never lend out my books. They’re too rare. But you’re welcome to visit often and read
them at my place.” She gave his hand a
reassuring squeeze, causing the Centauri to smile.
Over the
next several hours, the couple made their way across
“Thank
you,” Kale said. When he sensed her
confused expression he added, “For today.
I had a good time. It’s been a
long while since I’ve been able to simply be a tourist.”
“You’re very
welcome,” Cue said as she turned her head to look up into Kale’s brown
eyes. Their gaze locked for several
seconds until Cue turned around in Kale’s arms, now face to face, and leaned up
on her toes, kissing him on the lips.
* * * *
Kalin Kale
awoke as the light of the rising sun reached his closed eyes. Covering them with one arm, he slowly opened
his eyes and looked around the room once again.
He had
gotten used to the bedroom in the several weekends he had stayed there, but his
attention was still drawn to the collection of antique books, several of them
almost five hundred years old, that sat on the small shelf above the desk with
the two book-ends in the shape of the characters he had recently learned were
called Tigger and Winnie the Pooh (whatever a ‘Pooh’ was, considering it looked
like a rather fat bear).
“Good
morning,” he called out to the empty room as he continued to lay on the bed
with his arm over his face.
Almost
without warning, a petite woman with long brown hair and wearing an oversized
t-shirt bounded into the room, pouncing directly on top of Kale before he could
move out of the way.
“Morning,”
Cue replied, planting a passionate kiss on Kale’s lips in spite of the pained
look on his face.
“You keep
pouncing on top of me like that,” the Centauri man said when he finally
regained his breath, “and I’m going to start calling you Tigger like that
character in your book collection.”
“What’s
stopping you?” Cue replied before leaning down to cuddle with Kale.
* * * *
December 2367
Stardate 44960.1
Over the
months since the Arcturus crew’s
retraining had started, Lieutenant Kalin Kale found himself spending more and
more of his off duty time with ‘Tigger,’ learning as much from her as he did in
class. It was to the Centauri’s
surprise, however, how quickly the relationship had turned less than
platonic. In spite of the fact they had
been born in different centuries, they had grown quite close in a very short
time. As the weeks passed, Kale found
himself thinking more about the future ahead then he had done since first
graduating
“Do you
think Dr. Arcadian could use another MD on her staff?” Kale asked his Arcturus shipmate, Setton To’lock
Arbelo, as the two officers took their seats in their astrophysics class.
“I doubt
it,” Arbelo replied. “Athena’s already
got two full MD’s and eight nurses in her department. Why?” the hybrid officer asked, a wry smile
on his face. “Are you planning on
switching over to medical?”
“No,” Kale
said with a frown aimed at Arbelo. “I’m
thinking of suggesting to Cue that she should apply for a transfer to the Arcturus. Hey, maybe Commander Baael could use a new
science officer? Cue has studies stellar
cartography too.”
“Cue? Is that the cute little L-T you’ve been
spending all your off-duty time with?” Arbelo asked, his face suddenly eager
with the anticipation of hearing some good new gossip. “What’s she like?”
Kale paused
for a moment, trying to word what he would say delicately before answering,
“She’s like no one I’ve ever met before.
I don’t know if it’s because of that… worm… in her abdomen or not, but
she seems more worldly and knowledgeable then someone like her would normally
be. She’s someone I think I could spend
the rest of my life getting to know, and I’d like the opportunity to try.”
“That
serious already? It seems like you just
met her!” Arbelo asked, amazed.
“Yeah,”
Kale agreed with a nod just as Professor Chapman stepped up to the front of the
classroom.
“Can I
have your attention, please?” the professor announced, causing all eight of the
Arcturus Ops department members to
quiet down. “Thank you. As I’m sure you’ve already been told, part of
your retraining will include some time spent learning your job aboard an active
starship of the fleet. This will help
you acclimate to the new duties you will
be expected to assume once you officially return to the fleet while under
experienced supervision. I know its
short notice, but you will be transported to your assigned training command on
Monday morning, so you only have this weekend to pack your bags and get all
your affairs in order before you leave.”
Arbelo
glanced sideways at Kale, who simply looked back at his shipmate out of the
corner of his eye as Professor Chapman continued, starting to walk between the
desks, placing a padd in front of each of the Arcturus officers.
“Your
orders are on the padds I’m passing out.
They each contain the information of where you will be assigned, to whom
you will report and the duties which will be expected of you. Also included is the information of how and
where you will rendezvous with your assignment.” The professor paused in front of Kale’s and
Arbelo’s desks, handing a padd directly to each of them. “Mister Kale, Mister Arbelo,
congratulations.”
The two Arcturus shipmates exchanged puzzled
glances as Professor Chapman moved on, then pressed the activation button on
their padds and started to read. Their
expressions quickly changed from puzzlement to astonishment.
* * * *
Early the
next evening, Kale arrived at the door to Cue’s apartment, one hand holding a bouquet
of roses hidden behind his back as the other pressed the door chime. A moment later the door slid open. Inside the threshold stood Cue, her long
brown hair flowing loose across the shoulders of her civilian clothes. She smiled as Kale pulled the roses from
behind his back and she inhaled their scent deeply before taking the bouquet
from Kale.
“You won’t
believe the news I have, Tigger!” Kale said as he hugged the petite woman and
stepped inside. “I told you my crew was
going to spend some time aboard various starships for training? I received my assignment!” He handed her the padd.
“The
“It still
seems strange to me, hearing any name other than Kirk associated with the
Cue looked
at Kale with a funny expression and said, “Um… Kalin, you do realize this is
the fifth Federation starship
Kale
looked at Cue with blank expression, saying, “Uh…”
Cue shook
her head and chuckled as she stepped into her kitchen to find something to put
the roses in and continued, “So when do you leave?”
“Two
days. I spent all last night on watch
duty, and tomorrow I need to pack up the belongings I’m bringing with me, so I
was hoping we could make the most of tonight?
And I also have something I want to talk about with you, something you
can think about for the thirty days I’m away.”
When Cue looked at him inquisitively, Kale simply pointed at the bouquet
she was holding. She turned the flowers
to find a small envelope attached to the stems, upon which was written ‘A Proposition
for LT(JG) Cue.’
“Well,
first of all, you spelled the name wrong,” She said as she pulled the envelope
off the stems and stuck the flowers in a large glass of water.
“You spell
it with a K?” Kale asked.
“No. A Q,” Q
replied. “Just like the letter.”
“But I
thought you said Cue was the symbiont’s name?”
Q took a seat on her couch and patted
the seat next to her for Kale to sit down, then said, “It’s a really long
story.” As the Centauri man joined the petite
trill woman on the couch, she proceeded to tell Kale about the time several
centuries ago, long before most of the races that now made up the Federation
ever moved out into space, a being from the Q
Continuum came across a dying joined Trill.
How the humanoid Trill host begged the Q to save the worm-like symbiont and how, in order to do so, the Q joined with it. Many years passed before the Q considered returning the symbiont to
the Trill for a new host, by which time the symbiont was already used to
referring to itself as Q, the name
it had assumed ever since.
“I know
I’ve spent the last several months teaching you all about the new races you’re
unfamiliar with, but I purposely refrained from telling you about the Q,” Q
said, smiling slightly at what seemed like a private joke. “That’s because I’m sure Starfleet will give
you a full briefing about the Continuum
and everything you need to know, especially since you’re going to be spending
time aboard the
Kale
seemed a little nervous as he cleared his throat before saying, “Well, as you
know, I’ll be returning to the Arcturus
when our re-training ends in a few more months, and I’ve found I enjoy the time
we spend together, Tigger.”
“I enjoy
the time I spend with you too, Kalin,” Q
responded, snuggling into the Centauri’s shoulder as she pulled the note out of
the envelope and started to read. It
contained several contact names and information about the USS Arcturus.
“Well, you
mentioned you expect to receive a new deep space assignment soon, so I thought
maybe you could request an assignment to the Arcturus?”
Q suddenly got a distant look in her
eyes, her gaze staring across the room at the far wall. Kale looked at her expectantly.
“It’s an
interesting idea,” Q conceded,
deflating Kale’s mood. Q looked at the Centauri man with a
slight smile as she added, “I need some time to consider it. Will you give me the time while you’re away?”
A
half-smile returned to Kale’s face as he nodded and Q took his hand, leading him back toward her bedroom.
* * * *
Late the
next morning, Kale stood at the door to Q’s
apartment, dressed in his normal duty uniform, saying his goodbyes to Q, who wore only a long t-shirt that
hung down to her knees.
“I
promise, I’ll think about your offer,” the petite Trill said to Kale as she
hugged him tightly.
“I’ll miss
you while I’m gone,” Kale replied as he leaned down to kiss Q on the lips.
“I’ll miss
you too,” she whispered back in his ear.
“Stay safe.”
Kale
smiled at Q and blew one last kiss
before turning around to walk down the hall.
As the apartment door swished shut, Q
continued to stare at it, her slight smile quickly turning to a frown.
“What
now?” she asked with a tone of annoyance.
A voice
dripping with sarcasm responded, “What?
No offer of a cup of tea? Perhaps
a scone?”
Q turned around to face the man who now
sat on the same couch she had shared with Kale the previous evening. The man was dressed in a Starfleet captain’s
uniform, his legs crossed and seemingly at ease. He smiled at her, causing Q to frown further.
“You know
we’re only supposed to be observing them,” scolded the dark-haired male Q.
“Not getting so.. personally involved.”
“You
should talk!” Q replied. “If you had any more involvement with Picard
you might as well just join his crew!”
“But I
haven’t slept with Jean-Luc,” Q
retorted, seeming to consider the idea for a moment before twisting his face
with disgust. “You’re losing your
objectivity. You need to drop this
relationship stuff.’
“Says
who?” Q asked defiantly.
“By order
of the Continuum.”
“And if I
refuse?”
Q stood up from the couch, towering over
the petite female Q, a dangerous
look in his eyes as he said, “Duty in Starfleet can be quite life
threatening. You never know what dangers
a certain young Starfleet officer might face.”
A look
verging on fear crossed Q’s
expression.
“You
wouldn’t!” she dared.
“Moi?” Q replied, his hands to his chest and a
look of mock shock on his face before breaking out into a wide smile.
* * * *
The transporter
concluded its cycle and two figures materialized on the platform. Lieutenant Kalin Kale paused for a moment in
surprise when he saw the pale Starfleet officer that stood in front of the
control console before he stepped down and presented a padd containing his
orders.
“Lieutenant
Kalin Kale, Ensign Setton To’Lock Arbelo, reporting as ordered, Commander,” he
said.
“Welcome
aboard the
* * * *
Personal
log, stardate 44995.7:
Lieutenant
Kalin Kale, recording.
Shortly
after arriving aboard the new starship Enterprise, Ensign Arbelo
and I were given a brief tour of the ship, during which we were introduced to
many of the department heads, including to both Setton’s and my own shock, the
Klingon Chief of Security Lieutenant Worf.
I think meeting him above any other experience we’ve had since the
Arcturus emerged from the time warp has proven how different the 24th
century is to what we remember of our own time.
Our
tour culminated in a meeting with the captain, Jean-Luc Picard, who seemed
extremely interested in the events that lead to our emergence almost eighty
years after we left our own time.
On
a more personal note, I have tried to send a message to Tigger, to let her know
I arrived safely and am looking forward to the month ahead.
Kalin Kale
stepped out onto the bridge, awed once again by how different it was from the
starship control center he was used to, and stepped over to the ops station,
where Lt Commander Data sat.
“Commander,
request permission to assume the watch?” Kale asked rather formally.
“Permission
granted,” the android officer replied before turning the console aside and
slipping out of the chair. Data stood to
the side before Kale sat in the seat and pulled the console closed over his
lap, quickly touching a couple of the controls to update himself on the ship’s
status, including course, speed and power allocation throughout the
vessel. What he noticed shocked him.
“Captain!”
he said with some urgency, turning slightly to look back at Picard, who sat
with his legs crossed in the command chair.
“According to these readings, we crossed into the Klingon Neutral Zone
fifteen minutes ago. We’re on course
into Klingon space.”
Commander
William Riker, the starship’s first officer, exchanged an amused look with the
captain before saying, “There is no Klingon Neutral Zone anymore,
Lieutenant. It went the way of so-called
cowboy diplomacy several decades ago.”
Kale
looked embarrassed as Captain Picard added, “We’re heading to Qo’noS by
invitation, Mister Kale. There I will
complete my obligations as Arbiter of Succession and install the new leader of
the Klingon High Council.”
“A
Starfleet officer is installing the new Klingon High Council Leader? Wow!
Times really have
changed!”
“Didn’t
the professors at the Academy update your crew on the current political
climate, Lieutenant?” Riker asked, stepping over to the ops station and placing
one leg up on the side of the console, leaning close to where Kale sat.
“Very
basic information, Commander,” Kale replied.
“I actually learned a lot more about what my crew and I missed from
another officer I met on the Academy grounds and have become very friendly
with. But I’m sure I would have learned
a lot more if our tutoring sessions hadn’t become… somewhat distracted,” Kale
concluded with an embarrassed smile.
“Understood,”
Riker replied with a wide smile and a twinkle in his eye before returning to
his own seat next to Picard.
“Number
One, where is Mister Worf?” the captain asked.
“He got
off duty about an hour ago,” Riker replied.
“I imagine he’s in his quarters.”
“I need to
talk to him for a moment,” Picard said as he stood up, as usual pulling down on
the front of his uniform in a way that Kale had heard members of the Enterprise crew refer to as the ‘Picard
Maneuver’ before heading toward the nearby turbolift. “You have the bridge, Number One.”
“Aye,
sir,” Riker responded before looking toward the helmsman. “Steady as she goes, helm.”
The bridge
crew returned to their normal routines, which included small talk, as Riker
started asking his acting operations officer questions about the Starfleet of
the 23rd century and the time accident that brought Kale and his
shipmates to their current time period.
“So what
was Jim Kirk really like?” Riker asked, leaning forward with anticipation in
the command chair.
“I never
actually met Captain Kirk,” Kale replied.
“I’m sure Commodore Johnson has.
And yes, he was as much a legend back then as he still seems to be
now. Do you know what ever happened to
him?”
“He was
killed in 2293 during the first mission of the Enterprise-B…”
Riker was
interrupted when a hail sounded from the ops console. Lieutenant Kale returned his attention to the
console a moment before looking back over his shoulder at Riker.
“It’s a
Klingon vessel, Commander. The IKS Bortas. They are here to escort us to Qo’noS.”
Riker’s
expression changed to one of puzzlement and concern as he touched the intercom
control on the command chair arm.
“Riker to
Picard.”
“Go ahead,
Number One,” came the quick response.
“We’ve
been intercepted by the Klingon vessel Bortas. They claim to be our escort.”
Through
the open intercom, Riker could hear the deep voice of Lieutenant Worf advise
the captain, “No escort was scheduled.”
After a
moment’s pause, Picard’s voice returned, saying, “I’m on my way,
Commander. Have all senior officers
report to the bridge.”
“Aye,
sir,” Riker replied before touching the intercom control once again. “All senior officers to the bridge.”
Seconds
later, Lt Commander Data emerged from the upper turbolift, quickly crossing
down the ramp to the ops console, where Kale was already pusing the console out
of the way to allow Data to assume the watch.
* * * *
Several days later
Setton
Arbelo rushed into the quarters he shared with Kalin Kale, finding the
Centauran sitting at the desk studying a technical manual on the engineering
systems of a Galaxy-class starship.
“Kalin!”
Arbelo said urgently. “All off duty
personnel have just been requested to report to the corridor on deck six,
section nine for honor guard duty.”
Kale
looked over at Arbelo, a look bordering on shock in his eyes.
“I never
heard any shipwide announcement. Was I
that engrossed in this manual?”
“The
announcement wasn’t made shipwide. The
captain wanted to keep it quiet. But we
need to go now!”
“Dress
uniforms? We haven’t been issued dress
uniforms yet!”
“No,
normal duty uniforms,” the hybrid Vulcan-Efrosian-Terran officer replied. “Come on.”
Both Arcturus officers quickly departed the
stateroom, rushing into the nearby turbolift and several seconds later emerged
on deck six, where many of the
“What’s
the occasion? Visiting dignitary?” he
asked.
“No. Mister Worf is leaving the ship. I hear he resigned his Starfleet commission,”
the ensign responded.
Before
Kale could ask any more questions, he heard the turbolift at the end of the
corridor open once again.
“Attention
on deck!” announced the now-familiar voice of Captain Picard a moment
later. The row of crew members on each
side of the corridor snapped to attention, shoulders squared, eyes forward. Several seconds later Picard, accompanied by
Worf who was dressed in full Klingon armor, turned the corner and walked toward
the transporter room. It appeared to
Kale that the Klingon officer was nearly overwhelmed by the display of respect
the crew was presenting as he passed.
The doors
to the transporter room were already open, admitting the captain and former
security chief. Inside, Kale could see
Commander Riker, Chief Engineer LaForge, Data, Doctor Crusher and Counselor
Troi, all of whom he had been introduced to during his tour of the ship several
days earlier. Worf looked as if he were
about to say something to Picard, hesitating a moment before turning instead
and stepping up onto the transporter platform.
“Permission
to leave the ship, sir?” he asked.
“Permission
granted,” Picard replied before offering a final salutation. “Qapla’!”
Worf took
one last look at his former shipmates, finally saying, “Goodbye.” A moment later he disappeared in the beam of
the transporter.
As the hum
of the equipment died away, Riker addressed the gathered crew, announcing,
“Dismissed.”
* * * *
Personal
log, stardate 45021.1:
Lieutenant
Kalin Kale, recording.
I’ve
been aboard the
Meanwhile,
the
Lieutenant
Kale was once again manning the ops console when the captain’s voice sounded
from his combadge.
“Mister
Kale, would you join me in my ready room?”
Kale
tapped his combadge and acknowledged the request before slipping out of the
console seat, quickly replaced by another officer who had been monitoring one
of the aft bridge consoles. “Come,”
responded Picard when Kale pressed the chime next to the ready room door, after
which the Centaurian man quickly stepped inside, surprised to find his shipmate
Setton To’Lock Arbelo already seated in front of the captain’s desk.
“You
wanted to see me, Captain?” Kale asked.
“Yes,”
Picard replied. “Please sit down.”
As Kale
sat down next to Arbelo, Picard started to speak.
“I assume
you’ve heard about the situation within the Klingon Empire?”
“Only that
the Empire is on the verge of civil war,” Kale replied, prompting Arbelo to
nod.
“Actually,
war has already broken out between the forces loyal to Chancellor Gowron and
those siding with the Duras family,” Picard explained. “It is my belief that the Romulans are
supplying the Duras. Fleet Admiral
Shanthi has authorized me to command a Starfleet armada to guard the border
between Klingon and Romulan space in an attempt to block those supplies from
reaching their intended recipients. As
you may know, several of the
Picard
looked closely at the two young officers in front of him before continuing.
“I’m
afraid your training mission has become a bit more than you expected. Mister Kale, I spoke to Commander Data before
he departed for the USS Sutherland,
and he assures me you are ready to stand watch at ops unsupervised.”
Kale
gulped silently before answering, “I’ll do my best, sir.”
“I expect
nothing less,” Picard said before turning his attention to Arbelo. “As for you Mister Arbelo, as I’m sure you’re
aware, Lieutenant Worf has transferred to the Klingon fleet, fighting on the
side of Gowron. I need you to cover
tactical. Do you think you can handle
it?”
Arbelo scratched
one of his pointed ear tips momentarily before answering, “Certainly not my
main area of expertise, but like Lieutenant Kale, I will do my best.”
Picard
nodded with a satisfied smile as he said, “I can ask nothing more of you. Both of you will be reassigned to the night
watch, but do not think that means you won’t be seeing any action. The mission we embark upon is potentially
highly dangerous. Dismissed.”
“Thank you
for your confidence in us,” Kale said as he and Arbelo stood up to leave the ready
room. “We won’t let you, nor Commodore
Johnson down.”
* * * *
Personal
log, stardate 45042.9:
Lieutenant
Kalin Kale, recording.
I
have not heard any word back from Tigger recently, but it’s probably due to the
fact the
With
the help of the Federation armada, the Romulans were caught trying to slip
supplies across the border to those loyal to the Duras family. Just weeks after beginning, the Klingon Civil
War has ended and Captain Picard has officially appointed Gowron the new
Chancellor of the Klingon High Council.
Shortly after that, the members of the
“Welcome
back, Commander,” Kale said as he stood up from the Ops console to make room
for Lieutenant Commander Data as the Alpha shift assumed their duty posts. “How did you like your time in the center
seat?”
“Thank
you, Lieutenant, but I neither liked nor disliked my service aboard the Sutherland,” Data responded as he
assumed the seat behind the console. “I simply
performed my duties as the situation called for.”
“Still,
you bagged the Romulans,” Kale remarked as he stepped toward the nearby
turbolift.
“Bagged?”
Data commented, looking toward Kale.
“There was no bag involved. It
was a tachyon field that…”
“Just an
expression, Commander,” Kale cut the android off with a slight smile before
hesitating near the turbolift door, waiting for Arbelo to be relieved at the
tactical post.
“I am
ready to relieve you,” said the gruff voice of the Klingon officer from over
Ensign Arbelo’s shoulder, startling the junior officer from the Arcturus.
“Ready to
be relieved,” Arbelo finally said as his two hearts slowly calmed their rapid
beating. “Congratulations, Mister Worf.”
Worf
stepped in front of the tactical console, quickly scanning the status of the
indications with his eyes before saying, “You left the auto-targeting scanner
engaged.”
Arbelo
waited beside the console for a moment, but Worf never looked back up at
him. Finally he said, “I stand
relieved,” and started walking down the ramp to join Kale at the turbolift.
“Ensign!”
Worf said, looking up at the Vulcan-Terran-Efrosian for the first time and
causing Arbelo to freeze in mid-step.
“Thank you,” Worf finally said before returning his attention to his
duties. Arbelo offered the security
chief a nervous smile and joined Kale down on the lower level of the bridge,
but before either of the visiting officers could enter the ‘lift, Captain Picard
quickly exited his ready room and moved past the two toward the center of the
bridge.
“Number
One,” the captain said to Commander William Riker, who had likewise rejoined
the crew. “Set course for the fourth
planet of the El-Adrel system.”
“Aye,
sir,” Riker replied. “New mission?”
“Yes,
Number One. Have you heard of a race
called the Children of Tama?”
“The
Tamarians. Yes.”
“Well, it
appears that a Tamarian ship has been broadcasting a general hail toward
Federation space and we’ve been dispatched to meet with them. It should be a fairly easy mission.” Picard then took his place in the command
chair and, upon receiving confirmation that the course was laid in, ordered,
“Ahead warp factor six. Engage!”
* * * *
Personal
log, Ensign Setton Lo’Lock Arbelo, stardate 45070.8:
The
last couple of weeks have been quite harrowing.
We briefly lost Captain Picard when the commander of an alien ship
appeared to have kidnapped him, in what turned out to be an attempt to open
communications with the Federation. It
turns out these Tamarians, as they are called, use a language heavy in
metaphor, often making the context of what they are saying difficult, if not
impossible, to understand. Throughout
the mission, both Kalin and I had little to do, since the
Arbelo,
out.
Setton
To’Lock Arbelo was manning the ops console, just giving his status report to
Commander William Riker, when Lieutenant Worf interrupted.
“Commander,”
the Klingon Chief of Security said urgently.
“I am receiving an emergency distress signal.”
Riker
quickly stood from his set in the command chair and turned to face Worf.
“Origin?”
the first officer asked.
“Solarion
IV.”
Riker
immediately strode around the horseshoe rail and up to the higher level of the
bridge, looking over Worf’s shoulder at the information displayed on the
tactical console.
“Distance?”
he asked.
“Five
hundred and sixty million kilometers.
We’re the closest starship in range,” Worf replied, obviously having
anticipated Riker’s next question. The
first officer then looked across the bridge at the young human Ensign that
manned the console to Arbelo’s right.
“Helm,
estimated time to arrival?”
“Thirty
minutes if we increase speed to warp 8.”
Riker
nodded as he tapped his combadge.
“Bridge to
Captain Picard.”
It took a
moment for the expected reply, “Yes?”
“Sorry to
interrupt,” Riker said. “We’re receiving
an emergency distress signal from the Solarion IV colony.”
“Lay in a
new course,” the captain ordered over the intercom channel. “I’m on my way.”
As the
comm channel was closed, Riker again looked towards the helmsman.
“Ensign,
lay in a course for Solarion IV.
Increase speed to warp 8.”
“Course
plotted and laid in, Commander,” the human man replied. “Increasing speed to warp factor 8.”
“Very
well,” Riker replied before tapping his combadge once again. “Mister Data, please report to the bridge.”
By the
time Captain Picard emerged from the aft turbolift, Data was already accessing
the library computer for all information they had on the Solarion colony. Picard immediately joined Riker and Worf near
the tactical station, Data joining them a moment later.
“Report,”
Picard said to Riker.
“The
signal ended abruptly at 0455,” Riker explained. “We’ve been unable to raise them on
subspace.”
“Hail them
on upper and lower band frequencies, Mister Worf,” Picard suggested to the
security chief.
“I’ve
tried,” Worf replied, sounding frustrated.
“No response.”
Picard’s
expression grew more concerned as he turned toward Data.
“Time to
the Solarion system?”
“Twenty
six minutes, Captain.”
Picard
nodded, and as Data and Worf returned to their respective consoles on the upper
bridge, Riker followed Picard down the port side ramp, discussing a recent
conversation Picard had had with the starship’s civilian barber.
“I
understand you’ve been discussing alternative adversarial engagement strategy
with Mister Mott?”
“It would
be more accurate to say he’s been discussing them with me,” Riker replied with
a grin as the two officers approached their respective seats in the command
arena. “He’s the best barber in
Starfleet. What can you do?” However, before either officer could sit
down, another hail sounded at the tactical console.
“Sir,”
said Worf. “Receiving another signal of
a vessel leaving orbit of Solarian IV.
New frequency, low band… Audio
only.”
“Open a
channel,” Picard ordered as both he and Riker assumed their seats.
The
subspace radio chimed as the channel opened and an unfamiliar voice sounded
from the speakers, heavily distorted.
“This is
the Bajora. We claim responsibility for
the destruction of the Federation colony on Solarion IV. As long as we are without our homeland, no
one will be safe in this sector.” Then
the frequency faded to static, the expression on Picard’s face now a mixture of
anger and frustration.
“Mister
Data, man your station” Riker said, looking over his shoulder back toward where
the android officer was still standing at the rear console. “All hands, yellow alert.”
Data
quickly walked down the ramp and replaced Arbelo at the ops console. Arbelo took a quick look around the bridge to
see if there was anything he could do to help when Picard looked in his
direction.
“Mister
Arbelo, I need you and Mister Kale to lead rescue and recovery teams,” the
captain said. “Gather several teams and
stand by in transporter room one.”
“Aye,
sir,” Arbelo replied, grinning in spite of the seriousness of the
situation. “You can count on us,
Captain.” And in a moment he had
disappeared into the forward turbolift.
“Arbelo to
Kale,” the time-displaced Vulcan-Efrosian-Terran officer said as he tapped his
own combadge.
“What’s
up, Setton?” Kale’s voice replied. “Why
have we gone to yellow alert?”
“A colony
has been attacked by a group called the Bajora.
You and I have been assigned to lead SAR teams. We’ll be in orbit in twenty minutes.”
“I’m on my
way,” the Alpha Centauran man replied.
* * * *
The
transporter cycled one last time and seven figures materialized on the
platform, two of them laying flat on the pads, two others leaning heavily
against members of the
“This is
the last group, Chief,” Kale announced as Doctor Beverly Crusher and several of
her staff quickly moved forward with anti-grav gurneys and started stabilizing
the victims before carrying them off to sickbay.
“Good
work, Lieutenant,” Chief Miles O’Brien said.
“Not good
enough,” Kale said disgustedly, wiping dirt and powdered concrete out of his
eyes. “That colony consisted of over
five hundred people. We only rescued one
hundred and two.”
“You have
to look at it this way, Lieutenant,” the transporter chief said, trying to
improve Kale’s mood. “That’s one hundred
and two more people then if we hadn’t arrived as quickly as we did.”
“I suppose
you’re right, Chief,” Kale said, trying to smile as he headed toward the door.
“Lieutenant,
one other thing,” O’Brien added. “The
Captain said as soon as you get cleaned up, he wants to see both you and Mister
Arbelo in his ready room. Ensign Arbelo
beamed up about five minutes ago.”
“Thanks,
Chief,” Kale replied, quickly heading to the quarters he shared with his Arcturus shipmate, where he quickly
showered and put on a new uniform. Fifteen minutes later he was back on the
bridge, touching the door chime to Picard’s ready room.
“Come.”
The doors
swished aside and Kale stepped in, finding Arbelo already seat in one of the
chairs in front of the captain’s desk.
“Sit down,
Mister Kale,” Picard said. As Kale sat
down next to Arbelo, Picard continued, “I wish to commend you on the
exceptional and extremely difficult job you performed today. Be assured I will be forwarding a
commendation to your commanding officer for both of you.”
Both young
officers thanked the captain for his kind words before Picard continued.
“As I’m
sure you’re aware, your tour aboard the
Picard
stood, pulling down on the front of his uniform before offering his hand to
each. Both Kale and Arbelo stood,
shaking the captain’s hand and thanking him as Picard handed each a padd with
their new orders on it, authorizing passage back to the Sol system aboard the
transport ship SS Pinta.
* * * *
February 2368
Stardate 45089.9
Lieutenant
Kalin Kale materialized on the street outside the apartment building where Q lived. Shifting the bouquet of roses between hands
as he straightened his uniform, he walked into the building and up the lift to
the proper floor. He cleared his throat
and brushed his hair out of his eyes one last time before pressing the door
chime and quickly thrusting the bouquet between his face and the door. Seconds later the door swished open.
“Oh!” a
voice said in a much lower tone than Kale remembered. Puzzled, he lowered the flowers, surprised to
see an unfamiliar face looking back at him over the blooms.
“I’m sorry. I’m looking for… um… Q. Um… Lotus Q.”
The human
woman with blonde hair looked Kale up and down, taking note of his uniform
before replying, “You must mean the tenant that lived here before me. She was in Starfleet too, wasn’t she?”
“Um…
Yeah,” Kale said, still sounding slightly confused. “Did you say… lived here?”
“Yes. She moved out about three weeks ago, give or
take a few days,” the blonde woman replied, still looking Kale over.
“Any idea
where she went?”
“I’m not
positive, but I think she requested deep space duty. You know, aboard a starship. You could check with the building manager,
but I think it was the USS Passageway.”
“Oh,” Kale
said, suddenly sounding extremely disappointed.
The woman who lived in Q’s
apartment could not help but notice the change in Kale’s demeanor.
“You know,
if you’re not busy, I’ve got the afternoon free. Why not join me for a drink?” The woman stepped partway out of the door,
inviting the Centauran man inside. Kale
glanced in through the open door, seeing the unfamiliar furniture and pictures
inside and just shook his head.
“I’m
sorry. I have to go,” Kale said, simply
turning and heading down the hallway to the lift, the blonde woman watching him
leave. Once outside the building, he looked
up into the sky, as if perhaps he could spot whatever starship Q was now a crew member aboard. A few seconds later, he started slowly
walking down the sidewalk back toward the Academy, dumping the bouquet of roses
in a trash bin along the way.
The End
Return to 2369.
Return to Stories Archive.