(for an explanation of what that means, see From the Ready Room post "From the Writer's Notebook" dated 81008.0200)
Alternate Timeline 2, Post Two of Two
-=Found and Lost=-
by Zanh Liis
90910.00
Hours after His Father's Son
-=Bridge, USS Serendipity=-
“Captain Zanh, we’re being hailed…” Dane spun in his chair, his expression a study in confusion. “By an Admiral Lassiter aboard the USS Gauntlet.”
“Admiral who on the Gauntlet?” Zanh asked, her eyebrow elevating.
"She says her name is Lassiter, Sir."
Glances were exchanged among those now present on the bridge. What was another Admiral doing commanding Vox' ship?
“This ought to prove interesting,” Zanh said as an aside to Blane, who currently occupied the XO's chair. She casually waved her left hand toward the viewer. “On screen, Mister Cristiane.”
“Captain,” Dane suddenly turned pale, “I believe you will want to take this call in your ready room.”
Ordinarily Zanh would’ve questioned the ensign’s sanity for countermanding her thus, but something in his tone told her that this time, she had better listen to him. “Very well.” She rose slowly from her chair as TC Blane eyed her warily. “Thomas, care to join me?”
“Aye, Sir.” Blane followed a step behind her as she skipped over the steps leading down to her ready room in one leap and proceeded through the doors.
She stood before her computer terminal, activating the secure channel with the quick punch of a button.
The attractive features of a seasoned Starfleet Officer appeared.
[Congratulations, Captain Zanh, on the success of your mission.]
“Mission, Admiral?” Zanh had learned to play dumb about these things, until forced out into the light by the appropriate people. “What mission are you speaking of?”
[You were sent to recover a very precious piece of cargo for us,] Lassiter replied, with equally intentional vagueness. [On behalf of TEMA, I am here to thank your team for a job well done.]
Zanh couldn’t help but glance at Blane, and Lassiter immediately noted the action. [You’re not alone?]
“Commander Blane is here. He was instrumental in the operation we are discussing.”
[No one else?]
“No one, Sir.”
[In that case, there is someone here who wishes to speak with you,] Lassiter announced. Her eyes were shifted uneasily as she addressed TC directly. [Commander Blane, would you please see to it that Captain Zanh is seated?]
“What?” Liis frowned, unhappy that she was being spoken of as if she was not in the room. “I don’t,”
“Captain,” TC pulled the desk chair up to her. “Please.”
Zanh sighed with frustration. “This is ridiculous, I don’t see,”
[Someone would like to meet you, and thank you himself for the work you’ve done. Once you’re seated, I will invite him to join us.]
“Admiral,”
[Captain Zanh,] The woman’s tone took on the full weight of her authority. [Sit.]
Liis sat.
A moment of silence followed, broken by the muted hiss of doors sliding open. [Captain Zanh and Commander Blane,] Lassiter explained softly, off screen, to her companion.
A very familiar figure stepped into view, and Blane jumped forward a step to catch Liis as she teetered and threatened to fall right out of her chair.
The face and voice were just as they recalled, but the eyes showed no glimmer of recognition upon seeing them.
Either of them.
[Keiran O’Sullivan,] the man said, his lilting brogue punctuated by a broad, warm smile. [Captain Zanh, I can’t thank you and your crew enough for going to the rescue of my boy. I can’t wait to meet you in person and thank ya properly.]
Liis began to shake, the tremor beginning at the soles of her feet and traveling upward. She pressed her hands down against her knees to keep them from knocking loudly against the underside of her desk.
“It will be…good to meet you, Captain.” Her voice strained, and Blane rested a strong, reassuring hand upon her shoulder.
[We have much to discuss, Captain Zanh.] Lassiter interjected now, the tone of her voice weighed down by concern. [We would like to beam aboard at your earliest convenience.]
Liis couldn’t help but stare mutely at Keiran as he stood over Lassiter’s shoulder. He continued gazing politely at her on screen as though he had never seen her before in his life.
She couldn’t speak; the words were simply trapped in her throat and refused to move.
“We’ll be pleased to welcome you as soon as you're ready,” Blane jumped in, turning the monitor so Zanh was now out of the picture, affording her a moment of privacy in which to react.
[Aye, Thank you Mister Blane.] O’Sullivan bowed slightly at the waist. [I’m indebted to you all. How is the boy?]
“On the mend. I’m sure he’ll be anxious to be on his way home, Sir.”
[We will signal you as soon as we’re ready to beam aboard. Thank you for your kind assistance, Commander Blane. Captain Zanh,] Lassiter addressed her though she could not be seen, [We will speak soon.]
The screen winked out and Blane, in a gesture of sympathy, sat down on the edge of Zanh’s desk. She stared off into space blankly until he gently shook her by the shoulders.
“”Are you all right?”
“He doesn’t,” Liis whispered. “After everything…all of it…” she held her head in her hands, “Thomas,”
“We’ll find out what’s going on, I promise. As soon as Lassiter boards, I’ll distract O’Sullivan by taking him to Sickbay and send the Admiral straight to you.”
She managed a weak nod. Her stomach convulsed violently, and just the slight motion made her want to gag.
“I’ll be sure that no one disturbs you until then,” Blane added, squeezing her shoulder once more before heading to the door. He was nearly though it when Liis managed to croak out a few words of gratitude in parting.
“Thomas. Thank you.”
-=/\=-
Liis rocked to and fro in her chair, slowly opening and closing the sailor’s spyglass that Blane had given her months that seemed years ago.
She fought to understand how it was possible that Keiran didn’t remember her at all, and as much as she was inclined to believe that TI might have something to do with it, with as complete as his memory loss seemed to be, there seemed to be only one plausible explanation.
It was an explanation that fit with what Vox had told her about the mission that Keiran had undertaken as his last Jump.
Vox had called it a “variation of Sylph first contact,” and the only thing that made sense to her was that they must have decided to alter his painful memories, instead of trying to 'heal' him by reuniting him with the person those memories portrayed.
*I wasn’t there this time,* she thought, *So all they could do was remove them to’ heal’ him. That has to be the difference… *
Her door chimed, and Liis planted her palms flat against the shiny desk top, forced every ounce of strength of will she had into the attempt, and stood.
“Enter.”
The woman she had seen on the viewscreen earlier now stood before her, hands folded behind her back as she walked in serene, measured steps.
“Gem Lassiter,” She offered her hand to Zanh immediately. Her handshake was firm, and decisive. Her eyes locked on Liis’. “Captain, I am so sorry.”
Liis felt her knees weakening again, and Lassiter noticed her unstable stance. “Please, sit down. Before you fall down.”
Ordinarily, Liis would’ve remarked how often she had used that very tone and phrase with her own officers, but she was too distracted.
“Admiral,” she began, her voice tremulous. “If you could please begin at the beginning, and tell me how you know about the mission we were on and how you came to be traveling with…” She couldn’t say his name just yet.
“You don’t know me, but I know you, Captain Zanh. Your work, your reputation. I have watched your career develop over the years with great interest.”
Again, this was a point in conversation where Liis would usually make a joke, but today, there was no spark of humor left in her.
“I have been, for want of a better term, the Ring Master at TEMA for the past ten linear years or so.” Lassiter explained. “Putting out fires, averting disasters, cleaning up the messes that the people downstairs make so often.”
She walked around Zanh’s ready room, observing the nautical decorations adorning the walls. She gently tapped one of the shadow boxes with the tip of her finger, indicating the contents.
“That sextant is lovely. A real antique,” she remarked softly, before returning to her primary train of thought.
“As you know, the Cascade that Admiral Vox started caused quite a disaster. But as soon as your mission took a turn in the right direction, you immediately began overwriting the errors in the current timeline,”
“The first of those being that he was dead before,” Zanh couldn't bring herself to say Keiran's name as she fidgeted with a strand of her hair in lieu of her absent earring chain. “Or, nearly so.”
“Indeed.”
“He is very much alive now.”
“But?”
“But he doesn't." Liis couldn't finish the question- fearing Lassiter would give the answer her heart already knew, but could not accept.
Lassiter sighed. This was the part of her job she truly hated.
Her gaze filled with compassion as she came closer to the Bajoran.
“From his perspective, he has never met you before today.”
Liis raised a shaky hand into the air, begging the Admiral’s pardon. “Excuse me.” She bolted from her chair and into the adjacent lavatory, unable to fight the worsening nausea any longer.
Lassiter sighed, waiting patiently for her to recover.
Several moments passed before Liis was able to pull herself together. She finally ran cold water and rinsed out her mouth, splashed some on her face, and returned.
“Sorry.”
“Please, don’t apologize for being mortal.” Lassiter shook her head. “I know this must be very difficult for you. Especially considering all you went through with the Sylph yourself.”
“So,” Liis wrung her hands. “They are the reason.”
“You’ll want to read this,” For the first time, Liis observed that Lassiter had a PADD tucked under her arm. “It’s the Jump report filed by Lieutenant Commander Ashton Ledbetter. He had to classify it, because he felt it could only cause further disaster if Captain O’Sullivan read it.”
Liis remembered how Salvek had done the same thing with his reports concerning her, following their Sylph encounter.
She nodded and activated the PADD, struggling to concentrate.
Ledbetter, ever the minimalist, succinctly painted an uncomplicated portrait of their encounter with the Sylph.
O’Sullivan had interacted with one of their Healers, who came aboard the Perseids and took over the form of their Chief Medical Officer.
Before the exchange, Ledbetter noted that Keiran had confided in him about his memories of Zanh and the lives they had lived previously.
After the Sylph and the Perseids parted company this time, Ledbetter explained, Keiran was a different man.
“He was once again just as he had been immediately following the in-depth memory alteration procedure that he had undergone years ago at Starfleet Medical; entirely free of all memories of Captain Zanh.”
He did not even remember the interaction with the Sylph itself, after it was over.
Liis felt numbness overtaking her previous state of panic as she began to process the fact that he was finally free of the pain of their past. He had lost the happy memories, true, but he had more importantly also been freed of the heartache.
As the moments ticked past, she tried very hard to grab on to the good that existed in that fact, and hold on to it.
“The Perseids was severely damaged upon reentry to our layer of space. Only twelve members of the crew survived, beamed aboard the Gauntlet, which was in the sector where they reemerged. Moments later, the remains of the ship disintegrated."
She took a breath and sighed.
"Captain O'Sullivan has been thoroughly checked out by Medical on Earth. He is in good health physically. Psychologically, he checks out better than he has since before the Dominion War.”
“I’m happy to hear that,” Liis answered sincerely, her eyes burning even though she was in far too deep a state of shock to weep. “So happy to hear it.”
“I believe you.” Lassiter answered gently. “Zanh Liis, there is more. You need to know that Jonas Vox is no longer going to be leading The Alchemy Project.”
Liis couldn’t say this surprised her, though what Lassiter added now did.
“He has been charged, his actions have been noted in his permanent record and sentencing has been carried out.”
“That was fast.” Liis marveled breathlessly. “What sentence?”
“Memory resequencing.”
Her stomach convulsed again. “No,”
“Yes.” Lassiter confirmed. “His memories of the past linear year have been wiped out- and he will retake his position of oversight at Temporal Investigations once Medical clears him. But his days running The Alchemy Project are over.”
Liis’ eyes were enormous. “Who is going to lead?”
“I am.”
“Sir?”
“We don’t know each other yet. But believe me, as we work together and the parts of my record that can be shared are shared with you, you will understand that I am in a good position to do this. I am also in a position to make you several promises that I intend, upon my word, to keep.”
Liis couldn’t help but laugh bitterly. She'd heard this speech before. “Such as?”
“Such as, you’re done having to deal with TI directly, or alone.” Lassiter announced. “From now on, I will be firmly entrenched between the Department, and you. And you won’t be pressed back into service against your will, not as long as I am in charge of the Project.”
"Sounds too good to be true."
“I know. You’ve been through so much. I honestly don’t know how you’ve managed to keep your sanity at all, Zanh Liis, and I say that with no hint of sarcasm or humor. I don’t know how you’ve done it.”
“I’m not sure I have done it, Admiral,” Liis replied honestly. “Are you certain that I’m the one you want sitting in this chair?” She wrung her hands again. “Maybe it is time I seriously considered retiring.”
“No,” Lassiter’s tone was definite. “You are the one we want sitting in that chair, on that bridge and commanding this ship. Salvek’s work is not yet finished, and you are the person to see to it that he fulfills his destiny.”
“What about…”
“Keiran? He’s going to remain on TI’s radar, because they consider him still fit to Jump if an emergency absolutely demanded it now that his memory has been, apparently, reset by beings with a power that we can’t even begin to comprehend yet. But that won’t be his primary assignment.”
“No?”
“No. We’ve pulled out the biggest chair of all for him, and Captain O’Sullivan has been granted some time to consider whether or not he wants to take it.”
“The Zenith? He's actually considering it?” Liis was astonished. It wasn’t that Keiran wasn’t qualified for the job by any means. It was just that she knew that he had never really cared about rank or position, and so taking command of the new, soon to be officially launched Federation flagship was something she would not have expected him to do.
“It’s something he hasn’t done before,” Lassiter explained, “And right now, he is a man still getting his bearings. He’s doing well, but he has an idea that something has been lost. He wanted to take a job that will keep him sufficiently busy, and also reduce the chances he will be called back by TI in future.” Lassiter explained.
“Now that Carrick is safe,”
“Yes. Now that Carrick is safe and,” Lassiter hesitated, then finally spoke the words she hated to say, “And now that he’s free of the past he shared with you, he is ready to take on the challenge. He'll take three months off, to spend with his son and for us to be absoutely certain that he's fit for duty. After that, if all goes according to our hopes, he'll take command of the Zenith as soon as she's finished."
“I’m happy for him.”
“I know that you are, Captain, you said that before.” The woman returned to Liis and stood directly before her. “My question is, are you going to be all right?”
“Yes.” Liis answered, not even stopping to think about the word before speaking it. She had survived Hell and found the way back out of it before. Somehow, she would survive this, too.
“I am, and I am ready to lead the Sera’s crew on to their next mission.”
“Very well. But before you do, there is one final piece of business we must attend to…” She paused, “Captain O’Sullivan wishes to thank you.”
“This is a test. Isn’t it?”
“To put it bluntly. For the both of you.”
Liis nodded and stood. “No time like the present. After you, Sir.” She waited for Lassiter to proceed and then fell into step behind her.
Without pausing or looking at anyone on the bridge, Liis stepped into the turbolift.
“Sickbay.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Commander Blane,” O’Sullivan shook TC’s hand mightily, and Blane grasped back firmly and pumped up and down once before letting go.
“And you, as well, Sir. Fine son you have.”
“Thank you,” Keiran replied, striding quickly through the halls of the Serendipity and looking around with wonder as though viewing them for the first time. “Lovely little ship you’ve got here.”
“We think of her as home, Sir.” Blane droned in reply, still disbelieving what he was seeing. O'Sullivan was a man completely unfamiliar with surroundings that should have been as recognizable to him as the back of his own hand.
The sound of hurried footsteps came up alongside the pair of men as they walked.
“Dane,” Blane warned him off, “Not now,”
“But,”
“Ah, wait a moment, yeah? This would be young Dane Cristiane, right?”
Dane’s excited expression evaporated, and his eyes displayed a momentary panic before he too reacted to what was happening by going numb.
“I am, Sir.”
“I owe you a debt, Ensign. Thank you for the part you played in saving my son’s life.” He reached out a hand toward Dane, and Dane was so dumbstruck he nearly missed the gesture.
“Son?” Keiran looked at him sideways, “You all right? Look like you’ve just seen a ghost.”
“I’m…still recovering from the mission, Sir, that’s all.” Dane still managed to tell a lie well, and quickly, Blane noted, when he had no alternative but to try. “I just wanted to shake your hand before you left.”
“Well thank you again, and please pass my thanks along to the rest of your team. Reece, and Steele, wasn’t it? I plan on thankin’ the Captain myself, just as soon as I see Carrick.”
“I’ll…do that. It was..." He wrestled to pronounce the words, "...a pleasure to meet you, Sir.” Dane stopped in his tracks, watching as Blane and O’Sullivan hurried on their way.
As Blane looked back over his shoulder, he saw Dane lean an arm against the wall and his head down upon it in utter anguish.
-=/\=-
The doors to Sickbay opened.
Upright upon the edge of his biobed with legs hanging over the side, sat Carrick.
Doctor Hubbard was checking him over once again, and stepped back as he saw that Blane had brought the company he was told to expect.
Across the room, Keiran was unable to restrain a gasp at the sight of his full-grown son.
“Carrick?”
The younger O’Sullivan turned and looked up at his father with conflicted eyes.
Part of him wanted to push the man away as the stranger that he was, but the rest of him needed this reunion even more than his father did.
Keiran’s eyes filled with tears.
Blane and Hubbard stepped out of the way, averting their gaze respectfully as the man swiftly crossed the room and took his son into his arms.
When Zanh and Lassiter entered the bay soon after, they found that Hubbard had pulled the curtain to allow the family reunion to take place as privately as possible.
“Captain O’Sullivan,” Lassiter raised her voice slightly to get Keiran's attention. “There’s someone here you wanted to see.”
Keiran pulled the curtain back and after placing an affectionate kiss on his son’s forehead, he turned his attention to Liis.
Blane had warned Hubbard that the Captain would be in something of a state of shock during this meeting, and each man stood just a step behind her, flanking her and ready to assist should she falter.
“Captain Zanh,” Keiran rushed up to her and seized her hand in both of his, without hesitation. “It’s so good to be meetin’ you at last. I…I can’t thank you enough for all that you’ve done for me, and my boy.” His bright blue eyes met hers. They were filled with honest gratitude…
…but nothing else.
“Least I could do for…” Liis glanced quickly over at Lassiter, whose expression told her to be careful choosing her words. “For a fellow officer.”
“Aye, well this goes above and beyond the call, to be sure. If there is ever anything at all you need, any favor by means of which I can be of service to ya, you’ve but to ask and it will be done. Mind that.”
“Thank you, I,” Liis fought to remain in control of her voice and her expression. “I'll remember.”
A moment of awkward silence passed in which no one dared move as they waited to see what O’Sullivan would do next.
He returned to Carrick, putting an enormous hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Ready, son? We’re goin' home. We've got a lot to talk about."
“Aye, Sir, I’m ready. I just need to change my clothes. If I could,” he gestured with his eyes toward Zanh, “Just have a moment to say goodbye to the Captain and Commander Blane?”
“Of course. We’ll step out, and be waitin’.” Once again, Keiran embraced his son, and this time, Carrick didn’t fight. He patted his father on the back, even as he looked up just in time to see Zanh Liis furtively brushing tears from the corners of her eyes.
“Keiran, let’s take this opportunity to report in,” Lassiter suggested. "Is there a communications station we can use?”
“You can use the one in my office,” Hubbard volunteered. “This way.” He led them into his office, allowing them in and then closing the door.
He watched Zanh carefully as Blane stayed within grabbing distance- ready to catch her should she hit the floor.
“Captain, I don’t understand,” Carrick whispered. “You said that you knew my father, but,”
“I do, Carrick. I mean, I,” her eyes shimmered again with unshed tears. “I did. Once. It seems that there have been some changes in the current events of this timeline that no one saw coming. I wish I could tell you more. But it's very important that you promise me something.”
He waited.
"You can't tell him anything I said to you, about how I knew him. He's not...meant to remember me."
“I promise." He sighed. "What happens now? What am I supposed to do?”
“Be happy, and live. Stay out of trouble. That’s all.” Liis whispered affectionately, brushing a hand through the young man’s hair. “And just know that even if you don’t see eye to eye with your father on everything,” her voice broke as she turned away. “He loves you, Carrick. With all his heart. Excuse me.”
She turned and hurried out the door, into the corridor to try to regain her composure.
“What will happen to her, Commander Blane?” Carrick asked softly.
“I don’t know, Carrick,” Blane replied honestly, “But I assure you, she won’t have to face it alone.”
A few moments later, Admiral Lassiter asked Blane to bring Zanh into Hubbard’s office for one last exchange before her departure.
“I have orders for you, Zanh Liis.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Aye, Admiral.”
“Salvek will command the Sera on the trip back to Earth. Once we’re there, the official transfer of command of The Alchemy Project will take place, and you and your team will be debriefed for the official TEMA reports. Then, we will also take depositions from everyone we can aboard one last time about their Sylph encounter,” Lassiter explained.
“And then?”
“Then, you will take the Sera out on your next assignment, whatever that turns out to be.”
“Aye, Sir.”
Lassiter extended her arms and placed her hands up and onto Zanh’s shoulders.
“I am sorry, Captain, for your loss. As someone with more than a few Jumps under my own belt,” Lassiter confessed softly, “You have my sincere understanding, and deepest sympathies.”
Liis nodded.
“You’ll find your way out of this, Captain,” Lassiter offered as she turned to go. “We have faith in you.”
“We?”
“Yes.” Lassiter did not elaborate. “We. I will see you upon your arrival at Command.”
Just as Lassiter left, Keiran O’Sullivan waved Zanh down.
“Feed my heart to the lions, * Liis thought, “I can't do this...”
“Captain, one last thing before we go,” O’Sullivan smiled warmly. “I’d like to invite you, personally, and the rest of the Away Team that rescued Carrick to be a part of the official ceremonies for the Zenith when she's ready to launch. If you’re free.”
“I don't know if we'll be in the sector at the time, but I appreciate the invitation just the same.” Zanh replied, trying to sound sincere. It didn’t matter what day that party took place, however; she was going to be too busy to attend. “Thank you, Captain.”
He extended his hand and Liis reluctantly took hold of it.
He grasped hers fast within both of his, his eyes once again glistening with emotion as he lowered his voice. “I honestly cannot thank you enough for saving my son's life.”
“No need.” Liis whispered. She looked down at his gigantic but gentle hands, which had completely swallowed hers up. She wished for a moment that she could process the sensation of his touch, knowing she would likely not feel it again.
Unfortunately she had retreated so far inside of herself that the only thing she could feel was numb.
As her eyes came back into focus, she observed that TEMA had returned his ring to him.
Before he left, she just had to know.
“Your ring,” she asked softly, “It’s extraordinary. Do you mind if I have a look at it?”
”Not’a’tall. By all means.” Keiran pulled it free and held it out to her.
Liis trembled.
Grasping it, she pretended to examine the symbol on it closely. As she did so, her index finger skimmed along the inner metal of the band, seeking a series of engraved numbers…
…numbers which were no longer there.
The inside of the band was smooth and warm from the heat of his skin- but devoid of any inscription.
Someone at TEMA must have had the forethought to have it removed before returning the ring to his custody.
“'Tis the O’Sullivan family crest. So." He indicated the design, explaining.
"See there, around the band. Kinda hard to make out, but says ‘An Lámh Fhoisteanach Abú’. Translated, means “The…”
“Steady Hand to Victory.”
Keiran rumbled softly with laughter- a sound that made Liis’ heart soar and ache at the same time.
She had feared she would never hear it again and was grateful to now. Still, she didn’t know how she was going to accept that she may never hear it again after this day.
“How did you know that, yeah?”
“Carrick told me.” Liis whispered, and it was true, he had mentioned it.
She just neglected to add that she had already heard the words on many, many other occasions.
“Incredible that he remembers,” Keiran marveled with a shake of his head.
“It’s amazing the things you can remember.” Liis responded softly. “Given the chance.”
She battled to maintain her detached demeanor, nodding to him slowly as she handed back the ring.
He quickly slid it onto the third finger...of his right hand.
She needed to get out of this room, now, before she said or did something she would regret. “Safe journeys, Captain.”
“Aye, thank you. Godspeed, Zanh Liis.”
She didn’t stop to say goodbye to Carrick now; somehow, she had a feeling she would be hearing from him again.
TC Blane paced the corridor outside Sickbay, about ready to burst through the door to be certain that Zanh was still on her feet. He stepped forward, prepared to do just that when at last she appeared.
“Is there anything I can do for you, Captain?”
Zanh looked at him with eyes he had never seen.
“Just…” she whispered hoarsely. “See I’m left alone for awhile?”
“Aye, Sir,” Blane watched, sighing and folding his arms, as she slowly walked away.
-=A short time later, aboard the USS Gauntlet=-
Admiral Lassiter waited in her beautifully appointed quarters for a pair of covert visitors.
Fen and Tred materialized in front of her precisely at twenty-two hundred hours, right on schedule.
“The compasses are dark.” Tred announced happily. “With the exception of the one major side effect that we cannot repair, the Cascade has been halted.”
“Our report will be waiting for you once you reach HQ,” Fen added, “We thought it best not to try to deliver it to you here, with O'Sullivan still aboard.”
“Excellent.” Lassiter replied. “Thank you, gentlemen. You may take your leave of me now.”
As quickly as they’d appeared, the pair prepared to depart. Just before activating their armbands, Tred sighed. “What do you think she’d say if she knew?”
“About the Alternate Continuation Paradox created by the Cascade?” Lassiter asked.
Tred nodded.
“We’ll never know. Because she will never know.”
“Such a pity. If only she understood that in a divergent reality, Keiran O'Sullivan returned to her with his memories intact, and they built that house in Ireland together."
“Ah, yes.” Fen added with a wistful sigh, “And the Vedek and the little baker found each other on Bajor…”
“Gentlemen,” Lassiter’s voice gave stern warning. “Captain Zanh will never know, and neither will the others. That is the way it has to be."
The depositions were all recorded, all reports filed.
Transfer of command of The Alchemy Project had gone more smoothly than Zanh could have hoped.
Everything was back to normal.
As close to normal as things ever were on the Sera, anyway.
There were a few small exceptions, changes that had occurred that no one would openly discuss.
Dane and Zanh barely spoke anymore- and if they had occasion to pass each other in the halls, they would merely nod to each other- their eyes saying all that words could not.
For Liis, though, the biggest difference was that she was spending every moment of her free time doing something she never imagined she would do willingly.
Gardening.
She had taken to spending her evenings among Camen’s plants and flowers, learning about them, tending to them. With help from a handful of volunteers among the crew, they had managed to keep almost everything alive in his absence.
…an absence that Liis was beginning to doubt would ever come to an end.
She couldn’t, she found, bring herself to take his clothing out of her closet.
She hadn’t been able to sleep in their bed alone, and had taken to sleeping on her couch.
She couldn’t bring herself to truly let him go, not yet. Not until there was no chance at all left that he was going to come home.
She had spent long sleepless nights remembering, deciding, mourning, and trying to understand the thing in life she found she still understood least- her own heart.
In the end, she knew that no final decision about any future course for her life could be made until she received some sort of sign from him that he’d made peace with his feelings, and his future.
Whether or not she was to be a part of that future, she knew that his happiness meant more to her than she could possibly explain.
He had written no letters, sent no subspace messages. She had not attempted to make contact with him either. She had taken the time she needed to focus on getting to know who she was in her own right once again after all she’d been through- and she knew one thing for certain.
Without Jariel in her life, there was a hole in her heart that nothing could fill.
She was about to finish for the evening, and stood in bare feet in front of the utility sink of the planting table situated inside the largest greenhouse.
Her denim overalls were covered with ground in grass and soil, and she was looking forward to a hot shower before sinking into the couch for another attempt at sleep.
It wasn’t until she turned the water off and set her spade aside that she became aware of the sound of footsteps behind her.
She spun around, an instinctual reaction to the realization that someone was sneaking up behind her.
This was not intentional, however, it was just that the man taking the steps had soft footfalls; indicative of his gentle nature as a being overall.
When she saw him, she hardly knew him.
He had apparently been working hard physically during their time apart. His shoulders were broader than she recalled them ever being. The dark jacket he wore over his crimson shirt fell down over the hips of his pants.
His hair had grown, curls spilling over the collar of that shirt. He had evidently not been inclined to shave during the journey back, either and was sporting a full, trimmed beard.
His earring was unfamiliar to her, and it jingled softly as he took another step closer.
They stood a meter apart for the longest time just staring.
Each waiting for the other to move or speak, but neither did.
Finally, he slung the bag he carried from his shoulder and let it drop to the ground. His eyes continued to probe hers for some reaction, some indication of what he should do.
Then in one motion and without knowing who had moved first, they were embracing.
He rested his head against her shoulder, his heart pounding. Hers raced just as fast as she gently stroked her fingers through the curls at the back of his neck.
Finally, he looked up at her and drew back a step.
“I’m back,” he whispered, simply to say something to breach the silence.
Liis shook her head slowly. Her eyes gleamed with tears, as she gently raised her hands into the air.
[[No, Jariel.]] She signed, [[You’re not back.]]
She touched his face gently before signing to complete her thought.
[[ You’re home.]]
Commanding Officer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012