by Leslie Lee
he died on something so... so ordinary. But he did. Syll, you can be sorry if you wish, but Thomas did not die by your hand. He died doing something he loved. He used to laugh at me when I complained that we were on such a boring mission. That I wanted more excitement. But he always said we’re in space, we’re exploring out here in space. How much more amazing is that? Then he’d laugh. To be amongst the stars. It is a dangerous thing we do. Dying because of bad luck. Dying because of Romulans. Circumstances were different. But you’re right, the effect is the same. I would like to think that we, you and I and everyone else who go to the stars accept that we’re not going out for groceries. I wanted to be in Starfleet to do something special. I hate that little bastard for what he did with all my heart and all my soul. But he provided the opportunity for me to make a little dent in the Universe.”
Syll’s mind spun. Her fists hung onto the bed as fiercely as she could. If she didn’t know better, she would have thought the ship was still in space careening out of control.
“Syll, that woman back then, called Kari, who was a Starfleet Ensign, who wanted to have something more exciting. She got her wish. She does not regret it. Not at all. Starfleet taught me that. You taught me that as well. She cannot undo what has happened. Maybe she’d want to in some little parts. But that’s not our choice, is it? That Kari would not recognize me now. Five years... More... They’ve been a lifetime. And here I am. With you. I don’t know how that’s happened to be truthful. I cannot lie about that. But I’m here. Now. With you. No Federation. No Starfleet. No Romulan Empire. No Tal Shiar. We need a ton of luck to make a new beginning even without people hunting for us. We’re going to need new names here. I’ve decided to call myself Seren.”
“Seren?”
Seren nodded.
“I will need time to think of a name then,” Syll said. “But we have not addressed the central issue.”
A Romulan views your back as an opportunity to add to your knife collection -- Federation warning
They cleared the dust away from the access control and gestured in the code. Then used their DNA to complete the entrance protocol. The hatch opened up smoothly, shaking some of the dirt from the hull and the Vacation lowered the ramp.
“Computer, lights,” Seren said.
Vacation lit up the interior.
“Restore life support, please.”
The hatch sealed itself. “Life support has been restored. Welcome back, captain and first officer.”
“Thank you, computer. Are sensors still offline?”
“Sensors are still offline.”
“Hardly surprising,” Vain said.
The interior was as pristine as when they had left it. The ship slowly came back to life as it ran self diagnostics. Almost a year had passed since they’d been here last.
“We could turn on that big whirlpool bath and take a soak.” Seren took a quick whiff of the air. It seemed okay and she tossed the breather aside along with her coat.
“We are here to find something. Not indulge in luxuries.” Vain removed her turban and breather. “However, I do not believe that to be a luxury.”
“You’re going soft, Romulan,” she said skipping to the bathroom. They searched the ship until the bath was full.
“Oh, oh, ohhh,” Seren said, lowering herself into the steaming bubbling bath. “We really should take vacations here. I cannot believe how good this feels.”
Vain grinned. Her face glowed a gentle green from the heat. “It is good. A Romulan invention. Stop grunting, it is true. We would invite too much curiosity to come here too often. Perhaps once a month. Or week. Or day.”
“Why are you over there?” Seren murmured. “Come over here.”
“We have searched this ship from stem to stern,” she said, allowing Seren to wash her back. “I do not think there can be anything here. Perhaps it is a trick to fool the bounty hunters after all.”
“There is nothing strange about the cloaking device?”
“I have examined it in detail. It and the power generators are standard issue to all our warbirds. The only strange thing is that it fit on this ship. But the little bastard removed massive amounts of the interior to install it. I am certain there is nothing special about it.”
Seren moved Vain so that she leaned with her back onto the Human’s breasts. Then, she skimmed her hand along the surface of the water as if it were a plane.
“What are you doing, strange Human?” Vain asked, settling against her.
“Shuttle craft coming in to docking bay,” she whispered into her ear.
Vain grunted. “Crude, Human, very crude.”
She parted her legs and watched the hand dive under the surface.
Seren paused.
“Do not think of him, dear,” Vain said turning so she could nuzzle Seren’s neck, running a hand along scars the Human kept as if she needed remembrance.
She laughed a little as she came out of her thoughts. “How did you know?”
“I felt you leave a little.”
“I’m sorry. The water reminded me of the time he turned me into a fish.”
“A mermaid. And you made him pay for that.”
“The Federation ambassador made him even crazier. Always with his vision.” After a moment, Seren laughed. She enveloped the Romulan into her arms then said, “Vain, I have a confession to make.”
“Oh?”
“I was the one who got you to get naked in the pain field with me.”
“Preposterous. There were metal fibers in my underwear.”
Seren smiled into her neck.
“The students said they were interfering with the equipment, causing gaps in the coverage.” Vain paused. “You told them to tell me that. Human! I am going to kill you!”
She could feel herself blushing. The first time she had to take off her panties she had almost called the whole thing off. She had stood there covering her breasts and looking around trying to think of some reason to avoid it. Then finally she had to remove them, hurling them into the pile of clothes and trying to somehow salvage some dignity on her way into the pain field.
“I am going to...” Her face was hot with remembered embarrassment. “I will rip those students into pieces next time I see them.”
Seren laughed. “I told them you just needed an excuse to take all your clothes off. They said there was no way under the Stars of Wisdom would you take off your underwear. I won some latinum from them. Those deadbeats never did pay me.”
Vain splashed the Human then held her hot face thinking about the vision she must have presented to them.
“Seren...” she said. “The little bastard. Did he say visions? Or vision?”
“It was just lunacy. He was always talking about his vision of the future. Just that he could see what others could not. That he was special that way.”
Vain frowned. “You mean taking over this entire quadrant?”
“That too.”
“In addition to his rantings about taking over the universe, he would speak about a special vision? To see something when others saw nothing? I think you mentioned that once.”
“Yes. He constantly said it. I always assumed it meant he looked into others or saw opportunities that weren’t readily apparent. He deluded himself. Obviously.”
Vain slowed her breathing, concentrating. “Think back, Seren. Recall our encounter with the warbirds at the Federation border. Confirm my memory with yours.”
She turned Seren to face her. They placed their foreheads together as when they meditated together. They held hands beneath the surface of the water. They closed their eyes.
“There were five warbirds at the border.” Vain breathed.
Seren breathed with her. “Yes, five. Plus one following.
“Then we cloaked.”
“We cloaked as we came into range.”
“Then five became ten and one became three.”
“They de-cloaked so they could lay down a covering pattern of fire to catch us.”
“We
cloaked. It took five seconds.”
“They de-cloaked. It took five seconds.”
“Are you certain, Seren?”
“That is what I recall, Vain. I see it. We cloaked. They detected it then decloaked.”
Vain whispered. “Concentrate, Human, recall the time. Five seconds for us to cloak and at the same time, five seconds for them to decloak.”
“My mind is clear on it, Romulan.”
Vain’s hands vibrated in Seren’s. “A warbird would detect us starting to cloak. Even if they instantly understood what was happening, decloaked, and starting firing it would have taken at least fifteen seconds.”
Seren opened her eyes. “The quickest of the five warbirds who were visible took six seconds to start firing. The first of the five that decloaked took seventeen seconds to fire.”
“As we cloaked, the cloaked ships did not decloak. They became visible. Whoever is after us, they do not want the cloak. They want the sensors. Somehow, the little bastard has found a way of using this cloak to feed into the sensors to see other cloaked vessels.”
“When we’re cloaked, we can see everyone?”
Vain nodded, her eyes wide.
They jumped out of the bath, dried themselves and dressed.
“Isn’t that impossible?” Seren said.
“Is there not a Ferengi Law of Acquisition? Everything is possible with the right amount of latinum?”
Seren laughed. “A device that can see a cloaked ship. What a strategic advantage.”
“My guess is that is why the Beloved Neph... Excuse me. The little bastard thought he could get Federation asylum and under his conditions.”
“He could get anything he wanted from anyone for this kind of tech.”
“True. But the