Beginning: A Star Trek Novel (New Frontier Reloaded Book 2)

by ROVER MARIE TOWLE

  Kira's presence faded away.

  Mora sensed a familiar membrane surrounding him. His breathing hitched. Just getting air into his lungs required so much strength. He could think of nothing else. While he struggled for air, the membrane made full contact with his body in slow, painless increments. He kept seeing shimmers, like he'd stepped into a transporter beam, except its center appeared brighter than its outer fringes. The glow made loud whooshing sounds. His sense of balance disappeared. He swore he was moving forward at light speed. Mora watched the brilliant central speck grow with a scientist's sense of detachment. Suddenly, he slammed into the end of the "tunnel" and realized he could see again-- clearer than he ever had before.

  Aleexa's finger moved away from his left eye. He saw the foot of his bed. Aleexa whispered a heartfelt farewell before leaving the room.

  Odo and Kejal sat on either side of him. They talked softly to each other about how he'd been there for them. Their voices were music. Light shone through their skin. Like stained glass windows lit by candles inside.

  Life...he saw their life and the strength of their love for him and each other.

  "I know what he's waiting for."

  Kejal scooted closer. Mora sensed arms around his shoulders. His awareness stretched to encompass his whole body. He blinked and looked into Kejal's eyes, marveling at the glow they gave off. Everything created its own light. Even his own skin. Their combined essence brightened the room.

  Kejal made a wisecrack about getting lost. Then he whispered reassurances that Leruu would be there soon. Mora let Kejal know he understood him before turning to Odo. He wasn't sure if he said goodbye out loud or not. Odo reacted by coming closer and shedding a tear. His blue eyes held an entire universe. By the Prophets, he was still so young.

  A flicker drew Mora's attention to the foot of his bed. Leruu stood there, smiling. She shimmered beautifully and her pregnant belly glowed like a sun.

  Leruu rubbed her swollen abdomen. "Pol, it's time."

  Mora raised his eyebrows. He wanted the others to know she arrived, but his voice no longer worked.

  He pointed to her.

  "Is she here? I told you she'd come!" Kejal understood through faith, though not sight. "Go to her, father!"

  Leruu winked and waddled away from the bed. Mora pushed himself up on his elbows. He tried desperately to follow her.

  "You have to leave your body behind. You don't need it anymore." Kejal held him down. "Your work here is finished. We'll be fine. You can go now. It's okay. You can go."

  "Everything is in order." Odo spoke with difficulty. "You've done all you can. It's time to rest. I won't leave your side. I promise."

  Mora's physical body had no strength left. He turned inward, breathing and waiting. His senses disconnected one by one. Sight, smell, taste, touch...until only hearing remained. The dark numbness wasn't frightening at all because he was safe in the arms of people he loved.

  He didn't resist the membrane contracting around him.

  Odo's voice continued talking quietly in his ear

  Tighter, tighter...

  And then, with a final, vicious squeeze, Mora's prison ruptured!

  The need for oxygen disappeared. His heart began to fibrillate. He could feel the vibration of it quivering. What a strange sensation.

  Kejal said something to Odo. Odo responded in a hoarse whisper. They weren't sure whether he'd left yet.

  Kejal, Odo, he thought, I hope this is enough of a sign for you.

  Mora shed his body. It just slipped off like an old coat, leaving him to wonder what all the fuss was about. Below him, Odo and Kejal embraced his darkened mortal shell. Their combined light made his bedside lamp appear dim by comparison.

  Odo sat up. Kejal blinked. There was minor confusion between them. They'd seen the sign, but only Kejal recognized it. He glanced upward, just to the left of Mora's actual position, and said to have a safe journey.

  Because he knew.

  Mora smiled and drifted through the oval window in the living room. His passage stirred the deka tree's branches. He cleared the tree and shot eastward without looking back. When he reached the horizon of everything he knew, he picked up speed and kept going, trusting his love for Leruu to guide him to her side.

  The finality of everything struck as soon as Bajor shrank from his sight. Its host star, a yellow G-class, shone like a newly-lit flame in the cold, silent void.

  The Bajoran solar system was a mere dot among many dusting the black vastness.

  Mora soared through time and space until the G-class star he kept dreaming about came into focus.

  All at once he found himself standing face to face with Leruu. She'd taken her hair down, and it fell in blonde waves about her shoulders.

  "Relax, my love," Mora kissed Leruu's forehead. "I'm here now."

  "Pol," Leruu gasped. "Pol, the baby is moving."

  Mora calmly helped her lay back against a slanted, mossy rock jutting through the orange grass. He eased the hem of her white birthing shift past her knees and rolled up his own white sleeves.

  "Awake, child."

  "We await you with love," gasped Leruu.

  "And welcome you into the world," Mora finished.

  Leruu's chest heaved, but her face remained peaceful.

  New light glimmered when the baby crowned. The amniotic sac that protected it for so long still covered its head like a veil.

  "That's it, Leruu. Relax, let it happen."

  The baby's head emerged and twisted to one side.

  "Pol..." Leruu's toes gripped at the grass. Her face flushed. She threw her head back, moaning as though making love. "Oh...oh, Prophets, Pol, my love...Pol!"

  Suddenly, the baby slipped effortlessly into Mora's waiting hands. It was still in the caul, looking at him.

  Mora peeled away the amniotic membrane. The baby gulped its first raspy breath and its dull glow became a brilliant light.

  Tears poured down Mora's cheeks. "Leruu...we have a son!" He knelt beside his beautiful wife, happier than he'd ever been in his life. The infant in his arms let out a strong wail.

  "A son." Leruu panted. She wrapped her arms around the tiny, pink newborn. "Olan. We have our Olan."

  Olan stopped crying at the sound of Leruu's voice. His green eyes opened wide, taking in the world around him.

  Mora kissed Olan's tiny nose ridges. Then he kissed Leruu's.

  They huddled together, unmindful of the blood and vernix staining their clothes.

  "He has your eyes!" Mora exclaimed in delight. "And his hair matches yours, but look, that's my cleft chin."

  "He has your lips, too." Leruu nuzzled him. "And your hands."

  "I can't believe you made that."

  "We made this."

  They chuckled. Mora placed his thumb on Olan's miniature palm, and those tiny fingers held on tight. So soft, so warm, so precious. Everything was there. Ten fingers with impossibly small fingernails and ten perfectly stubby toes. Mora gazed skyward to thank the Prophets.

  A huge gray-green crescent moon rose in the east. It took up a sixth of the sky! And above it, the Milky Way had two disarrayed central hubs. Massive, colorful lobes of star birth hugged the eastern horizon.

  "We're finally here," he whispered. "You brought me to the planet."

  "You weren't ready until now," Leruu replied, hugging Olan close. "This solar system, your namesake, survived the galactic collision."

  "I'm five billion years away now?" Mora raised both eyebrows. "I can't believe it." He grinned at his newborn son. "Olan, can you believe it?"

  "Do you know what you're looking at, Pol?" Leruu blew warm air against his ear. "You silly scientists, you never see the forest for the trees, do you?"

  "Leruu..."

  "Pol..." She mimicked his playful tone.

  Mora felt the ground ripple beneath him and his breath caught in his throat. He touched the soft grass. His gaze shifted skyward.

  "Yes." Leruu spoke tenderly. "This is their evolution. Their lives
always revolved around yours, Pol. Just as yours revolved around mine. You're part of the star, and they watch over it as you watched over them."

  "How did-- "

  She covered his mouth, her quiet laughter like music in his ears. "Let's not unravel every mystery yet, my sweet scientist."

  "They...did this for me?"

  "Yes."

  Mora chewed his bottom lip.

  "I promised Kejal that I wouldn't forget him...or Odo."

  "And you won't." Leruu nudged him with her elbow. "Will you stay and watch the sunrise?"

  "Yes, my darling." He kissed Olan's brow. Then he kissed Leruu's lips. "I'm ready to stay." He kissed her again. "I love you."

  She grinned, her green eyes sparkling. "I love you, too."

  They sat on the grass together. Mora cradling Olan, and Leruu embracing him from behind.

  Dawn's first light came, but the stars and moon never dimmed. The burning white sun rose into the hazy Milky Way, turning the heavens blue.

  Mora watched the filamentary structure of the universe spread across the sky. Every particle, every galaxy...even the afterglow cast by the cosmic microwave background shimmered in the vastness. He saw molecules congeal into radiant DNA chains, and he traced their atoms backwards to the big bang. He watched entire worlds rise and fall. He witnessed beginnings and endings and everything in between.

  Everywhere he looked he saw energy creating life.

  His pagh was energy.

  Energy fueled life.

  Life was...

  Suddenly, the wormhole spiraled open before him. Deep in its center, the eternal moment of creation emitted a luminescence greater than a billion quasars. He saw it earlier in Odo and Kejal, and he noticed it coming from Leruu, Olan and himself.

  Everything in existence came from that point.

  Mora gazed deeply into the scientific and the divine. The truth flooded his mind.

  Living beings longed to touch the brilliance that gave them life, never realizing its glow already suffused their genes.

  Love is creation. I AM love, and love never dies.

  Mora Pol laughed joyfully at the revelation as he, his wife and his son became the light.

  .o

  Doctor Mora's eyes were closed and his mouth slack. Ever since he lost consciousness, his exhalations sounded like someone slurping the last drops of a beverage through a straw. It started quietly and grew louder as time progressed.

  Odo hadn't moved from his bedside in nearly four hours. He sat there in the dark, holding his hand. Doctor Mora's short, round fingers were swollen and cold. No amount of massaging them restored their fading warmth, but that didn't stop Odo from trying.

  Earlier, Aleexa inclined the head of the bed and made creative use of the abundant pillows to make Doctor Mora more comfortable. A semicircular one supported his head, a large one kept his feet from pressing into the footboard and a small foam cushion propped up his arthritic left knee. He moaned a little at being repositioned.

  "Oops, did that hurt? Shhh, Pol. I'm sorry." Aleexa spoke to him the same way she did while he was still awake. "I made it easier for you to breathe. That's all." She straightened the blankets and smoothed them down.

  Odo cleared his throat. "How much longer?"

  "He's moving through this stage pretty fast. At this rate, he won't make it to morning."

  "Heh..." Odo looked across the bed at her. "He said he was going to die tonight. He seemed so sure of it."

  "Sometimes, people just know. Where is Kejal?"

  "I don't know. He shape shifted about ten minutes ago. He heard what you said."

  Aleexa nodded and padded from the room. She checked back every fifteen minutes. Her presence was never intrusive. Odo liked that.

  "Odo?"

  Odo faced the familiar voice. "Nerys."

  She moved closer to the bed. Her eyes watered at the sound of Doctor Mora's raspy exhalations. "Tekeny made that noise in the last hour of his life."

  "Doctor Mora has been like this for four hours."

  "Everyone dies differently." Kira sat down on the edge of the bed. "Pol said he doesn't want me to watch him die, so, out of respect, I'm not going to stay. Is that okay with you?"

  "It's fine."

  Kira smiled sadly and stroked Doctor Mora's left hand. "Hey, it's Nerys." She paused as if waiting for a response. "I'll take care of Odo and Kejal. You don't have to worry about them." Tears welled in her eyes. "I don't want to keep you waiting if you're ready to leave us, so I'll go. But first..." She leaned close to him and whispered something too quietly to hear.

  Odo reached for Kira's hand. She grasped and squeezed. Their eyes met in the darkness. Then she tip-toed out, her steps silent like a shadow.

  Two hours later, Doctor Mora smacked his lips and sputtered a few times. The first change in his breathing since the rattling noise started.

  Odo unbuttoned the scientist's white nightshirt and applied a fresh triptacederine patch. A dose via hypospray followed.

  The frown lines in Doctor Mora's brow relaxed. Everything about him seemed so fragile now. Odo picked up his hand and resumed rubbing it. His throat tightened at the memories washing through him.

  Hours ago, when he shed his first tears, he finally experienced the paternal love he sought. It had always been there, and he spent decades letting his resentment act as a blindfold to it. No language could express the wonder of feeling truly safe in Doctor Mora's presence. The hands that once tormented him in ignorance brought wisdom, peace and healing.

  Odo lifted one of those hands towards his lips and tenderly kissed it. Blessing it with silent forgiveness.

  Doctor Mora's breath hitched again. He stopped completely for nearly two minutes. Then his limbs twitched and he resumed as though the pause never happened.

  Frowning, Odo straightened. "Light, twenty-five percent."

  He let his eyesight adjust to the dim glow cast by the spherical bedside lamp.

  A knitted green afghan lay over the red and gold quilt keeping Doctor Mora warm. Propped up the way he was, he resembled a marionette held in place by strings. His half-closed eyes stared into nothing. Ghostly pallor was sweeping over his skin. His lips and fingers had a blue tinge. The way his mouth hung open gave his face an unnaturally thin appearance. He kept making gulping motions like a fish out of water. Every few breaths, he frowned and groaned. Was the rattling in his chest causing discomfort after all?

  "Doctor Mora?" Odo shook his mentor's shoulder. "Doctor Mora, can you hear me? Are you in pain?"

  Nothing. No response at all.

  Odo frowned and pinged Aleexa's combadge. "I think Doctor Mora needs help. I dosed him with his medication, but he is still in distress."

  "Sit tight. I'll be right in."

  Moments later, Aleexa padded into the room.

  "It's Aleexa. I'm going to do a quick exam, all right? No, Odo, you don't have to move. I can do it from here. Keep holding his hand."

  She checked the pulse in Doctor Mora's wrist, lifted the blankets to peek at his feet and lightly brushed her finger across his eyelashes. Each action was performed with utmost gentleness. Her ministrations generated no reaction.

  After the exam, she said, "This is it. He's going."

  Odo leaned forward. "How can you tell?"

  "His radial pulse is almost gone and his legs are mottling. He has minutes. Kejal? Are you here? Sweetheart, you need to come out now. Your father needs you."

  The green afghan glistened, dribbled onto the floor and shifted into a humanoid shape.

  Odo stared at Doctor Mora in disbelief. Kejal studied his odd facial contortions.

  "Are you sure he isn't in pain? He keeps making faces."

  "That's a reflex." Aleexa kept her voice low. "Don't be alarmed if his arms and legs pull inward or shake-- did you see his hand move? That's normal."

  Kejal nodded and petted Doctor Mora's hair. "Why is he moaning like that?"

  Odo wished Kejal would stop asking questions!

  "His vocal c
ords are relaxed and they vibrate as the air passes over them. That's a good thing. It means he's not suffering." Aleexa said softly. "You can still speak to him if you wish. He can hear you."

  "Can he feel us touching him?" asked Kejal.

  "I believe so."

  Odo doubted Doctor Mora had any awareness of anything, but for Kejal's sake he kept that thought to himself.

  Kejal grasped Doctor Mora's left hand. "We're here, father."

  Aleexa smiled tenderly at that. She patted Doctor Mora's feet.

  "Pol, this is the moment you've been preparing for. You're doing just fine. It's all right to pass on when you feel ready." Her voice trembled. "Everyone in this house loves you. May the Prophets welcome you home."

  She smoothed the blankets around his frail form and slipped out of the room.

  Kejal kept petting Doctor Mora's hand. Other than that, he didn't move at all.

  "I remember...he held me in his arms when I was sick with the morphogenic virus. He hardly ate or slept. He read to me, prayed over me and wouldn't let me give up. I'm alive because of him, and he told me I made his life worth living again."

  Odo smiled wryly and studied Doctor Mora's wrist. The blood vessels under his skin created purple blotches all up his arm. Unsettled, he pulled the sleeve of his nightshirt down.

  "Once, just after I mastered my humanoid shape, he broke a Cardassian's jaw on my behalf."

  Kejal's eyes widened. "Why?"

  "The Cardassians wanted to vivisect me, and Doctor Mora wouldn't have it. I was too angry at him back then to see the lengths he went to for my sake, but..." Odo sighed heavily. "...he saw my first shape shift. He heard my first words. He witnessed my first steps. He saw most of my firsts."

  "Mine, too," whispered Kejal. "Now, we're here for him."

  Doctor Mora's fingers were wholly blue. Rubbing the warmth back into them became a futile effort, but Odo kept doing it anyway. It made him feel less helpless.

  They sat quietly, watching his chest rise and fall. The pauses between breaths stretched longer. There was an oddly familiar rhythm to the rapid inhales and slow, rattling exhales. Odo likened it to his own labor experience. The waves came quicker and stronger after he relaxed into the process, which culminated in the ecstasy of Kejal's emergence.