Dawn of Forever, Part XLI

Commander Greis, XO of the Imperator-class star destroyer Visage, stepped into the captain's office. "Report on our final scans of Sector 1195A," he said, presenting the datapad.

"Thank you." The captain didn't bother looking up. "Do we have an ETA on the arrival of the Emperor's Hand?"

"Imminent, captain," Greis said.

"I want to be informed right away." That usual tone which left no tolerance for error was present.

"Of course, captain," Greis said with a nod, and left. Soon after he left the datapad was picked up, the data analyzed, and then set aside. As expected, nothing of any real note, but duty was duty, and it couldn't be compromised.

"Captain," came a voice over the comm, "the Emperor's Hand has arrived."

"Escort her to my office," the captain said, getting back to filling out the report. Soon the door opened, and she strode in. "Mara," the captain said with a smile, getting up and coming around the table, embracing the grinning redhead. "It's been too long."

"Yes it has," Mara said. "You've got to stop these pointless long-range survey missions."

"Someone has to do them."

"Yes, someone," Mara said with a shake of her head. "I fail to see why this minutia has to be in your hands. There are better uses for your talents."

"I'm an explorer, Mara," the captain said. "No matter how much the galaxies change, that never will."

Mara laughed. "Yes. Planets can explode and governments can fall, but we can always count on you remaining..." she shook her head, "...Seven of Nine."

On Cube Prime, Sebastian Skywalker entered the main corridor, a wide towering hall sometimes used in official functions. There were hundreds gathered there - diplomats, staff, reporters, and other of the various denizens of the mobile center of the Alliance. The room became hushed, and the mood was tangibly somber as all those faces turned to him. He stared back. "Is something wrong?" he asked, sounding slightly confused.

There were a few clearing of throats. "We heard about the battle," the El-Aurian ambassador commented.

"Yes," Sebastian said, "our enemy remains resourceful even as the sun sets upon them." He looked at them. "Do you think this was a Vong victory?" he said with disbelief. "It was a stalemate, that's all... our enemy, with the full power of the center of all their forces was able to hold back one attack force from us. But they didn't win... all they did was delay the end of the war for a short while." He limped up the hall, looking at them with excitement. "Don't you see?! Time is on our side! We have the strength of two galaxies to call upon! Each day we grow stronger; stronger in arms, stronger in spirit, stronger in our unity!" He turned and approached a group. "You saw a Vong shield resist our weapons? I saw Klingons and Romulans and Imperials and Borg putting aside their differences and standing shoulder to shoulder against evil!" He turned to another group. "I saw that the end of this war is on the horizon, and over that horizon I saw the new galaxies, where our unity will let us forget those differences altogether." He continued up the hall. "Do you think I'm a human?" he asked. "That I'm a Borg? No! I'm a child of your galaxy," he said, pointing to a Bolian. "And yours," he pointed to an Ithorian. "What does anything else matter? The children of our galaxies have come together against these monsters who thought us easy prey, and we sent them reeling!" He shook his head with a knowing smile on his face. "We told them today that we're not hiding under our beds any more. Today we made them hide under their own... so called 'proud warriors' who hid under a shield as a last desperate attempt to stay away from us. They've lost, and they know it, and they're afraid. The end of this war is near, my brothers and sisters, my cousins of all species who see that our common bonds make us stronger than any enemy that can dare to challenge us. We have forged an alloy that no beam can pierce, that no weapon can shatter. Forget your sorrows, friends, because I promise you that the first rays of sunlight are on the horizon, and a grand new day will soon be here for us all, and as one people, we children will watch the sunrise."

Those in attendance applauded in appreciation of the sentiment, and Sebastian offered a smile and nod of support. He limped into his office, Janet close behind. The door closed and sealed, and he seemed to transform at the sound. He looked three times his age, the way he hunched there, the way he sighed so wearily, the way he limped to his desk and dropped into the chair as if he'd just buried his best friend. He lifted his cane up and set it down softly on the desk, then collapsed back into the chair and stared at it. "Prefect," Janet finally said, "do you need anything?"

"Yes... go get me a blaster, please, so I can shoot myself." He rubbed his forehead. "Something in a green, it goes with my outfit." The sad part was that there wasn't even enough strength in his voice for the normally sardonic tone that would accompany such remarks. Janet walked over to him; he was still staring at the cane, but it was clear it was just to have something to stare at. "I'm... sorry... you have to see me like this," he said finally. "The curse of being my assistant is that you get the unfiltered look at the Prefect." He offered her a humorless smile. "Not very pretty is it."

Janet kissed him. After a few seconds she could feel him pulling her closer... then eventually he pushed her away; not hard, but firmly and without room for argument. "What you did out there, for them, was so wonderful," she said. "But you don't have to carry this burden alone," she pleaded.

"I do," he said, as quiet as the breeze.

"You are destroying yourself!" Janet said. "You're not going to be able to keep doing this, Bastian! Let me help you!"

"You do help me, Janet," Sebastian said, as kindly as he could under the circumstances. "More than you probably realize. You are indispensable... but at the end of the day, you're not my lover, and you're not my soulmate."

Janet walked over and took his hand in both of her own; he didn't resist. "But I can be," she offered.

He reached up and took her arm and gently pulled her down, then kissed her cheek. He reached up and touched it with a hand that wasn't real. "I could love you," he admitted with a whisper. "You have no idea how hard it is to say no to you... how much I want to have you in every possible way." He pulled her close. "But you'd be living in another woman's shadow, Janet... I'm sorry, but that's just the way it is. Right now, all you'd be is the woman who replaced my wife, and nothing more."

Janet took a deep breath. "That's enough for me," she said.

"To make the springs squeak with Alexander?"

"More than that!" Janet said in frustration. "I can help you shoulder this burden! Let me help you find the strength!"

Sebastian answered only with silence. "You have no idea what you're talking about," he said finally.

"That's not true!"

"Computer," he said after a moment's pause, "display all member systems within the Alliance, stellar and list form." And the room filled with planets, and names appeared, and the computer read them all. It was an overlapping affair of sound and lights, and Sebastian took his cane and got to his feet. "And all of them," he said to Janet as he limped to the center of the projections, "are held together by the words of this Alexander." He turned to her, the computer still rattling them all off, thousands a second, and it wasn't even making a dent in the list. "They pull in a million different directions," he said. "They hate each other. They fought the Empire tooth and nail, but for now they're united against the Vong threat because of my promises, Janet. What's going to happen when the last of our enemies fall?"

"You can do this," Janet said firmly. "You can keep them united."

"Can I?" He laughed, a low chuckle that had nothing to do with humor. "Without an enemy to unite them? Maybe I'll just weep, Janet... because there are no more worlds to conquer."

"You brought them together," she said adamantly.

"And they can fall apart like that," Sebastian said as he snapped his fingers. "I am Ozymandias, king of kings." He gestured at the flashing planets, and when he spoke it was with the bitterest tones. "Look on my works, ye mighty.... and despair."

Captain of Nine poured Mara Jade Skywalker a drink; she didn't drink herself due to her sensitivity, so she just took a seat. "Anything changed?" Seven asked. "Have either of you changed?"

"Being apart is hard," Mara admitted. "But Luke and I knew that was part of the life we chose to live, and frankly neither of us seem the type to settle down somewhere."

"I know exactly what you mean," Seven said with a nod.

"It's very hard," Mara said seriously. "But we make up for lost time whenever we can."

"Good," Seven said. "Because he's a hell of a catch, Mara. You don't watch it someone else is gonna scoop him up," she said with a laugh.

"Well, fortunately there aren't too many humans in the delta quadrant to catch his eye," Mara said.

"I don't know, I hear those Taresians are pretty fetching." Seven settled back in her chair. "So what's the mission? The Emperor doesn't call me to play taxi driver for his Hand unless he wants me there as well; I've figured that much out by now."

Mara set the glass aside. "There's a temporal anomaly," she said. "Luke didn't give us the details, but he says there's something about it that is disrupting the Force. We need to understand if this is a threat, and obviously that calls for an expert."

"Well," Seven said, "you're in luck. I just happen to be an expert." That special Borg smile spread across her face.

"Yeah, well, I'll just have to take your word for it," Mara said. "I can't understand any of those papers you've written; frankly, I think you're just making them up to get more funds for your little projects."

"You doubt?"

Mara crossed her legs and smirked. "Yes, I doubt."

Seven of Nine shook her head. "This mission is urgent, yes?"

"Absolutely; highest priority."

Seven got up and hit a button on her desk; one of the lieutenants soon entered. "We've received a high priority assignment from the Emperor," she said. "Tell the commander we're to proceed to the wormhole, maximum possible speed."

"Yes captain," he said with a nod, then stepped out. As soon as the door closed Seven sat down on the corner of her desk.

"What are you doing?" Mara asked.

"Take a seat," Seven said, gesturing with her head to the other end of the desk. Mara looked at her dubiously. "Just do it, Mara."

Mara sighed, then complied. "I feel ridiculous."

"You're about to look it," Seven said. "You never read my paper on Resonant Effects Of High-Velocity Hyperspatial Phenomenon?"

"Seven, I don't even know what some of those words mean, so I jus- holy kriff!"

"Do you still doubt?" Seven asked.

Mara's mouth hung open and her eyes closed. "Oh, I repent, high priestess of speed. I do repent."

"That's better." Seven sighed. "God, I love having my own star destroyer. Every girl should have one."

Mara's eyes fluttered. "Seven, have I told you you're my best friend in the universe?"

"Not lately."

"You're my best friend in the universe."

Seven pulled her hat off and wiped her brow. "If you're very good, I'll show you what the reactor can do."

"Oh, teach me! Teach me to be like you!"

"You couldn't handle it."

"Let me try. I'm not afraid."

"Oh, you will be... you will be..."

Janet opened the door. There he was, out on the catwalk again, watching the drones go about their tasks. Music played, as always... quiet, melancholy, an acoustic guitar from the sound of it. She walked out as he absentmindedly twirled his cane with one hand, the other resting his chin on the rail. A man sang; in the massive space it was chillingly panged.

"Hold me now, girl I don't know when
When we will ever meet again.
That was then. Baby this is now.
Time won't get over you."

And then a feminine voice took up the piece, with just as much ache.

"Losing you... things will never be the same.
Can you hear me call you name?
If we change it back again
Things will never be the same."

Janet cleared her throat. "Prefect."

"Pause," Sebastian said, and the music stopped. "I said I didn't want to be disturbed." He wasn't angry; his voice instead sounded hollow, as if there was no person inside that shell.

"I'm terribly sorry, prefect," Janet said, "but it's General Corbin. He's been abusive to our diplomats and says that unless you speak to him directly he will take it as an act of war."

"Oh for- Fine," Sebastian said, limping double-time through the corridors of Cube Prime to his office. He dropped into the chair behind his desk and activated the holoprojector; Corbin appeared. "General," Sebastian said. "I'm told you have something that cannot possibly wait."

"You've been avoiding me," Corbin said sharply. "Your underlings have been giving me the run around. Now I want my ship back."

"Ship?" Sebastian said with a puzzled expression. "What ship?"

"You know perfectly well," Corbin said, practically through his teeth. "The Eclipse you stole."

"Ohhhhh," Sebastian said. "You mean the one that defected."

"Was coerced!" Corbin said. "With despicable threats against the captain's family!"

"Really?" Sebastian said. "I never heard about this."

"I have evidence," Corbin said.

"Well I'll be very interested in that," Sebastian said. "Unfortunately, my resources are devoted to other projects at the moment. We're fighting a genocidal race called the Vong - ever heard of them?"

"You've committed an act of war," Corbin said. "And I do not look kindly on your mockery."

"No, this is just sarcasm, when I get to the mockery I'll be sure to let you know."

"You will return that ship to me immediately," Corbin demanded. "Along with the equivalent of ten million credits worth of equipment or ten sectors of your space. Failure to comply will be grounds for open warfare."

"I'm sorry, could you speak up? It's hard to hear you over the sound of my own apathy."

"You're an idiot if you think we can be ignored," Corbin growled. "The majority of your fleet is far inferior to my own, all your numbers will do is serve as target practice."

"Oh, but I don't have to beat your fleet, general," Sebastian said, "I just have to beat you."

"What will you do? Hit me with your cane?"

"Ah, you're funny," Sebastian said. "'Scuse me, there's a problem with the transmission." He switched the projector off. "There, it's better."

Janet opened her mouth as she tried to think of what to say. "Well, we've certainly made our position clear," she finally offered.

Sebastian tapped the desk with his cane. "That was stupid of me," he said. "He's an asshole, but I was practically daring him to fight us. I kriffed things up good that time, Janet."

"A war with Corbin is inevitable," Janet said as Sebastian got to his feet and limped in her direction. "He'll always be a threat to the Alliance, and the systems under him want to join us. If we-" She was cut off as Sebastian grabbed her and pulled her close, kissing her passionately.

Sebastian finally broke the kiss. "I assume your offer is still on the table?"

Janet's chest rose and fell as she realized what was happening. "Actually, I'd prefer the couch to the table," she finally said with a smirk.

"I think Alexander can do better than office furniture," Sebastian said, taking her hand and leading her into his quarters.

The shuttle landed in the Visage's docking bay. There was a token honor guard for Luke Skywalker, given his honored place in the government as the other Emperor's Hand. Mara and Seven stood at parade rest as he came down the ramp, then left and walked up to him. "Luke," Mara said, giving him a kiss in passing.

"Mara," he said. He turned to Seven. "Good to see you again, captain," he said extending a hand.

Seven took it. "Likewise," she said, then pulled, wrapped her arms around him, and kissed him like she hadn't seen him in a century. She broke it off and looked into his face, which mostly reflected confusion although he obviously seemed to have enjoyed the affection at least a little.

"Um, guess you missed me," Luke said finally.

Seven stepped back, growing almost crimson as she realized what she'd done. She could practically feel the confused and amused stares of her crew. She and Luke were ancient history; what on Earth had possessed her to do that? She cleared her throat. "Welcome aboard, Mr. Skywalker," she said, knowing there was no way to salvage this situation. "I'm... just... going to go throw myself out the airlock."

Go To Part XLII
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