Episode 25
Prologue
CAPTAIN’S
LOG: STARDATE 73016.8: The Starlight has retreated to Starbase 241 in order to commence a more
thorough search for our infiltrator.
Until he is found, the ship has been placed under quarantine. No unauthorized personnel are allowed to
leave the ship under any circumstances.
Meanwhile, the
situation in the Alteran Expanse continues to worsen. Since Talyere’s capture, two more Elorg Warships have emerged
from subspace; more are feared to be coming, but without Talyere, we have no
good way to speculate their probable course of action.
And finally, it’s
been nearly a week since Lieutenant Meyer’s accident, and her condition is
still unchanged. I suspect some
difficult choices are on the horizon…
Watching never seemed to help. For almost a week, Erin Keller had been
watching, and for an equal amount of time, Rachael Meyer had lain dormant on
her deathbed, her condition not wavering in the slightest. Doctor Hartman had managed to stabilize it,
but even that was uncertain. There was
always a chance Rachael’s condition could worsen…she could be gone in an
instant. So Erin watched.
Sometimes she would simply sit and stare,
attempting to convince herself that the body on the bio-bed was the same person
she laughed with at breakfast every morning.
Other times, she would talk to Rachael, hoping her voice would stimulate
some sort of a response. It never did,
but the sentiment was there.
But most of the time, it was silence, during
which Erin did a lot of thinking. She
thought about all of the friends she had seen fall in the line of duty, and
recounted each of their faces, from her parents to Captain Greene. It was a long list, and each time Erin
thought about it, it seemed to get longer.
If she had been the only one on this
deathwatch, Erin knew she wouldn’t have had the stamina to endure. She would have come to a decision on
Rachael’s fate long ago, and probably would have regretted it for the rest of
her life. But she wasn’t alone, and for
that, Erin was thankful.
She suddenly felt a pair of hands on her
shoulders. They gently massaged her
fears away, and almost brought a smile to her face. “I guess time’s up?”
The massage stopped, and Alan Christopher
came up alongside of Erin, nodding.
“You’re needed in astrometrics,” he said, turning his attention to
Rachael. “Anything?”
“Nada,” said Erin.
“We’re going to have to make a decision…
soon.”
Those weren’t the words Erin wanted to
hear. She kept hoping that Rachael
would magically awaken, and things would return to normal. She hoped that, just once, her life could
play out like a fairy tale and everyone would live happily ever after. Once wasn’t a lot to ask for… “Thirteen people,” she muttered under her
breath.
“What?” asked Alan softly.
Erin blinked, not realizing her stray
thoughts had manifested themselves in her voice. “That’s the number of people close to me that have died. At first, I just picked up the broken
pieces, put them back together the best I could, and moved on with my
life. But as I look back…I keep getting
older, and they don’t. I’m beginning to
resent it, Alan.”
“We all die, Erin,” he replied softly.
It was a cold reality, but one Erin had yet
to accept. She knew that, one day in
the distant future, it would be her friends (the ones that remained) gathered
around a bio-bed on deathwatch. “I
could be vaporized tomorrow,” she realized.
“I most certainly hope not,” said Alan. “You’d be missed.”
Now he was just humoring her. “By who?” she challenged. “My parents are dead. Aside from Brian, I don’t have too much in
the way of family…”
Suddenly, Alan placed a hand on her
shoulder, and met her cold gaze. “I
would miss you,” he said softly, and suddenly, her pessimism began to fade
away.
The utter sincerity in his voice sent a
chill down Erin’s spine that seemed to resonate in her chest. “That’s so sweet,” she said, smiling warmly
as she relinquished her seat to him.
“So I’m wanted in astrometrics?”
“Yeah.
We’re trying to identify the two new Elorg vessels, but we’re having
trouble penetrating the Alteran Expanse.
Conveniently, it seems to be a bit more active than usual. I suspect our friends, the Elorg, are up to
no good.”
Erin sighed. “As do I…”
“What is your name?”
It had been practically seven cycles, and
Talyere was pleased to note that Xi’Yor had yet to get much further than the
most basic of interrogation questions.
Not that Xi’Yor was a poor interrogator. No, in fact, Talyere had sat in on countless interrogations. Xi’Yor had proven himself a brilliant
interrogator. Only, then Xi’Yor had
been questioning spies, military officers, or civilians that seemed to know too
much. They weren’t trained to counter
him.
Talyere was. “My name is Talyere Rosat,” he said. Since Xi’Yor already knew that, he figured he would humor the
Overseer.
“Rank?” demanded Xi’Yor.
“Overseer,” said Talyere bitterly.
Xi’Yor nodded, and slowly started circling
the cold, metallic chair that was confining the renegade Overseer. Talyere recognized this maneuver as one
Xi’Yor performed when he believed he was about to make a breakthrough… Little
did Xi’Yor know, he wasn’t.
“Where were you born?”
“On the City Ship,” said Talyere.
Xi’Yor’s circle came to a halt directly in
front of Talyere. As he lowered his
face to Talyere’s level, the harsh lighting seemed to banish any definition
from Xi’Yor’s face. It was simply a
white blob with two blazing orange spheres where his eyes were. The sight almost made Talyere laugh.
Xi’Yor came within a couple of centimeters
as he asked, “What do you know about the Federation’s defenses?”
From the sound of Xi’Yor’s voice, he was
confident that Talyere was about to break.
The interrogation would soon be over, and Talyere’s corpse would be en
route to the City Ship as a trophy. Or
so Xi’Yor hoped. But the only answer he
got was a considerable ball of saliva directed at his face.
Xi’Yor was brought aback by the startling
projectile. He wiped the drool from his
face and cast it aside. Talyere heard
it hit the floor a few moments later.
He had given Xi’Yor more than he had anticipated. No matter, the Overseer had deserved it.
Enraged, Xi’Yor retraced the steps he had
taken in his retreat and without any hesitation, gave Talyere a glancing blow
to the jaw with the back of his fist.
As he stepped back, Talyere could see liquid on Xi’Yor’s hand yet
again—a black liquid Talyere knew was blood.
“I will allow you one last chance to provide the data I require,” he
sneered before adding, “then things will turn unpleasant.”
Talyere shrugged. “So be it.”