Late

A dot, that’s all it had been, a point, a few pixels on a screen, a misplaced decimal point in one of the thousands of calculations he had made. But that little thing might have cost them the mission.

He had been so certain, so confident, so….excited, when he had pin-pointed Mimp’s planet and finally had proof of where she was. “I simply have to calculate the time that has passed then we go back and pick her up just after she arrives,” he had blithely told them. He had sounded so confident as he explained all about the wormholes, the reconfigured torpedos and the reprogramming of the deflector dish, and after nearly fifteen years of research he had sounded like he knew what he was doing.

But they had arrived on a rock in the ocean, a tiny patch of land with the water lapping at their feet. That was when he knew that something was not right, it was supposed to be solid land between them and the little hut he could see in the distance. The rest of the crew had looked at him with frowns of confusion, some muttering as the water splashed their feet, others scanning the tiny atoll while he frantically tapped at his tricorder trying to figure out what had gone wrong. And then Seelowe had appeared, not the Seelowe they were looking for but the other one, the one who always seemed to know the most inconvenient time to show. He had smirked a few greetings, made some lecherous comment to Illyan and then casually stated he knew exactly where they should be going.

“It’s a bit far for a swim,” said Miral after Seelowe had pointed towards the hut.

“What’s the big issue?” said Seelowe. “We simply suspend temporal cohesion and walk under the water.”

They had all blinked at him, and then watched in amazement as he drew out an unfamiliar device, tapped a few buttons, stepped into the water and disappeared under the waves in the direction he had indicated.

Miral, never one to miss trying something new, was the first to follow, Miki required quite a bit of persuasion and finally a none too gentle shove, and Mason simply remodulated and extended his shields to repel the water.

They had emerged from the sea, damp but other wise unharmed on a small headland that rose up then dipped down to provide some shelter from the wind and waves. They gathered on the rise and looked down into the hollow. A tumble of stones could be seen scattered around, some of the larger pieces were covered with a creeping vine that sprouted yellow flowers at intervals. From were they stood they could see that the stones had once formed the foundations and chimney of a small hut or house, and they did not need a scanner to tell them that no one had lived here for a very long time.

“Doctor Nal…” queried Arado to Illyan who had pointed her ever present scanner at the piles of stones, “…find anything?”

“I am reading DNA matching Mimp’s Starfleet medical records,” said Illyan, “but it is not recent, it appears to be quite old. If it is hers she hasn’t been here for many years.”

“What?” said Arado with surprise.

“What?” repeated Miki glaring at Arado.

“Except for animal life, there are no life signs on this planet other than our own,” said Illyan showing the scanner screen to Arado.

Arado drew out his own device and started punching in numbers.

Seelowe was doing the same.

“That means she was here....” muttered Arado as he checked his calculations. “How long ago Doctor? Can you get a date from the decay rate on the readings you have?”

“I would have to say at least 100 years,” replied Illyan.

“I need specifics Doctor, I need to know exactly,” barked Arado.

“According to my scanner….” the doctor paused and looked up at Arado, “….103.2 years.”

Seelowe closed his temporal tricorder, leaned on one of the larger piles of stones and did a quick head count. “We are damn close to a temporal convergence,” he said to no one in particular.

Miki stepped up to Arado, “You said you could find her, but she is not here, were you lying?” she jabbed an accusatory finger in the centre of his chest.

“Mimps was here at one time,” said Illyan gently.

“Are you saying.... we are too late?” Miki loosened her sword and drew it a few centimetres out of its scabbard.

Arado looked down at Miki and raised his hands, palms out, trying to appease her. “Look, it was a miscalculation, probably one digit out. We can correct this.”

“A miscalculation and my sister lived and died here 103 years ago!” growled Miki.

“How do we know this is not Mason's fault?” stammered Arado as he took a step backwards.

“We only programmed to the data you gave us,” said Mason. “So you can’t blame the cyborg and his AI. My calculations were perfect.”

“I can fix this,” said Arado, “I know I can fix this.”

"I can fix this now!" snapped Miki. She drew her sword completely, placed its point against Arado’s throat and spoke very slowly, "you…will…find…my…sister."

"Terrific." Seelowe watched on with bemused amusement.

“Miki, no!” said Miral as she placed a restraining hand on the other woman’s arm, “Without Arado we won't be able to go back to the ship and try again.”

“Put your sword away,” Illyan said sternly. “Do you care more for finding your sister or spilling blood?”

“Looks like my formulas need more work,” said Arado glumly.

Miki glared at him and returned her sword to its scabbard with a slam.

Seelowe pushed languidly off the pile of stones walked slowly over to Arado, took the tricorder out of his hand and began tapping at the screen as he spoke, “Our temporal projection indicates you will find the Carolina when Hlad, Mimps, Kelly, Illyan, Miral, Joe, Arado...and…what’s-his-name…oh yes…Mason… are finally reunited.”

Arado watched over Seelowe's shoulder, “You make it up as it suits you Seelowe, we all know that,” he said as he took mental note of the corrections Seelowe was inputting.

“I just enforce the temporal laws I don’t make them,” said Seelowe. He snapped the tricorder shut and pushed it back into Arado’s hands. “But I am sure you will all work it out soon.”

“We should return to the ship,” said Miki impatiently, “so that one,” she pointed at Arado, “can get his sums right.”

“Yes all right, let’s go,” said Arado with resignation. He tapped his com badge and gave the command.

Seelowe watched them all dissolve into shimmering blue nothingness then bent and picked up one of the smaller stones from amongst the weeds and rubble. He turned it over in his hand as he walked to the top of the rise then he tossed it into the sea.

“So close,” he sighed.

Still waiting

Mimps sat on her rock looking out over the trees as the setting suns slipped behind the distant mountains and bathed the landscape in shades of rose and lilac. She wasn’t really seeing the trees, she was thinking about the dream. It had been so unexpected and so real she didn’t know what to make of it. She absently twisted a strand of her long greying hair with one hand and picked at a patch on the knee of her dragon skin pants with the other. The pants were so worn and patched by now that there was more of other hides showing than the original dragon skin. Even the toughest hide in the galaxy can’t last 37 years of continual wear. She tried again to remember all of the dream.

She had been sleeping in her hut, a comfortable log cabin type structure with a bed, plenty of warm furs, a table, chair, cupboards and shelves, all made with her own hands over the years. Coals were glowing in the fire place and starlight was shining in the open window. Then she had dreamt the noise. It was a noise that had no place on this deserted planet; it was a noise from her past. The noise of a transporter beam. She lay for a moment as her brain processed the noise and gave her a name for it. Then she became aware that there was someone or something inside the cabin with her. She sat up and saw him, a shimmering ghostly image standing at the foot of her bed. She could see straight through him to the other wall of the hut. As she stared he looked down at something in his hand then looked back at her and his mouth formed the word “Oh”, then he looked down again and vanished.

Now she sat on her rock forcing her mind to remember her past, to remember a face and trying to understand why after all these years that face would appear in a dream. Because it was only a dream, wasn’t it?

* * * * * * * *

“I’ve found her, I’ve found her!” shouted Arado as he rushed onto the bridge of the Rorschach. He slapped a data chip into a vacant slot and rapidly punched keys across the consol. The others on the bridge gathered around and watched the flickering image of an elderly fur clad woman with long grey hair. “I was able to send a holo image forward in time and I found her. My timing was a bit off but I think I can fix that.”

Miral frowned at the screen then at Arado. “You mean that is…” she said unable to finish the sentence.

“Yes,” said Arado still tapping at keys. “That is her.”

“But we can’t…” said Miral with some confusion.

Arado stopped for a moment and looked at the faces of the crew staring back at him and the worried confusion in Miral’s eyes.

“Oh,” said Arado, “let me explain. We don’t go and get her from here,” he jabbed a finger at the image on the screen. “Now that we have found her I will use this image to calculate how many years have passed and we go back and get her from then, just after she arrived there.” He tapped the final key with a flourish and a set of coordinates replaced the flickering image. “That is where we are going folks, hold on to your seats, it could be a bumpy ride.”

* * * * * * * *

Kelly and the Klingons part 2

“I’m going to Risa for a few weeks shore leave soon; perhaps you can come with me?” Said Kelly in a strong american accent

Kelly coyly flirted with the Starfleet junior ensign as the packages were loaded aboard the supply shuttle. She is dressed in her Starfleet skirt uniform and showing more leg than regulations strictly allow. The Ensign has a smile as wide as the sun and is completely distracted by the pretty Lieutenant. They stand in the loading bay of Star base 38, surrounded by cargo crates, loading bots and Starfleet shuttles.

“I’m not sure I can get leave then, perhaps we could keep in touch though? Where are you posted again?” The ensign enquires of Kelly.

Kelly uses her weapons of mass distraction on him and sticks out her chest. Ensuring his attention is on her body and not on her reply to his enquiry and certainly not on the packages currently being loaded aboard the shuttle.

“Deep space 17” she lies quickly and keeps it short and ambiguous. She watches the last of the packages being loaded and nods to his data pad “That’s the last of the cargo for the Gibraltar; you can issue the departure orders now”

“Hmm?” the ensign blinks and looks around “Ahh yes the cargo, indeed” he taps his pad several times and the shuttle door closes, the engines slowly whine into life and he taps his commbadge.

“Control this is cargo bay 3, USS Gibraltar resupply shuttle ready for departure”

Kelly waves at the ensign and begins to walk back towards the main turbolifts as the Ensign completes his conversation with Control and the shuttle begins to depart. He waves in earnest to her, hopeful he will see her again sometime.

She obliges him with a quick wink and steps behind a pile of cargo crates out of his view. Walking with the purpose of one searching for a particular crate, she hums to herself and smiles to those she passes, finally finding a quiet little spot, she pulls out her comm badge and whispers a few words of Klingon into it. Slowly she dematerialises as she is beamed out.

She re-materialises on her Klingon bird of prey and is met by Lieutenant Klap her first officer, one of the few Klingons she had learned to trust aboard the ship, she smiles as she sees him.

“Mission accomplished, the Tribbles should be aboard the Gibraltar before departure for her mission, and the crates will disperse them at timed intervals to allow full infestation to occur to all areas of the ship,” she says stepping off the transporter pad and doing the customary checks that she had everything in the right place. Originating from a pre warp culture and sometimes unsure of the wonders of technology, she still didn’t entirely trust it. Always checking her fingers and toes were still attached after a transport and frequently marvelling at the Klingon replicator that has a variable slide setting for her blood wine toxicity and strength of Raktajino coffee.

Klap nods and passes her a data pad as they exit the transporter room and walk towards the bridge.

“We picked up another subspace transmission whilst you were away, It seems the Romulans have dispatched a search vessel too, a Captain Door in command”

Kelly glances at him “Door?” She furrows her brow trying to comprehend the Romulan parents that chose that name. She sighs and gives up.

“So we have Ferengi, the Federation and now the Romulans all hunting for the Carolina as well as the rest of the crew. It’s getting awful crowded in my sky. We’re going to have to take some of them out of the equation.” She theorizes as they walk up a short flight of stairs.

“Also Captain, those co-ordinates you gave us, we scanned the entire sector, Aside from one sub space relay station, we found nothing at all.”

“Blue must be using it to relay the messages to his clones, If we follow the signal it should lead to his cloning facility. If not we can at least destroy the relay and inhibit his communications for a while. Send a message to Klingon high command, assign this relay station as hostile, we can then track the signal and they can destroy it for us” she orders.

“Aye Captain” Klap replies, He stops as they pass the officer’s quarters. “Err Captain, it might be best to change your Uniform before taking command, the crew doesn’t like Terran clothing remember?” he politely reminds her.

Kelly clicks her fingers and pivots on her heel, walking back towards and past him, entering her quarters.

“Well reminded” she says as the door swishes shut. She had no wish to kill more crew than she had done already. If only they would learn that they can’t kill her everything would be fine. However Klingons love a good fight she mused.

She glances out the small window at the Star base nearby and watches as the Gibraltar clears her moorings and moves to depart. She waves to its departure.

“Have fun Bobby” she giggles and begins to change uniforms.

Dragons

The little dragon skidded across the stone floor of the cathedral snapping at the dust motes that floated in the sunlight streaming from the windows high in the domed roof. He liked this game, weaving and jumping between the legs of the larger dragon that was waiting by the fire pit, growling, snapping and puffing smoke at imaginary enemies. He was so engrossed in the fun he failed to notice the approaching strangers until they were standing there, five of them, motionless at the top of the stairs and staring straight at him. His game abruptly ended, he opened his mouth displaying rows of tiny needle sharp teeth, he meant to roar at them but what came out sounded more like a frightened squeak, and then he disappeared behind the protective tail of the larger dragon.

Cathedra Draconis Prime was the destination Arado had given Miral DeCuir, so they knew they were coming to a dragon planet.

“A quiet little planet,” Arado had said, “where the dragons come to nest and hatch.”

“Ah the big crunchies” chuckled Mason, “though I seem to remember they have a strict weapon ban, at least they did last time I went on vacation there.”

“Vacation?” queried Arado with a grin. “Sure you weren’t after dragon skins?”

Mason just chuckled.

But even knowing there would be dragons did not lessen the effect of now seeing one face to face.

“That’s a…a…” stammered Joe, “…that’s a frikkin dragon, a…a… DRAGON,” he finally managed to splutter looking at the massive creature with awe.

Miral however was the first one to move.

“Surely it’s not…” she said walking down the steps towards the dragon, “…Fred?”

The dragon lowered his head to the floor, opened his mouth in what might have been taken as a smile and blinked his eyes at Miral. She heard his voice rumble softly in her head.

“Hello Miral, I am so happy to see you again. Yes I am Fred, although they call me ‘Stea Calator’ here. It means Star Traveller. I try to teach the little ones something about the ways of men, but you know what young ones are like, they mostly just want to play.” He gently swished his tail making the little dragon peeping over it tumble off with a squeak.

“Fred,” said Miral, “is it really you? It’s been so long and you’ve grown so much.”

“Yes it is me,” came the voice again. “I am no longer that little dragon who sat on your shoulder as you piloted the Carolina. I was heart broken when they returned from Valinor without you. Then when I came here and learnt the ways of the dragons I heard whispers of what had happened to you there,” he rolled his head towards her and blinked his eyes again, “and I am pleased to see that the stories are true.”

Miral smiled, “Indeed they are.”

Miral’s crewmates moved cautiously closer to the dragon. Illyan was looking at everything with awed fascination, itching to get out a tricorder to scan the dragon and the eggs arranged near the edge of the fire pit. Joe reached out a hand to touch one and immediately snatched it back when he felt the life pulsating inside. Arado stepped up to Joe’s side and whispered through the side of his mouth. “Don’t mess with the eggs. Not a good idea.”

Mason just stood. He was getting sick of just standing. One reason he was looking forward to finding the Carolina was so he could have his reinforced chair back. His armour and armaments were heavy enough but with the neural upgrades and skeletal reinforcements no chair or bench was safe. And he certainly wasn’t going to risk going near those eggs.

Fred raised his head and spoke in a voice they could all hear, “Miral tells me you are looking for Miki?”

“Greetings ancient one,” said Arado bowing hid head with the ritual of acknowledgment. “We are looking for her sister Mimps, and Miki is the only one who can help us.”

“I am aware she is vital to your mission,” said the dragon, “….your mission to find the Carolina.”

Arado’s mouth popped open in surprise but he quickly closed it and murmured, “That is right.”

The dragon began to sway his head from side to side. “You are getting closer…” he said, “…the sisters are vital….to have both sisters…is to find the Carolina.”

“Seelowe said something about our engineer…will we find him too?” blurted out Arado.

“You will find him…I can not say where or when…but trust that you will find him.” The dragon’s head continued to sway. “I have seen the future of your crew…but I can not tell you much…I would be breaking the Dragon’s Code…even now I have said too much…. You will find everything you need is closer than you think.”

Just then a small leather clad figure seemed to appear from nowhere. She had daggers stuck in the sides of her soft and soundless boots, and a large sword swinging from her side.

“Greetings ancient one,” she said bowing her head towards the dragon, “I see we have visitors.”

“Miki, you are here!” gasped Miral happily as she gave the other woman a quick hug.

Joe couldn’t help himself and let out a long slow wolf whistle.

Miki glared over her shoulder at the man who whistled and tapped her finger meaningfully on the hilt of her sword. Then she turned to the others and grinned. “Greetings old friends, I was told you were coming.”

“You were told?” questioned Arado.

“Yes the dragons knew you were coming,” said Miki matter-of-factly.

Fred lowered his head to the floor again, opened his mouth in a grin and winked.

“Miki, it’s a long time since when we last saw you on the Carolina,” said Arado.

“I have been living here with the dragons, we have searched for my sister but we can not yet find her.”

“The ship…Carolina…” Arado hesitated, unsure how to broach the subject of Mimp’s disappearance, “…it sent her somewhere, perhaps even to a different time, that is probably why you can’t find her.”

As the others were talking Illyan’s inquisitive nature finally got the better of her and she held her scanner out towards the great dragon. “With your permission, I wish to learn more of your kind,” she asked respectfully.

The dragon’s voice replied as a gentle rumble in her head, “Go ahead, you are more than welcome to scan me.”

Illyan dipped her head in thanks and began to move around the dragon, watching the rapidly blinking lights on the scanner screen as her instrument drew in data about the giant creature.

“That was a very odd ship,” continued Miki, “I didn’t like it, it tried to talk to me.”

“We are looking for it,” said Arado.

“Sooner it’s found the better,” growled Mason.

“And that captain,” said Miki with a scowl, “where is he? I have a few words for that captain.”

“Help us find Mimps.” said Arado earnestly, “We have to find Mimps and the rest of the crew before we can find the ship. And we have to find the ship to find the captain. Help us and you can have all the words you like.”

Miki slowly turned placed her hands on her hips and faced Arado. “I have a better idea,” she said narrowing her eyes, “YOU…” she stabbed one finger squarely in the centre of Arado’s chest, “…help ME find my sister, then I will decide who I will talk to and if I will help you or not.”

Miral unsuccessfully tried to hide a grin. “Typical Miki,” she thought.

Arado looked down at the woman’s finger pressed against his chest then noticed her other hand on her sword hilt. “That works for me,” he sighed.

“I thought it might,” said Miki stepping back and releasing her hand from the hilt.

One thing still worried Arado. “Miki,” he asked carefully, “can you still sense your sister? Is your link still intact?”

Miki nodded. “Yes we know that she is alive and we have a strong sense of where she is, but when we search we can find nothing.”

“That is probable because she has been sent to a different time. If you can tell me WHERE she should be, I can try and work out the WHEN from there.”

Miki walked towards the dragon and stood before one of his huge eyes. “Stea Calator,” she said, “I have to go with these uncivilised people and look for my sister. Do I have your permission to go? I do not know how long it will be. I can not say when I will return.” She bowed her head and waited for a reply.

The dragon rumbled an answer for them all to hear. “Certainly you may leave for such a noble quest.”

“Uncivilised?” grumbled Mason.

“Uncivilised?” echoed Joe.

Miki turned and glared at the men. “Yes, you are uncivilised. You can not speak to dragons and you do not carry a sword.”

Joe grinned and patted the berretta under his coat. “Don’t need a pig sticker when I got this.”

Mason grunted and nodded in agreement.

Miki stood squarely as she faced them. “That may be true, but it is not the using of the weapon, rather the carrying of it that makes you civilised.”

Arado took a step to move between them. “Our ways are far apart from your ancient and venerable ways,” he said, trying to remember the words of the peace ritual. “We offer our respect and gratitude for being allowed to share your knowledge so that both our quests may benefit.”

“So the sword is a status thing,” said Joe looking towards Arado.

“That is correct Joe,” said Arado keeping an eye on Miki.

“This is the sword of the ancients,” said Miki resting her hand on the hilt. “The honour I have to carry it is from long study and great deeds.”

“You might carry it for status,” said Joe, “but can you use it?”

Miki kept her eyes on Joe but nodded towards Arado. “Ask him,” she said.

“Yes she can, Joe,” said Arado quietly. “You could say it is an honour to be slain by such a weapon, but that is an honour which I will gladly forego. Now let us all remember where we are and bid farewell to the dragon.”

Miral hugged Fred around the leg. “Goodbye Fred…take care.”

Illyan bowed her head. “Thank you, great dragon. Maybe one day I can return to witness the birth of one of you children?”

Mason and Joe turned towards the dragon and bowed in unison.

Miki released her sword and lowered her head. “Farewell my friend, I will return when I have found my sister.”

Fred the dragon, now called Stea Calator, blinked his eyes and spoke. “Farewell friends. No doubt we will meet again.”

Then he rose up on his massive hind legs, stretched his wings to cover nearly the whole span of the great cathedral, opened his mouth towards the roof and roared.

While at the same time Arado tapped his com badge and said, “Six to beam up.”

Cathedral

The morning sun filtered through the windows high in the domed roof of the cathedral, illuminating the smoky interior with yellow gold stripes of light. Tendrils of smoke emanated from two creatures seated directly under the high arched roof of the dome and curled rhythmically towards the light in time with their breathing. They were dragons, and this was their home.

The rhythm of the puffs of smoke was momentarily interrupted when one of the creatures caught the scent of an intruder and turned his massive head to watch her approach. She was a small woman, made smaller by the huge space inside this cathedral of Wyrms. The soft leather boots on her feet made hardly a sound as she walked slowly down the long aisle. She looked about as she walked and a faint smile played on her lips, for this was her home too and the cathedral had many fond memories.

Here, behind those columns, was where she would play hide and seek with the hatchlings, that doorway led to where she had taken her lessons in dragon lore, behind that archway was the balcony where she had had her first dragon flight, and there, right there on that exact spot was where she had said goodbye to her sister.

Her sister had stood there with tears in her eyes as she told her that this Dragon keeper life was not for her, she wanted to study the stars and travel to other worlds. It was no surprise, they had hugged and she knew she had to let her go. But before they were parted the dragons had gathered around and given them one last gift. With words and breath and knowledge older than time they had bound the two together so they would always know that the other was safe and they could always find the other if they were in need.

Now she approached the two dragons curled around a large glowing fire pit and bowed her head. She waited until she felt their voices inside her head.

“Miki,” she felt one rumble. “It is time.”

“They are coming for you,” breathed the second voice.

“I know,” said Miki inside her own head. “I have felt it too.”

“Find her,” said the first voice.

“Find her,” repeated the second. Then the dragon turned its head and fixed her with a glare from its huge yellow eyes. “And stop him.”