A Question Finally Answered

Posted on Sun Apr 26th, 2015 @ 12:25am by Admiral Lucius Hawke & Commander Ehlana Winter & Lieutenant Commander Earl Crane
Edited on on Sun Apr 26th, 2015 @ 12:51am

Mission: Breaking New Ground
Location: Admiral Hawke's Quarters \ Commander Winter's Quarters

* * * Admiral Hawke's Quarters * * *

"See you later Dad." Nahi adjusted his uniform tunic then smiled back at his father. "This is just a short trip down to Bajor to see an old friend." Which was spook speak for a run to see a contact.

Lucius nodded. "Good. Give him my regards, won't you? I promised him dinner next time I'm down there on solid ground. Now get going, the deck chief is tapping his foot."

Nahi gave his father a wink, then turned and climbed into the shuttle. Moments later, it was cleared for departure and cruising slowly through the shuttle hatch. Lucius stood by the panoramic observation windows, watching as it cleared the station. The blue glow of the engines intensified as he prepared to get underway. There was the split second of hesitation before the shuttle would jump to speed and dash away from the station, Lucius mentally counted down....3...2...1.....

And then the unthinkable happened. He wasn't even sure he was really seeing it at first but another instant and it became horribly real. As the engines topped out and the shuttle began to move, it suddenly disintegrated into a blinding inferno that seemed to fill the space outside the shuttle bay. Lucius froze, unable to process it. Shouts erupted in the bay as the crew searched frantically for life signs and tried to figure out just what had gone wrong, but they were a muted chorus in the background for Lucius. He reached out, but sensed nothing. He felt a hand on his arm, someone asking if he was alright. It was a small blonde woman, someone he recognized from command but her name escaped him at the moment.

"Chief! You have anything??" The voice rose from the chaos in the shuttle bay.

Before the Chief could answer, however, Lucius already knew.

Nahi was gone.

A shout awoke Lucius from the old familiar nightmare. He sat bolt upright in bed, a cold sweat lining his brow. He fought to get his too-rapid breathing under control, hands pressed to his eyes. It was the same old dream - the last time he'd seen his younger son, Li's twin, alive. The dream hadn't come for over a year now. A year of acceptance that had followed a rough time of anger and disbelief and determination to find out what had happened. In the end, they'd discovered the shuttle had been sabotaged. Scans of the area showed traces of a volatile explosive that should have been nowhere near his son's shuttle. For a long time, the investigation had hit a dead end, but Lucius had refused to give up and two years later, Section 31's fingerprints had been found all over the operation.

The tragic memories raised the old bitterness in Lucius. Why now? What had brought the dream back? But this time there was something different. Someone was different. Ehlana Winter. What was she doing in his dream? He sat in his silent bedroom, letting the memory of that day replay in his head. It had always been fuzzy, parts of it missing likely due to the shock but now, it played through with perfect clarity, beginning to end. And now he realized that she'd actually been there that day, taking hold of him as his knees gave way, holding him up as they stood together and watched. It wasn't just a dream.

Moments later, he was out of bed and dressing as he requested Ehlana's location from the computer. Pants, sweater, shoes..good enough. He'd been up too late and had almost no sleep but he didn't care. He had to see her. Now.

* * * Ehlana's Quarters * * *

It had also been a late night for Ehlana. Following the meeting with Patrick Leroy, she had endured several calls to and from San Francisco regarding another matter that was on her list. The final result had been the sad news that this was out of their hands. She had left the office and crawled off to bed with the final words of the communication in her head.

We cannot save the entire universe, Ehlana...

She’d settled in bed wishing that Earl was there to hold her close, tell her it was alright. The latest problem had occurred on her home planet and she felt helpless knowing there was nothing to be done, that another heart was broken by the vagaries of time. Finally, she fell into an exhausted sleep....

...A sleep that was interrupted before she could even get into a REM state. Earl knew she was home - she’d left him a message telling him so - and coming off the night shift he had one destination in mind. Once he reached her deck, he jogged to her doorstep and pressed the chime. When a barely awake Ehlana answered, he pushed her inside, kissing her fiercely, covetously.

“Wha...?” She blinked up at him, her brain not quite in gear yet. Her body responded to his in an instant, however and slowly, she was drawn to a more coherent state. “Earl! Off shift already?”

“Yes, and I was hoping to find and give some comfort in your bed. Just for a bit?” He smiled slightly.

“Was it a bad night my darling?” Ehlana drew him closer, her arms tight around him. “I’m so sorry. I wish there was something I could do.”

“There’s just a lot to do with Harding down on the planet, Ehl,” he murmured into her hair.

“I"m glad you're home. Come.” She stepped back and led him by the hand into her bedroom. As she was clad only in a thin nightgown, it was the work of only a moment to slide the straps from her shoulders and let it fall.

“Oh, you do something, all right, Ehl,” Earl looked her up and down, a slow smile starting on his face. “You move me.” He moved in closer and cupped her breast as he kissed her.

She gave into the kiss, her heart now hammering in her chest at a gallop. He always had this effect on her but this time, she could swear she heard it. Out loud. It took a few beats to realize it wasn’t her heart but someone banging on the door. Now they called her name.

“Shit!” She scurried to find her robe, since it wasn’t see-through. Whoever was at the door sounded like they meant business.

“Oh hell no... Let me chase whoever it is away, Ehl,” Earl cajoled her, evidence of just why he wanted to chase them away stuck out from his groin.

“Who could it be?” She hurried to tie the sash of her robe. Whoever was there now called her name, then gave his own - Admiral Hawke. “Well that answers that. Earl, put that thing away.” She paused to lean in for a kiss, then hurried past him.

“It’s not exactly a pocketknife! It doesn’t just conveniently fold up!” Earl exclaimed, but diligently tried thinking of other things... like baseball. “Fine. Just don’t be surprised if it takes time to reappear later.”

“Oh? Like what, two seconds instead of one?” She stopped at the door, reached up to check her hair and the front of her robe, then opened the doors. She was surprised by the anxious state of Admiral Hawke. Stepping aside she motioned him in. “Come in, Lucius.”

“Thank you.” He stepped in past her and when the doors closed he continued. “I see someone else has had little sleep. It seems to be the order of the day. I’m sorry if I woke you, Ehlana, but something just happened that we need to discuss.”

Looking the man over, Earl harrumphed, “Lots has happened, Admiral. Wanna clarify which ‘something’ you mean?”

“Dr. Crane.” He smiled for a moment as Earl entered the living room. Looking at the two of them, it was abundantly clear what he had interrupted. “My apologies. I know you’ve had a long night as well.”

Ehlana moved away from the door and motioned to the chair by the sofa. “Please have a seat.” She settled on the sofa and waited for Earl to join her, then continued. “What happened?”

Lucius sat with his forearms resting on his knees, hands joined together as he gathered his scattered thoughts. “I suppose it’s better to start at the beginning. Three years ago, my younger son Nahi was killed when his shuttle exploded at DS9. There were signs that it was sabotaged. The investigation hit one dead end after another, until about two years later when a link to Section 31 was found. I won’t get into the details of that, but the investigation was concluded last year.” Lucius paused and looked up at Ehlana, who had grown tense and still. He saw the wary expression in her eyes as well, and nodded. “You were there.”

“Yes I was.” Ehlana’s voice was subdued.

Earl was not surprised. She seemed to have the habit of being in places and times when things were about to get interesting.

“I am well aware of your position within Starfleet.” Lucius paused, shooting a glance at Earl. He didn’t ask it but the question was evident in his expression. He studied the doctor intently, then nodded. “I see you know about her activities as well, Dr. Crane.”

“I’m quite familiar with her activities,” Earl nodded and smiled, slipping for a moment back into his usual dirty-old-man persona. “But, yes, professionally, I know what she does. Would you like some coffee?” He stood and moved toward the replicator, looking back at Ehlana with the same question.

“Yes, thanks,” Lucius replied. Ehlana nodded and Lucius continued. “Then I may speak freely. Given what you do, I have to ask. Why were you there that day? Was it related?”

Ehlana pursed her lips a moment. “I am curious why you are just now asking. It’s been three years, Lucius."

Lucius’ words were soft, somewhat distant as he recalled the dreams. “For the first year, I had dreams of that explosion, almost nightly. But they always stopped at the same point. I saw the flash, I could hear the shuttle bay crew yelling. I could feel myself falling and someone grabbed me, held me up. I could never see who though. I could feel the hands on me and then I’d wake myself up yelling. The dream stopped coming about a year ago. Until tonight. And tonight it changed. When the hands took hold of me, I turned and saw it was you.”

Ehlana sucked in her breath and covered her mouth with her hand for a moment. “I am so sorry for that night.” Her shoulders sagged and she shot a glance to Earl, her own expression bleak.

Seeing that look, Earl’s heart went out to her. He’d often been in the position of consoling the newly bereft and could, to a degree, relate. He got their coffees, handed Lucius his and Ehlana hers then took his seat next to her again. He rubbed her back to show his support.

“What do you know?” Lucius’ voice was shaky now. “Please, tell me.”

Ehlana gripped Earl’s hand tight. “I’m not so sure that you want to hear it.”

Closing his eyes, Lucius nodded slowly. “I have to know. Please.”

She took in a deep breath to steady herself. “As you are aware of my usual assignments, I suppose you can guess, at least partly. I was there to make sure it happened as it was supposed to, that no one interfered to stop the launch. I’m so very sorry.” Her voice broke as a sob escaped her. “It’s haunted me ever since. I never regretted what I do...until then.”

“When I saw you in the dream, I suspected it was so.” The words were barely a whisper. “But do not blame yourself, I understand.” Lucius rested his face in his hands. “There was a time I considered having your branch look into it but I knew that there was no going back.”

While Lucius took that news rather stoically, Earl didn’t. He pulled his hand away from Ehlana’s back and sat staring at her. She could have saved this man’s son but instead... she’d been there to prevent anyone from saving him. He’d always seen the other side: her stepping in to right something. He’d always strived to save people, pull them back from the brink of death, when he could; the idea of standing by and letting someone die... even as old as he was, as much as he’d seen in his time, he couldn’t fathom it. “Why? Why was there no going back?”

“Because,” Lucius continued. “If he hadn’t.....” He paused to get a grip on his racing emotions. “If he had not died, we’d never have found the link to Section 31 and they would, by now, be running the Fleet.” He fell silent as a single tear dropped to the light grey carpet, leaving a small wet spot.

“I tried to talk them into the alternate course but there was no changing their minds.” Ehlana looked back at Earl now. “It’s the one of two things I’ve always regretted in this life.”

Earl didn’t need to question what her other regret was - he guessed it had to do with him and he didn’t really want to know if he was wrong. But, really, why else would she look at him that way? Pulling her into an embrace, he kissed the top of her head. “Some things we can’t help,” he said.

“Dr. Crane is right,” Lucius answered. “I just wanted to be sure it was you, Ehlana, and to let you know that I understand. I know how hard this must be. There was nothing I could do to save him, but you could have and were prevented from doing so. In some ways, that’s even harder.”

She nodded and finally began to relax against Earl. “Thank you, that means more than you may ever know. Then again, you probably do.”

Finally, a slight smile appeared on Lucius’ face. “I can tell, yes. I should let you two get back to whatever it was you were doing. Please excuse my intrusion.”

“Of course, Admiral,” Earl said, not quite smiling again. He rubbed Ehlana’s arm as she leaned into him.

“It’s fine, Lucius. If there’s anything more you need, call.” She touched Earl’s hand, then rose to walk Lucius to the door.

Once they were there, he paused. “Be careful Ehlana. Something's afoot and I am beginning to wonder if it is related to this. If anything happens, call me."

"I will," she whispered.

The doors opened and he departed. Once they closed again, she turned back to Earl. “Never a dull moment here is there?”

“Never.” Earl smiled at her.

"Please try and understand the position I was in. I had no choice. This is why so few people have any longevitiy in Temporal Affairs." Shw stood there, silent, lost in the memory she shared with Lucius. Finally she crossed the room to stand before him once more. “But you heard the Admiral. He told us to get back to whatever it was we were doing. We shouldn’t buck command.”

“Oh, absolutely not. Now, as I recall, you were naked and I... oh, well, I’m right back where I was,” he winked at her, a wicked grin wasn’t the only thing growing on him.

“I was right, two seconds.” She untied the robe, dropped it where she stood and dashed back to the bedroom.

Laughing, he followed her, shedding clothing as he went.

___________________________

Admiral Lucius Hawke
Commander Ehlana Winter
Lt. Commander Earl Crane
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