By Erin_Cale
Disclaimer: See first part.
***
Harper stood back to get a better look at the object that he and Kathryn had spent the last number of hours working on. “I’ll say one thing. It looks great.”
Kathryn laughed, slinging her uniform jacket over her arm. “Yes, now if only it will work.”
“Oh it will work. We built it, didn’t we?”
“Ahh. Then it must work.” Then Kathryn’s voice took on a slighter more serious note. “Now when are we gonna test it?”
Harper yawned, his body involuntarily betraying his weariness. “After I get some sleep.”
“All right. Dylan wanted to talk with me anyway.”
“Oooh.” Harper smirked at her.
“Harper, I’ve only known you for a short time but I think I speak for at least a couple of your crewmates when I say Grow up.” Kathryn smiled the smile of one who is being patient with a small child. She was surprised how well she had gotten to know him in the small amount of time that she had been aboard the ship.
Harper yawned again. “You’d be surprised how many girls have told me that.”
“Doesn’t that tell you something?”
“That they noticed me.” Though he wore a smile on his cute features, Kathryn thought she saw a flash of melancholy in the boy’s eyes.
“Don’t worry, Harper. Some day a girl is going to notice you and like you for who you are.”
“Thanks.” Harper gave the generator a quick pat, as if to wish it goodnight. “Anyway, I’m about to fall asleep standing, so I’m going to go to my quarters. Good night Kathryn.”
“Good night Harper.”
Harper exited the machine shop, passing Dylan on his way out. “Good night boss.”
“’Night, Harper.”
As Kathryn too exited the machine shop, the two watched Harper’s slow progress down the hallway. Dylan finally said, “Andromeda, keep an eye on Harper. Make sure he gets back to his quarters all right.”
“Yes sir.”
Dylan motioned to Kathryn that they would talk as they walked. “So you finished it?”
“Yes. We’re going to test it tomorrow.”
“Good.” There was a brief moment of silence as Dylan tried to think of something else to say. Finally, he came up with something. “So, why don’t you tell me something about your universe?”
“My universe? Well, in my universe, Earth is the center of the United Federation of Planets. The Federation is a major power in the Alpha Quadrant but there are several other powers, including the Romulans, the Cardassians, the Klingons.... The Federation is very strong, but most of its strength is used for the purpose of exploring the universe. Now mind you, I’m not all that up to date since I’ve been in the Delta Quadrant until only recently.”
“Why?”
“Well, some rebels were starting to give the Federation trouble with the Cardassians. I was given command of a new vessel, the Federation Starship Voyager and sent out to capture a major rebel cell. The mission was only supposed to last for two weeks but when we got to the last known coordinates of the Maquis, we found no trace of them. Then there was this energy wave that came hurtling towards us. We couldn’t outrun it. It transported us to the Delta Quadrant, over 70 years away from our homes at top speed.”
“So how did you manage to get home so fast?” They were, by this time, at the door to the galley. The door opened and Dylan motioned for Kathryn to go in first.
“Well, it’s a long story. We had some help from another time-”
“Whoa. Wait a minute, you have technology that allows you to travel through time?”
“No, we didn’t. Apparently my future self did. She didn’t give us that technology. She came back to help us get home. Apparently, if we had stayed in the Delta Quadrant much longer, my protegé would have died and my... my best friend would have blamed me for her death. It was really for him that my future self came back. He had never forgiven her and she didn’t want me to live my life like that.” The two captains grabbed their cups of coffee and sat down at a table.
“You loved him, didn’t you?”
“Yes. But I could never admit it because I had to stay neutral with my crew. I couldn’t play favorites with any of them.”
“I understand entirely. It’s exactly like my situation. I can’t get involved with a member of my crew. It would be against everything I was ever taught.”
“Though you want to,” Kathryn added.
“Yeah.” Dylan, uncomfortable that the conversation had turned to his deepest secrets, changed the subject back to one he was far more comfortable with. “So why, if there were those types of regulations, did your future self come back to help you?”
Kathryn moved her gaze to the starscape outside. “For the past seven years, I have been alone. In her universe, the mission lasted for 23 years and she was alone during those years and afterwards. I guess she just couldn’t take it anymore.”
“I suppose I can understand that.”
Kathryn’s gaze moved back to him, her blue eyes looking into his. Her smile this time made her look like she was fighting back tears. Dylan became concerned and gently put his hand on top of Kathryn’s. She squeezed his hand gently in return. They spent a comfortable moment looking into each other’s eyes.
Dylan found himself unable to break away from Kathryn’s gaze. He had to know what it was like to kiss her, just once. He moved his head closer to hers. She saw what he was doing but didn’t move her head away. His lips had only just brushed Kathryn’s when the inevitable happened.
“Warning: Enemy ships approaching. Captain to Command.”
***