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Still searching for a retort to Jacqueline, Arthur was caught off guard as gravity jolted him to the floor. He got up slowly, looked at the welcoming committee as it broke into startled laughter, and decided that not counting prison, this might be the most humiliating moment of his life.
That distinction didn't hold for long, though; matters speedily got worse. Clothed hit-or-miss in a hurry, the group rode manacled to the nearest courthouse. The trial must have been scheduled in advance; the judge ran it like a railroad. Two days later, Arthur, Joaquin, T'Paul, Turo and Claudia were checked into a high-security prison.
His first impression was, maybe this one wouldn't be too bad. On the 3rd day, though, he was allowed out into the exercise yard, where a weatherbeaten hulk of a man walked over to him. "Well, if it ain't our old friend Vin. Butcher's gonna be glad to see ya, I'm sure."
Losing his front teeth hadn't made Jackhammer Bellisario any prettier.333Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMLFrZ4GD4y
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As Ben saw it, Kathryn Janeway and Geordi LaForge deserved a suitable sendoff to Stargazer. The party, assembled with J.M.'s help, came off quiet yet festive.
Any antagonism between Kathryn and Yasmin had been erased by the crisis with the would-be pirates. Now Armiger, permitting herself two extra beers---well, it was her free day coming up---leaned across Charles Tucker to ask the other woman, "You're ready to tackle command again, then? You feel confident and sure of yourself?"
For a moment Janeway pursed her lips; then she said, "No. Not completely. I do find myself with doubts. But...."
Shrugging, she smiled. "In a way those uncertainties give me a new kind of confidence. Because I do not now have that feeling of omniscience which led me to excesses. I can put a better trust in my own judgment. And the unsureness makes it certain that I'll not become complacent."
Her words gave Ben an unexpected jolt. He blinked, then found himself saying, "I'll be damned! Kathyrn---I'd never thought it myself, consciously, but that's pretty much how it feels. A little uncertainty does keep us alert." Too bad it'd never worked that way for Jonathan Archer.....
"Thanks for the validation.....sir."
To Sisko's other side, LaForge was caught between Paul Stamets who was trying to explain a fine point about exciter tuning, and Yasmin who now turned to put an oar in, saying: "Look, you can analyze field vector phase lag until it comes out your ears. But all you really need to do, Geordi, once you have the frequencies right, is fuzz your tuning a little. Broaden it, that is. So on the scope the peak widens into two. Just barely, with a little dip between. Then if it drifts either way, that little bitty rise kicks in extra bias and centers you again. Make sense?"
As LaForge nodded, Stamets said, "That's all well and good, Yasmin, but it doesn't address the reasons we...."
The big man just laughed. "I'll study the text readouts, Paul; I really will. But meanwhile I appreciate knowing this shortcut."
A bit latter, more than 1/2 the crew escorted the pair and their gear to the Stargazer C-Gate, Ben said, "Pop us a message, will you, as soon as you've looked around and assessed conditions? So we'll know you got there okay---which was well, of course---and what the status is. And mainly, just to keep in touch."
"No problem."
Several handshakes later, color faded and flared. Armiger said, "I never thought I'd say this, but I'm going to miss that woman."333Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRuJHbZ3bE7
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Rick Berman's packet containing the news that he was soon to leave the Senate for a liaison post ".....but don't worry; I'll still be in touch and help keep an eye on things," also brought word of the trial and sentencing of Arrowprize's five "space pirates."
Jacqueline was curious but Ben got it first, commenting to the group idling in the lounge as something caught his fancy. "One thing they never did figure out," he said, "Apparently the little guy fired his gun just as the C-Gate activated it at Bolt Park. But the bullet didn't hit anything there---and it sure didn't spang off the bulkhead here."
"Are they sure he really did fire?" J.M.
Yasmin Armiger looked up. "There was a kind of echo, remember, Nyota? Just as we came around the corner?"
Uhura shook her head. "I don't remember, actually." Her eyes widened. "But there was smoke at the gun barrel! Just a wisp; I'd forgotten. It puzzled me for an instant, but then the little thug started making threats and I forgot all about it."
"Where'd the bullet go?" Jacqueline asked.
"Maybe Dr. Cochrane's Time-Lost continuum," said Nyota Uhura.
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"I'm C-Gating tomorrow. See y'all soon," read Senator Perry's message, and sure enough, about 1 hour later he and Barrows arrived, to spend a final 2 weeks or more before going on to Stargazer. "You wouldn't receive an arrival notice from Kathyrn by then?" he asked.
Visiting in captain's digs, Jacqueline watched while her dad checked time rates on his terminal, then said: "No. The way you've planned it, you leave about the same time she gets there. Unless you want to reschedule."
"Nah, don't think so. If all goes well, they'll have been at destination something like 9 months when we pop out. Time to assess the place, scout the planet if there's a good one, maybe have their macro-C-Gate up and running. Or if not..."
"That wasn't made clear in the news dispatches," Jacqueline said. "Do they just leave all the control and residence configurations in thrust mode, go back to accel, and head for Point B?"
The old man shrugged. "What would be done about living arrangements is out of my pay grade. But they'd still set up the ship-shooter, the macro-C-Gate, so that later missions can leapfrog out with a big head start. And plant enough radio telescope satellites to make up an understudy to the Big Array, looking for other possible goal stars. They wouldn't have cranked up again yet, to go on to their next-choice system---but Tonia and I can't afford to wait around for that option anyway."
He went quiet, but now he'd roused Jacqueline's curiosity. "So what would you do in that case, sir?"
Perry peered at her. "That'd take a helluva a lot of thinking." He turned to Ben. "Do you have Yamato's ETA anywhere in your files?"
Punching keys, after 1 moment Sisko shook his head. "No data here, none to speak of. But we don't need it. I happen to remember, that ship's on a 42-light-year jaunt. Stargazer's is 31. And ships go out ever 4 years."
Except for Nomad, Jacqueline remembered. But it had lifted away on higher accel, to come closer to regaining sked. Anyway....
"So," Ben was saying, "Yamato reaches goal about fifteen years after Stargazer does. Earth time."
The senator was counting something on his fingers; then he nodded. "Besides a final jump to Yamato itself, we've have only about 10 more years to bypass, by means of C-Gate lag. If we wanted to go see what that group finds."
He stood. "Well, thanks for the talk. You know, when we C-Gate off to Stargazer I may get homesick for this ship."
When they did leave, Jacqueline felt as if she were losing a favorite uncle, an uncle who wouldn't be back. Not out of need, at least.
A month after Perry's departure, word came from Stargazer. 333Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF5hAePaNzw
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Arrived to find conversion for deceleration complete. Beginning that process right away following final checks. From a 1/2-light-year out, prospects appear most favorable. Thanks and good wishes.333Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRlAW9sesWg
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Kathryn Janeway.333Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbJiRAPpb8B
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The day following the arrival of Janeway's message marked the crew's first anniversary aboard Arrowprize. By ship's time of course; at the anniversary party Ben tried to avoid thinking about the 25 years that had passed on Earth.
27, if you counted C-Gate time, he heard Charles Tucker saying. Yasmin Armiger laughed. "I'll see that and raise you 7. Good 'ol cadre 1-A ingated 9 months before Stargazer lifted out." Sisko missed Charles's comment, but Yasmine said, "Go ahead and looked it up. But of course I sneaked in six more years C-Gate time than you have." It was Charles's turn to laugh.
As Jacqueline, playing some kind of anisotropic table game with Tonia Barrows, laughed as well. Still nearly 2 months shy of her 13th birthday, biologically speaking, while back home she'd be---what? Almost 39, for Chrissake!
Ben shuddered, then felt a sly amusement. If this were either of his two earlier assignments, the ones that fell through, he'd be done with his shipboard hitch and back on Earth with only (only?!) a 14-year displacement. As was, though, he was roughly 25 light-years from Earth with another 45 or more to go, which would have him ingating for decel in something like 700 days from now.
Minus the point-one-light-year decel distance, that is. And the 25 days prior to the start of decel. And---oh dammit to hell! The computer in his brain was too tired for a good readout; w hen he had time, he'd check with the one that never tired.
Anyway, thirteen of the crew's original 16 members were still here at 1st year's end; not too bad an average. Young Talia was filling in well, and now Jacqueline was handling most of a normal adult crewmember's load and seemed to feel good about it.
How Ben Sisko felt was very damn lucky.333Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWFamSgYEIz
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Jacqueline knew the older ship's 15 Earthtime months of decel was just about 18 days on Arrowprize , but an extra time elapsed before the Stargazer Ass brought another message.333Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjZmM32dMXG
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Tonia and I lucked in, here. One planet looks utterly glorious and another might be habitable under duress. We intend to stick around for some time and have notified Rick Berman not to wait up. We thank you for all the hospitality. Look us up some time.333Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiu1I9IhAtu
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Perry.333Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7QNzMHymVv
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Who knew? With the C-Gates and all, maybe she could at that. Not right away, though. For right now, her place was on Arrowprize.333Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcYVhn88jWn
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What the Beaconsetters looked like made no real difference to anyone aboard, but still, Jacqueline thought, it was interesting to watch. Charles and Beverly dropped by the galley for a snack while she and Ben were having breakfast; all agog, Charles began telling it. "We've kept fiddling with these signals, you know, just for the hell of it. Well, we isolated a subcarrier in their overall emission package. Digitalized frequency shift with a quintary code---2 positive values and 2 negative values, plus 0 shift. Anyway, the pattern looked like video."
"I thought we'd never solve the scanning protocol," Beverly put in, "but it's kinda a diagonal crosshatch, interlaced; not what you'd want to call efficient, but it's their call, not ours."
"Would you like to come see?" Had Charles ever shown such eagerness?
In an instrument test room near the bridge, the 2 showed off their findings. "The colors likely aren't anywhere near correct," said Beverly. "If it's supposed to be color at all; first off, we tried the marker pulse groups as digital sound, but that didn't work, so...."
They stared at an oval-shaped picture. Behind the central figure could be seen oblong shapes, reddish against an mud-colored background, that were probably electronic equipment of some kind; blinking lights seemed to be a universal need.
But that figure! More or less chartreuse with streaks of a clearer green, only a head and upper torso appeared, plus the extremity of one gesturing limb, divided into three stubby, flexible tendrils. There was no neck, just a widening of the head to the picture's bottom, and where that widening started so did some kind of covering garment, gray and devoid of texture.
And the head? What would you call it?" Ben asked.
Majority opinion was---a guppy. An oversized guppy, with a high forehead and rudimentary antlers. The guppy mouth moved, and Jacqueline wondered what sounds it made, that they weren't hearing. "Are you sending a copy of this to Earth?" she asked.
"Don't you think they've already got it figured out?" Beverly said.
"And what if they have?" said Ben. "It can't hurt to let 'em know we're on the stick here, too." He grinned. "You two, I guess. I sign the reports, but this is strictly your brownie points."
Jacqueline hurried off to see Talia Winters.
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As near as Ben could figure it, day 4-12 was Jacqueline's 13th birthday, biological. So far she was showing just hints of approaching physical maturity, mainly the rapid disappearance of puppy fat, revealing the good clean lines her face and body would carry into adulthood.
She said, when he hinted, that she didn't want any big party, so he and Marlena put on a family spread in their quarters. He put the word around, though, and when other people dropped by, 2 or 3 at a time, Marlena had party snacks to bring out. So before the evening was over, straddling a change of watch, Jacqueline got her best wishes from everyone and she obviously enjoyed them.
That celebration coincided with another, less personal one. Word came from Stargazer's macro-C-Gate had recieved its first loads from Earth: first a big supplies container held waiting in the huge Mouth area for C-Gate activation, and then the 1st personnel carrier to take an away team out to another planet.
It all did seem to top off Jacqueline's shindig very well.333Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡArvBsjkWeA
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The day after, though, she came to Sisko's quarters holding a message sheet and looking solemn. "It's Dolores. She's dying, and wants to see me."
Dying? But it'd be four years since that message was sent, before Jacqueline could get to Earth. So how...?"
"C-Gates. At the hospital." Of course. "They'll be putting her through twice. With some time between, to allow for me getting my things together and clearing away here if I have to. But Ben...." He was troubled, she could see that.
"You're under no obligation to go, remember that."
"I am under obligation, Ben---how old is Dolores now? I mean, when she sent this?"
He thought. "I'm not sure. I don't know if she ever told the truth about her age. If she did...." Hmmm. "When you and I left Bolt Park, Jacqueline, she'd've been thirty-two by the time of Man. That's a bit over 30 years ago, but Dolores gated twice. And then there's C-Gate lag on your message. So, let's call it 56."
"56 isn't old!"
"Does the message say why she's dying?"
"Not in any terms I can understand." She showed it to him; all it said was Bascom-Kand Syndrome and he'd never heard of it himself.
He shook his head. "Well, if you feel you have to go, let's think about what's needed. I'll give you a set of official orders to show at Bolt Park, to issue you an ID that reads Legally Adult; you'll need that. And an authorization card to draw on your service credit account. Now, your clothes are sure to be out of fashion...."
She didn't give a damn about any of that, she just wanted one last family dinner and to be on her way. But she might later, so Ben saw to it that she wouldn't be found wanting.
She didn't cry before ingating, but he damn near did.333Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQGHxd4cZ3H
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Attempts at sensory observance within the offending dimensional array prove unavailing, because previous measures in pursuit of preventative isolation render that sub-plenum relatively opaque. More rewarding are the glimpses into the combined packet, basic sub-continuum plus intrusional overlap. But here, mass aggregations in a state of continued obtrusion prove to be relatively simple nonviolational matter structures; to study masses that might be of importance it's necessary to scan intrusions of only momentary nature. To this end, sensory apparati of just 2 dimensions are insinuated therein. Thus, basic patters and operations of sub-plenar volitionals may be sensed both externally and internally, by mere surface-to-surface scan mode and without impinging on normal functions.
One apparent threat proves to be less than first estimated. After many intrusions of mass objects of 1st and second order, suddenly masses of much greater magnitude transfer through expanded dimensionality. Unease results, until it's observed that loci groupings made capable by whatever means, of emergence and withdrawal of such masses, invariably display obvious signs of imminent obtrusions. Given reasonable caution, they pose no risk.
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Older, sure---black hair turned gray at the roots, lined face bare of makeup, body thin beneath her hospital gown---but not deathly looking. Seeing Dolores in the chair, Jacqueline was reminded of all the heroines with the Holo Stars' Disease; you knew they were dying because the story said so, but they never looked it. Still, though, "Hi, mom." As if Arthur had never existed.
Dolores stared. "My God! You haven't changed at all." And then, "Aged, I mean. Oh, you're different. Grownup, someway. Like you know what you're about, now. How long is it? For you?"
She didn't act like wanting a hug but she got one anyway. "A year or more. I just had my 13th birthday, bio."
"Bio?" Dolores shook her head; no matter. "Do you hate me, Jacqueline? Was I that bad a mother? Except for Arthur. But I didn't mean---I never meant...." Her expression hardened. "And I fixed that bastard's wagon for you. I..."
Hearing what Dolores had done, Jacqueline reserved her own news of Arthur for later. "....and I'd ditched him earlier, before I went out looking for you. Where the hell were you, anyway?"
Jacqueline told her; Dolores nodded. "I thought so. But I couldn't stay and wait. The warrant ran out, or something; you never can trust those damn lawyers!"
She was nowhere near finished talking; Jacqueline put her own questions on hold. "I'm so sorry. Arthur, I never knew how bad he was. I let myself go stonehead, so you had to run, be stuck out in that weird place instead of having a good life. Jacqueline...."
Weird place? Good life? Suddenly Jacqueline realized: Arthur was the best thing that ever happened to her! If not for him she'd have gone to her nice school and got a nice job and married some man maybe nice, maybe not, and by now she'd be sweating her own kids going wrong---and would never see much of anything!
"Mom, I'm fine. I love it on Arrowprize. Lately I stand watches like any regular crewmember. We're crowding 30 light-years from Earth. I've seen---oh, I've see so much! Even a flatscreen picture of some intelligent alien person; we don't know if he lives where the beam came from, but there he was!" She considered. "Or maybe she."
Dolores blinked. "Are you sure that's what you want?"
Damn right! "Yes, mom." And now her own anxieties, that she'd stewed with all the way up here on the metallozoomer, needed venting. "Mom, how is it you're dying?" You don't look it!
"You tell me and we'll both know." Dolores's laugh was half cough. "It's something they don't understand much. Breakdowns in the central nervous system. I'm on a pacemaker already; pretty soon I'll need another gadget to tell me when to breathe. All anyone knows is, it happens to people who used too much of one kind of dope I got into when I was with Arthur. The doctors think it kills immunity to a virus everybody has but normally can't hurt you." She looked defiant. "Hell, nobody told me!"
Then, plaintively. "I wonder if Arthur got it too." So Jacqueline told of the raid on Arrowprize, the fiasco it had become. And Dolores laughed. "He couldn't get anything right if you tattooed the directions on him. Can't even stay out of jail."
Then she sobered. "I should talk. Jacqueline, you haven't asked what I've been doing. Or why. But I'll tell you anyway. You know, when I was a kid I had to know how to get mean, just to hold my own. Maybe I never learned to let go of that. Well, for a while I did; when you were little I was nice, wasn't I?"
That much was true, even with the slutting around, Dolores had done a pretty good job of parenting. And until Arthur and his drug hobby, none of the boyfriends had ever given Jacqueline any trouble. Swallowing a lump, she nodded, as her mother said, "I think maybe I used up all my nice, then; there couldn't have been a helluva lot of it. Tell Ben I'm sorry, it was my fault, not his, but I couldn't let him know that I hit first." Jacqueline had no idea what she was talking about. "After that I didn't really try too hard to pick decent men, not like they're all that easy to find anyway. One sludgebucket after another, Jacqueline. And finally one too many. When the grand jury caught up with Hugo Stuart-Lane IV my name was on all of the evidence papers. He'd say here sign this honey It's just routine. So I did two years upstate and that piece of shit got probation."
She sniffed. "I don't have the strength to get him myself. Or the time, probably. But I've got money Hugo never knew about. And neither did the grand jury, those sanctimonious pricks! I've set up a trust, for an agency to nose into everything he does and fink it in. Sooner or later...."
She must've sensed Jacqueline's withdrawal. She said, "Honey, that's just part of my bankroll. Hey, you get the most of it. Wherever the hell you end up."
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Jacqueline endured the rest of the afternoon, a dinner, and all evening with her mom. Then, with apologies, she fled. She felt very sorry for Dolores, and several times during the visit almost recaptured the love and warmth she'd felt throughout most of her childhood. But then the older woman would say something, express so much hoarded venom, that Jacqueline was repelled.
It didn't help that she saw parallels between her mom and herself. With Dolores it'd been a molesting stepbrother---or more than one? Jacqueline wasn't sure. Not the stepfather, though. Only when Dolores ran, she had no place to go.
But right now it was Jacqueline who had to get away. She promised she'd be back, so she'd keep that promise at least once before going home to Arrowprize. But not right now.
Okay, who or what did she want to see? Not a whole lot. The hour or so she'd spent in one medium-sized city, sightseeing in the time between arriving by metallozoomer and catching a commuter heliocar to Craigsville where the hospital was, had made her queasy. She wasn't sure whether people had changed or she just wasn't used to them anymore.
Nor they to her; right off the bat she could see she looked like a freak in today's company. Not just her clothes, either. Her hair, except for medium bangs, was a little past shoulder length these days; she wore it tied back at the nape. Whereas the apparent norm for girls in her own age group and even young adult women was asymmetrical, such as beginning shaved off one side and tapering out to wind up with a long straight fall at the other.
And that was just one variation. Her own appearance drew not just stares but guffaws. At first, being unused to Earth gravity except for exercise sessions, she probably did look awkward in her movements. Standing or walking for very long still tended to tire her, somewhat.
Well, she didn't plan to be here long enough for any of this to really get to her; for the time being, let 'em snicker.
On Ben's suggestion she'd obtained some addresses and phone numbers before leaving Bolt Park. Now, prior to leaving Craigsville, she started calling those numbers.
Hoshi Sato wasn't available; Jacqueline spoke greetings and good wishes into the answering machine, but could leave no number for a return call.
She hadn't looked closely when she collected her short list; now she realized that although a state line intervened, Jonathan Archer and Hoshi Sato resided quite near Bolt Park. So she'd wait until she headed back there to make that call.
Were there any others not on her list that she'd like to get in touch with? She thought back to school friends; Ireland Mackenzie, for example, or Alissa Hooper? Then she shook her head. They'd be in their forties, for God's sake! Not that she had anything against that age group---but how could grown women, with their own families, relate to someone they'd known 30 years ago as kids, who was still a kid? They'd view her as some kind of a weird specimen under glass. No, it wouldn't wash.
She wished she'd been able to locate Cayla Paulsen. Sure, it'd been something like 20 years since Cayla had left Arrowprize and Jacqueline had just two brief notes from her. Still, though----But the records showed that several years ago Cayla Paulsen had disappeared. By joining the Triumphant Commune of Reparations. Persons entering that cult not only changed their names; the group refused to provide any link between new and old identities. Bereft relatives and various governmental entities had essayed legal challenges, but since the Parenting Committee paid all debts of members when they entered, tax liabilities included, there wasn't much of a legal handle for the courts to turn.
Which left one name, a man she really wanted to meet but feel diffident, despite Ben's reassurances, about approaching. Oh well. She shrugged and punched the number, located in a suburb of the nation's capital.
"Yes?" For the first time, the booth's screen lit up. The woman pictured was somewhere in her sixties; good bones kept her handsome, and the soft shade of her brown hair looked nature whether it was or not.
"Hello; could I speak to Senator Berman, please?"
"Of course. May I tell him who's calling?"
"I'm Jacqueline Sisko, Captain Sisko's daughter. I..."
The picture switched to a man whose face bore lines more cheerful than not, and freckles that had faded to muddy tones. "So you're the gal all the rumpus was about. Back on Earth now, huh? For how long? Will you come see us?"
Well, yes. Sure. Of course not. And, last, but not least, gladly.333Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhnqcD10jW3
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"....this power Captain Janeway had," Janeway explained, "even when she was pretty much out of control. That's the part that didn't show, you see." The Bermans wanted to know more about various happenings on Arrowprize; she found herself enjoying the spotlight and hoped she wasn't saying anything out of turn. "I only saw her that way for a few minutes, two minutes---but wow!" And to the next question, "Really changed. Very able now, Ben thinks, but not---not imperious anymore, if that's the correct word."
Satisfied about Kathryn Janeway, Senator Rick had lots and lots of things on his mind now. Things like Yasmin Armiger, the Beacon system and the failed bandit raid. Jacqueline filled him on all of the details as best she could. Yes, Arthur Vinson was the same man he'd met, the stepfather she'd run away from (she didn't say why, because the details were none of anyone else's goddam business), but the invasion of Arrowprize was not aimed at her; Arthur was part of a gang of robbers who were using the C-Gates for a hideout. "It didn't work, fortunately. You should have seen Kathryn bluff all five of them with a cordless torque wrench."
At dinner she got the impression that they thought starship crews subsisted indefinitely on cryopack rations. In reality the charbroiled salmon, delicious though it was, would have been nothing out of the way for Nick Leger---but Jacqueline refrained from saying so.
After the meal, with some time left before she had to leave, Berman was saying, "So my old mentor's going to settle down on Janeway's planet, eh? You know, ever since the voters dumped me I've been thinking of C-Gating out there somewhere, to look around and see for myself what it's like to be on a starship, maybe even a destination planet.
His smile looked wistful. "I can't, though. I've never dared to be gone for four years. My God! It took me nearly two---two!--- Senate terms just to nag Joyce Powell into shape where I can count on her to not hamstring the starship program." He sighed. "Now, what do you think, Magda? Would you like to take a little tour? Young Jude could handle my desk for a time----permanently if it comes to that."
The woman smiled. "Why, Rick, I thought you'd never ask."333Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnqk6xAcyUR
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Back at Bolt Park, next morning, Jacqueline wrote a message for Ben, to the effect that she'd be C-Gating in 2 days and that the Bermans would accompany here, to visit on Arrowprize for a bit before going on to see Senator Perry. Which would allow him two hours to have the VIP chambers put in shape for the guests.
On the phone, Hoshi Sato sounded glad to hear from her. ".....meet you at the depot and we'll have dinner somewhere nice." So Jacqueline spent the middle of the day nosing around the facility, especially the C-Gates room, and asking questions. Also she took some time browsing in shops outside the base, picking up a few gifts to take back: for Ben a watch with an auxiliary scale that could be set to keep an approximation of Earth's calendar (if vee stayed relatively constant), a bracelet for Marlena, and a geometric puzzle that should keep Talia busy for quite some time.
The minicab got her to the zoomer in plenty of time---not a metallo, this one, but a stop-and-go commuter run. At the station it took a moment to recognize Hoshi; her hair, now with a few gray streaks, sprang rebellious as ever but wasn't long enough to do much about it. Her face hadn't aged especially, though.
After the hugs were through, Jacqueline looked around. Sato said, "Jonathan couldn't make it. He...." And then she shook her head. "He wouldn't come; he won't see anyone from the ship. Here in the administrative group he's achieved a respectably high position; you'd think he'd be proud of that, wouldn't you? But----oh, come on, Jacqueline. Let's go have some tea, and talk.
So Jacqueline found herself telling some of the same stories she'd told the previous day. Knowing most of the people involved, Hoshi tended to ask different questions, but still it felt more like a recital than not. Later, after a tour of the pleasant urban area in Hoshi's sonicmobile, they had dinner, reminiscing in general about old times aboard ship. Then, after a pause, Sato said, "I'm thinking of C-Gating out. To the colony; maybe, if they say I'm too old to work, a computer room." And before Jacqueline could ask, which she didn't intend to do, "With Jonathan or without him."
"Well, I guess you have to make up your own mind." But after that, Jacqueline couldn't put much steam behind her request for Hoshi to say hello to Jonathan from her "....and, and everybody."333Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrJY8Y5rqaw
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Slow zoomers weren't ideal for sleeping, but that was Jacqueline's easiest routing back up to Craigsville so she rode one anyway. A hotel near the hospital included a wing of minimal cubicles, bunk and bath, catering to hospital visitors at hourly rates; she checked in at 5:00 A.M. and topped off her sleep quota before making the promise return visit to Dolores.
The trouble was, they'd said everything that needed to be said, now they couldn't find anything in common. Dolores clearly wasn't interested in Arrowprize; she'd been there and the memory was bitter. And her own reminiscences, rambling and hard to follow, all dealt with hope and betrayal. Worse, in many instances it seemed obvious to Jacqueline that her mother had been the offending party, but in Dolores's eyes all blame lay elsewhere, now and forevermore.
Though to be fair, at least half the time she was likely right; Jacqueline couldn't help wondering how she herself would have turned out, given the raw deal life had handed Dolores. But the sheer mass of resentment began to overload her own feelings.
Lunch, before Dolores got up in her litany of grievance, wasn't too bad. And Jacqueline toughed it out through most of the afternoon. But when Dolores mentioned staying for dinner and Jacqueline realized the meal was two hours distant, she said, "Oh, I'm sorry; I have to catch the next heliocar." Looking at her mother, Jacqueline sighed. "Mom, I wish I could stay..."
"No, you don't; you don't like me and why should you? I'm not anyone you'd want to know." For a moment Jacqueline saw Dolores shrink from the truth inside of her; then she rallied. "Thank you for coming, though; it's good to see you're turning out all right. Even if it is taking you hell and forever to get past puberty!"
"Mom I---I did love you," was the best Jacqueline could do. All goodbyes said, she left to catch the heliocar and then connect with the metallozoomer. She was heartily glad to get back to Casual quarters at Bolt Park, happier yet to rise the next day, have breakfast, meet the Bermans who arrived when they'd said they would, and all ingate together.333Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs3vqpU75px
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Planar sensor scanning of sub-continuum's volitionals during obtrusion gives rise to a puzzlement: similarities and differences alike resist categorizing, yet to build any semblance of understanding, such knowledge is requisite. A serendipitous mode of investigation opens when one volitional which has been studied earlier obtrudes another time. In the interest of thoroughness, redundant scans are undertaken before withdrawal is allowed; microstructure and responsive patterns are templated at extreme detail. In result, sensory access to the sub-plenum seems workable; even interaction might be attempted.
In that case, however, preparation must be extensive.333Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCpOUEpR65p
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"Well, where the hell is she?" Ben's initial shock at how much Rick Berman had aged was washed away by frantic fear. "Are you sure she didn't step out at the last minute?"
"She couldn't have. At least, I don't see how." Shaking his head, Berman seemed dazed. "She was standing between Magda and me, arm in arm." Mrs. Berman----Ben hadn't met her before----nodded in agreement. "And all that color flared up." Rick continued. "I'd seen it before, of course, but not from the inside. Then...."
His shrug denoted pure mystification. "Here we were, and Jacqueline wasn't. Ben, we just don't know."
And that's how it stood. Query to Earth meant a 2-month delay, but Sisko sent one anyway. While waiting, hoping Jacqueline had left the Gate before activation, a briefing holdup ingating for some unknown but valid reason, and would arrive soon.
But she didn't. Mail came from Earth, along with miscellaneous supplies, but no Jacqueline.
So a time that should have been pleasant, filled with good reminiscences, ran tense and anxious. Until Rick and Magda Berman, mouthing sincerely polite words but with obvious unease. Gated off to Stargazer and the planet named after Kathryn Janeway.
Another three bad weeks passed before Jacqueline outgated.333Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB3syHR9cQM
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When the colors rose up, something powerful flickered through Jacqueline. Like a convulsive shudder. When the hues faded, and gravity with them, the Bermans were gone; she stepped out of the C-Gate to find herself standing all alone. In moments Ben, followed by J.M., came striding full bore along the corridor from the bridge; he looked furious about---about what?333Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR3YDJfDFPv
"Where the hell have you been? Two years..."333Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ4YyyUaPFJ
Moving away from the C-Gate recess, she shook here head. "The Bermans. Senator Rick, and Magda. Where....?"333Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYqda57TbNB
He came to hug her there, but still sounded angry. "You're saying you were with them? They appeared right on time, one month ago. That is two years, by Earth time. They've gone on, to Stargazer. Jacqueline---what happened?"333Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnxqDl8GL5U
2 extra years?! She'd been in the C-Gates for double the small lag time? Half-dazed, Jacqueline tried to answer here dad's question. "I don't know. Except that this time, C-Gating, I felt something. That's never happened before; not to me, anyway."333Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRQ8J45UJj9
"Nor to me. What was it like?" It was J.M.'s turn for embrace; his voice carried curiosity, not accusation.333Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvP9Lp2jQuK
A chill, running all through her? A jolt of electricity, like when she was ten and her study lamp shorted to its metal base? Neither one fit exactly, but they were the best comparisons that Jacqueline was able to mentally conjure.333Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ55V2imZOk9
With only puzzlement in his face now, Sisko asked, "Could the C-Gate have malfunctioned in some way?"333Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq76t2vckgZ
J.M. frowned. "I can't think how. Ben, the program's been C-Gating people---and things, too---on and off ships for over 40 years now. To say nothing of the other applications on or near Earth. And there's never been a malfunction, let alone one like this, doubling the normal C-Gate lag." He gestured, throwing up his hands. "I've got absolutely no idea what could have gone wrong. All we can do is log every C-Gating carefully and see if it happens again."333Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvs8x3QIequ
"I guess. Well, I'll advise Earth, for all the good that's going to do, Perry and the Bermans, too, while I'm at it." He put an arm around Jacqueline's shoulder. "Then we'll have to see what's in the larder that'll fill in for fatted-up calf."333Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ16pGZkAMFL
Still confused, Jacqueline settled for being glad to be home.333Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl7LgrJ9ZIY
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Confusion came from other sources, as well. Ben and J.M., apparently, had kept the mystery of Jacqueline's disappearance pretty much to themselves and the Bermans. A few others knew, but the rest seemed to think she'd just stayed on earth longer than expected---and at 25 to 1, wondered that she hadn't changed more.333Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKcxa50e9ZU
Unsure of what she should or shouldn't say, Jacqueline tended to answer direct questions truthfully but to pass off casual comments with noncommittal answers; in consequence, it seemed that several contradictory versions of her late arrival were in circulation.333Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWbLI3NyN6E
Well, she wasn't going to post a bulletin. Things would just have to sort themselves out.333Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7rlxEx7FFH
She did take pains to give Talia Winters the true story----and then wound up regretting it, because Talia was fascinated; questions kept coming, long after Jacqueline had pretty much exhausted her supply of answers. Finally she said, "I don't honestly know what more I can tell you, Talia. For God's sake, let it go."333Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA6CfzN6mEe
Once more she had the anomaly of having been away just briefly from people who hadn't seen her for much longer. And once more, also, the strangeness wore off quickly.333Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0amz7sEc5B
The routine of standing regular watches helped, but it was several days before she remembered to hand out her homecoming gifts. Which were gratifyingly well-recieved.333Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgyOIlzEllE
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