Chapter 10 - Myth Of The Eternal Return

The first day of the year 2378 found Mei-Wan seated at a display in Archaeology Lab Four on the Chamberlain going over the Ancient Progenitor message from the holographic recording on Hel'yra. She had already had a long day by late afternoon, but found little comfort in anything but her work. She buried herself in it completely.

The message of the Ancient Progenitor female played on the display. Mei-Wan closed her eyes to listen to the language spoken by the long dead being.

"Gupumoi egeme womfazawog oda liolula. Fada gego-ru go zere fada ludi tefwu remece egu zahu loleo jugu ufeida cemefwomekwo lilo wudhu," the voice on the recording said.

Mei-Wan played it again. There was something about this portion of the recording that had been bothering her for weeks, but she could not figure out what it was. Perhaps it was an inflection or a subtle change in tone, but she knew there was something important here. She watched the holographic figure continue to speak and tried to gain some insight from the facial features.

The door to the lab opened and Jack walked into the room and up to the station where Mei-Wan worked.

"Still no luck with that?" he asked.

She touched a control and the recording paused. She watched Jack for several moments. Could he tell what had taken place between her and Kyle? Could he tell how close she came to…

She took a deep breath and forced a weak smile to her face. "No. I think I'm close to finding a word or phrase that will break it open for me, but then nothing."

He walked to a panel and ran his finger along the edge of it avoiding looking at her. "Maybe when you get to Hel'yra you'll find something there that will help."

Her eyes widened at the tone of his voice. He's given up on me staying. He's given up on us.

She turned back to the display in front of her. "I went to see Andrea Lofgren this morning. I told her I was staying on the Chamberlain. I turned down leading the expedition."

Jack turned to Mei-Wan and a million emotions went across his face at once. She refused to look at him. She knew one of those emotions would be joy and she knew if she saw that the anger she had fought against all that day would explode into a rage. She was angry, but not at him. Mei-Wan McCall was angry with herself.

"Why?" he asked.

"I have my reasons." She reached for a PADD and kept her eyes on its display.

He took a deep breath. "Would you mind letting me in on them?"

"Right now… yes I would mind."

Jack stepped up to her doing his best to hide the joy he felt. After a moment that joy turned to sadness. He knew what going back to Hel'yra meant to Mei-Wan. He knew she had to be agonizing over that loss.

"I don't know what to say."

She set the PADD down on a table and closed her eyes. "You spent the last five weeks not talking about this. Why don't you just continue with that."

She opened her eyes and touched a control activating the Ancient Progenitor recording. "I think that works well for us, Jack."

She focused on the recording as the odd alien words filled the lab again.

"Cemefwo murujekwo go, rufwo egeme romfalida ludi…" the voice said.

Jack stood watching her for a full minute as the ancient language reverberated off the walls of the room.

He turned and left the lab wondering if he had still lost her even though she had chosen to stay.

After he was gone she turned to the door and her eyes became vacant as she thought about the choice she had made.

"Egu ladehero jutamfa oda muzolurida…" the Ancient Progenitor's voice continued.

Mei-Wan turned back to the display.

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Four days later, Mei-Wan stood alone in the officer's lounge on Deck Nine of the U.S.S. Chamberlain at 0634. She was dressed in her regular jogging clothes as she had done each day for the last three months aboard the Oceana Class Starship. In twenty-six minutes she would arrive on Deck Five outside Melissa Vargas' quarters and they would jog before starting their day.

But this day was different. She awakened early to be where she was at this exact time.

She stared out amidst the various drydocks in the distance and located the one she was looking for. She noticed the ship moved slowly away from its cage and sailed free into space on its own power.

Mei-Wan watched as the vessel cruised away from the planet Gamala in the Yed Post system--- the planet she would be tied to by gravity for the next five days until the Chamberlain's repairs were finished.

The starship she watched was nearly too small to be seen when its warp engines flared to life and in a flash the ship took flight away into the unknown. The Intrepid Class Starship, Ravenscroft, had gone to find its destiny and make discoveries that would change everything Mei-Wan McCall had ever known.

She continued to stare out the large transparent aluminum windows as a single tear fell down her cheek for her life that might have been.

TO BE CONTINUED…

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