***
Written By
Michael Gray
***
Please Note-
The material presented in this installment
falls generally within the PG-13 category.
***
***
Chapter 1 - Running Out Of Time
A crack of thunder split the Kansas sky open, for a moment overpowering the rhythmic pounding of rain hitting the empty street. As the thunder's dying echo faded in the distance, the dull gray clouds continued their attack upon the already drenched ground. The man who stood under the shelter of the General Store's awning reconsidered braving the wind and rain, but his course was clear. He had questions which required answers.
Hank Evans pulled his coat tight around himself. With a hand, he brushed the gray beard he'd grown the last several weeks. He still hadn't quite gotten used to the facial hair, but the thought of a barber putting a blade to his neck encouraged him to endure it.
Filling his lungs with the moist air, he stepped out into the street.
Hank's hat and coat did little to protect him from the onslaught of water falling from the sky. The wet chill stiffened each of his muscles to the point of weariness.
He made his way toward a small building made of wooden planks nailed to a frame that seemed unlikely to continue its fight against the storm. Hank couldn't remember ever feeling rain pelt him this hard.
Lightning flashed above and several seconds later thunder rattled everything nearby including the windows of the small structure ahead.
Hank forced his way through the six inch deep mud soup street. The relentless six days of rain had reduced it to little more than a shallow river. Hank was the only soul slogging through it this dreary morning.
He stepped out of the mud and up onto the sagging wooden sidewalk to stand at the doorway of the Sherman Stage Company. Hank hoped to hear good news from the other side of the door, but feared Mr. Sherman would have little to offer.
"Don't you ever give up?" Sherman asked as Hank entered.
Sherman moistened his lips. The sixty-five year old did that about every minute of his life. His lips and mouth were a constant source of irritation for him. However, it didn't stop him from continuing to chew the very tobacco that caused the problem in the first place.
Hank smiled as he took his hat off and rang out the water which had thoroughly soaked it.
"I just wanted to come by and see if there had been any change."
Sherman leaned over and spit into the large metal container beside his desk.
"Does it look like anything has changed to you, Mr. Evans?"
Hank held his hat, turning it to help air it out. "I didn't think it would hurt to check," Hank replied with a soft chuckle.
"It's the same as it was yesterday and the day before that and the day before that. Until this storm lets up there won't be no stage leaving."
Hank nodded and walked over to a large map of the state of Nebraska hanging on the wall.
"I heard a couple of Indians talking yesterday about the Big Blue flooding over its banks." Sherman stuck another piece of tobacco in his mouth as he watched Hank switch his attention to the Kansas map a moment. "What are you in such an all fired hurry about anyway?"
Hank traced out a path on the map with his finger. "Business," he answered.
Sherman grinned. "If it involves that woman you were with the other day, I think you'd be better off just shooting her and forgetting whatever money you're expecting to be paid."
Hank shook his head. "Can't very well do that." He put his hat back on.
"With her mouth, I would have done it a long time ago."
Hank smiled. "If I shot every woman who talked back to me, I'd spend my whole life doing little else."
Sherman's eyes narrowed. "I think she's a special case."
"What about the path through Brown's gap?"
"Indians have killed ten people over the last two months through there. Only a fool would try that."
Hank took several steps toward the counter. "What about on horseback?"
"You'd never make it." Sherman put still another wad of tobacco in his mouth. "Of course you could go back to Leavenworth and see if you can find a boat to take you up the Missouri, but if it's swelled as much as I figure, it wouldn't be too safe."
Hank sighed. They we're running out of time. He almost laughed at that thought. They weren't only running out of it; they we're fighting it tooth and nail.
"I can send Thomas over to the hotel to find you when things change," Sherman said as he chewed on the wad in his mouth. "There ain't no point in you walkin' over here every six hours."
"I suppose not," Hank agreed. Staying at the hotel did have one advantage: he'd stay dry.
"Whatever your business is, I reckon it'll keep."
Unfortunately, Hank Evans knew it wouldn't.
***
Mei-Wan McCall rested the PADD in her hand against a raised knee. She wore a yellow dress she'd bought three weeks earlier and her dark hair, which had not yet grown to the length she preferred, was held by pins in an updo style.
The constant rhythm of rain hitting the window encouraged a yawn from her. She'd been reading from the device all morning, but it hadn't been easy to keep her mind on it. She switched the PADD off. There was no use wasting what little power it had left if she wasn't going to give it her full attention. She adjusted the pillow she sat up against in the bed, hoping for a little more comfort for her back.
Mei-Wan stared over at the collection of items she and Hank had accumulated since they'd arrived. The clothes had been only the first necessity they'd taken care of. Luggage, food, lodging, and travel had taken their share out of their funds as well. At first it didn't bother Mei-Wan, but as the days turned into weeks, the rate at which they spent money began to trouble her.
Mei-Wan closed her eyes and tried to relax. She let the sound of the storm outside fill her thoughts.
Too many things troubled her.
One in particular concerned the G'voda shuttle which had entered the time portal on Folam Six just moments before the torpedoes hit and everything changed. It frightened her to imagine what that ship could do on Earth of the 1870's. The lack of any apparent alterations to history because of the G'voda ship should have calmed Mei-Wan's fears, but she couldn't dismiss the threat that shuttle posed.
The door to the hotel room opened and Mei-Wan scrambled to hide the PADD. She relaxed when she realized it was only Hank.
"You know, I have asked you to knock."
He gave her a quick glance. "Sorry. I guess I was in too much of a hurry to get this coat off." Hank shook the rainwater from his coat and hat as he took them off. He glanced toward the bed where Mei-Wan sat watching the unending rainfall out the window of their hotel room.
"I take it you don't have any good news."
Hank hung his wet garments on an old rusty hook on the back of the door. "I'm afraid not."
He pulled a wooden chair from its place against the wall. "Unfortunately, they don't have anything beyond a feeling in their bones to predict the weather in this time period," he said, flopping down in the chair. "We'll just have to wait it out."
"We've spent three weeks in this century already, Hank. In another week and a half Jack will be dead."
"I know that, but if the stage won't run we have little choice but to wait."
She looked over at him, her frustration fading for the moment. "I'm not blaming you."
No, Mei-Wan had one particular person she squarely blamed for their situation: Ahwi Dasari. The young woman had, much to their surprise, had them appear in Jefferson City, Missouri three weeks ago, several hundreds of miles away from the town Jack was supposed to be in. It had taken them three days just to get their bearings and figure a way to get to where they needed to go.
Thanks to Hank's considerable bartering skills and a small portion of luck, they still retained most of the currency Dasari had given them.
"It might be time to reconsider using a comm badge."
"No." Mei-Wan said.
"Assuming Jack hasn't run the power cell down in his, we'd be able to tell him what he needs to know and..."
"Jack's not the only one who might receive our signal, Hank." Mei-Wan looked over at him. "Don't forget, the Vegan Tyranny controls what we consider Federation space in this time period. The last thing we need to do is give them a reason to come by Earth."
Hank leaned back in his chair. "I guess you've got a point."
"We're here to fix history, not foul it up any worse than it already is."
"You know," he said. "I've been wondering about that. It was the Vedala who sent us to Folam Six in the first place."
"What are you getting at?"
"Well, since they wanted us to stop the G'voda from using the time device and since Dasari seemed to know all about it, I'm thinking..."
"That Dasari and the Vedala are in this together," Mei-Wan finished for him. "Yes, I've been wondering the same thing."
"That girl has got to have someone major supplying her with the technology she uses. Who better than the Vedala?"
"It makes sense, but I'm not sure."
"It'll do until I can come up with something better." Hank closed his eyes. "I wouldn't be at all surprised if Dasari is a Vedala."
Mei-Wan considered that a moment. "No, I think she's human. The question is what time period is she from and why do the Vedala have her doing all of this?"
Hank frowned. "This time travel foolishness is too strange for my tastes. It gives me headaches."
"But we are in 1874, Hank. Strange or not, it is real."
"I keep hoping this is a nightmare and I'll wake up back on Folam Six." Hank leaned his chair back against the wall. "I could stand for a little normality about now."
"When I took temporal mechanics at the Academy, my instructor told us about a religious sect on Anjalis Three that believes our souls are trapped within time until the end of history."
"Then what?" Hank asked, opening one eye.
"When space and time are shattered, then our souls are free to enter eternity."
"Well, I think I'd be happier with some religious nonsense over all of this."
She let a grin form on her face. "How do you know it's nonsense?"
Hank stared at her for a moment, then shook his head. "Don't start with me, Mei. I'm not in the mood."
Mei-Wan smiled as Hank closed his eyes again. "You want to take the bed for a while?"
Hank grinned. "No, you can have it. I'll probably spread out on the floor in a bit."
They had agreed to spend as little of their money as they had to. A second room would have been expensive, but Mei-Wan had begun to feel guilty over Hank letting her have the bed to sleep in each night. She had tried to talk him into letting her take a night on the floor. Hank had graciously refused such a suggestion.
A loud crack of thunder caught Mei-Wan's attention. She turned to ask Hank another question, but he was fast asleep in his chair.
She leaned back in the bed and returned to her reading.
***
The next afternoon, Mei-Wan and Hank boarded a stagecoach and resumed their trek toward Nebraska once again. The road outside Sherman's office was still muddy, but the rain had stopped and as promised, the stage was ready and waiting for them.
Two other passengers joined them; a young couple, neither of them older than eighteen, wearing clothes too dark and too heavy for the heat and humidity the day was to bring. The man spent the journey staring at the passing terrain while the young woman kept sneaking glances at Mei-Wan. She was curious to know what it was that so intrigued the girl, but Mei-Wan decided it was best to ignore her. The less interaction they had with people in this time the better.
Mei-Wan, now wearing a long, light blue dress, rested her head against the inside of the stage and let her mind drift. Instead of thinking about Jack and the task before them, her thoughts turned to her sister, Li-Na, and her friend, Robin Nelson.
Why do I keep thinking about them? she asked herself. As she began to drift off to sleep, Mei-Wan remembered a last conversation...
Back on the captain's yacht as they approached the planet of the Guardian, Robin had come to her. Mei-Wan could almost feel the worry in her friend's eyes.
"Mei, please reconsider," Robin said. "If you do this..."
"Time has been altered, Robin. What would you do?"
"You know Li-Na and I will cease to exist."
Mei-Wan turned away and finished packing the small over the shoulder bag. "I have no idea what will happen."
"It's basic temporal mechanics, Mei."
"Basic temporal mechanics would have insisted that I couldn't remember making love to Todd or going to Risa with you and LeAnn after the Dominion War."
"What?" Robin asked.
"In my timeline you died during the war and I've never been to Risa." Mei-Wan paused to keep the memories from invading her mind again. "And I haven't made love to Todd."
"Then you're our Mei?"
"No. But ever since I got here I've remembered parts of her life."
Robin's eyes widened. "The baby?"
Mei-Wan placed a hand on her own stomach. "She got pregnant a month before I got here."
Robin shook her head. "What will happen to the child?"
Mei-Wan exhaled. "Like I said, I don't have any answers. I just know what I have to do."
"And Todd?" Robin asked, hoping the mention of his name would get her to reconsider.
Mei-Wan hesitated. "I... I don't know."
"Mei, be careful that in doing what you think is the right thing, you don't end up doing something incredibly bad."
***
A hand nudged her arm. Mei-Wan bolted awake.
"We've stopped for a short while, Mei," Hank told her as he stood at the entrance of the stage.
Mei-Wan looked and could see the stage was still.
"How long was I asleep?" she asked as she stretched.
"About two hours I think."
She followed him out of the coach and peered up at the clear sky. Only a few clouds dotted the bright blue firmament. The sun was directly overhead. She walked toward a narrow winding creek about thirty feet away from the stage.
Mei-Wan looked out at the surrounding green landscape. She stopped, stunned by the vista before her. She had been to over a hundred different worlds, but none of them had ever captured her breath like the scene of rolling grassy hills before her did at this moment. She never knew the world of her birth had such beauty, such unending serenity.
"This boring enough for you?" Hank asked as he walked up to her carrying two metal cups.
"Not at all," Mei-Wan said as a strong wind blew around them. "This is wonderful."
Hank handed her one of the cups. "What's so wonderful about endless kilometers of nothing but grass?"
Mei-Wan shook her head and made her way down to the creek.
She knelt down and filled her cup. The coolness of the water felt good on her throat.
Mei-Wan splashed water on her face to help wake herself up.
She stood and noticed Hank talking to the stage driver twenty feet away. Hank appeared pleased with what he was hearing, but Mei-Wan had learned she couldn't always judge her companion's mood by appearances alone.
She filled her cup again and slowly sipped the water as she tried to enjoy the remaining few minutes she had before again having to spend numerous hours in the uncomfortable stagecoach.
Hank strolled up to her. He kneeled down at the creek and scooped up a cup of water for himself.
"The driver say how much farther?" Mei-Wan asked him as he stood.
"About another two days." He took a long drink.
"We in Nebraska yet?"
A wry grin covered his face. "Well, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore."
Mei-Wan looked at him a moment, then frowned. "A straight answer would have been enough. I'm really not in the mood for lame humor."
Hank finished off his cup of water. "You've never liked me very much, have you, Mei?"
She exhaled. "Hank, I don't see..."
"It's okay," he said with a grin. "For some reason women either hate the ground I walk on or..." he stopped.
Mei-Wan gave him a terse look. "Or they go to bed with you?"
Hank shook the remaining water from his cup. "It doesn't matter." He started back toward the stagecoach.
"Hank," Mei-Wan called to him.
He turned back, waiting.
She gave him a quick glance. "I don't hate you."
He raised an eyebrow.
Mei-Wan caught the implication in his look. "But don't imagine I fit into the other extreme of your perception of women."
"I didn't figure you did," Hank said with a laugh.
"The simple truth is I don't trust you, Hank."
He nodded, but remained silent.
"I know Jack does trust you and believe me when I say I appreciate you going to Antenora to search for me last year. But I know what you did on that world and frankly, if I had been your commanding officer, I'd have brought you before a court-martial."
Hank looked out at the creek. "Sometimes we don't have the luxury of facing choices which fit neatly into some elevated sense of ethics."
Mei-Wan stepped up to him. "Sometimes people don't look for an ethical choice."
"I did what I felt I had to do and I don't feel the need to answer to you or anyone else, Mei," Hank said with a growing tone of irritation in his voice.
"I'm sure the G'voda would say the same thing about this mess they've created with the timeline," Mei-Wan told him. "Necessity is never an excuse for a lack of morals."
She turned to go back to the stage.
"That lack of morals helped us find out what had happened to you, woman."
Mei-Wan shook her head. She wasn't in the mood to argue with him. She smiled and turned back to him. "Once we get back I think you'll find that 'hate me or have sex with me' notion won't be the case any longer."
Hank grinned. "And why is that?"
"That disease you gave Loftus will probably destroy whatever hope you had for a sex life."
His eyes widened. "How the hell did you know about that?"
Mei-Wan chuckled. "The whole ship was talking about it before we took off for Folam Six. I got the impression Loftus made certain every woman on the Chamberlain knew."
Hank sighed and followed her back toward the stage. "I'd have been better off staying in the altered timeline."
