Chapter 3 - The Not So Simple Life
Mei-Wan stood upon the hill Jack's ranch sat on overlooking the town of Pierce Valley. A strong breeze blew the tall grass about in a pleasant, slow rhythm.
It frustrated her that she hadn't gotten much chance to talk with Jack alone just yet. She wondered if he was purposely avoiding her. "No," she whispered to herself. She didn't want to start down an accusatory road before they'd talked. She needed to leave their past disputes in the past. Too much was at stake to allow their personal problems to enter into her thinking.
Jack had brought Mei-Wan and Hank back to his ranch where they'd enjoyed a large meal of steak, potatoes, freshly baked bread, and the hottest, blackest coffee she'd ever had the misfortune of drinking. It was good to eat their fill and to relax now that they'd found Jack. And she had to admit it was good to see him again.
Many of Jack's ranch hands were curious to meet Mei-Wan and not a few found humor in the idea of their boss being married, however, all of them had been polite. Even Jedediah Goodnight, a master cattleman for long before he'd come to work for Jack, seemed pleased with the idea of Jack having a wife.
Jack strolled up next to her. Mei-Wan found it difficult not to smile. He was a bit thinner, a little rougher around the edges, but he was the man she'd fallen in love with and married. There was something about being in his presence again which felt good.
Or is it I feel safe? she asked herself as Jack placed a hand on the wooden fence in front of them.
"It's good to see you again, Mei."
She smiled. "You too."
After a moment, "So where'd you and Hank end up? The other side of the planet?"
Mei-Wan turned to him with a confused look on her face. "Other side?"
"It sure you took you a lot longer than I would have thought to find me."
It finally made sense to her. "Jack, we weren't thrown into the past like you. Hank and I remained in the twenty-fourth century."
Jack tilted his hat up with a single finger. "I guess that explains a lot of things."
Mei-Wan glanced at the ranch. She'd wondered how he'd achieved so much. "You said earlier you were here last year. How long have you been here?"
"Five years, Mei."
"Oh my god..."
"Yeah." He glanced over at her. "Found myself in the middle of a thunderstorm about six miles west of here." He turned around and leaned back against the fence. "I waited out there for a couple of days. It didn't take long for me to figure I wasn't on Folam Six. I made my way into town and realized I was on Earth. I did odd jobs here and there so I could eat and buy clothes."
"It seems to me you've accomplished far more than that."
Jack smiled. "Nice to know I can still impress you."
Mei-Wan studied him a moment. "You never had trouble doing that."
"So how did you and Hank get back to this time?"
"You ever hear of something called the Guardian?"
"Every starship captain is told about it. It's a time portal." He shot her a glance with a grin. "Who let you use that to come after me? Admiral Hancock?"
Mei-Wan shook her head. "Hank and I were still in the twenty-fourth century, but not the one you remember."
He turned a curious eye toward her. "Is there another one I don't know about?"
Mei-Wan peered out at the quiet town in the distance. "The timeline was changed. You, your father, neither of you existed. Your mother was married to someone else." She hesitated to go on, but felt compelled to. "Larissa James was in command of the Chamberlain."
"Larissa?" After a moment, Jack smiled wide. "She was alive?"
Mei-Wan nodded. "I checked her service record. She led that mission against the Orion pirates and it was the ensign behind her who died this time."
Jack's smile faded. "Just like before."
"She was behind you when you led the mission, wasn't she?"
"Yeah," Jack said. "It was a standard formation. I always kicked myself for not going in with a different plan."
"Larrisa blamed herself for the death of the man behind her for the same reason." Mei-Wan put a hand on his shoulder. "But she was wrong, just like you have been all these years. You both followed proper procedure, but there was no way either of you could have known what would happen."
"How was she?" he asked finally.
"As beautiful as you'd always described. But there was a sadness to her."
"But she's alive."
"Yes," Mei-Wan said, wondering what he was thinking.
Jack stood to his full height. "Then everything turned out okay after all."
Mei-Wan's brow tightened. "How so?"
"Larrisa James is alive and through some accident of fate I'm here in the nineteenth century living a life I love," he said with a smile. "All in all, considering my track record, not too bad."
Mei-Wan shook her head. "Jack, history has been altered."
"From what you tell me, sounds like for the better."
"Didn't you hear me? Your father was never born and neither were you."
"Considering the last time I saw my Dad he had some alien creature in his mind, he's probably better off."
"You can't believe that!"
"Look," he told her. "I did my share of feeling sorry for myself after I got here. But I learned to live with what the Universe handed me. It was a freak accident Mei and out of that I've made a good life for myself."
"I don't think it was an accident," Mei-Wan said in a soft voice, still unsure of her suspicions.
Jack watched the indecision play across her face. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"Ahwi Dasari got Hank and I to the Guardian, past all of Starfleet's defenses."
"Dasari?" Jack asked, searching his memory. "The girl who worked with Janus Osmand?"
Mei-Wan nodded. "Except I don't think she answered to Osmand. There's some connection between her and the Vedala."
Jack returned to leaning against the fence. "Now wait, why would Dasari help you come back after me? You said the timeline had changed."
"Evidently she's not troubled by such things," Mei-Wan said with a wry smile. "She remembered the same history Hank and I did."
Jack looked at her. "What made you and Hank so special?"
"It's only a guess, but I think it has to do with us being so close to the G'voda machine when it exploded." For a moment she considered telling him about the memories she'd experienced belonging to the Mei-Wan of the other timeline, but decided it would open a discussion she had no desire to have.
"The Guardian obeyed Dasari's commands, Jack."
His eyes widened to that news. "That's not only interesting, but a little scary."
"I think it was important to her that Hank and I to come back here after you."
"Why?"
Mei-Wan shook her head. "I'm not certain yet. But it is has something to do with you and with James Butler Hickok."
"What the hell do I have to do with Wild Bill?"
Mei-Wan's noticed a moment of recognition in Jack's expression which troubled her. "Have you met him?"
Jack tilted his head toward her. "Just briefly once. About a year ago at the Kansas City Fair."
Mei-Wan's mind raced trying to put together the pieces of a puzzle which refused all attempts. "On the second of August, 1876, a man named Jack McCall will shoot and kill Hickok."
Jack took several deep breaths. "And you think it's me?"
"No, according to the records Hank and I found, it's another Jack McCall. But you will die in five days. Chester and Horace Prange will ambush you on your cattle drive."
Jack grinned wide. "Don't worry. Now that I know about it, I'll make sure they don't succeed."
Mei-Wan exhaled in frustration. "If you come back with Hank and I right now you won't have to worry about any of this."
"Have you heard anything I've said?" Jack asked, his eyes narrowing.
"I can understand you not wanting to leave the life you have here," she said. "Believe me, I know what I'm asking. But you don't belong here, Jack. You're a starship captain from the twenty-fourth century."
Jack straightened his hat. "Last time I looked, the date on my calendar read 1874."
"You can't stay here, Jack."
"Mei, fate placed me here and I've accepted it," Jack said. "If you'll excuse me, I have cattle to tend to."
She grabbed his arm. "Jack, you have to consider the ramifications of this. Hickok isn't supposed to die for another thirty years."
He looked down at the arm she held. "Do you mind?"
Mei-Wan pulled her hand back.
"I want to thank you for coming back for me, Mei. But I intend to stay." He took a step and stopped. "You and Hank can stay as long as you like. I'll have Jedediah prepare a couple of rooms for you." He resumed his journey back to the house.
Mei-Wan watched a flock of birds fly overhead. She knew she had to find a way to get Jack to leave this place, but she feared that once again she was running out of time.
Jack walked toward a large barn and found Hank waiting for him.
"So, I guess you're up next."
"Up next? What's that supposed to mean?" Hank asked with a confused look.
"Nothing," Jack said with a wave of his hand. He looked at Hank for a moment and grinned. "You know, those clothes fit you well."
Hank adjusted his belt. "They're a hell of a lot more comfortable than those damn Starfleet uniforms. Especially the boots."
"The hat looks good on you."
"Real useful in a rain storm too." Hank followed as Jack made his way to a corral. "But I suppose we do need to talk about heading back eventually."
Jack rolled his eyes. "Don't bother. Mei's said more than enough."
Hank stopped a moment. "You're thinking of staying?"
Jack gave Hank a stern look. "Aren't you the man who was on the verge of retiring from Starfleet?"
"From Starfleet yeah, but you're talking about retiring from life."
"I have a life, Hank," Jack said as he pulled a saddle down off a post. "I've got cattle to take to market."
"Sounds exciting," Hank said with a sour look on his face.
Jack walked up to a brown stallion and placed the saddle on the animal's back. "I've had my fill of dealing with advanced alien species like the Vedala and the G'voda." He finished fastening the saddle and fed the horse a sugar treat.
"I suppose horses and cattle don't talk back very often," Hank said.
"They also don't destroy entire worlds."
"Hard to argue with that," Hank said through a chuckle.
Jack put a foot into a stirrup and a moment later was up in the saddle. He grabbed the reins and patted the stallion. "Mei said Larissa James is alive now."
Hank nodded. "A lot of things are different. Mei seems to think it has to do with you being here and Hickok getting killed."
Jack leaned forward in the saddle. "Mei seems to think a lot of things these days. And she's developed an attitude about what I should do with my life that I don't believe I like."
Hank looked up at his friend. "Don't be too hard on her, Jack. Coming here to find you was the toughest choice she's ever had to make." He thought a moment. "I doubt I could have made the same one if it had been me."
Jack's brow tightened. "What's the difference between you and her concerning coming here?"
"You're not the only one being asked to leave a life." He turned his eyes back to Jack. "I was tempted to let you have whatever happiness you'd found here. It troubled me that you'd ended up dead, but hey, everyone dies eventually."
Jack thought he detected a sadness in Hank's voice. "So what changed your mind?"
"Mei did," Hank told him. "It was wrong to leave you to die when we could prevent it." Hank stepped away from the horse, his head lowered. "Mei-Wan made the right choice, one I wouldn't have made. I'm not proud of that, but it's the truth." He shot a last glance toward Jack. "You do what you think is right, but if I were you, I'd think about what Mei said to you."
Jack watched Hank Evans shuffle back toward the house. Jack realized this was the first time he'd ever heard his old friend admit he was wrong and really mean it.
Jack pulled the reins and rode his muscular steed out toward the herd of cattle in the distance.
***
A half hour later, Jack and Jedediah's horses loped along a several miles long stretch of wooden fence as an amber glow from the setting sun fell over man and beast.
"Separate bedroom?" Jedediah asked, more than a little surprised. "I thought she was your wife."
Jack frowned. "It's complicated."
"What the hell's so complicated about spending time in the same bed with your wife?" the older man asked with a gleam in his eye.
"We haven't seen each other in five years."
"You forget how to, Jack?" Jedediah asked with a laugh.
"Very funny."
"Making love to a woman would do you some good."
"Jedediah?"
"Yeah?"
"Mind your own business."
Jedediah shook his head. "Someone has to make sure you take care of yourself."
"How about we worry about getting the men and the cattle ready and leave me to myself?"
"A woman that goes to all the trouble to track you down isn't someone to turn your back on. Especially one as pretty as that wife of yours."
Jack grinned. "I think I'd almost forgotten how beautiful she was."
Jedediah sighed. "Then get up to that house and show her how much you've missed her."
"Like I said, it's complicated.
Jedediah grumbled and urged his horse ahead.
***
Jack walked through the house, the wooden floor creaking with each step. He stopped at a door and raised his hand, but held off knocking.
The door opened, startling Jack.
"I thought I heard someone out here," Mei-Wan said, motioning him in. Several candles provided the only light in the bedroom.
He traipsed in and closed the door behind him while she returned to unpacking her bag.
Mei-Wan held the PADD up for him. "I don't know how much power it has left, but if you want to read Larissa James' service record you can."
Jack raised a hand. "I think I'll pass for now."
"Suit yourself," she said. Mei-Wan walked the device over to a chest of drawers and placed it inside under several pieces of clothing. "Was there something you wanted, Jack?"
"Uh, is the room okay?"
"Is that really what you came to talk to me about?"
He took several steps toward her. "How was Melissa?"
Mei-Wan stared at him, her mind thinking through her choices. "Part of me wants to tell you she didn't exist just so you'll come back with us to repair the timeline." Mei-Wan took a breath. "She was assigned to the U.S.S. Carter Winston in the Beta Quadrant."
"I wonder..." Jack's words trailed off to silence.
"I don't know anything about the life she had except that you weren't a part of it," Mei-Wan said.
Jack's eyes turned to her. Mei-Wan saw the hurt in them and much more.
"You never existed as far as Melissa knows."
"And that's what you want me to go back to?" he asked.
"No, I want you to come back so everything will be as it was before," Mei-Wan said. A moment later the implications of her words struck her like a gale force wind. I'm sorry, Todd, her mind cried out. But the Universe wasn't listening. She had made her choice. Now she had to live with it.
Jack stared at his hands. "I miss her, Mei."
Mei-Wan sat down on the edge of the bed. "I do too," she whispered. She looked at him. "Come back with Hank and I and you can..." She stopped, not certain she was ready to say the words which came to mind.
"Melissa will do fine without me there," Jack murmured. "Maybe it's better this way."
"If you really believed that you wouldn't have come and asked about her."
Jack closed his eyes. "Goodnight, Mei." He walked out of the room.
Mei-Wan went to the door and watched him disappear down the hallway.
