Chapter 3 - Sweet Home Chicago
Jack stepped out of a brightly decorated store, carrying two ice cream cones, each piled high with its own small mountain of chilled delight. Mei-Wan, leaning against the side of a parked minivan, looked up as he approached her.
"Mint chocolate chip, right?"
She smiled. "Thank you."
Jack returned her smile and handed her the cone.
"I'm surprised you remember."
Jack began enjoying his own. "I wasn't that bad a husband was I?"
She shook her head. "I mean since you've been away for five years."
"You'd be amazed at all the little things which filled my mind as those years went by."
They started walking. More than anything else, Mei-Wan noticed the sounds of the street. Music blared from every car that drove past, from most of the storefronts they walked by, and even from the tiny headphones worn by their fellow pedestrians.
"So is the city like you remember?"
"In a lot of ways."
Mei-Wan took another taste of her ice cream.
"My friends and I would go out to Lake Michigan in the summer time and get into all sorts of trouble," he told her. "But from what I can tell from that map, the Lake comes about a mile more inland than it did, or will in the twenty-fourth century."
Mei-Wan watched him as he became lost in his thoughts. "You have any relatives living here in this century?"
Jack frowned. "I hope you're not suggesting we go visit them."
"No," she said with a chuckle. "Just curious."
"My mother's family should be around, but the McCalls didn't come here until the early twenty-second century."
"Was there music everywhere when you were a kid?"
"No," he said. "That must be an obsession of this time period."
"Too bad," she said. "I like it. There's such a variety of music, food, people..."
"Some of that changed by the time I came along," he said. "The people and the food remained, but the music, outside of a few Jazz clubs here and there, is pretty much gone."
Mei-Wan enjoyed her ice cream cone in silence for several minutes as they continued walking.
Jack shot a glance her direction. "You mind telling me what's going on between you and Hank?"
"What do you mean?"
"It seems every time I turn around the two of you are into some kind of argument."
Mei-Wan frowned. "We don't see eye to eye on a lot of things."
"You're not the only one who's had disagreements with him, Mei."
She stopped and turned to Jack. "Look, I know Hank's your friend, but I just don't trust him."
"What did he do this time?" Jack asked with a sigh.
"It wasn't so much what he did." She looked down and thought a moment. "It's just a feeling I got when he and I were in the other timeline." She gave Jack a cold look. "I heard about some of the things he did when the two of you went to Antenora."
"Hank can be stubborn."
"I'm not talking about him being stubborn, Jack. I don't think he'd hesitate to kill someone who he thought stood in his way."
"I think you're overreacting," he said.
"He shouldn't be in Starfleet."
"Assuming we make it back where we belong, he won't be," Jack told her. "He's retiring."
"I know," she said, deciding there wasn't much point fighting with Jack. "For my part, I'll try to avoid getting into any more arguments with him. Okay?"
Jack nodded.
They stopped at a crosswalk and waited for the light to change.
"You haven't said too much about what happened in the other timeline, outside of me not existing and Larissa being alive." Jack watched her for a few moments. "I assume it wasn't a completely unhappy experience."
Before Mei-Wan could stop herself, she smiled. "No, it had it's good points." The light changed and she began walking again.
Jack followed along. "Want to talk about it?"
"Not really, at least not here and now."
The two of them ate their ice cream in silence as they made their way back to the motel.
As they walked, Jack took an opportunity to glance over at Mei-Wan. So many times he had watched her move; the grace of her gait, how her hair danced about her as she traveled, the way her breasts rose and fell with each step. But his gaze had in the past always been a sort of taking from her, an attempt to gain some portion of possession over that which he believed might satiate some inner need buried deep within his soul. Now, however, he felt as if he were seeing her for the first time and perhaps he was.
There was so much beauty to her and not just in a physical sense, though she had that in abundance. She'd always had a child-like quality to her. The vitality of it had drawn him to her like a starving man to food. Now there was something more. There was a serious side to her he had never known. Yet it had not taken the place of the child, but joined it.
He wondered if this was in part what Hank had spoken about when he'd mentioned Mei-Wan had made some tough choices. His heart wanted to reach out to help soften the burdens she had borne. Yet now, unlike in the past, Mei-Wan seemed to carry them with an ease he had not expected.
The only question which remained was whether or not they would still be man and wife. But he suspected the answer to that wasn't too far off.
***
When they got back to their motel room, they discovered Hank was gone. He had left them a note saying he'd gone out to get some "supplies," leaving them to wonder what that meant. Mei-Wan tried not to worry about what Hank was up to, especially after Jack did his best to reassure her that Hank knew the consequences of doing anything stupid. But she found, despite her wishes otherwise, her distrust of Hank Evans had prejudiced her to the point where she'd come to expect the worst from him.
She thought it better to find something to let her thoughts dwell on, so she switched the television on and sat down on the edge of the bed.
"... said a spokesman for Ashlee Simpson. The singer's father insisted the only reason she used the taped vocal track was because of an acid reflux problem she'd been having and he dismissed any suggestion that his daughter was a fraud."
"I thought this was a news channel," Jack asked as he sat down next to Mei-Wan.
"I guess that depends on your definition of news."
Jack grinned. "I find it hard to believe that anything about the life of some singer could ever qualify as news in any culture."
"The people of this period are obsessed with fame. Most everyone wants it and those who have it are elevated to near god-like status." Mei-Wan studied the images on the screen. "It's one of the factors which allowed men like Colonel Green and Khan Singh to rise to power as they did. Both achieved fame in the popular culture before taking the reins of power. Reins which were freely handed to them."
"I could maybe see it in the case of a charismatic leader, but a singer?" He shook his head. "You certain this isn't some sort of music program?"
Mei-Wan chuckled and looked at Jack. "Maybe you're just having trouble adjusting to life outside a cattle ranch."
"Could be you're right."
Mei-Wan became serious. "Do you miss that life?"
"Yeah, I guess I do miss it."
Mei-Wan put her hand on Jack's shoulder. "Your life is in the twenty-fourth century."
"I know, Mei," he said with a nod. "Back there I had to make my own life. I didn't have anyone's expectations drawing me one way or the other. It was just me." A smile came to his face. "After a while, especially after you and Hank found me, I realized that had been the case in the twenty-fourth century all along, I'd just never seen it."
The door opened and Hank walked in with several small paper sacks.
"We wondered where you'd run off to," Jack said as Hank set his load down on the table near the window.
"I thought it might be a good idea to get us some lunch." Hank brought two white sacks over and removed the contents, handing several wrapped items to Jack and Mei-Wan.
"What is it?"
"I hope you like it. I picked this place because the sign in the window said 'have it your way'."
Jack nodded. "Sounds like a good choice." He picked up a wrapper and opened it. He lifted the top section of bun and saw a thin beef patty smothered in sauce and vegetables. "Is this a salad of some kind?"
"They called it a 'whopper'," Hank said. "It was listed under the sandwich menu so I assumed it was beef. At least that's what the place smelled like."
Jack took a bite of his whopper and stopped. "Great… a small amount of beef and a whole lot of salad." He took another bite and sat up against the head of the bed.
Mei-Wan frowned at her sandwich and instead took a bite of a slender potato from a box Hank handed her. At least they didn't taste like some dead animal.
Hank went back to the table and pulled a six pack of bottles out of a sack. "I'm not exactly certain what this is, but the young man putting things on the shelves said this was his favorite," Hank said. He tore three bottles out of their plastic harness and handed one to Mei-Wan and one to Jack. Each of them looked at the containers.
"Mountain Dew? Is this alcohol?" Jack asked.
"I don't believe so," Hank replied, examining his own bottle.
Both Jack and Mei-Wan looked at the ingredients list. Jack frowned. "What the hell is Erythorbic Acid?"
"It says it preserves freshness," Mei-Wan stated.
Hank twisted the top off his bottle and a loud hiss of gas escaped. He cautiously drank, then smiled. "Strange. Not so much a taste as a feeling in the throat."
Jack took a drink from his. "It feels odd when it touches my teeth."
Mei-Wan took a sip and grinned. "I like this!"
"So I did something right for a change?" Hank asked with a smirk.
Mei-Wan took a large drink of her Mountain Dew. "Why don't we have this in the twenty-fourth century?"
"Could be it isn't healthy," Jack said, looking over the list of ingredients again. "You'd need a chemist to figure out what all of this is."
"Nothing that tastes this good could be unhealthy," Mei-Wan said with complete seriousness. She was about to take another drink when an image on the television caught her attention. "There's a program coming on in a minute that sounded interesting."
Hank sprawled out on the other bed and ate his food while Jack and Mei-Wan became fixated on the glowing box in front of them.
"What's it called?" Jack asked.
"Crossfire," Mei-Wan answered.
Jack gave her a curious look. "Sounds like something about weapons."
"It's supposed to be a political debate of some sort."
"How odd," Jack said as he ate more of his whopper.
"I thought it might help understand the society if we could listen to some of the political debates going on now." She sat up to get a better view. "I thought it might shed some light on why we ended up here."
"Politicians never argue substance, Mei," Hank said. "All they ever do is position themselves to gain the most power they can. I don't think that has ever been different."
She shrugged her shoulders. "Well, it should be an interesting way to pass the time while we eat."
A smiling face filled the television screen.
"Today on Crossfire, with the polls showing a neck and neck race, are we in for another fiasco like Florida in 2000? If so, which state will be the key to a winning the electoral vote strategy? And is it finally time to do away with the electoral college?"
Mei-Wan frowned at the television. "Maybe you're right, Hank. This does sound incredibly confusing."
"Not only did I pick out a drink you like, but I'm right about something." Hank smiled wide. "Mark this day down on the calendar, Jack."
Mei-Wan rolled her eyes and got up off the bed. "Before Hank breaks out in a full celebration, I think I'll finally go get a shower." She grabbed her travelling bag and headed toward the bathroom. "Let me know if anything interesting is said on the television, Jack."
"Sure," he answered with a smile.
After Mei-Wan closed the door behind her, Hank shot a smirk at Jack.
"What?" Jack asked, put off by Evans expression.
"You two appear to be getting along a lot better."
Jack let a grin creep across his face. "Yeah, I suppose we are."
"After all the two of you have been through, I'd have thought it'd be a cold day in hell before I'd see you like that again."
Jack's grin faded. "Nothing is permanent in this Universe, Hank. Not happiness or sadness. I've learned that when happy times come, to enjoy them as much as you can, because they won't last forever."
"But you and Mei are..."
"Hank, we..." He thought a moment. "For my part, I did a lot of stupid things in our marriage. Things I wish I had to do over again. But I can't go back. All I can do is go forward."
Hank let out a long sigh. "I thought maybe you two had patched things up."
"No matter what happens to us, I'll always love Mei." He slid to the edge of the bed and sat there facing Hank. "But you can reach a point in a relationship where despite your best intentions, you end up hurting the person you love. When that happens, something has to change."
"Yeah," Hank said under his breath. "I guess you're right."
Jack stared at the floor as he tried to decide if he wanted ask his next question. Finally, he realized he had to know. "Hank, did Mei meet someone in the other timeline?"
"Meet?" Hank asked, taking a sip from his bottle.
"Did she fall in love with someone?"
Hank took a deep breath. "As much as Mei thinks I spend my time looking for ways to stab people in the back," he grinned a moment. "And as much as I think she deserves it for the attitude she's been giving me lately, I really can't answer that, Jack."
Jack half-smiled. "I think you just did."
"Nope," Hank said relaxing on the bed. "I didn't tell you anything. But I think we both know you didn't ask that question out of the blue."
"Was she happy there?"
"Happier than I think I've ever seen her."
"Then why the hell did she come after me?" Jack exhaled.
"She thought it was the right thing to do," Hank replied. "Considering how much you wanted to stay in 1874, and how much I'm sure she wanted to stay in the changed timeline, I'm starting to think this whole thing was a mistake." He smiled. "Aside from keeping you from getting killed of course."
"I am thankful for that," Jack chuckled. He lost himself in thoughts of the life he'd left behind and the life he was hopefully headed back to.
Hank sat, eating his food in silence.
"Sometimes what we want isn't what we need." Jack looked over at Hank. "What we need the most is often the thing that's the hardest for us to do, but we reach inside ourselves and find the strength to do it anyway. Not because it's the right thing to do, but because we know, in the end, it will make the world a better place, not just for us, but for those we love and cherish."
