"Wife and Mother"

written by

Michael Gray

Katherine McCall hurried past the reception desk, giving only a momentary flash of the pass Jeremiah had supplied her years ago. He'd always told her there were a lot of advantages to being the spouse of an admiral, but until this day, she'd never taken advantage of them.

A crowd of Starfleet officers milled about in the building lobby as she crossed it. Through the steel and glass windows of the thirty foot tall atrium sunlight shined down devoid of all warmth.

Katherine's shoes clattered softly against the tile floor as she made her way to the conference room she'd been told about in an anonymous message she'd received two days before. All it had said was to show up at this place, at this time, to hear about her missing husband.

She made her way through the winding maze of corridors and elevators until finally, sitting on a couch in the waiting area outside room 303, Katherine found her son.

"Jack?"

The captain of the starship Chamberlain looked up more by reflex than conscious response.

"Mom?" He stood, smiling. "What are you doing here?"

A confused look came to her face. "You're not the one who sent the message?"

"What message?" Jack asked. He looked about the hallway. "Let's go somewhere we can talk."

Katherine gave a short nod and followed her son. How like Jeremiah he is, she thought as she watched him lead her toward an empty office. The uniform was a different style than her husband had worn years ago, but the demeanor was the same--- the firm resolve of a starship captain.

Jack closed the door and turned to face his mother. "What's this about?"

"Two days ago I received a message telling me to show up here at this time if I wanted to find out what Starfleet knew about your father."

Jack sat on the edge of an empty desk in one corner of the room. "Dad's case is classified. That's why you haven't heard anything." He thought a moment. "But evidently someone wanted you to find me."

"I was surprised you didn't contact me when the Chamberlain arrived. Sheng and Bao said they'd let me know if you showed up at their place, but so far..."

"You've talked to Mei's parents?" Jack asked with a start.

"Yes, four days ago when Starfleet announced..." Her words trailed off as she noticed her son looking away from her. "What's wrong, Jack? What's happened?"

"A lot of things I really can't go into just now." He folded his arms across his chest. "You know that's part of the job."

"Is Mei okay?"

Jack hesitated a second. "Yes, she's fine.  I really shouldn't be talking to you. I've got a meeting in a few minutes."

Katherine blocked his path to the door. "I want to know what's happened to your father."

Jack closed his eyes. "Mom..."

"Damn it, I have a right to know what has happened to my husband!"

"He's still missing."

She took a slow breath. "But alive?"

"I don't know for certain. The last time I saw him there was an explosion and..." Jack stopped. "An alien entity has inhabited his body, using him to speak and act through."

She took a step back. "What?"

"This entity is responsible for the death of every living thing on the planet Cajma," Jack said, sitting again on the edge of the desk. "It was a group allied with this entity which captured Dad and Mei last year."

"But Mei escaped. Sheng called me and..."

Jack gently touched her arm. "Mei is our primary source of information about what's happened to Dad."

"You said you saw him, and there was an explosion."

"He was alive, that's all I know. Mei and I survived the explosion, so I assume dad did too."

"But you don't know for certain."

"No, I don't."

Katherine McCall turned to face Jack, that all familiar smile on her face. "Jeremiah has always come home to me. I'm not going to begin doubting his determination after all these years."

"And I can't wait to hear the story he'll have to tell."

Katherine chuckled, losing herself in the false hope of the moment. "You always became so restless when I'd get word he was coming home. You couldn't wait to hear him tell you about all the adventures he'd been on."

Jack smiled. "Yeah. My friends envied how my dad was out there fighting back the Tholians, or the Cardassians, or some species nobody had ever heard of." His smile faded. "But I always used to envy them because their dads were there every day."

"I know," Katherine whispered. She looked away, not wanting her son to see the tear falling down her cheek. "It wasn't easy for either of us.  But sometimes tough choices have to be made."

Jack put his hand on his mother's shoulder. "Look, I need to get going," he said, pointing to the door. "I've got another debriefing to go to and..."

"I understand," she said with a nod. "Sheng and Bao insisted I stay with them the next time I was in town. Will I see you there after you're done here?"

Jack took a long deep breath. "I'm not allowed to leave Starfleet Command until all these meetings are finished."

"Okay," she said with a nod. "Any message you want me to give Mei?"

"No," he murmured on his way to the door. He was about to touch the control pad, but stopped. He turned back to Katherine. "Mom... Mei and I are getting divorced."

She stood staring at him as if he'd just spoken to her in some alien language.

"I should have sent you a message before the ship arrived, but..."

"Divorced?" she managed to ask. A million thoughts raced through her mind, but none of them made sense. "Divorced? Jack, I don't understand. You and Mei love each other so much."

"Mei and I have gone through a lot of changes." Jack didn't meet her gaze. "We both decided this was for the best."

"Then you're both making a terrible mistake." She put her hand on his chin and turned his face toward her. "I've seen how your eyes brighten up every time she walks into a room. Mei-Wan is your soul mate and you know it."

"I need to go." He turned back to the door.

"Damned Starfleet," Katherine blurted out. "They took my husband, then my son, and now your marriage. All Starfleet does is take; it never gives."

"You know you don't believe that," Jack said, his back to her. "If you did, how could you respect Dad? Or me?"

"Get out before it destroys you, Jack. Before it takes what humanity you have left."

Jack was about to respond to her, but decided this wasn't the time to argue the point. He touched the door control and made his way back out to the hallway. His mother followed a few seconds later, but didn't say another word. He watched her trudge down the brightly lit corridor and disappear around a corner.

"Was that your mother?"

Jack turned to the source of the question and found Admiral Christopher Hancock standing beside him. "Yes."

"I hope you had at least a little time to talk."

Jack turned to his superior officer. "She told me she had received an anonymous message to come here. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

"Me?" Hancock asked, doing his best not to let a smile break through his gray-haired goatee.

"I should have guessed," Jack said with a frown. "Why the covert games?"

"One of the unfortunate truths of being an admiral is you can rarely do anything on your own. Almost everything in your life has to be delegated to one degree or another. For me to tell Katherine about your father would have been a gross violation of regulations, especially if I had told her all that you did. But who's going to hold it against a son for telling his mother about her husband?"

"You used me... again."

"I did what I did out of loyalty to Jeremiah. If I could have used someone else aside from you, I would have."

Jack eyed the admiral. "What worries me are the reasons you're not admitting to."

"Some things are best left unsaid, Captain." Hancock motioned him toward room 303. "I believe we have a meeting to attend. Shall we?"

***

The previous day's rain still glistened on the leaves of the flowering plants in the Lau family garden. Despite their many differences, Bao-Yu Lau and Katherine McCall shared a love for all things green, and considering the news her son had given her a few hours earlier, Katherine feared their gardening interests would be all they'd have in common from now on.

"We were just as surprised as you are about the divorce." Bao-Yu stopped to rest a moment, letting the cane she walked with give her a brief respite against the pain which came with every step she took. "Mei-Wan has never been one to keep her feelings hidden, but aside from informing us of their divorce, she has given little explanation."

"Unfortunately, Jack wasn't able to tell me much."

The Asian woman in her mid-fifties kneeled down next to a flower bed and pulled a small pair of pruning sheers from her dark blue smock. "Are you certain it wasn't that he was reluctant to tell you?"

Katherine considered the possibility. "No, I caught him on his way to a meeting at Starfleet. We didn't have much time to talk."

After a quick nod, Bao-Yu began trimming dead growth off a collection of tall, red roses. "Then perhaps our desire for explanations will go unfulfilled. We must accept their decision."

"I find it a little hard to believe you're willing to just give up." She knelt down next to Bao-Yu. "They're our children."

"You know I respect you, Katherine." Bao-Yu turned to look at her guest. "But you're certainly aware that Sheng and I were less than enthusiastic about Jack and Mei-Wan's marriage."

"Yes, and I've tried to believe that it had nothing to do with Jack."

"Your son is a fine man and you have every right to be proud of his accomplishments."

"But..."

"The opportunities Mei-Wan has available to her won't wait for someone who refuses to take them because her husband insists she remain aboard his ship. This is the time for building a reputation in her field."

"Jack would never hold Mei back."

"He did so in the case of the Ravenscroft expedition." Bao-Yu clipped off a tangled stem and tossed it onto the collection of dead growth piling up on the ground next to her. "While you may be concerned with their reasons, I am convinced they have made the right choice."

"And what about their happiness?"

"You tell me, Katherine." Bao-Yu set down her sheers. "Has happiness been enough to sustain your marriage?"

That struck closer to home than Katherine liked. "No, but despite the difficulties, we were willing to accept certain concessions to allow our relationship to continue." Her eyes became almost fierce. "We never gave up on each other."

"Sometimes the only choice available is to move on." A brief smile came to her face as she held her hand out. "Please, could you..."

Katherine helped Bao-Yu to her feet and placed the wooden cane in her hand. "I still don't think Jack and Mei-Wan are doing the right thing."

There was a hesitation in Bao-Yu that Katherine couldn't read. It was almost as if she was actually happy with the divorce.

"The decision has been made," Bao-Yu said. "Mei-Wan has other duties to attend to now."

"Katherine?" came a surprised voice from the door to the house.

Both women in the garden turned to see Mei-Wan hurry along the winding path toward them, her long black hair tossing about in the soft humid breeze.

"I'm sorry I wasn't here when you arrived," Mei-Wan said, giving her soon to be former mother-in-law a warm hug. "I had some things to pick up in town."

"That's okay. It gave your mother and I a chance to chat."

"If you'll excuse me," Bao-Yu said. "I have an appointment I must keep. I hope you'll stay for dinner, Katherine."

"Thank you. I'd like that."

Both Mei-Wan and Katherine watched Bao-Yu hobble up the path to the house, but they waited until she was inside before speaking.

"She's not improving, is she?"

Mei-Wan picked up the stems and leaves her mother had trimmed off the roses. "No," she said sadly. "The visits to the doctor are only to regulate her pain medications." She forced a smile. "But then she wasn't supposed to survive the lab explosion in the first place, so I keep hoping some new treatment will come along." She dropped the clippings into a composting bin at the edge of the garden.

"Sometimes hope is all we have to live on," Katherine murmured. "Especially when we don't have anything else."

Mei-Wan walked back over to her. "Did Jack tell you about Jeremiah?"

"I suspect more than he was allowed, but less than he would have liked." She closed her eyes. "Something about some entity taking his body... I didn't understand much of it, but it was enough to tell me he's in a lot of trouble."

"He's not in as much immediate danger as you might think." Mei-Wan slowly twisted a broken flower stem in her hands. "Setacvas, the creature using Jeremiah's body, commands an entire world of intelligent machines. Considering what I went through at their hands, he's relatively safe for the time being."

"Except he's now the enemy in Starfleet's eyes." Katherine fought the torrent of tears she had been holding back for months. "That's why they won't talk to me. They're afraid they're going to have to kill him at some point, aren't they?"

Mei-Wan looked down at the damp ground. "I don't have the kind of access Jack does to Starfleet's thinking, but it wouldn't surprise me if that's something they're hotly debating."

After a few seconds, Katherine forced a smile. "Aren't you afraid you'll get in trouble for talking to me about this?"

"I suppose I should be, but since neither of us is likely to report it, I'm not too worried." Mei-Wan pulled her brown jacket tighter around herself. "I'm keeping enough other secrets for Starfleet. They can afford to let me talk about this."

Katherine's mind turned to other concerns. "Jack and I only had a few minutes to talk..."

Mei-Wan nodded. "I assume he told you about us getting divorced."

"Yes." She took a breath. "But he didn't really tell me why other than you've both changed and a divorce is best for both of you."

"He's right. It is."

"I can't accept that." Katherine put her hand on Mei-Wan's arm. "I know how much the two of you love each other. I saw it that first time he brought you by to see us."

Mei-Wan's voice became thin. "Sometimes love has to be sacrificed for the greater good."

She took Mei-Wan's hand in her own. "If it's a choice between the two, then I choose love. Let the greater good be damned."

"If I had done that, Jack wouldn't exist." Mei-Wan looked into Katherine's eyes. "And you'd be married to someone named Joseph Haskell, living on New Bedford Colony, and the mother of two daughters."

A realization suddenly struck Katherine. "That's why Jack's in all those meetings. You two have been involved in some time travel thing." She laughed. "I should have suspected as much.The only occasion, outside of open warfare, where Jeremiah had to keep so many secrets was a time travel incident he was involved in thirty years ago."

Mei-Wan grinned. "Jack never mentioned his father had been caught up in something like that."

"Because Jack doesn't know about it." She gave Mei-Wan a stern look. "And I'd like to keep it that way if it's okay with you."

"Sure."

"Jeremiah wasn't supposed to even tell me and I'd hate for him to get in trouble over it." Katherine hoped her missing husband would someday have the opportunity to get in trouble over such things. She had no way to help him now, wherever he was. Her son's marriage was failing and that was something she could do something about. "Mei, please reconsider the divorce."

"I'm sorry, but I can't do that." She walked two steps away and stared out at the garden. "Jack and I are taking different paths in our lives. I can understand how this seems to have just come out of the blue to you and everyone else, but Jack and I have been struggling with this for more than a year. You have to believe we wouldn't make this choice if it weren't right."

"I believe in my son and in the love I know you feel for each other. There are ways to make your marriage work."

"For what it's worth, I believe in Jack too, perhaps more now than before." A smile blossomed across Mei-Wan's face. "There are things I wish I could tell you, things I've learned the last few months about Jack that you'd be so proud of."

"But you can't because it's classified, right?" Katherine asked with a stern look.

Mei-Wan laughed. "Something like that."

Katherine walked up to Mei-Wan and looked into her eyes. "Are you really sure about this? Can you honestly tell me you no longer love Jack?"

"For a long time I wanted to believe that there was some way for our marriage to continue, but I've had to accept the reality of who Jack and I are now. A marriage between us just isn't going to work." Mei-Wan took Katherine's hands in her own. "And it's because I do love him that I can't let our marriage go on hurting him, or me, anymore than it already has. What Jack and I had was wonderful while it lasted, but it's run its course, Katherine. It's time for us to let it end and allow new lives to grow for both of us."

After Mei-Wan walked back to the house, Katherine McCall sat on a small wooden bench amongst the living things of the Lau garden, and wept for the love she saw still living in Mei-Wan's eyes.

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Dark Horizon Story and Characters Copyright ©2004 Michael Gray

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