"Convergence"
written by
Michael Gray
December 24, 2380...
She rolled over in her bed, resting finally so she could stare out the small window in her quarters.
The stars... They still took her breath away. She so wanted to be out there among them. This hunger filled her every night before she drifted off into some meaningless dreamscape.
She belonged out there. It was a simple fact. But known only to her. No one else saw it.
No one else would even believe it.
Space... humankind had gone there once some four hundred years ago. You could still see the evidence of it through a powerful telescope. The six lonely landing sites on the moon displayed for all humanity the road to the fate that might have been.
After the last war, and the dark century which followed, no one wanted to explore the universe.
No one, but Mei-Wan Lau.
***
Mei-Wan struggled to wake the next morning, forcing her eyes open to see the still dark sky out her small window.
Only the smell of burning wood on the air indicated morning was coming. Her own stove had died hours ago, leaving her room with a chill that would help get her moving once she shed the rough wool blanket she was cocooned in currently.
The house would be full of warmth.
There was still time before Adelaide came pounding on her door, howling about how good Mei-Wan had it as one of the few Chinese allowed to live in North America.
Mei-Wan always held her tongue.
Plenty of Chinese lived in North America in the Arizona Camps. Well, “lived” was an overstatement. They existed... barely. Slaves for hire to the highest bidder.
But several generations back, Mei-Wan's family had been brought from the Chinese wasteland to work for several prominent Chicago families.
Her door burst open.
“Roustabout!” Adelaide cried out. “The Mrs. will expect the kitchen to be running when she gets up!”
“I'm awake,” Mei-Wan said, sitting up. “I'll be in the kitchen shortly.”
“Very shortly,” Adelaide corrected. The beefy woman frowned and pulled the door behind her.
“Bitch,” Mei-Wan muttered upon Adelaide's exit. “I hate my life.”
But it was a life after all, something Mei-Wan reminded herself not many Chinese had any longer.
She suspected within another century, her people would vanish from the Earth. She often wondered if she might live long enough to be the last.
Mei-Wan shoved such thoughts from her mind, and instead found her dress and shoes. She had just enough time to wash up before getting to work.
***
The kitchen was already alive with activity when she arrived. Mei-Wan quickly made her way to the cupboard, pulled out the large mixing bowl, squeezing out a space at the giant table at the center of the room and began preparing the dough for the morning bread.
Adelaide hovered about, supervising the team of ten women in the cavernous kitchen as breakfast was prepared.
The main door opened and the master of the house entered, wearing his best suit.
Mr. McCall... Jack.
Mei-Wan couldn't help but smile seeing him.
Her mother had been the kitchen supervisor in Jack's parents home. She'd grown up seeing the young Jack rise among the elites of Chicago. But he'd always taken time to play with her when she was little. And when he went off to university he'd often bring her home some present. She imagined him as an older brother, or more...
But he was an American and she was just a child of the help.
Jack walked over to Adelaide. “We're going off to church, but should be back within an hour.”
“Yes, sir,” Adelaide replied with a contrite nod.
“Mrs. McCall expects breakfast to be ready upon our return,” he reached over to pull off a bit of the dough Mei-Wan kneaded. He gave her a quick wink of his left eye.
Jack chewed on the dough as he turned back to Adelaide. “Christmas dinner should be ready when our guests start arriving at one.”
“It'll be ready, Master McCall,” she said. “I'll not disappoint you on Christmas.”
“Good woman,” he said as he headed toward the door. He stopped just as he was about to exit, and turned back to look at Mei-Wan. “The dough's great, Mei.”
“Thank you, sir,” she said, knowing any familiarity on her part wasn't allowed especially with Adelaide hovering about.
***
Mei-Wan sat on a bench outside in the back yard, letting the moments of her break tick past while she let the cold Winter air wake her up some more.
She'd forgotten it was Christmas until Jack... Mr. McCall had mentioned it. Not that she needed to remember it except what it meant for her duties.
But later, after the family and the guests were served, all the house staff would receive their own Christmas dinner in the library. It wouldn't be much, but more than they usually got.
And Mrs. McCall would fume the entire time.
Mei-Wan smiled. Jack still had a good heart despite the bitter hardness of his wife's.
She never did understand why he'd married Irene. The woman was only marginally good looking, wasn't all that bright, and rarely smiled at anything that didn't involve elevating her station in life.
When Jack had been elected Mayor of Chicago six years ago, she had beamed. When he'd increased aid to the poor she'd been angry for three months.
“They're human too,” Mei-Wan had overheard Jack tell his wife.
“Then they should act like it before you hand them the wealth of hard working people,” Irene had replied.
Mei-Wan would hate the woman if she didn't have Jack's last name. She just couldn't bring herself to hate anything connected to him.
“There you are!” Adelaide bellowed. “Come on! Chinese break time is over! They've come back early. And the Mrs. is in one of her moods.”
Adelaide didn't stand around waiting for Mei-Wan to follow. She knew she didn't have to.
But as Mei-Wan stood from the bench, something changed in the air.
The cold was gone.
No...
The tall, pale man from her dreams stood in the courtyard.
Nearly twelve feet tall, wearing what looked to be a black leather suit, he tilted his head down at her, watching.
She'd dreamed about him numerous times, but only in the last month had she had waking dreams.
“What do you want?” she whispered.
His face grew into a frown.
It was the same pattern as before. No matter what she asked, he grew angry.
“Please... tell me what you want.”
Then a moment later, he was gone. Only the snow covered ground and bare trees remained.
Mei-Wan shook her head, hoping these hallucinations would end. She'd almost gone to Jack, asking if she could see a doctor.
But that would put him in a terrible position with his wife.
Mei-Wan hurried inside.
***
Mei-Wan stood in the main dinning hall, watching for when one of the thirty guests about the table needed their wine glass refilled.
“Jack, my boy,” harped Hank Evans, one of Jack's oldest friends, and the architect of his political rise. “I hear there's talk in Texas of building a ship to the stars.”
Mei-Wan's attention perked up at that.
But from about the table, only laughter.
“No, I'm serious,” Evans protested, taking a bite of roast. “Several big companies are involved.”
Jack cocked his head to one side, grinning. “And of what use is this information to me?”
Evans returned the grin. “A chance to propel yourself beyond mayor.”
The laughter ebbed away.
Jack cast a quick glance at Mei-Wan. He'd often spoken of space when she'd been little. She hoped his dream hadn't evaporated like so much seemed to with the passage of years.
“I seriously doubt anyone is going to put up the money to take us back to pre-war technology, let alone that needed to go into space,” Jack said. “Steam power isn't going to get the job done.”
“Don't forget what space did for Kennedy,” Hank said. “It might propel another forward thinking young man to the presidency as well.”
Jack's serious look turned to a smile. “Anyone in mind?”
Chuckles filled the room.
“So what if they can't accomplish it,” Evans said. “But you can ride that optimism to the White House.”
Jack's joviality retreated. “People don't get optimistic about change in the twenty-fourth century. They get frightened.”
“A great man could change that,” Evans said.
“When you find a great man, ask him,” Jack replied with a sour look.
Evans turned to Mei-Wan. “Some more wine, girl.”
“Yes, sir.” Mei-Wan hurried to fill Evan's glass.
“Think about it,” Evans said to Jack, now ignoring Mei-Wan as she returned to her station.
“My husband is a practical man,” Irene McCall said from the other end of the table opposite Jack. She was a stern woman with a taut face, looking ten years older than her forty years. “Being Mayor of Chicago as the twenty-fourth century draws to a close presents great opportunities.”
“Are you saying he wouldn't have those in the White House, Irene?” Evans asked.
“Presidents get occupied with wars and conquest at the direction of their oil masters in South Dakota,” Irene said. “Here, Jack is the master of his own fate and that of this city.”
Mei-Wan began to feel dizzy, as if her hallucination was returning. She hurried out of the room and into the kitchen. Fortunately no one was there. Mei-Wan poured herself a glass of water and let it loosen her throat while she tried to relax.
She heard the door open behind her.
“Please,” she pleaded. “Can you let me alone just for a bit.”
She heard a familiar voice behind her.
“Don't let my wife hear you talk like that,” Jack said.
She spun about. “Sorry... sir.”
He grinned. “Cut that 'sir' crap when it's just the two of us, please?”
“Okay,” she said, letting a smile cross her face.
He stepped up to her, pulling a small box from his jacket pocket. “I have something for you.”
“Oh, Jack... no. You shouldn't do that,” she said. “If Mrs. McCall finds out...”
“She can't get mad if she doesn't know,” he said, opening the box.
At the end of a gold chain was a small chunk of rock.
“Besides,” he said, holding the necklace out to her. “This wouldn't mean a damn thing to Irene.”
“What is it?” Mei-Wan said, looking closely at the rock at the end of the chain.
“I know someone at the Space Museum in Houston,” he said. “It's a piece of Moon rock.”
Mei-Wan's heart raced. “Really?!”
“Yes, really,” Jack said, smiling. “I knew you would enjoy it.”
He placed the necklace around her neck, fastening it.
“Merry Christmas,” Jack said.
“Thank you, Jack. I love it.”
“Even if I can't embrace the things you and I used to dream about, you can,” he said.
“You can too,” she pleaded. “It's a part of who you are.”
“I wish I could believe that,” he said, turning his eyes to look into hers. “But seeing you happy makes up for anything I've lost.” Jack McCall hesitated. “I wish...”
He leaned toward her.
Their lips touched.
Mei-Wan jumped back.
“Oh no...”
“I'm sorry,” Jack said. “ I didn't mean to... I didn't mean to upset you.”
She was about to run out, but stopped. “I've wanted you to do that so many times, but... we can't.”
He walked toward her again. “Why not?”
“Your wife, your children,” she said, crying. “You're the Mayor. You can't give up all of that.”
“I would in a heartbeat, Mei.”
“I...”
Something struck Mei-Wan's mind like an exploding star. She wanted it too.
Mei-Wan eased toward Jack, touching her lips to his.
The feel of his skin touching hers, the warmth of his breath...
Jack wrapped his arms about Mei-Wan.
This is so right, she thought.
The next moment, a million other thoughts burst into her mind.
She pushed him away.
“We're divorced!”
“What?!” he asked.
None of this made sense. This house, Jack's clothes, her own.
“I'm not a maid!” she said. “I'm...” The thought took a moment to come to her. “I'm an archaeologist.”
“You're what?” Jack asked. “You never went to school. I taught you to read, remember?”
Mei-Wan looked around the kitchen. “Where is this? Wait, it's Chicago. I remember... but how can I remember this?”
“Are you okay?” Jack asked.
“It's happened again,” Mei-Wan said.
The back door of the kitchen came open with a crack.
A man, dressed in black entered the room. For some reason, Mei-Wan found it odd that he was Asian... Chinese.
“Ah, Mei-Wan,” the man said. “So good of you...” His eyes turned to Jack. “McCall? How in the hell are you together?”
Mei-Wan could feel her facial muscles turning into a frown. “Belvedere!”
John Thomas Belvedere, Agent for Temporal Investigations stopped, frozen in place.
“How do you know who I am?” he asked, staring at Mei-Wan.
The opposite door of the kitchen burst open and Hank Evans stepped through, gun drawn.
“Hands up, dirt bag!” Hank howled.
But Belvedere wouldn't turn his gaze from Mei-Wan. “Tell me!”
Hank fired the gun.
A bullet struck Belvedere in the chest, knocking him to the floor.
“Stay back, Mei!” Jack called out.
But Mei-Wan rushed over to Belvedere.
“Tell me what's happening!” she yelled.
He laughed as blood poured from his chest. “I'm dying...”
“You know him?” Jack asked her.
“He's Chinese,” Hank said. “They all know each other.”
“Evans...” Belvedere said. “Are you aware how often you die?” Belvedere took a labored breath. “Of course not. You're...” He turned to look at Mei-Wan. “But you. Somehow you know.”
“Know what?” Evans asked.
“That the timeline has changed,” Mei-Wan said.
“Timeline?” Hank asked with a laugh.
Jack knelt down on the floor next to Mei-Wan. “You know this man?”
“Yes,” she said. “He works for an organization called Temporal Investigations.”
Evans checked his gun. “Yeah, right. This is some Chinese trick, Jack. You can't trust the scummy bastards, not a one of them.”
“In some versions of reality, humanity has gotten past your racial bigotry, Evans,” Belvedere said with labored breaths.
“You said the timeline had changed,” Jack said to Mei-Wan.
“Yes,” she replied. “In the reality I'm from, you're a starship captain.”
“Right,” Jack said with a laugh.
“It's true,” Belvedere said. “But... why are the two of you here together? What brings you...” He smiled. “Even here...”
“What is it?” Mei-Wan asked. “Why are Jack and I in the same place in this reality?”
“Sorry, but I have to make sure I stay alive until the timeline changes again,” Belvedere said. “Rising from the dead is extremely painful... the ghosts...”
Irene ran into the kitchen. “I heard a gunshot!”
“How soon?” Mei-Wan asked, ignoring Irene.
“Minute, maybe less,” Belvedere said.
Mei-Wan turned to Jack. “Your Mei-Wan loved the Moon rock, Jack.”
Jack smiled.
“And she loves you.”
Mei-Wan kissed Jack.
Irene marched up to them and roared, “How dare you?!”
Jack turned to Irene, “I want a divorce.”
Mei-Wan smiled. “Good for you, Jack. Good for you.”
***
The very next moment, Mei-Wan found herself standing in a large, sprawling living room. In its very center stood a Christmas tree nearly twelve feet tall, adorned with a glistening cover of ornaments and lights.
A small child, a five year old girl with dark hair, ran up to her.
“Can we now, Mommy?” the girl asked with a wide grin.
“What?”
The girl frowned. “Presents!”
Two other children, a boy eight, and a girl ten, walked up to her. “Mom's just kidding, El. It's Christmas morning, we always open presents,” the older girl said as she made her way to the tree.
Mei-Wan looked for a place to sit down, finally settling herself into a large, plush couch. She felt a hand rest on her arm.
“They giving you a hard time?”
Mei-Wan knew that voice. She looked up.
“Jack...” She smiled.
His features hardened. “You okay?”
“I... I don't know.” She took a long breath, turning to a large window, overlooking a city of silver spires. “What is this place?”
Jack knelt down next to her. “It's happened again, hasn't it?”
“Happened? What?”
“Mommy, Daddy,” came the call from the base of the tree. “It's time for presents!”
Jack took her hands. “You've changed timelines again.”
Mei-Wan nodded. “I don't remember any of this.”
“It usually takes you a bit to get your bearings,” he said, standing. “We need to get you to the Council before this ends.”
“Council?”
Jack walked toward a side room. “Melissa? Can you come in here?”
“Melissa?” Mei-Wan nearly barked. “What the hell's she doing here?”
Melissa Vargas strolled into the living room, wearing a flowing white robe.
Jack stopped. “She's your best friend, Mei, and the godmother of our children.”
Mei-Wan took a moment to calm herself. These people didn't know anything about the life she remembered.
She looked down and saw she was wearing the same kind of robe as Melissa.
“What's with the clothes?”
Jack grinned, wearing his own white robe. “You said the same thing the last time.”
“What's up, Jack?” Melissa asked.
“I need to get Mei-Wan to the Council.”
Melissa looked at Mei-Wan with concern. “Time shift again?”
“It seems like,” Jack answered.
The kids ran up to them. The littlest girl threw her arms around Mei-Wan.
“You okay, Mommy?”
“Mommy'll be fine, El,” Jack said. “We have to leave for a bit. You stay here with Melissa and have some breakfast.”
“But presents!” El protested.
Jack looked at Mei-Wan, then back to the children. “Okay, open one each very quickly and the rest will have to wait until we get back.”
El cheered and ran back to the tree.
***
“How many times have I gone through this?”
Jack thought a moment as they sat, riding the tram-car into the center of the city. “Five.”
She looked at the man who seemed to be a part of her life no matter the reality.
“Are we happy?”
Jack turned to her. “Yes. Very happy.” His eyes narrow a bit. “You ask that same question each time.”
“Sorry.”
“Don't be,” he said. “Though it does trouble me that in the other timelines you and I seem to have trouble getting along.”
“Not in all of them,” she said, thinking back on the previous world she'd found herself in. The idea of her and Jack running off together to make a life appealed to her.
“So what about in yours?” he asked. “Our marriage in a mess?”
“We're divorced.”
His brow raised. “That's new. For some reason I thought we'd be together no matter what.”
“You're married to Melissa now.”
“Melissa Vargas?” he asked with a laugh. “Nothing against her, she's a great person, but I just don't see that.”
“Neither did I,” Mei-Wan murmured. “Three children?”
He nodded. “We've been talking about a fourth. We just picked out names.”
“They're beautiful children.”
“They're very much like their mother,” Jack added. “Each time this happens, I find I'm more focused on questions about our life than what all this means to the Galaxy.”
She decided to change the subject. “What's with this Council?”
“They oversee the Galaxy,” he said. “The ones you'll meet are simply those who are stationed here. There are about a million of them in total.”
“They're a ruling body?” Mei-Wan asked.
“Of a sort,” Jack replied as their tram approached a collection of large buildings. “They secure the peace.”
“I don't know if I like that.”
“You don't like peace?” he asked with a grin.
“I like it just fine,” she said, smiling. “Are they a different species?”
“No, they're from a number of species, but they are unusual.” The tram slowed. “They've been very concerned about your time shift episodes.”
Mei-Wan thought a moment. “I think someone is intentionally altering the timeline.”
“To what end?”
“I don't know.”
The tram pulled into a large station, full of people.
Mei-Wan followed Jack through the expansive building, toward a set of large doors. He stopped at a receptionist's desk.
“I'm Jack McCall. The Council knows why I'm here.”
The woman at the desk checked a display on the surface of the desk. After a moment she looked up. “Go right in.”
They proceeded down a wide hallway that curved gently to the right.
“What are they going to ask me about?”
“I really don't know,” Jack said. “They haven't allowed me inside during the previous occurrences.”
“I want you there.”
Jack cast a grin back at her. “You'll be okay.”
She took hold of his arms, pulling him to a stop. “I don't want to leave... our children...”
“We didn't have kids in your...”
She shook her head.
Jack gently touched her face. “I've loved you from the moment we met. No matter what's going on in your world, find a way to get back together with your Jack.”
“I don't think that's possible,” she said, looking down. “Too much has happened.”
He pulled her close. “Nothing can come between us, Mei. If there's one thing I know about the universe, it's that we're meant to be together.”
“That's you and your Mei-Wan.”
He leaned toward her. “No... it's Jack McCall and Mei-Wan Lau.”
Mei-Wan felt a pain in her head.
“You okay?” Jack asked.
“I think...”
“You're shifting again,” he said, pulling her along. “We need to hurry.”
A minute later, Jack stopped at a set of doors, directing Mei-Wan inside.
Mei-Wan stood at the center of a large circle. Elevated about that circle sat thirteen men and women, all old, and all with a variety of conduits running from their bodies into the chairs they sat in. She had an uneasy feeling about their appearance--- the way data lines went into the flesh of their faces and heads.
“Hello,” one of the men said in a soft voice. “Please relate to us the details of human exploration of the Galaxy in your timeline.”
“What?” she asked. “Why does that matter?”
“Large scale events will allow us to gauge how closely our own timeline is to yours,” a woman in the circle said. “Once we have that, we may be able to determine the point of divergence.”
She didn't like that. “To what end?” Mei-Wan asked.
They remained silent.
“Please provide the information we have requested,” the man's voice echoed in the chamber.
“You're planning on finding that point of divergence and altering it so your timeline is the one which results, aren't you?” Mei-Wan asked.
Silence.
“I won't cooperate with that.”
“We can remove the information directly from your mind,” the man said. “But it is painful.”
“What kind of people are you?”
“We seek to ensure our survival,” the woman said. “Would you not do the same thing?”
In fact Mei-Wan had done that when she and Hank Evans had gone back in time to find their Jack in the nineteenth century.
“If I help you, I might be trapped here.”
“I already sense that you are not as resistant to that idea as you wish you were,” the man said.
“But I want to go back to my world,” she said.
“This is the true timeline,” the woman said.
For the first time, Mei-Wan felt certainty. “No, my timeline is.”
“Everyone thinks their timeline is the true reality. But ours is the best result for this Galaxy. All worlds are at peace.”
“I can prove mine is the true reality.”
“How?” he asked.
“I'm here.”
The figures looked at one another, seemingly communing in some fashion she did not have access to.
“Perhaps,” the woman said. “But that makes our task all the more necessary.”
“How can...”
“Twenty years ago, this Galaxy was on the verge of total war... the last war,” the man said. “Our kind stopped it and created a utopia. There is no war, no poverty, no want... no suffering... anywhere.”
“We have created heaven,” the woman said. “We have brought perfection to all species.”
“But...” Mei-Wan thought. “How could you have brought peace? The Borg are immune to such overtures.”
“The Borg?” the man asked. “Who are the Borg?”
“A species... not really a species, I guess, but a collective in the Delta Quadrant who...” Suddenly, a terrible realization struck Mei-Wan. She saw the implants in each of their faces. Their manner of speech, their declaration of perfection.
“You are the Borg.”
***
Everything changed again.
Mei-Wan found herself standing in front of a large window, the sun shining bright in the sky.
“This isn't right either,” she whispered.
The city beyond was London.
“So you want to go to that Christmas party?”
Mei-Wan spun about.
A smiling Jack McCall stood next to a couch in a spacious apartment with the look of the twenty-fourth century she remembered.
“Party?”
“Yeah,” Jack said. “Hank's party.”
“Hank Evans?”
“You know another Hank?”
Mei-Wan shook her head. “It doesn't matter.”
“Why?” he asked, walking up to her.
“Because in a few minutes, all of this will be gone.”
Jack watched her a moment. “You okay.”
Before Mei-Wan could answer, there was a knock at the front door.
“You should get that,” Mei-Wan said. “It's probably Belvedere.”
“Who?”
“Just show him in.”
Jack went to the door and opened it.
Belvedere stood, smiling.
“All healed?” Mei-Wan asked.
“Fortunately, yes,” Belvedere said as he walked in. “Evan's gun, while primitive, was quite lethal.”
“Obviously, you're more than a Temporal Investigator,” Mei-Wan said.
Belvedere sat on the couch. “Why do you say that?”
“Being able to retain your memories after a shift in the timeline is more than I think we're capable of in the twenty-fourth century.”
“Quite right,” Bevledere said.
“Timeline?” Jack asked. “What are you talking about? Who is this man, Mei?”
Mei-Wan turned to Jack, sad that this reality wouldn't last. Searching through the memories of this life, she knew they were both very happy. “I'm sorry, Jack. You see your wife in front of you, but I'm not her. I have all her memories now, but I come from a reality where you and I divorced some time ago, a reality where you're a starship captain and not an engineer at Utopia Planitia.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” he asked. “I've never... I washed-out at the Academy.”
“I'm sorry, there's no real way to go through it all,” she said, turning to Belvedere. “And this man and I have a lot to discuss.” She sat on the other end of the couch, opposite Belvedere. “And we are going to talk, assuming we have the time.”
“Yes,” Belvedere said. “We have about fifteen minutes in this one.”
Mei-Wan turned to Jack. “Go get Hank Evans. Have him bring a gun to kill this man.”
Jack shook his head.
“Just do it, please,” Mei-Wan said.
After a moment of hesitation, Jack left the apartment.
“You going to have me shot again?” Belvedere asked.
“It takes twenty minutes to get to Evans' place,” Mei-Wan said.
Belvedere laughed.
“So tell me,” Mei-Wan started. “How do you remember events from our timeline?”
“More importantly, how do you remember?” Belvedere asked.
“I have ever since Hank Evans and I ended up in the timeline where Jack didn't exist.”
Belvedere nodded. “Yes, that does make sense.”
“Care to share why?”
“Do you know in the timeline we were in earlier, that you and McCall do run off and have an affair?” Belvedere laughed. “He resigns as Mayor of Chicago, his wife goes on the warpath in a major way, and...” He stopped and smiled.
Mei-Wan fought the urge to grin. He doesn't know about the last timeline I was in!
He was still smiling, obviously at something only he found humorous. “Yes?” she prodded him.
“That timeline was formed when someone traveled back to the early twenty-first century and altered an American election. That in turn caused the Third World War to occur two decades early. In the war, China lost to the United States which accounts for you being a servant.”
Rather than waste time arguing with him, Mei-Wan decided to go along with the game he seemed to want to play. “And this timeline?”
“This is one where some fool Romulan takes a mining ship back to the twenty-third century, attacks a Federation starship, destroys Vulcan, and other nastiness.”
“And you know all of this how?”
Belvedere smiled. “So you remember whenever the timeline changes?”
“Yes.”
“Too bad.”
“Why is that?” Mei-Wan asked. “And why were you seeking me out?”
“Because I always use changes in the timeline to seek you out.”
“Why?” Mei-Wan insisted.
“To torture you.”
Mei-Wan didn't know how to respond to that. Too many possibilities ran through her mind, but none made sense.
“Don't bother asking why,” Belvedere said. “I'm not going to tell you. But... you certainly deserve what I do to you.”
“Who are you?” she asked. “What are you?”
“You're right... I'm more than a Temporal Investigator.”
“A Temporal Engineer.”
Belvedere's eyes widened. “You know a lot more than I would have guessed.”
“That's what you are, isn't it?”
“Yes,” Belvedere said.
“You're manipulating time to some end.”
“How did you learn about the Temporal Engineers?”
Mei-Wan let out a long sigh. Obviously he planned on leaving her in the dark. “Several billion years ago.”
Belvedere thought a moment. “Lorente's mission.”
“Yes.”
“Interesting. You saw a Temporal Engineer there?”
“Yes.” Mei-Wan considered a number of questions, but decided it might be best to go for one which didn't push him too far. “So how do you remember events from one timeline to another?”
He raised his arm, touching it. A set of floating displays hovered above his arm. “By using a probability field generator. Even if my existence were at near zero probability this could keep my existence intact for days.”
“But why do you...”
“Do you remember the other Mei-Wans' memories after you shift back?” he asked, interrupting.
“If I think about them, I can,” she said. “But it tends to fade after a few weeks.”
“Interesting,” he said, observing her. “I've never heard of a case like yours.”
“Like mine?”
“You are becoming fixed in time,” he said. After a moment he smiled. “So that's why the bitch dominates so many.”
“Dominates?” Mei-Wan asked. “What do I dominate?”
“Not you,” Belvedere said. “Someone else.”
“Who?”
“Someone...” He snorted a laugh. “Someone who really isn't important.”
Mei-Wan grew angrier with each question he avoided.
“So why did this Romulan travel back a century?” she asked.
“Accident,” Belvedere said. “But things should be shifting back to normal shortly.”
“So the Temporal Engineers clean up after accidents?”
“Among other things,” he said, looking about the room casually as if he were a visitor at an historical site.
“What outcome are you trying to engineer?”
He hesitated, then smiled. “Fortunately for you, a timeline in which you exist.”
“But why? To what end?”
“Isn't it obvious?”
Mei-Wan had reached her limit. Then a thought crossed her mind. She stood, picked up a lamp and walked toward Belvedere.
“You spoke of torturing me.”
“Yes,” he said.
“How about I do the same to you until you tell me what I want to know?”
Belvedere rose from the couch and stepped back away from her. “Because if you do something to me without realizing we're back in your original timeline, you could be imprisoned for assaulting a fellow Federation citizen.”
“I'll be careful to stop when the timeline shifts again,” she said with a grin.
Suddenly Belvedere stopped. “Is that what Starfleet taught you? To torture people?”
Mei-Wan lowered the lamp. “Okay. A truce then. You don't torture me when the timeline changes and I won't torture you now.”
“I have to stop anyway,” Belvedere said. “Now that I know you remember, I can't do it without running the risk you'll do something that might get in my way in your timeline. So keep the knowledge of the Temporal Engineers from everyone and I'll not torture you.”
Mei-Wan nodded. But a thought came to mind. “How many times have you attacked me prior to my remembering?”
Belvedere frowned. “Not enough.”
The room turned into a swirl of energy.
***
Mei-Wan found herself back in her apartment on Kel-j'na... home.
“Damn it,” she murmured.
She walked over to the window overlooking the alien city. A sign on the building two blocks away displayed the Earth date and time: 14:21 December 25, 2380.
It was still Christmas.
She was supposed to have dinner with the newest member of her archaeological team, Gahdani, at 18:00.
Mei-Wan wished she had someone she could talk to about her timeline shifts, but there was too much of a risk that word might get back to Temporal Investigations.
So many questions flooded Mei-Wan's mind. But one thing was certain...
The last few hours, she was happier than she had been in some time. And the reason for that troubled her more than all the timeline questions, thoughts of temporal engineers, or Belvedere's motivations.
Kissing Jack again made her feel alive. Having him near felt so right.
What was it Jack said?
“No matter what's going on in your world, find a way to get back together with your Jack.”
Mei-Wan shook her head.
No... He's got a different life now. He's married to Melissa.
“Jack...”
* * *
Dark Horizon Story and Characters Copyright ©2012 Michael Gray
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