Ad Astra :: Star Trek Fanfiction Archive ^{Beam me up, Scotty.}

Chapter Text

Cyrus System—Eleuthra Sector

“Entering Cyrus System.” The Belladonna’s navigator, Ensign Maria Django, reported.

“Are you picking up anything from your scanners, T’Vrel?” Captain Rozsa, sitting in the center seat, inquired of her Vulcan chief science officer as she brushed back a stray lock of strawberry-blonde hair.

“A slight increase in the presence of verteron and chroniton particles and….” The slender Vulcan paused for a moment before continuing her analysis, “Dark energy.”

“Verteron particles, chroniton particles, and dark energy together…” Eliza mused, “Those items are on the list of things the admiral told us to keep an eye out for—right, Captain?”

“Igen.” Zsa-Zsa nodded her head, agreeing with her lover. “T’Vrel? Am I right in saying that those three usually do not occur together naturally?”

“Not completely.” The Vulcan science officer responded, “While very rare, the simultaneous presence of verteron and chroniton particles with dark energy is not unknown. Verteron particles are associated with wormholes and dark energy can be found in any number of situations, and chroniton particles...”

“With time travel.” Zsa-Zsa completed, a frown on her face.

“And time travel is possible by going through a wormhole—correct?” Eliza asked.

“Yes, Commander.” T’Vrel nodded in agreement. “It is possible. Provided one survives the trip that is-.”

“So…we’re looking at a possible wormhole and maybe a temporal incursion on the side.” Zsa-Zsa contemplated the problem, “Let’s go with the worst case and assume for now that is what we are dealing with. The question is whether it’s a natural phenomenon or artificially created.”

“And if it’s artificially created, then by whom and why?” Eliza mused, “Could we be talking barbarians or someone or something else?”

 “T’Vrel? Your thoughts?” Zsa-Zsa prompted. “Can you use those particles to backtrack when that wormhole might have opened?”

“Affirmative, Captain.” The Vulcan science officer responded as she immediately began working on the problem. Moments later, she made her report, “I was able to extrapolate an approximate time frame from the rate of decay of the verteron particles in combination with the rate of dispersal and concentration of dark energy.”

“Jo.” Zsa-Zsa nodded, “What’s your conclusion?”

“Approximately one month.” T’Vrel announced.

“About the same time the colony went dark.” Eliza murmured. “Interesting coincidence.”

“A little too coincidental for my liking.” Zsa-Zsa replied, her brow furrowed as she addressed her tactical/communications officer. “Are you picking up any communications or energy readings from the colony or outpost, Sito?”

“Minimal power and no comm traffic detected, Ma’am.” The blonde Bajoran woman reported.

“Cheirar e esturro.” Ensign Django muttered in Portuguese.

“If that means ‘I smell a rat’…” Ensign Barnes murmured in rare agreement with the dusky-skinned Brazilian woman to his left, “I do too.”

“Igen.” Zsa-Zsa, overhearing her junior officers’ conversation, agreed.  “Put us in standard orbit over Cyrus IV, Mr. Barnes.” she commanded, “I think we should take a closer look.”

“Aye, Captain.” The Irish helmsman acknowledged as he smoothly piloted the recon-destroyer into position. “Standard orbit.”

“Any unusual environmental conditions?” Eliza asked, “Radiation? Microbial life?”

“There are traces of verteron particles on the planet surface near both the colony and the outpost.” T’Vrel reported, “No dangerous concentrations of radiation, but I am picking up some interesting biological readings. And…something else.”

“Can you be a little more clear than…something else?” Eliza prompted with a sarcastic humph.

“Not without closer analysis.” T’Vrel responded.

“Then that’s what we’re going to do.” Zsa-Zsa declared, “Eliza, dragam? Pick a landing party if you would please. Kick a few rocks and see if you can find something out.”

“Aye, Captain.” Eliza promptly acknowledged, “T’Vrel…you’re with me.” Tapping her comm, the olive-skinned first officer commanded, “Mr. Mtolo? Mr. Pearson? Dr. Knoll? Report to transporter one for landing party. Standard equipment loadouts.”

After the three officers acknowledged her orders, Eliza turned to her lover and gave her a sly wink. “Landing party ready to go, Captain.”

“Jo.” Zsa-Zsa winked back, “Find me something interesting, dragam.”

“I’ll see what I can turn up.”

Cyrus IV

Immediately on rematerializing in the middle of a park in the center of the colony, T’Vrel, taking out her tricorder, scanned the area. “No signs of life, Commander. “

“Shit.” Eliza swore in a low voice, “Nothing at all?”

“No, Commander.” T’Vrel shook her head. “Even the livestock and crops are gone.”

“No signs of weapons fire.” Lieutenant Mtolo, the Zulu security chief, announced.

“Anything to indicate transporter use?” Eliza queried.

“No, Ma’am.” Liam, after taking a reading from his tricorder, responded. “No signs of shuttle activity either.”

“So…you’re telling me that the colonists, along with their livestock and crops, disappeared into thin air?”

“Apparently so, Ma’am.” Liam replied, a nervous grin appearing and then disappearing just as rapidly.

“T’Vrel?” Eliza called out to her science officer, “Are you picking up on anything at all?”

“Affirmative.” The slender Vulcan responded, “My tricorder is picking up faint traces of verteron and chroniton particles.”

“Any presence of dark energy or dark matter?” Eliza asked as she surveyed the surrounding area with her eyes.

“Very faint traces of both.” The Vulcan science officer reported.

“What about those weird biological readings you saw from orbit?” Eliza questioned, “Anything there?”

“Hmmm…” T’Vrel vocalized as she tuned her tricorder to another setting.

“Hmmm…what?” Eliza remarked.

“I am picking up very faint mycelial residue.” T’Vrel answered, “Very low concentrations.”

“Do you think they might have anything to do with the colonists vanishing?” The first officer asked.

“Unknown at present.” The Vulcan science officer responded, “There is insufficient evidence with which to formulate a hypothesis.”

“All right.” Eliza decided, “Let’s see if we can get some evidence.” Taking a quick appraisal of her surroundings, the dark-haired first officer pointed at a nearby building. “Over there. That looks like it might be an administrative office. They might have something in their logs. Let’s go.”

As the landing party walked down the quiet street, Lieutenant Mtolo pointed to a wrecked skimmer. “Commander.” Pointing to the skimmer, the security chief remarked, “Take a look at that skimmer and how it crashed into the wall.”

Approaching  the downed vehicle, Eliza attempted to download its traffic log. “That’s odd.” She remarked, “The log’s not there.”

“There should be a recording.” Liam noted, “All vehicles have a monitoring system that records speed and driver habits as well as the usual vehicle maintenance and so on. Tampering with it sets off an alarm.”

“No sign of the alarm being triggered.” Eliza commented, “Nor any signs of it being erased. It’s as if nothing was recorded at all.” Motioning for the Dr. Knoll to join her, the first officer inquired, “Are you picking up any biological or DNA traces doctor?”

Running a scan with his medical transporter, Dr. Knoll replied, “I am picking up faint human DNA traces along with a very faint trace of mycelial spores.”

“I’m also picking up chroniton and verteron particles along with traces of dark energy.” T’Vrel reported.

“All right.” Eliza took a breath and exhaled, “Whatever or whoever took the colonists did so without resistance and possibly without the colonists even knowing it was happening.”

“A reasonable conjecture.” T’Vrel agreed.

“We don’t have enough to go on. We need more information.” Eliza determined, “Let’s continue on to the admin building. We’ll check that out first and then we’ll see what’s going on at the outpost.”

ISS Belladonna

“Commander Flore on the comm for you, Ma’am.” Lieutenant Sito announced.

“Thank you, dahling.” Zsa-Zsa responded as she tapped the comm button on her chair, “Have you got something good for me, dragam?”

“I’ve got something.” Eliza replied, “But I don’t think it’s good.”

“All right.” The Hungarian captain prompted, “Give it to me.”

After delivering a quick and concise report of what her landing team had discovered so far, Eliza advised, “We’re on our way to what we think might be a town hall. We’re going to take a look at what they’ve got there. If we’re lucky, we’ll find some log entries or even recorded evidence. Then we’re going to see what we turn up at the outpost.”

“Jo.” Zsa-Zsa acknowledged, musing, “I’m not sure I like this repeating coincidence of verteron and chroniton particles, dark energy, and spores.”

“I don’t either.” Eliza agreed, “I’ll keep you updated on what we find. Landing party out.”

“Hmmm…” Zsa-Zsa hummed, “Salome, dahling? Widen the range of our scans to include mycelial spores along with verteron and chroniton particles and dark matter and energy. See if you can give me a rough pattern of concentration for all of those within this system. If my guess is right, we might just have a trail to follow.”

“Aye, Captain.” The caramel skinned science/intelligence officer responded, “Scanning now.”

“Report to me once your scans are completed.”

Ground Party

“No sign of a struggle or emergency.” Nealo noted as the landing party entered the building. “See? Someone’s coffee cup is still sitting on the desk.”

“No signs of disturbances at all.” Eliza commented as she motioned for T’Vrel and Liam to join her at an inert computer console. “Liam? Can you get that working again?”

“I’ll need to have a portable generator beamed down.” The English engineer replied.

“Do so.” Eliza ordered.

Tapping his comm, Pearson relayed his instructions to his assistant. A few minutes later, a portable generator materialized next to the computer console. “Give me a moment, luv, and I’ll get it hooked up and going.” After a few more minutes of tinkering, the dark-haired techie flipped a switch. Smirking as the computer beeped, lights flickering on and off and then stabilizing, Liam announced, “You’re in business luvs.”

“T’Vrel?” Eliza prompted, “Can you dig anything up.”

“I will try.” The Vulcan science officer responded. “Computer. Play the last three log entries.”

“No log entries have been recorded on this computer.”

“Have they been erased?” Eliza inquired.

“No log entries have been recorded on this computer.”

“What do you have recorded?” Eliza asked, “Duty rosters? Crop yields? Personnel files?”

“No information has been recorded on this computer.”

“Shit.” The olive-skinned first officer swore. Speaking to her science officer, Eliza asked, “Can you recover any information at all from that computer?”

“Negative.” T’Vrel replied. Her eyebrow raised, she murmured, “Interesting. The computer shows no sign of any activity at all.”

“That’s impossible.” Eliza huffed, “It’s an old computer and it’s obviously a work station. There should be something on it. If nothing else, evidence of reformatting.”

“There isn’t.” T’Vrel responded.

“Could an EMP or something like that have caused it?” Eliza asked.

“Possibly.” T’Vrel conjectured as she activated her tricorder. “Interesting. There is a slightly higher concentration of verteron and chroniton particles here. A high enough quantity of those particles  could conceivably result in the erasure of any data in the computer.”

“And we’re back to verteron and chroniton particles.” Eliza sighed, “Are you picking up any evidence of mycelial spores or anything similar?”

“Affirmative, Commander.” The Vulcan science officer confirmed, “Trace samples.”

“Dark energy?”

“Negative.” T’Vrel shook her head.

“So we have three of the four elements we’ve been chasing after here.” Eliza pondered, “Why no dark energy though?”

“One possibility could be that it had already dissipated.” T’Vrel conjectured, “The traces of dark energy we have detected elsewhere are far lower than the verteron and chroniton particles. It would be logical to assume that it would decompose completely first.”

“For now we’re going to have to go with that.” Eliza declared before issuing her team new orders, “Fan out everyone. I want this building searched from top to bottom. We’re looking for any physical evidence you can find—hardcopy files and documents, data disks and recordings, holo-images, and so on. Set your tricorders to scan for verteron and chroniton particles, mycelial spores, and dark energy. Report back here when you’re done.”

Watching as her team went about their tasks, Eliza opened a desk drawer. “Let’s see if you’ve got anything.”

ISS Belladonna

“How are you coming with those scans, dahling?” Zsa-Zsa asked the tawny-skinned woman currently at the science station.

“All done, Ma’am.” Salome responded, I’ll project the results on the viewscreen.”

“Koszonom. Thank you.” Zsa-Zsa replied. Cupping her chin with her hand, she leaned forward in her chair, carefully studying the results of her science officer’s survey. A sly grin appearing on her face, the Hungarian captain exclaimed, “Just what I expected. Good work, Salome dahling. Now let’s see if Eliza can find the next part of the puzzle.”

“Ma’am?” Lieutenant Barnes queried curiously

“If this is what I think it is…” Zsa-Zsa explained, “Then whoever did this would leave a clue on the ground. What we have here is a general direction towards something, but it’s not complete. I’m betting that we’ll find that at the colony, the outpost, or the ruins. If you’re starting a pool, put me down for fifty solidi on the ruins.”

“And if we do find a solid trail, Ma’am?” Ensign Django asked.

“We follow it.” Zsa-Zsa answered, shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly.

“Works for me.” Sito chuckled.

“I’m glad you approve, dahling.” The Hungarian laughed, “Now be a dear and put on some music please after you raise Eliza for me.”

“Anything special?” The Bajoran tactical officer responded.

“Hmmm…I think I’m in the mood for swing. How about a little Artie Shaw.” Taking a sip of her tea, Zsa-Zsa sat back in her chair. “And now we wait and see what my szereto turns up.”

Landing Party

“We haven’t turned up anything at the colony amante other than a few printed documents on stuff like expected crop yields and some market projections. Other than that, some doodles and sketches—nothing of…wait one!” Eliza exclaimed as her eyes fell upon a particularly disturbing image.

“What is it, dragam?”

Gazing at a hastily drawn sketch showing a bright light on an otherwise dark sky in the direction of the ruins, Eliza murmured, “I think we might have discovered how to find the second part to our puzzle. Captain…” she enthusiastically requested as she motioned her team to gather around her. “I need an immediate transport to the outpost.”

“Is that where you think our solution lies?” 

“No, amante.” Eliza responded, “But I do think there might be some information there that could help us uncover that next part.”

“Lieutenant Sito. Transport the landing party to the outpost.”

“Aye, captain.”

Materializing just outside the outpost entrance, Eliza instructed in a light tone, “T’Vrel. Give me a scan of the area. I’m betting you’ll pick up our trio of particles again.”

Moments later, the Vulcan science officer reported her results. “You were correct in your hunch Commander. Trace particles of verteron and chroniton radiation accompanied by dark energy along with traces of mycelial spores.”

“All right.” The dark-haired first officer commanded, “Let’s see what we find inside. Liam…call down another portable generator for the computer inside. I have a feeling that we’re going to get the same results we got at the colony, but let’s go ahead and make the attempt anyway. T’Vrel? You’re with me and Liam. Dr. Knoll?”

“Infirmary.” The Arkarian doctor finished.

“Right.” Eliza nodded, “Nealo?”

“Search the area.” The Zulu security chief affirmed.

“Let’s get to work.” Eliza directed as she and her team entered the outpost.

Minutes later, Liam announced, “Computer’s up.”

“T’Vrel?” Eliza quipped, “You’re on.”

After several moments of fruitless inquiry, the Vulcan science officer declared, “Similar results to what we found at the colony along with a slight increase in verteron and chroniton particles with traces of mycelial spores, but no dark energy.”

“As I figured.” Eliza remarked before calling out to the Belladonna’s CMO. “Doctor Knoll?”

“Interesting.” The Arkarian physician responded, “You might want to see this, Commander. T’Vrel—you too.”

“Whatcha got for us, Doctor?” Eliza asked as she and T’Vrel entered the infirmary.

“Over here.” Dr. Knoll motioned to a desk. Holding up a piece of paper in his hand, he explained, “I found this on the desk. Just as was the case in the colony infirmary, there was nothing on the computers or scanners. No biobed readings. But when I began to search the CMO’s desk, I found this.” Handing the paper to Eliza, he continued, “See those figures?”

“The numbers written down?” Eliza answered, nodding her head, “Yes. What are they?”

“Before whatever happened to him happened…” the Arkarian doctor exclaimed excitedly, “he recorded his vitals. But he had to use analog and mechanical recording devices.” The doctor pointed to a mercury thermometer, old style blood pressure checker, stethoscope, and O2 and heart sensor.

“Interesting.” T’Vrel observed.

“Very.” Dr. Knoll agreed. “The first number is his body temperature. Second his heart rate. Third O2 saturation level. Final reading blood pressure. He also recorded the time of each check. See how each set of readings declines at a steady rate.”

“It would seem that he is being brought into a state of suspended animation.” T’Vrel commented, cross checking the readings with her tricorder. “Curious.”

“So…” Eliza snarked, “Don’t leave us hanging.”

“When the rate of decline of this individual’s vitals is cross referenced with the concentrations of radiation, it can be extrapolated that he—and presumably the others—were removed via a form of teleportation.”

“Can’t be transporters.” Liam shook his head, “Even after taking into account the delay between our arrival and whatever happened here and the erasure of any digital or optic records, there should still be some evidence of transporter use—decayed buffer patterns if nothing else. Everything’s clean, luv.”

“Then we’re looking at another method of teleportation.” Eliza declared as her security chief approached carrying several papers in his hands.

“Hey Boss! You’re gonna want to see these.”

“Let’s see what you’ve got, Nealo.” Eliza replied as she took the papers and examined them. “Hmmm…there’s something about these glyphs.”

“Do you think they might be a message or pattern, Commander?” Nealo inquired as the rest of the team gathered around.

“Could be.” Eliza replied as she walked towards a conference table. “Let’s take a look, shall we?”  Setting the glyph drawings on a conference table, she looked carefully, putting the glyphs together in different shapes and patterns until a sly smile appeared on her face. “I’ve got it.” She proclaimed as she placed the final piece of the puzzle in place.

“What are we looking at?” Liam queried as he gazed on the completed puzzle.

“If I’m right…” Eliza mused, “This is the key to the second part of the puzzle. Time to take a trip to the ruins.” Tapping her comm badge she requested. “Landing party to Belladonna request immediate transport to the ruins. I might have the answer to our riddle.”

Materializing near the ruins with her team, Eliza shook her head as she gazed at nearly completely eroded columns and pillars. “These are old.” The West Indian first officer gasped. “These ruins must predate the first known humanoid fossils on Terra.”

“Even older.” T’Vrel declared as she took out her tricorder. “The last report from the outpost places them at over two billion years old.”

“Two billion years?” Nealo exclaimed in amazement. “That would make the builders of these ruins…”

“One of the oldest if not the oldest sapient species in the universe.” The Vulcan science officer finished.

“Where did they go?” Liam pondered as he gazed at the stubs that used to be majestic pillars once. “The builders I mean. Shouldn’t the archaeologists here have found at least a few fossils?”

“In a manner of speaking these are the fossils.” T’Vrel lectured, “Given the two billion year time frame, the probability of finding fossil remains of the creators of these ruins would be miniscule at best.”

“In other words the odds of finding a bunch of old bones is somewhere between slim and none.” Eliza quipped, “So any ideas on what these ruins were supposed to be?”

Scanning with her tricorder, the Vulcan science officer raised an eyebrow.

“When you do that thing with your eyebrow, that means you’ve found something interesting T’Vrel. What is it?” Eliza asked.

“The concentration of verteron, chroniton and dark energy particles along with mycelial spores shows a marked increase here.” The Vulcan woman responded.

“How much of an increase?”

“An appreciable increase, but still in very small quantities.” T’Vrel replied, “This would be expected given the length of time since we’ve lost contact with the colony.”

“Let’s take a closer look.” Eliza decided as she led her team to the ruins. Approaching a pillar that had long since tumbled to the ground and had been worn smooth by time, she looked down to see what looked like a faded glyph at the base. A smile appearing on her face, she quipped, “Well look at what we have here.”

“It matches one of the glyphs in the drawing.” Dr. Knoll commented, “But we don’t know it’s purpose.”

“In other words don’t do anything stupid.” Liam joked.

Closely examining the glyph etched on the rock Eliza noticed something vaguely familiar. A sly smile appearing on her face, she announced, “It’s a visual math puzzle. Hmmm…that should be the sequence.” Shuffling through the other drawings in her hand, the smile returned to her face as she picked out one of the drawings. “That’s it. We’ve got the first part of the key. Now we search for that particular glyph.”

“I think I found it!” Nealo called out, waving his commanding officer and the rest of the landing party to him. “It looks just like it.”

“Let’s take a look.” Eliza replied as she carefully examined the glyph. “Yep. Another visual puzzle.” Repeating the process she quickly ascertained the third glyph…then the fourth…and then the final marking. “Well I’ll be an aristo’s whore.” Eliza swore, earning a chuckle from both Nealo and Liam. “I think I’ve solved it.”

“Mind telling those of us who aren’t wizards at solving puzzles what it is?” Nealo bantered adding a respectful “Ma’am.”

“It’s a combination of puzzle types.” Eliza explained, “First you solve the triangle puzzle. Once you’ve solved that, you’re presented with a math puzzle involving figuring out sequences. Get that right you go to the final brain teaser—a droodle. Put it all together and you get a series of coordinates. When combined with the results of Salome’s orbital scan, that should point us to our next destination.” Tapping her comm badge, Eliza called out, “I solved it baby! Beam us up!”

ISS Belladonna

“So…what have you got for me, dragam?” Zsa-Zsa asked as her lover exited the turbolift on to the bridge.

Smiling broadly, Eliza replied, “Our next stop once T’Vrel feeds these coordinates in with Salome’s scans.”

“All right.” Zsa-Zsa nodded, “Let’s see what we’ve got. Display the results of the orbital scan.” Moments later, the starry image on the viewscreen was replaced by the map that Salome had made based on the results of her earlier scan. “Enter in the coordinates, T’Vrel.” Moments later a smile appeared on the captain’s face as a star lit up brighter than the others.

“The Eleuthra System.” Eliza gasped, “The same system the admiral told us about.”

“Igen, dragam.” Zsa-Zsa agreed, “Come with me to my ready room. I think we need to speak to apa now.”

“Champagne, love?” Eliza asked as she walked to the replicator, ordering a champagne for her lover and a margarita for herself.

“Igen, thank you, szereto.” Zsa-Zsa replied as her companion joined her on the couch and handed her a champagne flute filled with the sparkling wine.

“How’s the champagne?” Eliza asked as she took a sip of her margarita.

“Not bad for replicated.” The strawberry-blonde hedonist responded, “How’s the margarita?”

“About the same. Where booze is concerned replicated just isn’t quite as good as the original.”

Nodding her head in agreement, Zsa-Zsa sighed, “I’m going to have to speak to Liam about procuring some champagne and tequila for us at our next shore call.” Setting her glass down, she called out, “Computer. Contact Admiral Bateson on subspace. Scramble and encrypt using our private code.” Moments later the image of an elderly man with a short well maintained grey beard and a bald pate with grey hair around his temples wearing an admiral’s uniform appeared on the screen. “Hello, apa.” Zsa-Zsa smiled fondly on the man, referring to him using the Hungarian word for father.

“Zsa-Zsa. Eliza. I take it you two have news for me?”

“Igen.” Zsa-Zsa responded in the affirmative. “We just finished our survey of Cyrus IV. I’m transmitting the results to you now.”

As his eyes fell on the images of the ruins and their glyphs, the old admiral heaved a sigh. “Apa?” Zsa-Zsa asked with a worried tone as she saw the grave look on her adoptive father’s face.

“Is everything all right mia padre?” Eliza exclaimed, a look of concern on her face as well. “Is something wrong?”

“Something is very wrong.” Morgan thoughtfully responded. “Those ruins and glyphs—they were just like the ones that the Lexington in my universe encountered years ago.”

“What happened?” Zsa-Zsa inquired as both hers and her companion’s attention were now focused solely on their old mentor.

“The Lexington was answering a distress call from a science research vessel that disappeared into a nebula and we ran into a Klingon D-7.”

“And assumed that the Klingons had destroyed it.” Eliza surmised.

“Right.” Morgan nodded, “The Klingons had lost a ship of their own and were even more trigger happy than usual. The moment Commodore Wesley ordered red alert, he, Aliz, Jennifer, and a couple of other people were teleported off the ship along with the captain of the Klingon vessel and some of his crew. They found themselves on an alien world and were unable to recognize any of the stars or constellations.”

“Different galaxy?” Zsa-Zsa conjectured.

“That’s one possibility.” The admiral responded, “Or it could have been a different universe or even dimension. Bob, Aliz, Jennifer and the others had to go through a series of tests and mazes…some of which defy our conception of physics and even reality.”

“They were lab rats.” Eliza concluded with a frown on her face.

“Exactly.” Morgan affirmed. “They had to go through a Darwinian survival of the fittest series of tests where only Bob, Aliz, and Jennifer survived. The Klingons went through something similar—also with only three survivors including their captain. While that was going on, the XOs for both ships had hammered out a reluctant truce and agreed to a joint expedition to a mysterious structure that they had found in the middle of the nebula. Transporters weren’t functional so they had to go by shuttlecraft. Once there, the people they sent ran into the same thing Bob and the others did with similar results. Talana and one or two others were the sole survivors.”

“Did whoever was running those tests explain why they were doing them?” Zsa-Zsa asked.

“No.” Morgan shook his head, “Once they had completed the last test which involved solving a puzzle that used the same set of glyphs as what you dug up, Eliza, they were returned to their ships. Bob and the Klingon captain, both realizing that neither one was responsible for what happened to the Voltaire or the Klingon ship, agreed to extend their truce, giving enough time for both ships to be well clear of each other before the truce expired.”

“Damn.” Zsa-Zsa gasped. Then, looking into her adoptive father’s eyes, she queried in a soft voice, “There’s more isn’t there?”

“Yes.” The admiral nodded, looking, in many ways for the first time, old. “I was on the Lexington when we investigated the Eleuthra IV in my universe.”

“That’s where we’re headed next.” The Hungarian captain noted with concern, “What did you find?”

“Ruins.” Bateson responded, “Much like those you found on Cyrus IV. The Commodore sent down a team led by Talana to investigate and we found those same glyphs again.”

“Shit.” Eliza murmured. “Were they just as old as the ones we found?”

“At least.” Morgan affirmed, “Maybe older. Talana discovered that the glyphs, when arranged in a certain way, opened a portal to other worlds—even other dimensions. At the same time that portal opened, another opened in space. Bob sent a probe through the anomaly. As soon as it entered, both portals closed, but not before something came out of the portal Talana opened.”

“What was it?” Zsa-Zsa asked.

“Something that looked like it might have once been a living being.” The admiral answered, “But whatever sentience it might have had or soul it might have possessed had long gone. It was a killing machine. Talana lost two good people trying to kill that monster. After it was killed, it was brought back to the ship under a level ten confinement field and an autopsy was performed.

“What were the results of the autopsy, apa?” Zsa-Zsa inquired with a worried frown.

“That it was extra-universal in origin, but not just from one universe.” Morgan declared. “Not only were cybernetic implants present, but so also a great deal of genetic and biological augmentation and manipulation—on a level far in advance of what we’re capable of.’

“So you think we might find another one of those portals on our Eleuthra IV?” Zsa-Zsa concluded.

“Exactly.” The admiral responded, “And…if I am right…whoever has been using those portals has been doing it for a long time and we might be one of their next targets.”

“So what do you want us to do?” Zsa-Zsa asked, “Make it to where the portal can’t be used?”

“No.” Morgan shook his head, his expression one of grave sadness, “Whoever is doing this appears to be able to open portals at will. The permanent structures that those ruins most likely represent appear to be more along the lines of nexus points or stations. They make intergalactic and interuniversal quicker and more convenient and most likely permit more stable networks, but that’s about it. If we were to close that portal, they’d just use or open another one somewhere else. “What I’m going to have to ask you to do is something much more painful and is purely voluntary on your part.”

“You want us to go through a portal and see what’s there.” Zsa-Zsa concluded.

 “Yes.” Morgan nodded, “And I am so sorry that I have to ask you to do this. I’ve lost two women I loved and wanted to spend the rest of my life with and now I must ask the two women who have become the daughters I’ve never had to risk themselves and those with them on a possible one way voyage. I’ll understand completely if you choose not to do this. As I said, this is strictly voluntary and I wouldn’t blame you one bit if you said no. If you choose not to do this, Zsa-Zsa, don’t worry, you’ll still retain command of the Belladonna and will be assigned other missions. Eliza—same goes for you.”

“Do you think the situation is that serious?” Zsa-Zsa asked as she grasped her lover’s hand in hers.

“Yes, my dears, I do.” Morgan replied earnestly, “This is not a request I’m making lightly and I have wracked my brain for years trying to find an alternative, but I don’t think there is one. If we don’t find out who’s doing this, why they’re doing it, and put a stop to it, then not just our universe and reality, but any number of others, might be in danger—including the one I came from. I wish I could go with you, but I have to stay with the Emperor and Alexei. We’re at a very important crossroads now. We’ve got to keep the reforms going while at the same time do our damnest to reach out to our enemies like the Klingons and Romulans.”

“That’s not going to be easy.” Eliza commented with a wry grin.

“You’re right about that, my dear.’ Morgan answered back with a sardonic smirk of his own. “We’re going to have our hands full not just with the Romulans and Klingons but also the Peerage, the major merchant houses, and others who don’t want to see us succeed. We have to continue with what we’ve started if we’re going to have any hope of preparing this small corner of our universe for the coming storm. Your job will be to find us allies as you work to unravel this mystery from your end. Oh. One other thing. If an old friend of mine got the message I sent him long…long ago—a message similar to the one I’m giving you now—and if he acted on it which—knowing him—he did, then you’ll have at least one ally to help you. I’ll tell you more later. So, I need to know your decision, and I’m sorry, but I need to know it now.”

Zsa-Zsa and Eliza both gazed into each other’s eyes for what seemed several minutes silently holding each other’s hands until, almost simultaneously, they both nodded their heads. Turning back to their adoptive father, they answered in unison, “We’re in.”

Choking up, Morgan wiped the tears from his eyes. “I am so proud of you and I love you both.” Regaining control over his emotions, the old admiral said in a warm voice, “I’ll meet you at Eleuthra IV and we’ll make final plans. I’ll see you then.”

“We’ll see you at Eleuthra IV, apa.” Zsa-Zsa smiled back.

“Eleuthra IV, padre.”

“Eleuthra IV.” Morgan responded. “Until later. Signing off.”