Chapter Text

Chapter Fourteen: Future

Nora Laas had decided to return to the testing site. If there was even the slightest chance to follow the captain she would take it.

       José Carlos and T’Nerr were hot on her heels as she ran back toward the accelerator device. Even before she had reached it, she could see that the bright white pillar of light into which the captain and Deen had disappeared had returned.

       She tapped her combadge. “Skyler, what’s the status of those guards?” she said as she kept pace.

       “I count eight of them now. You’re about to run into them at any second.”

       She nodded even though she was sure that McIntyre would not be able to notice. “I’ll make a run for the platform. Cover me.”

       “Understood.”

       She tapped the badge again. “You too,” she said without turning. “Retreat as soon as I’m through or in case I don’t make it.”

       At that moment two Romulan soldiers stepped out in the open, slowly approaching the accelerator. They both spotted the charging Bajoran immediately. The first guard didn’t even get the chance to bring up his weapon. McIntyre’s aim was spot on and he was ripped off his feet by a well-placed sniper blast.

       The second guard had slightly more time but it was still not enough to give him an advantage. He was struck down by Carlos’ phaser seconds after his comrade had hit the ground.

       Laas continued across the testing site to get to the transporter pad at the opposite end. She heard more firing but it was coming from behind her now.

       Then one of the guards stepped right into her path. She jumped aside just in time to avoid the disruptor charge he had unleashed. She found a few barrels to use for cover and when she heard a loud blast, she quickly ventured a look. McIntyre had been on target again. The Romulan soldier was already lying motionless on the ground.

       Just as she tried to get up, she was forced back down by a barrage of incoming fire. Two Romulans had taken cover behind a crate directly across from her and had her pinned now.

       Leaning with her back against the barrels she hit her combadge. “Skyler, I could use your help here.”

       “Sorry Lieutenant, I don’t have a shot.”

       She turned to see if Carlos or T’Nerr could intervene but they had been forced back by another group of Romulans and she was effectively cut off from them.

       Just then she was blinded by an intense bright light. It lasted just a few seconds but when she could see again she found that both Owens and Deen had reappeared on the platform. Frobisher had also returned and another man, a Vulcan, was with them as well.

       The Romulan guards ceased firing for the moment as they found themselves surprised by the sudden appearance. They quickly decided to take aim at the new targets of opportunity. Nora reacted instinctively and jumped out from behind the barrels and opened fire at the distracted Romulans. She connected with one of them but the other had managed to shift position in time and return fire, hitting her in the shoulder.

       The adrenaline coursing through her made Laas hardly even register the pain but the force of the impact spun her backward and she lost her footing. She thought she heard another sniper blast before she hit the ground.

* * *

The first thing Michael realized when he opened his eyes was that he was back on Shakanara III in his own time. It had been days since he had last seen this place and yet everything seemed instantly familiar.

He wore his black special operations uniform again and most amazing of all he could sense no traces of the battering his body had received minutes earlier. It was as though he had swapped bodies. His mind, however, was not as fast to recover. Even though the physical pain was gone, it was still all too real in his mind.

Around him, the world seemed at war.

The Romulans and his people were engaged in a firefight and he became quickly concerned as to what might happen if a stray beam would hit the anti-matter accelerator that stood just a few paces from the battle.

He didn’t get much of a chance to worry about that when he spotted Frobisher. He had returned from the past as well but he had adapted to the sudden change much better than the others. He had jumped on his feet and was quickly attempting to put some distance to the battlefield by running toward one of the surrounding mountain ranges.

Michael turned to pursue the scientist. He was determined that after all he had been through, after all, that Frobisher had done, he would not allow him to escape a second time. He would make damned sure that this place would see the end of the chase that had begun what now seemed like a lifetime ago.

He didn’t get far. Nakaar who had just recovered from his involuntary trip through time stepped into the captain’s path, his disruptor pistol pointed at his chest.

“You’re not going anywhere. I need answers and somebody will talk,” he said through clenched teeth. “I want to know what exactly just happened.”

Michael was about to reply when somebody else beat him to it.

“We’re way past talking, Nakaar.”

Michael and Nakaar turned to see So’Dan Leva who had seemingly appeared out of thin air. He held a phaser and pointed it at the Romulan spy. He didn’t wait for a reply and squeezed the trigger.

Nakaar jumped just in time, avoiding the incoming discharge by a hair’s length.

“Are you all right, Commander?” he said.

Leva offered a serious nod. “I’ve got this, sir,” he said and under any other circumstances, Michael would have been concerned about the look of murder in the other man’s eyes.

He could relate.

He decided that he didn’t have the time to get involved. He had his own battle to fight.

Without any more delay, he took off after Frobisher who had disappeared behind a few large boulders up the mountain slope ahead. His mind was set on a single task: Stop Frobisher, no matter what.

* * *

So’Dan uttered a nasty Romulan curse when he realized that he had missed Nakaar.

He’d had a clear shot and he could have ended it right then and there. It hadn’t felt right to shoot Nakaar in the back, however. Even though he was convinced that he deserved little better. It would have been poetic justice.

He found cover behind a large, black processing unit. “This ends here, Nakaar,” he said as he fired his weapon. “There’s nowhere else you can run to.”

The disguised Vulcan responded in kind but only managed to connect with the sturdy computing device. “I admit you have turned out to be a formidable opponent. But you have always been a step behind. Half measures, So’Dan. Half measures from a half-Romulan. It’s the best you can do. Don’t blame yourself, it’s in your DNA.”

So’Dan fired a few covering shots and jumped out from behind the processing unit to head for the accelerator.

Nakaar returned fire but So’Dan turned out to be an elusive target.

The Romulan spy jerked around with alarm when a powerful high-angle blast impacted just a few centimeters from him, hitting the ground and blowing up dust and dirt.

Nakaar quickly ascertained that a sniper had taken up position somewhere on the surrounding mountain range. He fired a couple of blasts in that general direction and then left his cover to go after Leva. But instead of following the path the half-Romulan Starfleet officer had taken, he circled the accelerator the other way. He found no sign of Leva. Too late did he think of looking in the one place he would have chosen to hide.

       So’Dan lept from the accelerator and landed right on top of Nakaar pulling him to the ground. Nakaar hit the solid floor plates of the platform hardest. He lost hold of his disruptor, which fell into a depression and out of reach. Dazed he tried to get back up but a square kick to his midsection stopped him short. He flopped onto his back seeing Leva towering over him through half-closed eyes. He managed a small smile.

       “You’re a warrior after all,” he said. “Maybe there is more Romulan in you than I gave you credit for.”

       There was unadulterated hate mirrored in So’Dan’s eyes now and his boot connected with his defenseless opponent’s head, slamming it to one side and knocking free teeth and blood.

       He simply laughed. “It may not be too late for you, after all. We both know that Starfleet is not your true home. I can see it in your eyes. You long to be with your people.”

       So’Dan felt nothing but pity for his enemy. He had been defeated and was now reduced to fighting with his only remaining weapon. His pathetic attempts at subversion.

       Nakaar shifted slightly and began to sit up against the accelerator. “Look inside you and you’ll know I speak the truth. You have felt lost all your life. You never really fit in, did you? Did you?”

       As much as he hated it, he could not deny some truth to what Nakaar said. He had always been an outsider, nearly unique in his origins he had never been able to feel the same way many of his fellow officers and friends did. He had no place to call home, no people to call his countrymen. It was true that he had made friends. Nora, Deen, Culsten, and even though they were, like him, minorities in an organization dominated by humans and other races, at least they all had a place to go to where they could be with their own kind. He did not.

       Nakaar could sense that he was getting somewhere. “You’ve doubted your place in Starfleet, I know. It’s not where you belong. Come with me and return to your home which is yours by birthright.”

       So’Dan let his gaze slip for just a few moments. His home? Eagle was his home now. And suddenly it was all perfectly clear. Home was not some physical place on some planet. It was wherever it felt right. Wherever he felt accepted and respected. For now, that place was Eagle. He did not doubt that on Romulus he would be even more an outsider than he had been on Earth. He had been a child when he had grown up in a Romulan colony where he had been teased and ridiculed for his appearance.

       Nakaar found what he had been looking for. His hand had moved behind his back and into the depression in which his weapon had disappeared earlier. His fingers gripped the handle and when he noticed Leva’s momentary distraction, he sprang into action. Fast as lightning, his arm swung around, disruptor at the ready.

Not fast enough.

So’Dan spotted the movement and brought up his leg to kick the weapon out of his hand. His boot connected and the disruptor went flying out of Nakaar’s hand again.

       Nakaar seized his opportunity and promptly kicked out his other leg from underneath him and So’Dan went down hard. He managed to soften his fall somewhat and roll to his side. Nakaar had jumped to his feet to make a run for it, quickly disappearing behind the accelerator.

       So’Dan found the disruptor, got up, and raced after Nakaar. Once he had made it around the large machine, he spotted the spy running across open space, away from him and the accelerator.

So’Dan stopped in his tracks.

       A group of at least two dozen Romulan soldiers had made their way from the base and Nakaar was running right toward them. He reached the soldiers and turned around, backed by a small army. A triumphant, toothless smile on his bloodied lips now. “A shame, really,” he said, sounding almost disappointed. “Kill him.”

       The soldiers collectively raised their rifles.

       So’Dan had no cover left but the accelerator itself. He had been too preoccupied to wonder about the large machine that emitted a powerful energy beam high into orbit. For now, it seemed like his only chance, and without a second thought, he ran for his life to get back behind it.

       A barrage of emerald energy beams followed in his wake and by some sort of miracle none of them connected before he could dive behind that machine. They did however find the accelerator, piercing the black outer casing of the device.

       “Cease fire, you idiots!” shouted Nakaar over the thunderous noise of the weapon discharges.

       The soldiers quickly complied.

       An eerie silence followed.

       Nakaar took a few careful steps toward the device, now covered with dark scorch marks. He stood there, a few meters from the accelerator, and watched it intently.

Nothing happened.

       He turned to look at the soldiers who had followed him. “Do not fire at the device it can be extremely unstable and—” he stopped himself when he noticed the worried expressions on the soldier’s faces.

       Slowly he turned back around.

As he looked up, he realized that the energy beam was beginning to fluctuate noticeably. He took a step backward. Bright light began to pierce the small cracks that had been ripped into the accelerator’s outer casing.

Within seconds the cracks began to expand into fissures. Nakaar took another step away from the machine. It was too late.

 The beam had collapsed entirely and the resulting feedback shot out through the fissures in the casing. The bright light had transformed into uncontrolled bursts of cobalt-colored energy that sliced through everything and anyone they came into contact with.

Nakaar and his soldiers were dead in seconds.

* * *

As soon as the firing had stopped, SoDan had made a run for it, deciding that it be best to put as much distance between him and Nakaar as possible.

He had put no twenty meters between him and the accelerator when he heard a low rumble followed by a choir of screams. He forced himself not to look back as he picked up the pace.

Not a moment later, he was gripped by a shockwave.

He was lifted off the ground and catapulted forward through the air. It was the rough landing that was the painful part.

He remained motionless in the dirt.

       “So’?”

       The voice sounded familiar. He looked up and spotted a female figure approaching him. She was clad completely in black. She knelt next to him to help him back onto his feet. It was only then that he recognized her.“Laas?”

       “What’re you doing here?” she said once he was back on unsteady legs.

       “Long story,” he said and noticed that her shirt had been ripped at the shoulder, a makeshift white bandage covering what appeared to be a disruptor burn. “You’re injured.”

       She shook her head. “I’ve had worse. We need to get out of here, now,” she said and gestured toward the accelerator. It was beginning to fall apart as the fissures ripped open the outer casing. “That thing uses anti-matter as a power source. Once the containment field collapses, there’ll be nothing left but a crater.”

       He nodded and then spotted three other figures wearing black outfits coming into view.

       “Where’s the Captain?” she said.

       He turned back but couldn’t spot him anywhere. He regretted that he hadn’t kept his eye on him now. He had been too preoccupied with Nakaar.

       “I think he followed somebody up that mountain over there.”

       Laas quickly set out in the direction Leva had pointed toward the platform with the accelerator. “We have to get him,” she said but didn’t get far when Leva’s firm grasp reached out for her arm.

       “We’ll never reach him in time. If you’re right about that machine, we need to get as far away from it as possible right now.”

       “We can’t just leave him.”

       “We have no choice. With any luck, he’s already out of the blast radius.”

       She tried to free herself unsuccessfully. “I don’t believe in luck.”

       “Laas, we need to get you and your people out of here now. That’s an order.”

       She shot her friend an icy stare. It had been the first time since they had worked together on Eagle that he had pulled rank on her.

She looked back at the device. A powerful discharge had erupted from its main body, obliterating the far side of the testing facility. Now the fissures were slowly creeping around the bulb-shaped casing, unleashing deadly energy as the device was slowly slicing itself open. She hated leaving anybody behind but that she would have to give up on the captain was her worst nightmare come true.

She couldn’t argue with Leva. Any attempt to get to Owens now would be suicide. She stopped resisting his hold on her and he let go.

       “Let’s get out of here.”

* * *

Catching up with Frobisher didn’t prove to be difficult for him. The Starfleet captain was clearly in much better shape than the older scientist.

       It was on a flat plateau not halfway up the mountain where Michael found Frobisher out of breath and leaning against a flat rock. He did not look surprised when he spotted the black-clad Starfleet officer approach.

       “I assume you have come to kill me.”

       He approached the man slowly, carefully taking in his surroundings, making sure that no surprises were waiting for him this time. If he had learned one thing over the last few days, it was not to underestimate Frobisher.

       “It’s over,” he said. “You have not changed history. Your machine did not work.”

       “It worked,” Frobisher shot back with such furious indignation, spittle flew from his mouth. “It worked flawlessly. You have no idea what you’ve done. There is no limit to your ignorance. I could have changed the entire galaxy for the better.”

       “By killing millions?”

       “It would have been a small price to pay,” said Frobisher. His voice had grown significantly smaller, much less sure of himself. “A small price,” he added in a whisper.

       Michael shook his head. The man had lost his mind, he was sure of that now. Somewhere along the way he had stopped caring about anything that was not related to himself and his ego. He wasn’t sure if it had happened before or after Michael had stopped him the first time around but it most certainly had happened. He almost felt pity for the man. Almost. If there hadn’t been one thing that refused his mind to feel anything but scorn.

       “Westren Jarett Frobisher, I’m taking you into custody for the willful attempt to change the timeline, for the reckless endangerment of countless lives, and for the murder of Matthew Owens,” he said and took another step forward.

       At the mention of Frobisher’s former colleague, the scientist raised his head to look straight at him. “I’m not the only one who failed, am I?” he said, a vicious smile forming on his lips. “You might have stopped me from fulfilling my rightful destiny but at what price?”

       Michael took another step forward and Frobisher took a step back. Neither of them was aware of the fact that they were just a few meters away from the edge of the plateau that ended abruptly to open up to a steep ledge to the valley below.

       “I set out to do one thing if you remember,” Frobisher continued. “To kill your brother in front of you. I can live with the knowledge that I have fulfilled that. Can you?”

       Michael froze. He had since promised himself to apprehend Frobisher alive. To handle the matter professionally and emotionally detached. But it was so much easier to give in to the anger that had festered inside of him.

       “I delivered on that promise I made you. How does it feel? Tell me, how does it feel to lose somebody you love twice?”

       Michael took another wordless step toward the scientist.

       “You have nobody but yourself to blame,” Frobisher said calmly as he tried to maintain his distance from the approaching man. “You killed him. You had a choice and you decided to doom your own brother.”

       Michael knew exactly what Frobisher was doing. He had done it before and quite successfully so. This time he would not give him the satisfaction of losing control, he vowed. This time would be different. Yet he couldn’t ignore the pain the words caused. On some level, he knew they were true. He had made a decision. It had been a necessary one.

       He finally noticed that Frobisher was backing up straight toward the precipice. A few more steps and the ground would disappear and Frobisher would fall. All he had to do was continue toward him. Just a few more steps.

       Michael didn’t stop and neither did Frobisher as they approached the ledge of the plateau. Frobisher would die and Michael didn’t have to do anything. It wasn’t murder, he convinced himself. It would be nothing more than an accident. He would walk away from his death innocently, without any blame. In return, he would see the man that had brought him so much pain die right in front of his eyes. He’d finally get the satisfaction he so desperately yearned for.

       “Michael.”

       Startled he whipped around at the sound of the voice calling out for him.

It was DeMara, climbing onto the plateau. He had been too preoccupied earlier to notice that she had taken after him. She was still too far out to notice the cliff; she had no idea of what was about to happen here.

       He considered her for a moment. She looked worried but that wasn’t what disturbed him. It was something else, something more elementary.

       This is not me. I’m better than this.

       He whipped back around to spot Frobisher just one step away from certain doom.

       “Watch out!” he shouted.

       An ear-shattering noise ripped through the sky and the ground underneath his feet began to tremble. Michael had no time to wonder what had happened.

       The quake caused Frobisher to lose his footing. He looked around, his eyes opened wide when he saw the gaping emptiness behind him. His foot slipped and he cried out as gravity reached out for him and pulled him back.

Michael leapt toward the other man but he was not fast enough to reach the falling Frobisher in time.

Miraculously, the scientist managed to hold on to the ledge, momentarily suspended in the air about four hundred meters or above the ground. Just as his grip slipped off the rock, Michael caught one of his hands.

Frobisher looked up at his would-be savior. For a few moments, they both stared at each other in utter silence. Both of them unable to believe that their day’s long chase had come down to this.

       Frobisher began to frantically whisk his legs around, causing Michael who was spread out on the plateau to slip slowly toward the ledge.

       “Stay still or we’ll both fall.”

       Frobisher looked up again and Michael realized his mistake.

       “My life is over, you saw to that,” Frobisher said with spite.

       Before he could let go, Frobisher reached out to grip Michael’s wrist firmly, clearly determined not to let go. Instead, he began to try and pull himself up, causing Michael to slip even faster. With his other hand, Frobisher reached out and around Michael’s neck to pull himself up until his head was right next to the captain’s ear.

       “I’ll drag you down to hell with me.”

       Michael fought but the pull of gravity was stronger.

The weight of the scientist caused the muscles in his arms to burn painfully and they felt ready to tear away.

He forced all his willpower into blocking the pain as he drove his forehead hard into Frobisher’s.

The scientist let go of his neck but kept his grip on his wrist. Michael knew it was going to be over soon when his shoulders were threatening to go over the edge. He had no more leverage that he could use to keep his body from slipping. He decided that if he had to die, he was not going to do so with Frobisher dragging him all the way into his own grave. He brought down his other hand and punched Frobisher hard in his face.

       Westren Frobisher cried out in pain and lost his grip on Michael’s wrist.  He fell. His screams echoed throughout the valley as he plunged toward his inevitable demise.

       Michael tried to dig in with the tips of his boots but it wasn’t enough to stop his momentum as he slipped head-first toward the chasm.

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and prepared himself for what was to come. And then, all of a sudden, his forward movement came to a stop.

       Somebody grabbed his ankles and began to pull him away from the edge. Michael opened his eyes just in time to lose sight of Frobisher’s deadly impact with the ground below.

       Clear of the ridge Michael turned over finding that he had never been happier to see the angelic face of DeMara Deen smiling at him.

       “Your timing is impeccable,” he said and returned her smile.

       “Had to allow for some dramatic effect.”

       The captain sat up. “Next time, don’t.” He had an urge to look over the edge again but he knew exactly what he was going to find. He decided against it. It wasn’t worth it.

       She dropped down next to him. “I think the accelerator just exploded.”

       He nodded slowly and stared into nothingness.

       “Are you all right?”

       He glanced into her purple eyes for a moment. “If you hadn’t shown up earlier, I don’t know what I would have done. Or not done.”

       She didn’t reply.

       “I’m thankful that you did, Dee. I really am.”

       “He’s dead now,” she said. “It does no longer matter what you may or may not have done.”

       “I think it does.”

       She put a hand on his shoulder. “Michael, you’ve been through a lot these last few days. More than can be expected of most people. Given the circumstances you—” she stopped herself when she heard the sound of approaching footsteps. They both jumped onto their feet.

       “I’ve got a bad feeling this isn’t over yet,” Michael said.

       Seconds later his fears were confirmed when a dozen heavily armed Romulan soldiers climbed onto the plateau. They immediately brought their weapons to bear.

       They never got a chance to fire. Instead, they watched helplessly as the two black-clad figures vanished into thin air right in front of their very eyes.