Beyond the Stars, Beyond the Moon

Part 11: Walking in the stars

Pov: Chekov

I roll over and pick up the PADD. My parents are trying to video call me. I look next to me and Cassie is still fast asleep. Sulu is asleep in his bed too. I act fast before I miss the call, hopping out of bed; going to the bathroom and shutting the door.

"Hi ma, hi papa." I say as I answer.

"Are you....in zhe bathroom, son?" Papa asks.

"Da, sorry, my roommate is sleeping. I didn't vant to wake him."

"Ah I see."Says Papa, then ma says "ve heard you're coming back to earth! And Sveetheart you have a black eye! Are you ok? Vat happened?"

"Mama, it's nothing. I vas...goofing off vith my friends. And ve vill be landing back at Starfleet HQ tomorrow night."

"Vell ve vill hop on a plane and come see you." Ma says.

"Ok, but it might only be for a day. Vhen ve arrive zhere vill be a meeting for zhe captain to attend and zhen ve get our time off during zhe meeting and zhe following day, but zhat is zhe day of zhe Starfleet ball."

"Oh, but you never go to zhose silly things. Are you actually going zhis time?" Ma asks.

"Vell...yes...see...I'm taking my girlfriend."

"Girlfriend?! My little Pavel finally has a girlfriend?! Oh zhis is vonderful Pavel! Is she pretty?"

"Da, ma, she is wery beautiful." I blush.

"Vhat is her name? Vhat is her position?" Papa asks.

"Her name is Cassie, she is an Engineer. She's Scotty's new apprentice."

"How did you meet?" Ma asks, a big smile on her face.

"Ve rescued her crew...she vas on zhe ship zhat was destroyed; zhe Caliber. I vas part of zhe greeting party. And...she's Commander Spock's sister."

Papa seems more interested now. "So she's Wulcan, eh? Does she smile?"

I roll my eyes, but still hold back a laugh, trying to think how it must sound to people who don't know her. "Da, papa, she's half human half Wulcan, but she is definitely more human zhan Spock, and more human zhan Wulcan. If you don't see her ears, you vould not think she is Wulcan."

Papa plays with his beard in thought, nodding in what I'm guessing is approval. Ma speaks up "do ve get to meet her? Maybe ve can have breakfast before you go to zhe ball?"

"Da, zhat sounds ok to me."

Then there's a knock on the bathroom door. "Pavel?" It's Cassie's voice.

Ma and papa hear it and look at me accusingly. "Young man, is zhat girl sleeping in your room?" Ma asks, arms folded. Papa winks at me and doesn't look angry, just curious. I roll my eyes. "I have to go. I vill see you in 2 days for breakfast. Bye ma, bye papa." And before ma could protest I hang up the call. I open the door and Cassie looks at me worried. "Are you ok? Sorry I had to take a wideo call from my parents. I didn't vant to vake you and Sulu."

"I'm ok. I just can't shake this dream..."

"Vas it a nightmare?" I take her in my arms to comfort her.

"No it was..I don't know. Yes? I think I was on Piscian...and I saw a friend of mine from the Caliber that died."

"I'm sorry Cassie. Do you vant to talk about it?"

"There's nothing to talk about really..."

I hold her close. "Do you vant to go for a valk? Maybe to get your mind off it?" She nods. "Vell I know just zhe place"

Pov: Cassie

I'm in a place with lots of running water. I see Kane. He's here. He smiles at me, but something's wrong. It's not the Kane I know. He waves for me to come closer to him and I do. He hands me this weapon; it looks like a phaser but I know it's not. It's heavier. He holds me from behind and tries to aim it for me. When I look up to where he's aiming, I see all my friends; Kirk, bones, Uhura, sulu, Scotty, my Pavel, and my brother. They all look sad and worried, even my brother. I feel my finger on the trigger, and Kane's finger on top of mine. Everything is quiet except the sound of running water. Peaceful; but I can feel Kane slowly forcing me to pull the trigger. I can't move myself. I feel powerless. All I can do is scream "NO!"

~~~~~~~

I jump awake and take in my surroundings, noticing Pavel isn't next to me. I see Sulu still sound asleep in his bed. At least I didn't wake him up. I hear Pavel's voice in the bathroom. I get out of bed shivering and hear Pavel telling someone "Da, zhat sounds ok to me." I shouldn't eavesdrop. So I knock instead. "Pavel?"

I hear a woman say "young man, is zhat girl sleeping in your room?" And Pavel responds "I have to go. I vill see you in 2 days for breakfast. Bye ma, bye papa." He opens the door and looks at me concerned. "Are you ok? Sorry I had to take a wideo call from my parents. I didn't vant to vake you and Sulu."

"I'm ok. I just can't shake this dream..." I respond, slightly shaking as I replay it in my head.

"Vas it a nightmare?" He asks as he pulls me closer to him, holding me close.

I don't want to tell him what happened in the dream. I already feel awful and I don't want him worrying about me, or the dream. Sometime, I should really tell him about Kane. I've been dreaming about him the past two nights...maybe I should suck it up and tell him now. I need to get it off my chest and right now I feel he's the only one I can really talk to about this. "No. It was...I don't know. Yes? I think I was on Piscian. And I saw a friend of mine from the Caliber that died."

"I'm sorry Cassie. Do you vant to talk about it?"

Yes. But..."There's nothing to talk about really..."

He brings me into a closer embrace. "Do you vant to go for a valk? Maybe to get your mind off it?" Yes. That sounds nice. I nod. Hopefully I get sleepy enough too where I fall asleep too tired for nightmares. "Vell I know just zhe place"

We walk out of the room and down the hall too the left, up 1 deck on the lift, then a couple turns down some hallways until we reach a tiny staircase. "Pavel where are we?"

"Just up zhis staircase is my favorite place to think." We climb the staircase and into a tiny room. Pavel presses a button and flips a switch on the wall, and all around us the walls move away, revealing the stars outside the enterprise. I watch them zip past us at warp, amazed and speechless. "Pavel...this is....it's beautiful" he hugs me from behind and kisses my cheek. "Just like you....Oh! I forgot one more thing." He goes back to the wall and presses another button under the previous one. In the middle of the room, a holographic map of the universe (discovered so far) appears.
"Pavel I don't know what to say!" I look around in awe, eventually coming across the space that used to be occupied by Vulcan. I look at it in silence for a moment. Pavel notices and comes over to hold my hand. "Do you miss it?"

"Of course I do...but I more miss my mother. When I was young I wanted nothing more than to leave the silly place and be on earth...but I still lost a big part of me. It's the home I never wanted to call home when I was young, but now...I regret not doing so."

He's silent in understanding. I turn to face him "thank you. For taking me here. It's beautiful." And I lean into him, my lips finding his. We stay there for a few blissful moments. I can see the reflection of stars passing by us in his eyes, then he blushes.

"Cassie...I...I'm glad zhat I'm able to make you happy." I sense he wants to say more, but I'll let it go for now. We sit on the floor against the wall and watch the stars pass us, and the universe circling around us. I fall asleep to the sound of his breathing, which eventually turns into snoring as well.