Everybody Knows This is Nowhere

Part 30 - Forever Lucky

Over a month had elapsed. The Xindi ultimate weapon was destroyed before it reached Earth, and the spheres in the Delphic Expanse were as well. The NX-01 returned to a heroes' welcome. But all was not right, as there were increasing incidents of xenophobia. Many aliens – including Vulcans living in the compound in Sausalito – felt threatened. And so T'Pol and Phlox's visits to the surface were few and far between during the generalized leave.

The captain found himself dealing with interview request after interview request, including a documentary filmmaker who had had access even to members of the crew who had left the ship for the time being or even for the duration. The remainder of the senior staff was also affected, although not as much. The big news stories were, after all, not about them, although Malcolm found he was contacted a lot more than he would have ever wanted.

As for Lili, she rented a tiny short-term furnished efficiency apartment in San Mateo, near where her old restaurant, Voracious, had been. She had neither friends nor family on Earth, and wasn't even too cordial with the people who had worked under her. Things with most of them had ended on a sour note, as many of them had shirked their responsibilities following the Xindi attack and the declaration of war. As for the people who had purchased Voracious – and had then subsequently driven it into bankruptcy – there was no love lost there, either. But the area was familiar, and at least it was off the ship. For on the ship, at that time, there were just too many memories.

Lili took the time in order to try to heal herself. While she did not recall the dream at all, she vividly remembered the last time she had seen Jay alive. And she remembered, all too well, his hastily arranged funeral. Most of the crew had not even known the man's first name.

A lockdown was immediately put on his things, including his personal logs, as his estate was sorted out. And a very real, and very heavy, magnetic lock was placed on the door to his quarters by Malcolm. Lili knew all of that, and it troubled her. It seemed as if Jay were even more shut down in death than he had been in life, and that had scarcely seemed possible.

That morning, she got up and stretched. Her PADD had slid into sleep mode, and it showed the date – March the twenty-seventh of 2154. She glanced at it for a second. "So I'm forty-five today. My God." She yawned and padded into the bathroom, and checked herself in the mirror. "I've got parentheses lines around my mouth. Man, oh, man. You're getting old, Charlotte, you dope."

There was a ding – a message on her PADD. It was from José. "Huh," she checked the sender, "I hope you realize we aren't really married."

Dear Lili,

I checked the ship's calendar, and I saw it was your birthday. So happy birthday! Captain Archer says we will be going back out into space soon. The Columbia will be coming along, too! I'm sure we'll get the call soon.

Your friend,

José Torres

She laughed a little to herself. "I know which José you are!" Then she stopped herself. "Yeah, it's really awkward. It's the textbook definition of awkward. But that was sweet of you. Nobody else remembered."

There was another ding. "I hope you didn't forget something and write me another note. That would be overdoing it. Way to make it even more awkward, Torres." She looked more closely at the from field. It was from Koenig and Brooks, a law firm she did not know. "Oh, please. If you people are trying to bring me into the fiasco that is the Voracious bankruptcy, you are totally barking up the wrong tree and can kiss my Irish patootie." Cautiously, she clicked it open.