"Can you contact the folks on the surface?" Doug asked, "I know Tucker's father – at least I'm about ninety percent sure he's who I think he is. I might be able to persuade him to help."
"The Empress monitors communications," Joss said.
"All of them?"
"Probably," DR said, "But I can check. It'll be less suspicious if I do it."
"He's right," Joss said, "The Empress pays attention to whatever I do. But she doesn't give a damn about DR here. I wish I could get outta hunting. I'm kinda sorry you suggested that, Dad."
"It'll get everyone on the surface," Doug said.
"You gotta understand," DR said, "Joss here doesn't hunt."
"I don't do any of that," Joss confirmed, "It's why I bothered getting good at baseball. Through the years, if I could show I was doing that, no one made me hunt or, ugh, participate in torture."
"They made Tom do that, didn't they?" Doug asked.
DR nodded, "I'm not so sure making is the right word for that. At least, not anymore."
"You mean he's a willing participant?"
"Definitely," Joss said, "He's, well, back in 2166, we all – except for DR, I guess – we felt a strong pull to this side of the pond. I mean, we're half and half, right?"
"Yep," Doug said grimly.
"Tom, I think he felt the strongest pull of all of us. Even more than Empy did, or does. I went in to follow him, and get him back. Empy followed but she was also drawn," Joss said.
"And you?" Doug asked DR.
"I ended up along for the ride," The boy replied, "A sled ride down into another universe, where I don't belong at all."
"We'll get you back – all of you," Doug said, "even if I have to put a phaser on stun and shoot Tommy to get him to come back with us. Get in touch with Tucker, however you can. I gotta go, but I'll get to the galley tonight. If you can get through, tell your mother, Joss. We gotta act quickly," he departed.
=/\=
"Can you wake me in, I dunno, twenty minutes?" Lili asked.
"You won't get enough sleep that way, Yilben," Susan said to her.
"It's okay. Right now, I need whatever I can get. Thanks."
=/\=
It was the same large area as before, similarly populated.
Species of all types milled around, mostly unsure of where to go. Purposeful strides would get her somewhere, but Lili was unsure of where to go. Without Malcolm, and Doug was awake, who would she be able to meet?
Calafans were more coherent in their movements, but she couldn't understand what they were saying. They were definitely communicating – she saw gestures – earlobe tugs, hands brushed over mouths, occasionally finger flicks or nose touches, all of that was still going on. And she understood enough of their language to expect to hear some words she knew, like ilben – heart – or fep – small – or cha – faith – or pran – sky – or mar – maps. But nothing. It was more like clicking and popping.
It was static. She recognized static. Way back when, a billion years ago or so, 2153 – she was on the other side of the pond, and working as a sous-chef for the Enterprise. She was also in the process of selling her old restaurant in San Mateo, a fusion place called Voracious. That was long before she and Doug had opened up Reversal. Hell, it was long before she and Doug had made contact, or she even knew he existed or that there was such a thing as a pond and a whole other place on the other side of it, where a funhouse mirror imperfectly reflected so many people into worse versions of themselves.
Jay, Doug's counterpart, he was still alive. But they hadn't had a romance. She had to admit, though, she'd found him attractive. But he was thoroughly unapproachable. She could barely stammer out a good morning to him – it was like trying to talk to a famous ballplayer like Ty Janeway. But, static. She would call the people buying Voracious. And they had been pleasant enough but there was always some sort of a complaint. She'd had to explain, over and over again – in the midst of the Xindi War, for gosh's sake! – How to jigger the knob and turn on the oven, who to see about getting the freshest salmon and so on and so forth. The reception was never any good, despite what Hoshi Sato – the Empress's counterpart, that was to laugh – could do.
These sounds were like that. It was just so much white noise, impossible to decipher. She thought she heard the word miva – clay – suddenly, but she was being shaken on the shoulder.
=/\=
Lili awoke.
"It's time," Susan said.
"Oh, thanks."
Lili got herself to the galley. Lunch would be ... something.
=/\=
Polloria was stacking boxes when she arrived, "We're running low on things," she said as Lili came in.
"Like what?"
"Everything, it seems. We'll probably have to go back to serving the Empress slop, and she is absolutely gonna hate that. We'll be punished – you, in particular – if you can't whip up some other miracle."
"Heh, great," Lili said.
There was a communications chime. Polloria answered it, "Yes. All right. Good. Polloria out."
"And?" Lili asked.
"Seems that there's going to be another hunt tomorrow. And then we'll leave the system the following day."
"Oh. I suppose you'll miss the Lafa System," Lili also thought about getting out. Being away from the gap – even if it was closed – was not a good thing. Absentmindedly, she touched the chain around her neck, but had the presence of mind to not pull it out. She didn't want to have to explain – or potentially lose – the only valuable possessions she had. And to lose the key would be the worst. It was all she had left of Malcolm, and had consulted the internal poem throughout the previous night, as she tried desperately to comfort herself, even a little bit, for his loss. It was still very, very fresh.
"Well, yes. But I don't have perfectly positive nostalgia for here."
"Oh? I thought all, uh, of us," Lili said cautiously as she was unsure as to who might be listening in, "wanted to stay here."
Polloria came a lot closer, "I am surprised you have forgotten who I am," she said quietly.
"I guess I didn't want to believe it," Lili said, "But I guess that there aren't any duplicated first names, are there?"
"No. Not until a death," Polloria said, "You must know we don't have surnames, so this is the only way to tell us all apart in the records. There is but one master of music – Aliwev. And one delicate serving girl of Lo – me."
"And you are an escaped criminal?" Lili asked.
"Not escaped. They let us all out," Polloria said, "I think it was cheaper than keeping us in there. We became available for slave labor, as you can see. I am here, of course. Baden, my accomplice, he was not so fortunate."
"This is fortunate?"
"It is if you've been designated for laboratory experiments," Polloria said, "His name meant prosperous," she shook her head, a mass of coppery red waves, "He was far from that at the end. A doctor, becoming a lab rat. Not a good doctor, to be sure, but still. For me, it was, well, I was sentenced to potassium injections."
"Yes, I'm remembering that now," Lili said, "You, well, it was a plot to kill the High Priestess, yes?"
"Yes, and she was eventually killed. I regret that now. But potassium injections – it's a horrid punishment. I lived that way for about a decade or so. Existed, really. Lived implies I was, perhaps, happy or at least in control of my faculties. It changes you," Polloria said, "All that was important before was power. Now, survival. And it would be good to have freedom, of course. But right now, survival. Anywhere but here."
"Polloria, you've seen what's going on at night. Why is it all staticky?"
"Ah, they set it up. Good," she said, and went back to stacking.
"Set up what?"
"It's a cover. There are prying eyes. The Empress; she's now living in dreams. It must be the ultimate in despotism, to control not only your subjects' waking lives but also their sleeping ones. Perfect totalitarianism. Now, while I expected and hoped I would have control, I hadn't thought or even really wanted to peek into nighttime dalliances. Maybe I wasn't thinking big enough. I don't know. That hardly matters now."
"Why would she want to look in?" Lili asked, but she had an idea of the answer already.
"Oh, well, if your subjects can speak to one another while unconscious, they can plot against you. Root out the conspirators and send them to the booth!"
"Are there listening posts here, all around us?"
"No. At least, I suspect there aren't, for too many things have happened, and have been said, without consequence. But I wouldn't put it past her for the future. But for now, I expect she feels it's either dull or counterproductive."
"Hmm. A big setup like that would entail a huge bureaucracy," Lili suggested, "I don't think anyone here is interested in records and recordkeeping."
"Except the third one, Arashi," Polloria said, "If he gets control after her death, I am sure he will take every means necessary to assure that he is looking in on every single aspect of everyone's lives. He'll be searching for oddities, rebellions, conspiracies, anomalies and anything else that tickles his fancy. Of all of them, I hate her the most, and I wish her dead," Polloria said the last few words very quietly, and Lili had to strain to really hear her, "But it's Arashi who truly scares me. Anyone with a brain in their head should, if they take her out, take him out as well."
=/\=
"Ha, that's it," DR said to himself as he clicked on a PADD.
"What's what?" Joss asked. They were sitting in quarters together, and Joss was absently looking over film of his batting stance from the game against the Hunters.
"I figured out how to get through to the surface."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. I'll make it look like a love letter to Betsy," DR said, "Once they see it's just a teenage crush note, they'll leave us alone."
"You sure about that?"
"I'm not sure about anything. And Betsy might just delete it without reading it. But I know that a note I sent wasn't intercepted."
"A note?" Joss asked.
"Yeah, I wrote to Bernstein," he said, "It was last year, but no one gave me grief about it."
"It's all we've got, I guess," Joss said, "Start writing."
"Hmm," DR started to type.
Dear Betsy,
I saw you at the game and I hope you saw me. I think you're really pretty and have a beautiful smile. I hope we can see each other some time. We are leaving the system soon, but we're planning on a hunt on the surface. I think it'll be tomorrow. You know I don't hunt, but if I could see you and maybe we could go for a walk alone and look at the suns setting, I think it would be a really fun time.
I just want to look at your smile close up. I hope that will be okay for you. Please let me know.
– DR
"Hmm," Joss said, looking over the note, "You don't wanna hurt her feelings."
"I don't!" DR said, "But we gotta make sure she doesn't delete it or anything. Or maybe have her Dad get angry and read it. Think I should make it steamy or something?"
"Uh, no, I don't think you want Tripp Tucker to break your nose or anything."
"Here goes nothing," DR hit send.
=/\=
Aliwev came in, "Have we got lunch yet?"
"Sure," Lili presented a stir-fry with mostly meats but also some vegetable tube paste squeezings.
"What about those spices over there?" Rellie asked.
"Tomorrow," Lili said. She had something in mind for them – cumin and chipotle chili powder, "I want to save the flour, too."
"Why? We'll be getting supplies when we get to Andoria," Rellie pointed out.
"I have an idea," Lili said, "But I don't want to execute it just yet."
"Execute is probably a poor choice of words," Aliwev said.
=/\=
DR's PADD was flashing, but he ignored it during lunch until Takara pointed it out to him, "Aren't you gonna read that?" She had come in late and had ended up at a position of some dishonor, near him and Susan.
"Uh, later."
She grabbed the PADD and looked at the sender, "It's from Betsy! DR's got a girlfriend!"
"Huh," he turned red.
"Him? He's hopelessly ugly," Takeo said, "She musta meant that note for me. Gimme that."
"Nuh-uh, it's addressed to DR," Takara said.
"Give it to me!" her twin demanded.
"I am the elder and I say no," Takara said, "Here. Just read it out loud," she gave the PADD to DR.
"Oh, it's probably nothing. She, uh, she collects bugs on the surface. I think she wanted to show me some of them, see if I could identify them," DR said.
"You mean she eats them," Jun said, "Really, Takeo, get yourself someone better. When we get to Andoria, grab a blue chick. Leave the bug-eater to the shrimp."
"Aren't shrimps a form of bugs?" Arashi asked, looking up from his PADD.
"Not exactly," Susan said.
"Who asked you, Teacher?" Izo said, "Huh. Bugs. Hudson doesn't eat ... bugs."
"When the good-time girl's over fifty, it's time for a new good-time girl," Tommy said, "At least Bernstein's a good decade younger."
"Hey, Hudson still knows her way around," Izo said.
Lili served the stir-fry and tried not to listen to them picking apart the sexual prowess and skills of her friends' counterparts.
=/\=
Dishes in the sanitizer, Lili finally walked out of the galley and almost ran right into DR.
"I thought you'd never be done," he said.
"Were you waiting long?"
"A while. Here, there's the old Botany Lab. It's used for storage; no one's gonna go in unless they want a pair of boots or something."
Once the door had safely closed behind them, he said, "I heard from Tripp Tucker."
"Ha," she said, "I take it things are happening that I'm not aware of."
He told her what they'd planned, "So, tomorrow, you'll all be on the surface?"
"So far as I can tell, yes," DR said.
"It would be good if we had the means of getting through to the twenty-one side, but if at least we can keep everyone off the ship, that's a good chunk of things. And Tucker will meet us?"
"Well, he thinks I have a thing for his daughter."
"He has a daughter?"
"He has a son, too. Remember Charlie? He played catcher, next to Joss? Takara's interested in him. So I think Tripp has a lot of motivation to be around and keep an eye on things. They – he and his wife – they camp with another woman and a Calafan man."
"Hmm," Lili said, "I actually have an idea. I've been saving some stuff, some food, because I think I can get Marie Patrice to remember things if I make something familiar."
"Which is?"
"It doesn't matter. It's light, though, and portable. What we could do is, the guys hunt but the thing I'm gonna make can be a kind of appetizer for while they're waiting. She sees and eats the food and maybe she remembers things. And then it's three for four. Plus I have this," Lili took out the turquoise bit of cloth.
"Her handkerchief. She's had that for years."
"I don't think she realizes it's important. In any event, I can stick a tag on it. If she won't take a tag voluntarily, well, there will be one on her whether she wants it or not. Where's yours?"
"Left boot," DR said, "Could probably drop the fourth one in Tom's boot when he wasn't looking."
"No, the laces would be tied. You should really stick it in there so it's not lost, like under the tongue flap or something like that."
"Okay, but it's a thought," DR said, "And if we don't have a means of getting over, well, there's no need to pass any tags, at least, there's no rush."
"Can I use your PADD?" Lili asked.
"Sure. Address it to Betsy, whatever you write, and sign it as being from me. They scan the outgoing communications, but they only scan the to and from fields. If those aren't interesting, they don't seem to scan anything else. And believe me, a love letter from me to a girl who lives in a cave on the surface is just not that interesting to them."
Lili began to type.
Dear Betsy,
Please share this note with whoever you see fit.
My name is Lili O'Day Beckett, and I am writing this note on DR's account. I am married to the former Doug Hayes. Your father – and maybe also your mother – knows who that is. He is here with me.
We are back for a very specific purpose. We need your help.
Tomorrow, the Empress's family will be on the surface. We need a Calafan to assist us. If the passageway can be opened, someone needs to slip through with a small, safe device that either I or my husband can provide, and then set it off on the other side of the pond.
This will help to reset things. I know that the Empress has been here a lot, and I'm sure that hasn't been good for anyone. If we can reset it in 2166, and do it right, we can make sure that she comes back less, if at all, and you'll be free and undisturbed here.
You know that Doug helped you get out back in '57. I don't expect you to feel an obligation from over twenty years ago. But I do hope you'll want to help a friend and his family.
Thank you.
– DR
She hit send.
"We better split up," she said.
"Stay late at the galley," DR said, "Your, um, I guess he's your husband. He said he'd try to see you there."
"Thanks. Your family's worried about you, yanno."
"I guess so."
=/\=
Dinner was leftovers. It was a lot for Lili to continue to protect the spices, and the flour and some of the linfep fat and meat, but she managed to pull it off.
"I'll finish the cleanup," she had told the others, and they left early. She saw Aliwev put his arm around Polloria's waist. She hesitated before pushing him away. Progress for him, perhaps.
She was about ready to give up waiting when the door slid open and it was Doug and DR.
"Where's Joss?" she asked, kissing Doug.
"Too risky," DR said.
"We got the response," Doug said.
Dear DR,
I remember you and, of course, your husband. This is Tripp.
Beth is here with me, and so is Jennifer. Her fellow is a Calafan named Treve. I don't know if you remember him. His mother was the High Priestess, way back when.
We can be available during and after the hunt. Have DR and Betsy go off together as a cover if you have to. All we really need to do is, keep yours and my people on the surface, and get the Empress's crowd off it. Do whatever you have to. I don't know how we'll get that passageway open again or if that's even possible, but at least you could live down here. The life is hard but you're free.
See you tomorrow.
– Betsy
"What did he mean by 'Do whatever you have to'?" asked DR.
"It means – and this is not a bad idea at all – if we have to, we should kill the Empress," Lili said quietly.
"Lili, you don't want to be that kind of person," Doug said.
"Doug, it was Malcolm's last wish."
"Who?" asked DR.
"The Captain of the starship you saw destroyed," Lili said, then pulled the key out, "The man who gave me this."
"Someone special to you, then?" DR asked.
"Yes," she said, and sat down, eyes shining. Tears were not far away.
"Listen, Lili. If anyone has to be doing any killing, let it be me," Doug said, "I've already done it fifteen times."
"Fourteen," she corrected him.
"No, fifteen. When I left, I blew up the Defiant's Transporter Room. I had thought there was no one in it at the time," Doug said, "DR, this was, uh, back in '57. But there was someone in there. Deb Haddon. Now I gotta process that, too. Let me have all of that. If I can give you anything, anything at all, let it be that I make sure that you never have to have that."
"Doug, I killed a Xindi Insectoid back '53. I'm not unfamiliar with such things," Lili said, "And I have olowa leaves. It would be easy."
"Olowa leaves?" asked DR.
"They naturally contain tricoulamine," Doug explained, "which is a neurotoxin. The Empress – or any other human – who ate something made from olowa leaves – would be dead by the time they swallowed."
"But there's a food taster," DR pointed out.
"I have her on board," Lili said.
"Susan doesn't always listen," Doug said.
"And you know this how?" DR asked.
"We had a thing. It was a long time ago."
"I think she'll follow directions," Lili said, "She's aware of what's at stake."
"A dead Empress is all well and good," DR said, "But we need to get that crowd off the surface, not keep them there, to ask questions and torture people, and hunt out the conspirators."
"Hmm," Doug said, "Let's just keep this in our back pockets. We'll have phase rifles, too, or at least Joss and Tom and I will."
"Tommy's not trustworthy," Lili said.
"I know," Doug said, "And neither is Travis. But Aidan and Chip – they might wanna seize the opportunity."
Polloria came in, yawning, "Oh! I didn't think anyone would be here. I was just getting a small bit of paste for later," she paused, "You're not talking about food, of course."
"I know you," Doug said, raising his phase rifle, "And I recall you can't be trusted as far as you can be thrown."
"Oh, put that down," she said, "This is about our favorite Empress, right?"
Lili nodded, "Say nothing," she brushed her mouth with the side of her hand.
"Who would I say things to? Even ratting you out wouldn't get me anything better than what I've currently got."
"Would you go to the surface and take something to the other side of the pond?" DR asked, point blank.
"One would have to get to the other side," Polloria said.
"And without a pulse shot at our disposal, I am thinking that can't happen," Lili said.
"Wait. Do you know how I was sent over, back in '57?" Doug asked, "It wasn't a pulse shot."
"No," Polloria said, "It was mass meditation."
"Could that work again?" DR asked.
"Sure. But you'd need to contact all Calafans. I can't do that," she said.
"Can anyone?" Lili asked.
"Yes," Polloria said, "There is one person. I'll let Aliwev wonder where I've gone to. This is more important. You and I – we will sleep," she said to Lili, "You two stand guard."
The PADD dinged.
Dear DR,
2166 is a tricky time. Torres got through, but it was because there was no resistance. If there was resistance, the Empress would not go ahead with any invasion. Even small resistance might prove to be enough. She doesn't want casualties. Give her at least one in 2166, and I think we'll be good to go.
– Betsy
Lili and Polloria lay down on the big food preparation table.
"Be with who you desire," Doug said.