Commander St. Peter sat in her ready room, smiling as she stared down at the PADD in her hands. On it, a picture of the three girls smiled back up at her: herself, the other Jessica, and Anafenza. They’d taken it just the day before, that night in Hurricane Hal’s, as they waited to return to their homes. She’d let the other Jess take the photo, and then gave a printed copy to Anafenza to keep along with her communicator. Since the linkpearl had been fused to it during their rescue, it was inoperable…but it did make for a nice amulet of sorts for the woman. Temporal Prime Directive be damned, she thought; no one would be able to trace it anyway. If anyone even believed the young au ra’s story anyway…
Her door chimed, and she looked up. “Come in,” she called, and the doors parted to allow her first officer and science officer into the room. Both wore concerned expressions on their faces, but Sano, her trill science officer, looked the most concerned. “Dossu, Nizeri…what’s going on?”
Obruz Dossu looked to the other woman and nodded, the bajoran deferring to the science officer. Nizeri Sano cleared her throat. “Commander, there might have been a problem…”
“A problem?”
She nodded. “We based all of our calculations on the assumption that the women were using our reality as one anchor, and that they were tethered to their own realities. Every reality has a unique quantum signature; anything that originates there bears that same signature, and anything that comes from outside will have a conflicting signature. The other Jessica and Anafenza had different quantum signatures, which we identified and based our calculations on.”
Jessica nodded. “Ok, right. Makes sense. So what’s the problem?”
“We didn’t know about you!”
Jessica blinked, taken aback. “Excuse me?”
Obruz cleared his throat. “We discovered an anomaly in your quantum signature. And when we researched it more we…began to realize why the Andromeda mission – the one you and Wirstowx originated from – is classified at such high levels.”
“My signature is different…because I was born in the Andromeda Galaxy?” Jessica shook her head. “That doesn’t make sense…”
“It wouldn’t, no. Because, it shouldn’t make a difference. There would be some variance owing to location within the universe itself, but it would be similar enough. No, yours is completely different.” Sano shook her head. “Yours has a known match, too. You’re from the ‘Mirror Universe’.”
Jessica went wide-eyed at this, then turned to Obruz. The bajoran first officer nodded. “We checked with Admiral Scott; he confirmed it to us, after we pressed the importance of understanding why this went wrong. The Andromeda mission didn’t just go to a different galaxy; it crossed the universal barrier as well.”
“He couldn’t give us access to the reports from that time, but he did explain a certain…’quantum inversion’ that occurred as ships passed through the gateway Starfleet used to get to Andromeda. It wasn’t until the Aventine tried to meet the expedition using its conventional slipstream drive that the inversion was even discovered and studied. But by the time we began to understand it, the expedition ended. The ships returned home, and all of the data was classified.”
Jessica shook her head, her thoughts racing with implications. Still, they hadn’t explained the problem to her. “Alright…but how is this a problem? What happened to the other two women? What happened to Jessica and Anafenza?”
Sano shook her head and sighed. “The calculations we used to anchor them here relied on our quantum signature. Before we realized you were acting as the tether to them. If we had been able to modify to match your quantum signature, it would have worked. We believe, when we inserted you into the equation, the navigational sensors used your unique quantum signature and anchored the women in the mirror universe.”
“Meaning?”
“We discovered a similar inversion during the transport process.” Sano looked apologetically at Jessica. “And before you ask; no, we can’t lock back on and rescue them. We’re too far out of sync now. They are where they are now. I’m sorry.”
Jessica stared down at the picture of the three of them, then back up to her officers. “So…where did we send them?”
“Near as we can tell,” the science officer replied, “some form of a parallel universe similar to their own reality.” She bit her lip and frowned sadly. “I’m…really sorry Jess. If we’d known…”
Jessica shook her head, picking up the PADD again. Her cheeks felt hot, and she feel tears forming. “Please…get out.”
Once the door shut behind them, Jessica tossed the PADD to the side and, burying her face in her hands, began to sob.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in time and space…
The transporter effect subsided, and Jessica St. Peter blinked, looking around at the city buildings surrounding her. She expected to be deposited back in her home on Cap Au Diable, but perhaps the convergence and the transport technobabble she’d been subjected to didn’t have quite as accurate aim. She stepped out from between the buildings, looking around. That’s when it hit her.
All the banners. The gold stars. The images of an emperor standing victorious and benevolent, not towering over his minions with outstretched claws. She wasn’t in the Rogue Isle. She wasn’t even in Paragon City…
“Oh shit…” she said, with terrifying realization. She immediately took to the skies with a whirlwind around her, making it harder to see her. She passed a banner and saw in large writing her fear’s confirmed.
Praetoria.
“I’m on Praetorian Earth,” she said, cursing again. “I can’t be caught here, not if he is still alive here. I need to get back, how to get back…”
She scanned the streets for the tell-tale ramshackle armor of the Resistance. If anyone knows how to get back, she thought, they would know. Just gotta bust a few heads…
Elsewhere in time and space, further still…
The twinkling of chimes subsided, but the blinding light still filled Anafenza’s vision. She squinted, looking around in confusion.
She was on a small hill, covered in bright pink and purple flowers. Small roofs poked up out of the ground, the huts seemingly built built into the hills. In the distance, on a small lake, rose a large castle with beautiful filigree wings spread behind it. But the sky…the sky was nothing but blinding light. No clouds, no sun – not even warmth, she noted, as she shivered in the breeze.
Small giggles echoed around her, and whispered, child-like voices from unseen speakers surrounded her. “What’s this? A mortal!” “She just came from a pillar of light!” “It’s a mortal! Here!” “Is she a sin-eater?”
Anafenza spun around in confusion. “Who’s there? Where am I?”
“Doesn’t know where she is? Poor thing…” “I want to play!” “No, it’s my turn!”
A cacophony of “my turns” smothered Ana, and she dropped to the ground in a panic. The dark aether began to seep from her side as she slammed her eyes shut, the voices ringing in her horns.
Then, there was silence, and a small finger poked her in the nose. Ana opened her eyes a smidge.
The small faerie-like being grinned at her, dark eyes regarding her playfully. “Well you’re definitely not a sin eater,” it said with a happy giggle. “I’m Eo Aenc. We’re going to have fun but first,” they looked up, then with a flutter moved forward to tug on Ana’s horns. “We need to get moving! I don’t want to turn my new friend into a leafman right now; mortals are so few in our realm. Come, get up! They’re coming!”
“What…who…who is coming?” Ana scrambled to her feet and took a few staggering steps forward, turning to look behind her.
Large, grotesque creatures bounded towards her, their hides porcelain white, eyes dark and devoid of life. The auras around them brightened the air, making it difficult to even look upon them.
Anafenza screamed, taking off after Eo Aenc into the relative safety of the realm of the fae, Il Mheg...
The women were gathered in the small room – the “transporter room,” the Commander had called it – and exchange final goodbyes. All had been a giggling mess of nerves since they woke up that morning, though Stormy seemed a bit worse for wear; claimed she had an “accelerated metabolism” that allowed her to drink copious amounts of a drink they called “tequila,” she had woken with a splitting headache. A quick visit to the sickbay had helped relieve the pain, and the blue girl had spent a tender moment with Doctor Dubois, sharing stories of a woman who they both knew a version of. The Commander just watched the exchange silently, but Ana knew the expression was melancholic, as she and her Doctor remembered their fallen lover while talking about Stormy’s alive one. Stormy and the Doctor parted with a soft kiss, and then the trio had gone on one last tour of the ship before arriving at the transporter room.
Inside, a low din of activity greeted them as many of the Commander’s officers worked to finalize the calculations that would send them home. “It’s funny,” the Commander remarked, watching them before turning to Anafenza. “How strange this must seem to you. All this technology, science, generations ahead of your world.”
Anafenza nodded. “We have technology – the Garleans make full use of it – but this…is almost…”
“Indistinguishable from magic?” Stormy smirked, winking at the Commander.
Anafenza shrugged and nodded. “That would…be a good way to describe it, yes. But I’ve seen magic,” she continued with a wink. “If you can call down a meteor from the heavens, then I’ll believe it.”
Stormy chuckled, but the Commander winced for a moment, her eyes going distant to some memory she didn’t want to think of. She shook her head to clear it, before smiling again.
The “Trill” woman, Sano, cleared her throat behind the Commander, and all three turned to look at her. She nodded, almost sadly, clearly not wanting to break up their group. “Ma’am, it’s time. If we want a shot at getting them home before the window closes…” She trailed off, leaving the implications hanging in the air.
The three woman took in a deep breath, turning back to one another. They smiled, before moving in to embrace one another together.
“This was…quite an experience,” the Commander remarked.
“It will certainly be a story to tell,” Anafenza continued on with a small nod.
“No one will believe us,” Stormy countered with a small laugh, and all three laughed together. They hugged again, Stormy turning her head to plant a kiss on first the Commander’s cheek, then turning to Anafenza to do the same. Then, Stormy and Anafenza stepped up onto the illuminated pad. Ana gave the blue woman’s hand a quick squeeze, before they parted, standing on opposite sides of the device.
Commander St. Peter smiled at them both. “Good luck, and whatever gods you believe in protect you. I am so blessed to know you both.” She winked at Stormy playfully, but gave Anafenza a genuine smile. “You’re going to do great things, Anafenza of the Ejinn.”
There was a long pause, as the three just stared at one another for another moment. Then, the Commander turned her head to her crew. “Energize!”
The light on the pad began to brighten, and a chiming filled the air as swirling motes of light enveloped the two women. Anafenza giggled a little, feeling ticklish.
There was an alert on the panel, and Sano began shouting to her team. “Engage the chronometric navigational sensors!”
“They can’t get a positive lock! Something is throwing the entire equation out of sorts, and the transport can’t engage.”
“It’s not that ‘aether,’ is it?”
“No, we have a positive fix on that. But there is a quantum imbalance in her signal and the other St. Peter’s. The buffer is having a hard time maintaining their patterns, like another variable is missing…”
The lights died down, and the chiming subsided. Stormy and Ana looked at each other, then at the crew working.
The Commander frowned, shaking her head. “Something is missing…but the numbers all check? We have good locks in both time and space?” Her crew was nodding and agreeing as she rattled off things Anafenza could not comprehend.
Stormy snapped her fingers, looking at Anafenza. “Something isn’t missing. Someone is…”
The Commander paused, blinking, then smacked her forehead. “Of course…the computer can’t make a firm lock on either of you…”
“Unless you can serve as an anchor,” Anafenza finished. “And a beacon.”
“Just like in the pocket dimension.”
The Commander hopped onto the pad and took the center spot. “Alright Nizeri, try now.” She nodded. “Energize!”
Sano turned to the controls as the officer there worked the panel, and the lights and chimes began anew. She smiled, continuing to direct the officers. “Positive lock engaged, they can make it to the pattern buffer! Engage the scanners!”
The light overtook Ana’s vision, and the chiming deafened her.
“I’ll always…remember you…both! May you walk…in the light…of the Crystal!”
“A tavern…on the ship. I’m not sure the ships of Limsa have a dedicated area to drink. Granted, pirates tend to just drink wherever…”
The Commander chuckled and took a sip of her drink. “Do you always talk so much when you’re nervous?”
Stormy giggled, while Anafenza just tilted her head. “I’m…I’m sorry?”
“You’re in an unknown place, drinking after your life was in danger, on the eve of your life either being in more danger or the threat of you being stranded. It’s ok to be scared.” She took another drink. “We are too…”
Ana just shook her head. “I think I’m more just overwhelmed. I’d imagined other worlds, and I’ve heard stories but…this experience? Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I’d meet other aspects of myself. Or, rather…” She paused, frowning and looking away. “You’re not me.”
The women looked at each other with concerned expressions. Stormy finally reached forward, putting a hand softly on Ana’s back. “I…don’t think that’s true.”
“I’m not Jessika. Jessielle. Whatever her name was, she was the missing aspect of you, not me.” Anafenza shook her head. “I feel…guilty that I denied you the opportunity to meet her.”
The Commander shook her head. “That may be…but you’re you. And you still have that piece of her inside you that connects you to us. You’re one of us now.”
Stormy smiled and nodded, then wrapped her arms around the smaller auri and hugged her tight. “And we’re going to miss you a lot. I wish we could have gotten to know each other better.” She let go of Anafenza with a small giggle. “Without the threat of looming erasure from existence hanging over our heads.”
Anafenza and the Commander rolled their eyes. Ana continued. “I’m serious though…”
“It happened a long time ago,” the Commander countered. “And you weren’t in control. It’s sad, and I won’t lie, we both didn’t want to trust you initially. But, what you did? The connection you have to us, to your Jessika? It helped save us.”
Anafenza took a drink. “I wish I knew how to control it all better.” She shook her head. “She was a warrior. She could use these powers. And then the two of you.” She nodded to the Commander. “Captain of a…a ship in space. A leader, in the middle of a war, protecting your people. And you,” she put her hands on top of Stormy’s wrapped around her and squeezed. “You can make it rain wherever you please. You’re a hero, protecting the innocent.” She shook her head. “I bake sweets and cook breakfasts. The last time I tried to pick up a sword, I no longer felt as if it were an extension of me. I feel off balance…”
“What, that large sword you were holding in the cave?”
Anafenza glanced over her shoulder at the blue woman. “I beg your pardon?”
“When you allowed more aether to flow out of you,” the Commander continued for Stormy. “A large sword appeared from nowhere in your hands. We assumed it was part of this aether you store, connected to your Jess.”
Anafenza shook her head. “If I did…I didn’t do it by trying. This is news to me.”
The other two women glanced at each other in some confusion. Finally, Stormy gave the auri girl another quick squeeze, and Ana felt her plant a kiss on the back of her head. “Maybe it’s this ‘bloodvine’ power you received? Maybe that’s why normal weapons don’t feel right anymore; because you have a weapon inside you now instead.” She let Anafenza go so the woman could sit back up, before wrapping an arm around her shoulders and bringing her into a side embrace. “I’m sure you could learn to use that to help…”
The Commander nodded. “I didn’t exactly earn my command in a traditional sense; I was selfish, trying to protect another ship that had my friends on it. The rest of the command crew was dead – they’d been killed by, well…it’s hard to explain what they are.” She blushed apologetically. “Unless you can imagine zombie-like creatures that are part man, part machine?”
Ana shook her head. “Not really…”
“The Borg. It’s not too important; what matters is that, when another ship was in danger, a ship I knew had my two closest friends on it, I risked my ship and the survivors on board to defend my friends.” She shook her head. “It was stupid, and it went against all sound judgement…but I was rewarded for rescuing that ship. And I was given the Rafale.” She sighed. “Sometimes, when we don’t expect to or maybe for the worst of reasons…we find that we have that strength, that power, inside us. I’m sure you have the same, Anafenza of the Ejinn.” She smiled encouragingly, raising her glass. Stormy did the same, and Ana joined after a moment. “To your future adventures, Ana. We know you’ll do amazing things.”
Anafenza smiled, grateful. The women tapped their glasses together and then downed the drinks. Stormy giggled as she put her glass down, then tugged on Anafenza’s hands. “Let’s go dance, c’mon!”
The Commander watched as they left the quiet confines of the Captain’s “VIP section” of the ship’s bar, otherwise known as “Hurricane Hal’s”. As the doors opened to let them out, the bass and high notes of the electronic music blared in from the outside bar, and she watched the two women join the small gathering of crew on the floor of the Category 7 club.
Anafenza was still gawking in awed silence when the three women stepped off the lift and onto the main control room of the ship – the “bridge,” the Commander had called it – as the other officers sat at their positions, preparing the ship’s systems to send them home.
Ana had since changed into a similar jumpsuit as the Commander, though it was completely black with no special color. She’d tried to ask for pink, but that wasn’t an actual color for a uniform. Still, she had the top off, the arms tied around her waist, and was sporting a pink “sports bra” the Commander had decided to compromise on and allow her to wear. The badge with her linkpearl pressed to the center was pinned on one of the sleeves around her waist.
She moved along one side of the bridge, stopping behind a Miqo’te man seated there. “This is Lt. M’Ral, my operations officer. He’s tying our chronometric sensors to the transporter in hopes that we can send you to your appropriate time periods using the residual aether…”
“He’s a Miqo’te!” Anafenza exclaimed in surprise, smiling wide.
The three others looked at her in surprise. M’Ral looked slightly confused, then shook his head. “Er, no. I’m a Caitian…I’m not sure what a Miqo’te is…”
Anafenza bit her lip and shook her head. “Sorry…it’s a race on my world. You look…very similar…”
The man nodded. “That is alright; I’m not offended.” He pointed on the screen. “Right now, there is a large flow of this ‘aether’ that we are still able to detect. It is branching from a central location along three distinct paths. We’re working out how to use those paths to transport you to those physical locations…”
A woman in a blue-shouldered uniform stepped forward. She had a pattern of spots that went from her temples down her neck. “And we’re using this ship’s chronometric navigational scanners to help transport you to your proper times.”
The Commander nodded. “Ladies, this is Nizeri Sano, my science officer. And…yeah, that’s the plan we’re developing. It’s nothing we’ve ever tried or even considered trying before…”
“And if it fails?” Stormy asked.
Sano shook her head. “We would maintain our lock and pull you back to Rafale. You’d be stranded here most likely…” She tapped the panel on the wall, bringing up a new display for the women to look at. It showed the aether trails, ending at three distinct dots. “Right now our present location, Earth, and your world are equidistant from one another…both in space and in time. This is a phenomenon that just…should not be possible. That all three of you would also be existing and have these connections, and wander to these specific locations at the same time is…a once in a lifetime experience. But…” She tapped the display, and it began to move, showing a passage of time. “We are drifting out of this sync phase. The longer we go without executing this plan, the greater the risk of you not making it home. If we don’t do this by tomorrow night…”
“Then we’re stranded in your universe,” Stormy finished. Her face fell, her excitement now crashing with a reality of not getting home. Anafenza felt a similar pain in her chest at the thought of not making it home.
The Commander must have noticed this. She smiled a little, then patted them both on the back. “Well, if we only have till tomorrow night, let’s go celebrate. C’mon; we’ll go to Hurricane Hal’s.”