Beginning: A Star Trek Novel (New Frontier Reloaded Book 2)

by ROVER MARIE TOWLE

  "Parents aren't supposed to die!" Kejal growled before he'd fully solidified. "Father, give me a database. I'll find you every doctor who understands Bajoran biology. I don't care if we have to go to the Delta quadrant! We'll cure this!"

  "Kejal," Doctor Mora grasped Kejal's wrist. "I'm sorry, son..."

  Odo ached at seeing Kejal's pain. "Kejal never witnessed another sentient being's death before. Not in person."

  "I watched your experiences through the Link." Kejal huffed belligerently. "Weyoun died in your arms once."

  "It isn't the same as actually being th-- Doctor Mora?"

  "Oh, this happens." Doctor Mora pressed a cloth handkerchief to his nose. Blood stained the pale blue fabric. "It's part of the disease process. I'm fine, don't worry."

  Kejal broke free and walked to the other side of the tiny island. Odo let him have his space. He had nothing to worry about as long as Kejal didn't turn into a Tarkalean hawk and fly away. When that happened, he disappeared for hours.

  "He is the most sheltered of us all. Emotionally, he is as much a child as I was when I left your laboratory." Odo sighed. He pointed to the bloody fabric and asked, "Does that hurt?"

  Doctor Mora shrugged. "No." He sat up straighter. "And I know you want to ask. Death doesn't scare me. I know where I'm going. Dying, on the other hand..."

  Odo's lips pressed themselves together. He wished he knew how to reach out. A lot remained unsaid between them, and he couldn't find the means to face the battle-scarred mess of their past.

  I forgave what you did, but I haven't forgiven you. Odo thought bitterly. And I don't know how to forgive you. Maybe I never will.

  "I know, from experience, how awful it is to be alone and afraid." Odo kept his voice neutral. "We may have our differences, but I won't abandon you to die alone."

  Doctor Mora tilted his head sideways to meet Odo's gaze. His eyes softened. He smiled behind the cloth pressed to his nostrils.

  .o

  Golden sparkles marred the line between the horizon and the formless fluidity of his people.

  Kejal found no comfort in the view. The only father he'd ever known came back just to announce his imminent death. Parents were supposed to be immortal. Nothing phased them. Mountains crumbled and stars went supernova before somebody's parents died!

  At least, that was what he wanted to believe.

  He can't die unless he goes home, right? Kejal tried to rationalize. He squinted at the sky, his mind grasping at every excuse he could come up with. Then I can prevent his death!

  His hands fell to his sides. He closed his fists. Yes, it was possible to delay death!

  "Father, let's go somewhere."

  The conversation between Odo and Mora fell silent. Kejal rounded on them, his brown eyes flashing.

  "Let's beam up to your shuttlecraft and explore the universe." He approached Mora and sat on the ground, looking upwards at his face. "We can do it. There are a lot of fuel stations in this quadrant. We'll be able to travel for decades!"

  Mora's eyes crinkled. He reached out and took Kejal's hand, giving it a strong squeeze. At last he pulled the bloodstained cloth away from his nose.

  "How about your nebula?" Mora suggested. "It's on the way home."

  "We can start with that." Kejal clutched Mora's hand like a lifeline. "Then we'll travel the galaxy." He knew his logic held no water, yet he kept hoping beyond hope his words would magically become truth. "You won't die if you stay off Bajor."

  "Oh, Kejal..." Mora tried to smile, but his lips quivered instead.

  Odo knelt behind Kejal. Kejal felt his mother's hands on his shoulders. A touch as familiar to him as the tiny, airy world he lived in before birth. Right then he wished he could return to that place. Nothing hurt there, and death didn't loom like a phantom.

  "You can't keep someone alive that way," Odo told him.

  "Watch me! I can try!" Kejal clenched his jaw. "I can try."

  Mora tightened his grasp on Kejal's hand, and Kejal took comfort in feeling that strength. "I've been ready for the end for a long time now."

  "No! Stop it! Let me find you a cure. You can't give up."

  Kejal found himself pressed close to Mora's chest. Behind him, Odo also came nearer. He closed his eyes and sought solace between the only parents he'd ever known.

  "Please, let me try to help you," he choked out. Tears were still beyond him, but his voice broke and his face pulled. "You're not supposed to die."

  "Shhh. Kejal, listen to me." Mora grasped Kejal's shoulders.

  At that, Kejal screwed his eyes shut again and covered his ears. He didn't want to hear this.

  Mora moved his hands off his ears. "Kejal? Come on now, look at me."

  "Why?" Kejal peered up at Mora's face. At the two dark blue eyes shifting slightly back and forth in their sockets as they gazed into his. A quirk of solids, he'd learned.

  Yes, father, tell me how to cure you.

  Mora said, "Having you walk this path with me will mean a lot. It won't be easy and it won't be pleasant, but I'll do all I can to prepare you." He leaned forward. "In the coming months, you will find out how strong you truly are."

  "No."

  "It is what it is, Kejal. I'm sorry."

  "It doesn't have to be!" Kejal snapped. "It shouldn't be you, father. It's not fair."

  "A lot of things in life aren't fair," Mora replied. "Sitting around and complaining won't change it."

  "Giving up won't change it, either."

  "Oh, son..."

  "You didn't let me die, so I won't let you die." Kejal said insistently.

  Parents were supposed to be immortal.

  Kejal's substance recoiled in terror at the very thought of witnessing his father's last breath.

  Chapter 3: Stardust is the Future

  Seeing Odo and Kejal react to the bad news made Mora's heart ache. Kejal grew especially attached to people. Odo acted reserved, but the evidence was all in the lines he could now form on his face.

  Mora's combadge beeped, reminding him to take his dexalin. The metorapan came in a loose hypospray for quick access while the rest of his medications stayed in a small travel case. He pressed the hypo against his throat and delivered the medicine. Dexalin forced his shrinking supply of red blood cells to take in and transport more oxygen throughout his body. It helped combat the annoying fatigue he experienced while traveling.

  He looked into the case again. Triptacederine was the strongest painkiller he had on-hand. He didn't need it, yet having it available eased his anxieties about the pain awaiting him in the future.

  I'm still counting my blessings. This isn't cutting me down in the middle of my research. My work will be remembered. He glanced at Kejal and Odo. I accomplished a great deal, but there is still so much to do.

  Mora put his medication away. He struggled to get up, but the rock bent his legs at such an angle that he couldn't heave himself upright. His inflamed posterior spleen and kidneys twisted his back into knots the second he bent forward. Pushing off his cane wasn't going to work either.

  "Oh, damn my back," he grumbled.

  Odo helped him stand. Mora gratefully accepted the assistance.

  "Excuse me a moment." Odo moved to the island's edge. "Vokau? I need you here."

  Another Changeling oozed onshore and assumed humanoid form. She was an exact replica of the female Founder who led the Dominion. Even her low, raspy voice sounded the same.

  "Yes, Odo? What is so important that you cannot tell the Link?"

  Odo glanced at Mora. "Kejal and I have to leave." He faced the female. "We will be in the Alpha quadrant, and we may be gone a long time. We don't want to be sent for unless an emergency arises."

  "I understand. I'll make sure the Vorta and Jem'Hadar relay information to me. Reports will be sent to you if any drastic changes occur in your absence."

  "That will suffice. Thank you." Odo said.

  Vokau, as Odo called her, shifted her gaze to Mora. Looking at her upped his pulse rate. He gripped his cane t
o cover up his uneasiness. Until recently, Starfleet asked him to examine the imprisoned female Founder once a year to assess her health. A quantum stasis field kept her from shape shifting during his visits. She always cooperated with him, however looking into her cold, hateful blue eyes and knowing she ordered the deaths of billions without remorse chilled his blood.

  "Vokau is a genetic twin of the female Founder. They aren't the same person despite their identical default appearances. I chose to name her as a means of differentiating her from her twin." Odo regarded her with a polite nod. "Kejal's default humanoid form looks like mine because he possesses my genetic material. We can vary our hair and eye color at will, and many of us have already done so to express some individuality."

  He blinked and his eyes shifted from blue to green and back. "The Vorta did a lot of research when the Founders fell ill with the morphogenic virus. I'll make certain you get their files."

  Mora's trepidation shrank at the mention of fresh research. "Thank you. I look forward to it. Vokau, it's a pleasure. I'm sorry about your-- "

  "Likewise, and you don't need to apologize for my twin's sake. She let her distrust of solids corrupt everyone around her. Odo has shown us what she refused to see." Vokau said evenly. Her eyes, Mora noticed, were gray, not steely blue like her sister. "The war cost all of us a great deal."

  "But the recovery efforts are going great." Kejal added. He reached out and hugged Vokau. "Keep an eye on things for us."

  "I will." She relaxed into the embrace without returning it. "The sun will become active soon. You best leave before the radiation levels rise. The atmosphere will keep the planet safe, however anything above it is in danger."

  Mora nodded to Odo and Kejal. He turned to thank Vokau, but found her already melting back into the Great Link.

  "Well...let's be off. Computer, three to beam up."

  Everything dissolved into shimmers and tingling. Once in the shuttle, Mora noticed a large solar flare forming on the red dwarf's western edge. The planet's orbit was going to take it right through the gaseous emission.

  "The atmosphere gives us great auroras when that happens." Kejal said. He and Odo took over the helm seats. "Let's get out of here. That's coming fast."

  Mora wilted into the third chair near the back. He rolled his cane between his hands as the shuttle left the Founders' homeworld behind. At the helm, Odo and Kejal talked quietly amongst themselves. Then Odo twisted his chair sideways.

  "Doctor Mora?"

  Mora made himself sit up straighter despite his fatigue. "The coordinates to Kejal's nebula should be in the system."

  "Actually, I was going to comment on the fuel levels running low."

  "Oh. Yes, I know. I planned to stop at Deep Space Nine to refuel before returning to Bajor."

  Mora noticed Kejal flinching at mention of Bajor. He didn't expect to see Odo do the same!

  "Deep Space Nine is still running?" Odo asked.

  "General Kira runs a tight station." Mora grinned.

  Odo's eyes lost focus for a fraction of a second. Since his face had more mobility, his expressions were as plain as Jeraddo on a clear night.

  "I see." Odo stared down at his feet. Clearing his throat, he said, "Hold on, here comes the data transmission I promised you."

  Mora glanced at his computer console. The new data rivaled the discoveries within his own research. He watched it scroll up the screen. His lips twitched in a smile-- information that extensive would keep him busy for awhile.

  "By the way, Odo, you chose an interesting name for your female friend. I didn't know you spoke Vulcan."

  "I only know a few words. 'Remember' seemed fitting, since her face will always remind me of her twin." Odo said, his voice faraway as if he only half-heard the conversation.

  Amused, Mora leaned back in his seat. "We can radio ahead to let General Kira know you're coming."

  "No, don't."

  "Mother? Why not?"

  "Just...don't. I'm still debating whether I want to face her at all. We can't stay...why should I put her through the pain of saying goodbye to me twice?"

  Mora leaned forward. "Odo, how do you think she'll feel if she sees your name on the ship's manifest and you don't even stop in to say hello?"

  Odo's voice became a faint rasp, "I'm not sure I can bear it. I love her with all that I am."

  "Odo, when you love someone like that, it will be as if no time passed at all once you two say hello." Mora peered at the console screen on his right. And so it will be when I see my darling Leruu again.

  "I...will consider it," muttered Odo.

  "Still shy when it comes to women. Mother, you're the worst." Kejal stretched a tentacle between their seats to swat Odo's arm.

  Odo caught tendril, lifted himself up and sat on it. "You certainly didn't get your charm from me." He looked over his shoulder at Mora. A hint of a smile crinkled the corners of his eyes.

  Chuckling, Mora held both hands up. "It wasn't my doing."

  Kejal pulled the tentacle back. "I'm gifted. I can't help it."

  Odo snorted, shaking his head. "If I hadn't given birth to you, I would be debating whether or not you were actually mine."

  Hearing Kejal's laughter filled Mora's heart with joy. He missed that sound.

  The next few hours fell into comfortable silence. Mora scanned through the data on his console. Kejal monitored the ship's sensors for radiation. Odo manned the helm.

  Hm, Mora squinted at the screen. Changeling morphogenic enzymes don't simply dissolve, they break down into telomerase! No wonder their DNA is so quick to repair itself if it suffers damage! Their telomeres don't shorten when they change form. They grow up, but they don't age to death. Changelings are biologically immortal! Oh...I hope I find input on how Kejal came to be...

  Unaware of Mora's excitement, Odo said, "Approaching the nebula now."

  "Ohhh..." Kejal leaned forward. "Watch out for the pulsar beam. Follow this course."

  "Thank you." Odo's fingers danced across the touch screen panel. "The radiation levels are still high. I'm adjusting the shield parameters."

  "Onscreen," said Kejal.

  Mora pushed himself off his chair and stepped closer to the viewscreen. The supernova remnant resembled a smoky silver-blue bubble broken open at opposite ends by the pulsar hidden inside. Ionized interstellar gas glowed faintly around the sphere like clouds passing near Earth's full moon. The nebula's beautiful colors couldn't be seen by the naked eye due to its dimness, but its billowing filamentary structure was fascinating just the same. Mora watched the gaseous materials shift and roll as they expanded outward-- the decomposing corpse of a once-brilliant star feeding itself to the interstellar medium. At the moment of its death it crushed its atoms together into new elements. Now, those reincarnated particles escaped into the universe with the hope of becoming new stars and planets.

  "That is all we are," he whispered. "Stardust."

  "Father?"

  "Everything we see around us started like that. Stars are our molecular parents. Even G-class stars like Bajor's sun send their matter out into the universe when they die. Any planets orbiting close enough are incinerated back into the ashes from which they came, and there is always the chance those ashes will be caught up to become new stars and planets." He smiled at Kejal. "Don't you just love science?"

  Kejal grinned, turning again to the viewscreen. "What do you think, mother? Isn't it beautiful?"

  Mora saw Odo smiling faintly. "Only you two would run into a supernova on the way home." He checked the panel and pointed to the viewscreen. "There is already one small area of increased density."

  "Do you think it'll become a new star?" Kejal asked.

  "It might," Mora replied. "In a few million years."

  Kejal folded his arms and tucked his chin down in deep thought. "Then I want to name it now."

  Odo looked askance at him. "Isn't it a little early for that?"

  "You named me before I was born."

  Mora leaned forward betwe
en them. "And what would you name a star that isn't born yet, Kejal?"

  Kejal looked him square in the eyes. "I want to name it Pol...if that's all right with you."

  "Heh, heh!" Mora rested his hand on Kejal's shoulder. He focused once again on the indistinct knot of gas newly named after him. "I would be honored."

  "I hate to interrupt the moment, but the radiation is starting to degrade the sensors." Odo cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "We need to move on."

  "Of course," said Mora. "Let's head to Deep Space Nine."

  Kejal's smile slipped and Odo's shoulders hunched. Neither protested, however, and the shuttle turned away into the void.

  Many hours later, the wormhole bloomed open like a massive blue flower in the blackness.

  The next time I see this, I will be free of my mortal flesh, Mora thought as he closed his eyes in silent prayer. Leruu, my love, I will join you soon.

  .o

  Odo didn't care if his swift exit from the shuttle was considered rude. He shifted his clothing into a hooded Bajoran travel robe to hide his face and walked the length of the airlock.

  "Mother, what are you doing?"

  Doctor Mora quieted him. "Kejal, let him be."

  Odo kept going until he couldn't hear their voices anymore. The station layout did not change over the years, though the light fixtures and computers had been updated to reflect Starfleet's influence. Quark's bar was still there. The Promenade remained mostly unchanged.

  Odo stopped by the railing where Jake Sisko and Nog used to dangle until he chased them away. He touched it and smiled at the familiarity.

  That's a relief...I was afraid of finding this place unrecognizable. Odo mused.

  He leaned on the rail, watching the people pass below. An Andorian walked out of the security office. He carried himself confidently. His white hair was combed straight back and parted neatly around his antennae. The brown Bajoran security uniform went nicely with his blue skin.

  "Good morning, Malath," someone said in passing.

  "Chief," said another passer-by.

  Heh, wonders never cease. Odo chuckled to himself. He still remembered the frightened Andorian boy who helped him identify the Yridians behind a fabric counterfeiting ring. I guess he truly was serious about being a security chief.