by Scott Reeves
He and everyone else on the bridge got to their feet. Slowly and hesitantly, as if worried that the deck might suddenly go out from under them at any instant.
A glance around the bridge revealed that no one had been fatally injured.
Then Andy looked out the force dome, which was once again transparent. The blinding flash had faded, and the jagged lightning bolt in space was gone. As was the tentacle that he must have imagined.
In the fissure’s place, there was a small glow near where Caldor’s center had been. A faint spark, like an ember.
Harlan looked at it worriedly. “Another fissure?” he asked.
The engineer who had identified the first fissure shook his head. “No. I don’t think so.”
Andy felt a wave of love and goodness emanating from the ember.
He smiled. Joyce took his right hand, and smiled at him.
Samala, dragging Mal after her, came over and took Andy’s other hand. She smiled at him as well.
“Take us closer!” Andy said.
Responding to the urgency and command in his voice, Jacy pushed the throttle.
The ship moved forward, and the ember grew larger, ever larger as they closed the distance.
Soon, they had gotten so close that they could see it was a man. A naked man, floating in space, curled in on himself in fetal position.
“It’s Him!” Samala breathed in wonder.
“Him who?” asked Harlan Fargo.
“Jesus Christ,” whispered Andy. “He has returned!”
Epilogue
Andy Watson
An airlock was opened, and the man was brought on board. He was clothed, and before he had even identified himself, crewmen began coming from all over the ship, throwing themselves to the deck before him and kissing his feet.
Andy looked on wonderingly. The man smiled at him and said, “All doubt and denial has been removed from their hearts.”
“Lord,” Andy breathed, and he smiled again. “My Lord.”
Jesus Christ spread wide his arms and said, “Let us return to Earth, my children. There is yet work to do.”
Lola
Meanwhile, back on Earth, Lola presided over a devastated world. Subspace had entirely collapsed. The folds of space had flattened, and all the levels of subspace gave up their dead. The dead of countless generations began to materialize on transmat pads all across the Earth.
Lola’s mechanical eyes saw the brief and blinding light from distant Caldor. A light that should not have been visible for hundreds of years.
She felt the return of the old enemy. He was coming.
Darkness fell across her hard-wired mind as hidden, long dormant subroutines awoke. She began to prepare an appropriate homecoming for the Son of God.
For more books by Scott Reeves, visit
http://www.amazon.com/author/scottreeves
Twitter: @scottareeves
FREE Star Trek short stories by Scott Reeves on Wattpad:
Star Trek Voyager: Phantoms of the Mind
Star Trek TOS: Warp Speed
Star Trek TNG: Final Requiem
Star Trek Voyager: Home
Star Trek TNG: The Haunting of Orgala 512
Star Trek TNG: Leap of Faith
Star Trek Voyager: Intrepid Voyagers
