Yamato - Episode 2
Nathaniel A Miller

 


Yamato: The New Adventures... (Sequel to "Final" Yamato in Episode type format)
By Erwin Stevens & N.A Miller

EPS 2 - Death and Resurrection of History's Heroes:


The infinity that is space, a world filled with serene light, uncountable stars in the deep darkness and with dying and forming stars abounds with many life forms. Yes, space is alive. The entire universe, our galaxy, and even the many solar systems are filled with many such life forms. They are filled with many that love, aspire and fight in war, and there are others that are peace loving. Many forms of life are in the universe, and they live scattered throughout its cold vastness.


The speck that makes up our Earth is one such place, a place where wars have come, and have gone, leaving their mark. A solar system named "Sol" resides in a mere corner of the infinity of space, and so does the huge galaxy known as the Milky Way where the Sol system resides. It is one of seventy such systems located here in the mere tip of this galaxy and in this solar system that nine planets orbit the single life-giving star. Living on the third one, an insignificant body called Earth lives an advanced civilization known as human kind.


It is on Earth, a man lies dying. Seth Aguilera of the twentieth century lies on the stretcher, barely conscious, but alive, as his transport landed at Central Hospital in a bold new century. The young officer blankly stared up at the sky, as a team of people ran toward him from all sides. Several medical personnel have gathered around him to grab his stretcher, lifting him over to a gurney that would be rushed into the huge white building of Central Hospital. Seth's blood still seeped from his tunic, covering the stretcher, his uniform, the Doctor and the medic who struggled to keep him alive. He is a man who is a hero of Earth, who had come through the winds of time using a new technology that was discovered in the twentieth century. A technology had been brought from the future, by a miscalculation of a cybernetic race that wages war far in the future.


Now, two hundred years later, Seth has an expressionless gaze as he stares up at the blue skies of Earth and then at the sterile white ceilings of the hallway in the hospital. He can feel his life ebbing away from him, and the young office calmly knew already that he did not have long to live. The first thoughts Seth had were immediately of Emily, knowing he would see her, friends and family who had died centuries ago. Death, he knew, is enviable now and it did not bother him. He had given his life to protect others at the memorial, saving the Yamato crew and the stasis members with his sacrifice.


The young officer has no idea that Emily and Denise both have survived and now recover, as everyone had, in the Central Hospital somewhere. The two young women were fortunate to be regaining consciousness as they were examined, and almost autopsied. The tech had discovered they were alive when the saw them moving their fingers and gasped as they briefly opened their eyes. Immediately a team had come down and wheeled them both to the ICU where they lay in the same room. What had happened was the women were wheeled into a hallway and somehow clipboards were switched on the gurneys by the overworked tech. They were automatically classified as deceased soldiers who had been killed in the war against the Dinguil Empire.


Now with that already happened, they now had Seth in the operating theater, preparing to try to save his life.


"Hang in there, Seth." Nova murmured, "You're going to be alright, we're in the hospital."


�Tears filled her eyes and the young Major noted the concerned look on her face as they rushed him down the hallway toward the trauma unit.


"Let me die." He croaked repeatedly, his voice barely audible and several times, he tried to push the oxygen hoses away before they were taped down by the techs. He even pushed the mask away to breathe. The young officer did not want to live, live with the failure of letting his friends down, and his lover. The last thing he saw was Nova, as she placed the anesthesia mask over his face, preparing him for surgery after he was quickly wheeled into an operating theater.


"Breath in gently," Nova instructed and he breathed in the gas, restrained from moving. "See you soon. You're in good hands."


"No�" He croaked and darkness fell in around him. Seth could only see the blackness at first. He then found himself lying on a blanket beneath a glorious blue sky above, hearing the thunder of sea nearby and the cry of gulls that flew in the sky around them. The young officer turned his head and he gasped, staring at the sleeping face of Emily Montgomery lying next to him.


�What the hell? Where am I? H-how can this be and how can she be here?� He thought, pulling off the mask and staring at his lover in silent awe. He had no idea, at first, he was dreaming while back in the operating theater. Nova and the others stood beside him as they continued preparing him for surgery.


�"Blood pressure stable, he's asleep." Nova reported, "IQ-9?"


"Oxygen flow normal, carbon dioxide output normal." Reported the robot, and Nova turned her head to meet Doctor Sane's careful examination of the soldier's vital readouts.


�Those readings are so low, I don�t know if that is a good sign or not.� He grumbled, slipping on a pair of gloves from a nearby tray. �Okay, let�s get on with it.�


A steady bleeping sound on the monitor indicated his pulse. Other readouts like O2 intake, C02 and respiration was monitored by the robot as the doctor started his work, cutting into the body of the young officer, a man who was technically two hundred years old.


Sane held the laser scalpel in hand and turned to the man, his new friend who lay on his table, coming from the past and from a stasis project that used technology impossible to have come from his century. A project that had been against all odds, for the group�s survival since their recovery but despite it, five of them now survived into this new time alive and well. Sane was not about to let Seth quit, like his friends, or the other stasis members for that matter.


�Come on Seth.� Sane thought, �You want to live.�


As Sane began cutting on Seth, however, an obnoxious beeping sounded that echoed the operating theater and it was, followed by a long tone. Sane looked up in alarm, as did Nova, the vitals indicating he was dead.


"Damn! He�s flat-line!" Sane shouted, "Get me adrenaline and hydro-cortisone, five hundred CC. Prepare paddles for resuscitation."


Nurses and the other doctors worked feverishly over him for five minutes trying to revive the young man from the past. The sounds of battle, the buzz of electric and the thump of Seth�s body as it hopped on the table the only sound in the theater. None of the personnel had said a word, other than the shouted orders of the medications and shots to give the young man to bring him back from the dead. Six minutes had elapsed, and Seth�s vitals beeped on the monitor. Nova let out a breath of relief that echoed the room.


�Thank�� Nova began to mutter, but a grimace had appeared on her face and the others in the room when Seth's vitals stopped again. They started and maintained CPR for several minutes, constantly having to revive him over the next five more minutes. Sane shouted more instructions as he performed CPR, Nova squeezing the oxygen bag and another doctor, working with Doctor Sane, leaned over to inject the necessary chemicals into his IV.


Meanwhile, Seth sat on the beach at this very moment, totally flabbergasted by the sight around him, of a time and place that he had once shared with a friend a long time ago. As he turned his head, he took in the surroundings quickly, realizing he was on North Beach of San Francisco. Turning he stared at the buildings of the city skyscrapers in the distance that were showing over the rocks and he stared at the traffic and bustle that made their way down the Pacific Coast Highway, known as highway One that ran along the coast.


�What on Earth? How the hell, can this be North Beach? I am in the Twenty-third Century, shot and dying.� Seth said to himself and yet here he was, sitting near the rocks taking in the very real surroundings. More traffic ran along the highway and he turned his attention to the long expanse of North Beach where many people ran along the beach on this early afternoon, laughing and carrying on as usual.


�There has to be something going on, I must be hallucinating.� Seth said, shaking his head, trying to clear the very crisp images before him. He heard a yawn and a groan next to him and his head returned immediately toward the sound, despite the thunder of the ocean waves and the cry of gulls that echoed the beach around him. The young Major�s eyes locked on the familiar face of someone whom he had not expected to see lying beside him. He felt the familiar d�j� vu when seeing the face of his young lover beside him. The same lover that he would bury two hundred years in the future in a place called Hero�s Hill in the Twenty-third century.


�What the deuce�?� He stammered, peering at the familiar long brown curly hair, beautiful face, and shapely form clad in a loud colored, string-bikini. They both lay on a blanket on the sand, next to the rocks.


�Oh my god�!� Seth thought, �Can it be?�
�

The young Major turned his head, spying the abandoned anesthesia mask that lay abandoned at his side.


�How can I be here if the anesthesia mask is lying over there?� Seth asked himself, �That proves I am not in the Twentieth, Twenty-First Century.�


He turned his intent, examining, stare at Emily who lay beside him and as she slowly opened her eyes. She immediately focused on Seth and returned his startled expression with a smile and a loving gaze. The young woman sat up quickly, looked into his eyes and embraced him.


"I'm dreaming." He said simply. The young woman smiled at him.


"Yes you are. Are you alright Seth?" She asked, her hand touching his shoulder. He shook his head and Emily tilted her head in half understanding.


"I am in a hospital, shot and dying." He said, "Where am I? What year is it?"


�His tone showed a touch of fear, as-if he was afraid to hear the answer to his question.


"We're on the beach." She replied, quite confused. "What year is it? It is nineteen ninety six. We are on North Beach in San Francisco. Why, where did you think you would be?"


"You wouldn't believe it if I told you." He replied, making Emily frown playfully.


�Try me.� She told him in a playful, but mischievous tone and at first, Seth did not answer. He did not draw away either, he just stared into the brown eyes of the woman he loved dearly, and knew he would lose two hundred years from now.


She leaned over to hug him, and her lips touched his, kissing him passionately. His eyes were wide and a smile appeared on his face. It had been as sweet, filled with promise and exactly as they had kissed the first time.
�

�I missed you.� She told him and he nodded.


"This is so weird, but I am so glad to see you." He said, turning his head to inspect the familiar surroundings of North Beach that lay out around him. The large buildings of San Francisco rose up in the distance, clearly visible over the rocks into the skyline. A building on the top of a large cliff, a restaurant called 'The Cliff House' stood nearby. It is one of the well-known, very tasty, and pricey dining establishments in San Francisco. He could not believe that was there either.


As the surf pounded the beach, a sky full of gulls, the familiar sand and laughter echoed from across it. Seth sat beside the young woman he had fallen in love with a long time ago. He did not know how to ask the next series of questions to figure out if this was real. The Major took in the surroundings in silence with the only a shake of his head.


First, he had already known the others in his project, seven of them, had died and there was something amiss by his presence in a place he should not be. The place he sat was in a time where all of his friends, family and the members of the stasis crew still survived. He was reliving something that had already been lived and would be impossible to relive or change even if it were possible.


"It�s just impossible!" thought the young officer.


�"How can I get back to the twentieth century when I awakened from stasis? This is not possible. I cannot change the future, it would totally make things all screwed up." He said to himself. It made him think a moment.


"Maybe, perhaps I am dreaming of the future and I have not been put into stasis yet."


Despite his questions burning in his mind, he thought of someone else who had thought and enjoyed Science Fiction. Even he was alive and well. He knew that he would have written this experience down, making it a great yarn of a Sci-Fi story.


"Seth, you look like you have seen a ghost." Emily declared sharply and he turned to the young woman. He peered at his lover, companion and fellow stasis member like him, who is assigned to the same project as he and the eleven others would traverse soon at this very moment.


"Perhaps I have. I am not sure." He replied, "Perhaps I am seeing one now." Seth glanced down at a black watch on his wrist and a medical bracelet on the other one.


�What�s wrong Seth?� Emily asked. He ignored the question, briefly closing his eyes.


"How long have I been here?" Seth calmly whispered, opening his eyes intently to peer into her brown eyes, "How did I get back to San Francisco?"


"What do you mean? You� we have been here all day. It's Saturday and we are taking a break from duty together. We came to the beach, it was your idea." Emily said, "We've been here for a year and month for training� Seth you are starting to worry me."


"But you're dead!" Seth blurted out suddenly, "I-I buried you at Hero's Hill, in the year twenty-two-oh-eight!"


"Now you are REALLY starting to scare me." She said, "Stop it, Seth�"


"But�" He started to reply but fell silent when Emily gave him an annoyed look. Seth managed to look around and met the surroundings with a fearful, confused look. He stared at the rocks on the northern end, the sandy expanse and parking lot that connected Highway One that went along the coast from which would lead along the coast of California. The people seemed to be moving in slow motion all of a sudden.


"This can�t be right. There has to be more to explain this all.� He thought, grimacing at the surroundings as she picked up the beach towel. Seth moved in and he held her. He instinctively took up her arm as they walked together down the beach. Grimacing, the young man shook his head and he grimaced at the infectious smile that appeared on her face when she felt him take her hand.


All of a sudden, a loud beeping sound echoed in the air around him. It made Seth look down at his wrist at a black wristwatch he wore there and at the blinking numbers that flashed there on his arm. He felt himself drawn back from the images that abruptly faded.


"EMILY!" He shouted as they both were separated by a large chasm. The beeping noise echoed around Seth in the darkness, and he recognized it as a heartbeat as he glanced down at the flashing number on his wrist. It had been only a dream and a feverish medical team worked hard in the operating theater to revive Seth for the last five minutes.


When they were successful, they all looked up in relief as the familiar rhythmic beeps echoed in the O.R and his steady heartbeat showed on the monitor beside the table. They thankfully indicated that he was back from the dead. Nova was fighting to hold back her weeping as she held the young officer's hand tightly. Another beeping and Seth's heart stopped again, and again Sane hit him with the paddles.


�"Come on Major� Damn it." Sane muttered, as he zapped the young soldier on the table. The others present on the staff ventilated and squeezed in the blood that hung dripping into his body. The young Major inhaled sharply before going to flat line again.


"Another one, just like that�" Sane coached, as he zapped him again. This time a steady beeping sounded on the monitor.


�"Okay." He announced, his team looking up, "We have him back to the realm of the living. Let�s get him stabilized and work fast to get the damage repaired."


Nova looked up and nodded.


"Ready Doctor," She murmured, making him grimace before looking down at the gaping bloody wound.


"Laser scalpel," He ordered, and she handed him the instrument. Several times Nova looked down at the immobile form of Seth as he lay on the table. Doctor Sane patched up the damage and hours later, when he was done, they hung another unit of blood as the Major lay there. He walked toward the exit, nodding to Nova who stood nearby. Doctor Sane looked up at the observation room, also nodding to Mitty McDonald who sat watching.


"Keep an eye on him, and don't worry. He will have a rough looking heartbeat for a while, but only time will tell if he is going to pull through. Not to worry, he has a good chance." Sane said, encouraging the young woman and his team when he saw their worried expressions.


�The doctor understood not to tell her the chances of his demise and thankfully kept it to himself. Nova, as she stood there, remembered Seth's friends, who by now waited for news in the waiting room. They had all come to the hospital to lend support for him. She had been correct. They had been waiting for several hours, hoping to hear how their friend was doing, and Nova had no idea the Yamato crew had come too to lend moral support with them. Everyone was there and they all claimed the Federal Hospital's largest waiting room.


As young Forrester-Wildstar walked down the hall toward the waiting room, a few minutes later, she is still dressed in her blood-covered uniform heading to where the stasis and Yamato crew wait. As she approached the corner, Nova stopped, peering down the corridor where her husband Derick and Mitty McDonald, aide to General Singleton stood talking. Nova hung back around the corner from the waiting rooms located near the operating theater, and tried quickly to compose her emotion. She tried to keep from weeping, having witnessed a great battle between life and death for Seth several times in the operating theater. A man she came to admire, despite the situation that he had successfully defused at the memorial, and the difficulty of successfully repairing his body by the Doctors of Federal Hospital.


"Oh hell," She murmured, wiping the tears away. "I can't avoid them, but I really can't tell them that he is not going to make it."


Breathing in, composing herself, Nova walked around the corner. Derick, taking one look at his young wife, had grimaced at the unsightly blood covering her uniform but he moved to her side to embrace her. Derick's questioning expression was met by the young woman and when his wife shook her head, he bowed his head.


"Oh damn�" Derick murmured, as he held his weeping wife in his arms.


"I thought he would make it." Nova�s husband said, as he glanced at his wife, lifting her chin to place a loving hand on her shoulder.


Nova's head turned, intently watching the others in the waiting room. They were waiting any word from Doctor Sane who had worked on Seth. The stasis crew talked over old times with their friend from their time, placed in another group from the same stasis project they had not known about. Their friend, Angie Stethem, who is alive and well from another project like their own, a group of chambers assumed destroyed by a terrorist bomb. They all were chatting, laughing and carrying on. They did not notice Nova's arrival or as she backed away from the door, meeting her husband's gaze.


"H-he's stable at the moment. Derick." She said, "He's in worse shape than was originally foreseen. It is only time and in God's hands now."


She described the situation clearly, vividly and what had happened in there.


"She's right Wildstar, we did what we could." A voice said, and they turned to see Doctor Sane appear from the doorway, still dressed in his bloody scrubs. "We repaired the damage, but it's clearly up to him now."


Mitty joined them when she saw the couple and she had nodded a greeting to them, especially to Doctor Sane.


"Doctor Sane, I can't� I-I can't tell them h-he's� that he might not make it." Nova whispered, "Please don't make me�"


Sane saw her glancing at the waiting room door, hearing the laughter and chatter there. He shook his head.


"No, Nova, that duty falls upon me. I am the doctor in charge, and I am responsible for reporting life or death to the next of kin or friends. I wish like hell and hope I have good news to tell them after tonight. It doesn�t look good."


"Also, bear in mind Commander McDonald, when you report, Seth Aquilera is in critical condition and is under full life support. He may or may not make it by the morning." Sane declared solemnly, "It is up to him, if he lives or dies now."


"Noted, but what do you recommend we do about the assignment given to the young Major?" Mitty asked, "We are now one man short for this new assignment. Should we pull one of the others to take his place?"


"We should reassign someone else who is familiar with the Aquarian waters." A low voice said, "And that is not one of the other stasis crew members, even though they were all trained at the same time, on the same data. They are just not qualified."


There was a gasp, and everyone in the hall had turned his or her heads to a rough, looking officer who stood nearby. He is mid height, has slightly graying brown hair, a full beard and he wears a black eye patch over one eye, partially covering an angry-looking scar starting from his forehead that ran to his jaw line on the patched side. The officer is dressed in the familiar blue, dark blue trimmed uniform of the EDC Space Corps, and he has the insignia of a silver cluster marking him as Lieutenant Commander pinned on his collar. He saluted smartly.


"Commander McDonald�" He said solemnly, nodding a greeting to her. He grinned at Derick and Nova. ��and of course, Doctor Sane."


He bowed formally to Nova and Mitty.


"Greetings Lieutenant Commander," Mitty said, smiling, "I did not know you were here. I thought you were at dry dock overseeing the repairs of the Kosheo, as ordered by Captain Yamazuki."


"I was, until I got this strange call from General Singleton's office, with orders to high-tail is over to the hospital and assume all duties given to Major Aguilera, who presently is in critical condition. Is it Seth Aguilera?"


"Why yes, do you know him?" She asked and the Lieutenant Commander nodded.


"He is one of my best friends in the whole world, in civilian life, and a hell of a person. We lived in the same neighborhood back in the twentieth century. Forgive me, if I am a bit stunned that he was one of the stasis members they found recently. I had no idea he would put in for something like that."


Mitty was nodding, and she stopped to frown, turning her head to regard the officer for a moment. "Wait a minute, to assume all duties given to Major Aquilera?"


"Here's the order." He said, handing her a slip of paper with the printed order that was transmitted to the ship and to the grizzled officer. Mitty quickly scanned it.


"My ship has a long time in dry dock for repairs." He said, "I guess it is because I am like Seth, also from the twentieth century, so I was a logical candidate for the job."


"You are to be lead for a ground assault on Aquarius, igniting the Tritium mine and eliminate all resistance. Do you even have qualifications? I think your specialty was computers, right? You are second officer aboard that Heavy Cruiser."


"It is, but we all had the same type of military training in my century. I was trained on technical specs as lead of stasis group two-fifteen, so I have that same knowledge as he does about the power sources and so forth." The officer explained, "Even if we were different branches, the training they gave us is essentially the same. Therefore, I think I can carry out your need for this assignment. I should meet the team, though and know what we are facing."


"Aye," Commander McDonald said, "I can arrange that� Call together a changeover briefing tomorrow at sixteen hundred with your new team."


The Lieutenant Commander nodded.


"Don't worry about my assignment aboard the Heavy Cruiser. It has been arranged with the Captain, and the EDC Commander. I will be reassigned back when I am done. Right now, is there anything else to be done at this minute?" The officer asked, and Mitty shook her head.


"Negative," She replied sharply, "I will personally alert your team, and make them aware of the change in command."


"Thank you, Commander. That would be�" The officer started to reply, but his voice faded off as his head snapped toward the empty corridor behind him. He had sensed something very wrong happening at this moment.


His eye focused on a young blond haired woman, dressed in a medical gown, staggering toward the group from around the corner and using the wall as a support. The woman is Denise 'Watts' Watson, who was part of the secondary stasis group, who was presumed dead after a mix up of charts with deceased soldiers, who died during the last war against Earth.


The young woman stared at the group clustered nearby, and swooned. The young Lieutenant Commander bolted and ran toward her like lightning, sliding in, to catch her neatly into his arms as she fainted. He stared at the familiar face before him, one whom he had not seen in a long time, in two hundred years. He fought to get a name, and grimaced when he realized whom she was.


"Denise 'Watts' Watson�" He murmured, "I don't believe it." He turned his head to the hallway, where Nova and the others stood by watching the whole event.


"Miss Wildstar, get the medics down here... Get them now." He shouted, holding Denise in his arms and echoing Kirk's words from Star Trek 3: The Search for Spock Movie of his century.


Wildstar's wife ran to a communicator and hit the alert button. A beeping sounded and red lights blinked overhead. Shouts and footsteps responded, as people ran from every direction. Derick, Nova, and Doctor Sane were at his side in a flash. The young Lieutenant Commander held the limp form of Denise in his arms, as a commotion echoed through the hallway. Doctor Sane used smelling salts and brought her back to consciousness. She shook her head in disgust, at the smell.


"Ugh, get that shit out of my face." Denise sputtered, as her eyes opened and she managed to turn her head, blearily to examine her surroundings. She peered at the many strange faces standing over her.


"Where am I? W-what's happening to me?" Denise asked.


"Shhh..." Sane soothed, glancing at the people gathered around her.


"Don't talk, you are alright. You are safe and very much alive in the hospital." The doctor told her.


The young woman's eyes focused on Doctor Sane who nodded as he examined her, then to Derick, Nova and the young Lieutenant Commander who held her. She frowned for a moment, her eyes growing wide as she stared at the scarred face and patched eye of the officer who held her. She yelped and fainted in his arms again. There was a momentary pause as Nova, Derick, and Doctor Sane looked at her in surprise then met the young Lieutenant Commander's astonished expression. An amused grin appeared on their faces. A quiet ripple of laughter followed, even from the young officer. He shrugged his shoulders.


"I guess I must have that effect on people." He told them and the group smiled.


"I guess so, Commander." Nova replied, with a smile, and he met her grin with one of his own.


�"I must have scared her. Just great, I'm scary looking." He grumbled but managed a grin at the young woman. Welcome to the twenty-third century� Watts."


Behind The Lieutenant Commander, Nova and Sane, the other stasis personnel and Yamato crew filled the hallway when they heard the alarms. The stasis personnel gasped loudly when they recognized their comrade in arms, whom they thought was dead, placed on a gurney by the young officer. There were gasps all around, and a low murmur rippled through the stasis group. Medics, technicians, and nurses ran to Denise's side as she was attended.


The young officer, who held her, stepped back, letting the medical staff do their work after putting her on the gurney, and turned his head to meet the familiar faces of the stasis crew who stood nearby. He tilted his head slightly, seeing their faces, and grinned openly before turning to walk toward Commander Mc Donald who stood nearby. As Sane approached the gurney, the young grizzled officer nodded to him and Nova. The stasis crew and the other Yamato crew had glanced at the unfamiliar officer in the blue/dark blue uniform of the Space Corps, and no one thought any differently about him. The stasis group had not recognized the familiar face of the officer, focusing mainly on the event at hand: Their comrade in arms who was reported deceased before, and now lay on a stretcher, alive and well.


"Denise? Denise Watson?" Melinda exclaimed, "You're alive? HOW�?� The young woman headed toward the Doctor, but she felt herself restrained by the strong grip of Angie, who shook her head as Melinda turned her head.


"How is this possible?" Amy stammered, "She's dead, they told us she was killed in stasis."


"I bet it will be explained." Angie prompted, and the group met the concerned look of the nurses, technicians and Doctor Sane himself. Angie had spied the young officer and had been surprised by his presence.
�

"She'll be OK." Sane told Nova, and his gaze met hers for a moment. He noticed Wildstar�s wife pointed at Melinda and the others.


"Oh� yes� quite right." Sane muttered, and he turned to meet Melinda's astonished expression. His look, that he gave her, was hard and in his eyes, they clearly showed his pain and distress over losing his patient.


"Doctor? How is Seth?" Melinda asked, and the others gathered around him, remembering their comrade who had been shot to hell.


At first, Sane did not answer. However, when he did, his voice was sharp, like a doubled edged sword.


"Seth is in critical condition, and he has a very slim chance of recovery, if that. Only time will tell at this point. It is up to the Major to fight, and heal. We did everything humanly possible. I'm so sorry."


Doctor Sane waited for the protest by everyone gathered here, and it did not happen as he had expected. There had been just astonished silence by both groups.


"If you will excuse me, I have a life here that needs my help." The doctor's voice had been hard, calm, and his tone had been dead even.
�

Melinda stared at the Doctor in horror. She was very stunned, as was the others. There was not a sound until Amanda began to weep, and threw herself into the strong arms of Manual, who stood with them. Sane, Nova and even Mitty walked along the stretcher that contained their friend and around the corner. Melinda held the stunned look on her face as they disappeared around the corner and half turned to see Amy shaking her head. Her face showed the same horror.


The crew from stasis was absolutely stunned by the news. As Sane wheeled Denise down the hall, he paused briefly at the corner where Nova and Derick now stood, holding each other. They took a step forward toward him, and the doctor shook his head slightly.


�"Nova, there is nothing you and Wildstar can do here now." Sane said, "Get some rest. I'll let you know if anything happens with this young woman, or if anything changes."


"Doctor Sane, is that one of the people that Seth just buried?" Nova asked and the doctor nodded, after holding their stare for a long moment.


"Yes and the young woman named Emily Montgomery too." Sane said, "They had been brought up from the morgue not long ago, their records had been mixed up in the morgue with two other soldiers killed in the last raids by the Dinguil."


"My god," Wildstar murmured, "What the hell else, can go wrong?"


"Please keep us up on how things go?" Nova said, and Sane nodded.


"It's amazing isn't?" Sane commented, "These people being put in stasis in the twentieth century� Using a technology we had to fight against not long ago."


Both Nova and Derick nodded slightly in agreement.


"It is all hard to believe, Doctor Sane." Wildstar replied.


"A strange coincidence for us all, Wildstar� Nova�" Sane replied.


"Doctor Sane, you are needed in Emergency Four." A voice said, announcing it over the intercom above him. Sane nodded slightly when he had heard it.


"Sorry, I have to go. I'll let you know how things go." Sane told them, and he ran down the corridor.


Derick embraced his wife before he took her hand, and they walked down the hallway together. Nova smiled at her friends, as they passed her, and the couple stopped to chat with others, who embraced her. When they were alone, minutes later, she kissed Derick passionately.


"I have to get out of this uniform, Derick. Can we go by the changing room?" Nova asked, consciously looking down at the blood belonging to Seth that stained her uniform. Her husband grimaced at the sight of the dried blood on her uniform and nodded.


They walked a short distance down the hall together, and soon ended up outside the changing room. She walked toward the door.


"Wait for me. I'll only be five minutes." He smiled at the young woman, as she disappeared through the door. Derick still could not believe he was going to be a father, after almost a year of marriage. Five minutes later, she walked from the changing room wearing her nurse's uniform and they held hands as they walked toward the exit. She noted the grimace on his face as memories moved through his brain about recent past.



Derick thought of a year ago, when they had all come home on the last mission of Yamato. It had been when they fought the Dinguil, who used Aquarius as a weapon against Earth.


"What's wrong Derick?"


"Nothing," He replied, and he put out his arm, allowing her to take it with a smile. They walked together down the hallway toward the exit.


As for the stasis crew, they also had left the hospital stunned, returning to the quarters belonging to Amanda, Melinda and Amy. They sat glumly around the trio's assigned quarters, hardly speaking, as they thought of Seth, critically injured, who had sacrificed his life for them all. The group just could not believe this had happened, all of these events happening so fast, and all against a new Cybernetic enemy who threatens Earth.

�
Meanwhile, in the middle of deep space, the crew from the Star Cruiser class starship called the SS Magellanic Clouds, inched toward the hulk of the Yamato's bridge. As Felonious floated freely in space, his attention was focused on the scanner in front of him, as the crew began setting up survey drone to inspect the outer integrity of the derelict�s hull. The rest of his crew prepared an airlock and inspection of the super structure for their entry into the remains of the Yamato's bridge section. They all had a lot of work to be done, to examine the derelict for clues, for what had happened here in space.


"Ihsss to Felonious," A voice said over the headset, and the Feline Science Officer turned, looking down to hit the console on the arm of his suit.


"Felonious here," He replied. It was the Captain.


"Is there anything to report?" Ihsss asked, "What is your status."


"We are about to inspect the hull. As I feared, all exit blast points that are visible, are outward from an internal explosion." He said, "Crews report, that the hull and everything seems intact."


"What?" Ihsss asked, "Are you sure?"


"Whatever happened skipper, they blew up their ship." Felonious said, "There are too many signs that self destruction might be a strong possibility of what happened here. Voloxa also reads a higher Tachyon emission here too with some residual radiation."
�

"Can you determine what it was they were against?" Ihsss asked, "That they would do that?"


"Not at present, but I have found a high concentrate of water, like this ship was immersed in it. The signs are everywhere."


"How can that be?" Ihsss asked, "Could they have been on a planet, you know, on Earth, and the planet destroyed to throw it into deep space?"


"No, but they could have been on Aquarius, or on proximity." Felonious said, "The water seems to have a heavy base to it. We were just about to enter the ship and head to the bridge, to see if we can salvage any of the memory-banks to find out what happened here, even maybe a log."


"Also, I think we have survivors." The Feline Science Officer replied, "I don't know how, but I thought I just saw someone inside. They were wearing a spacesuit with a helmet."


"Survivors�!" Ihsss breathed, and if sound could have traveled, that the echo would have went into space itself.



Her bridge crew had turned their heads, looking in astonishment and Ihsss frowned.


"I need someone standing by on the sensors and scanning for human life-signs again. Make sure the scans are outside normal parameters, taking in account for the radiation level surrounding the derelict." Felonious suggested, "I think the radiation has been interfering with the reading with our hand-held scanners. I am unsure how they could be alive. The ship has been out here for a while. I see small damage from meteor hits and other damage on the hull."


"I'll get someone to stand by on your console. You take it easy in there, Felonious. If there are any issues, pull back out of there." Ihsss warned over the COM, as he moved to the airlock outside a main hatch on the derelict.


Stepping into the airlock, he used a hand-held manual opener to open it and the door slid obediently open with no hiss of equalization.


"We have breached the outer airlock." Felonious said, stepping toward the internal one. There was no light beyond. He rubbed the window of the glass, shining his light through it.


"No power, no atmosphere, there was no equalization of a nitrogen oxygen atmosphere here." He muttered, "Scanners indicate pure vacuum, and the radiation seems to be increasing."


"Circle of three." He ordered, and nodding the crew had their backs to each other with weapons drawn. Voloxa had hit the opener and the inner hatch opened, and again there was no equalization pressure. The hatch behind them had closed. The insect-like engineer stood beside him, inspecting the couplings and displays in the passageway.


"Voloxa here, Captain." He said, "Engineering report, this place is a bloody mess." He grumbled, "As Felonious said there is no internal power and the corridor is half obliterated from the inside out. It looks like it had its guts blown out of her."


"That's for sure." Felonious murmured.


"We're in the ship and making our way down a small hallway. There is no power, or what appears to be an engineering section to produce power, but I am going to see if there is a battery room. Perhaps to see if we can get the emergency lighting to work." Voloxa reached out and flipped the switches on a nearby control panel he opened in the bulkhead. He took out his tools and began working.


"According to the scanners, there seems to be more moisture here skipper." Felonious added, pausing as he scanned the corridor.


�"I see a water line on the internal bulkhead of the ship, as well as scars of our so-called blast that ripped through this thing."


"We see it too." Ihsss replied, staring at the screen at the science console, watching their progress through the derelict.


With everyone's weapon drawn, Felonious, and his team came to the main corridor of the ship. Nodding and motioning with his hand, two went either direction. The young feline officer took the main corridor, approaching open doors leading into a long dark corridor. Felonious led with his weapon, shining his light in the each doorway, illuminating the room to check it before walking further down the corridor.


"There is a lot of damage here. A bulkhead here looks like it seems to be shattered by Felonious' explosion. What is left of what appears to have been a hatch here, but the room itself is empty." A crew member said.


"Use your scanners and stay alert." Felonious ordered over the static filled COM link. He left it open so the crew on the Clouds could hear. He switched the camera on his suit to the on position. It beeped accusingly at him as it initialized and then showed a picture of the surroundings from the Feline Science Officer's point of view. He glanced down at the hand held scanner as he moved through the pitch-black corridors, and the only light being that from the one in his suit, moving it back and forth. The feline officer passed closed hatches and others that had been blown apart, others partially open. Here, he looked in one and there was a door beyond. Walking, half-floating, Felonious made his way down the corridor and stopped before a hole in the floor.


"Are you getting this?" Felonious asked, and on the bridge, Ihsss T'Larra stared in surprise at the jagged hole and fused metal. She had gasped, like the others, on the bridge of the Star Cruiser Class Starship. They peered at the view screen and the picture of a hole in the floor the bulkhead appearing to be an internal explosion that melted, fusing the floor of the bulkhead with excess heat.


"We're getting it." Ihsss said, "Pan right for a second." On the derelict, Felonious complied and there was a hatch nearby. "Shine next to that hatch."


The light on his suit banished the shadows and clearly, there was the label that was half obliterated on it.


'Qu_te_rs, M__K V_n_t__e.'


He stood in front of the door that was half-open, showing the interior of the room. The feline officer crept toward the door and forced it aside, peering into the room. The room was empty except for a few things, including an unsent letter left on the desk in the room and a photo of a young man in a white uniform and a younger man together. Felonious collected the picture, the letter and put them both in an envelope. He pulled open the drawer and uniforms lay neatly in it. The feline Science Officer grimaced as he returned to the corridor.


In another part of the ship, inside a corridor like the rest of his shipmates, that Tyr'Ven walked down and explored the ship as the others. As he walked with two of his shipmates toward another junction, he panned the flashlight around the passage, examining each room and the damage that had been everywhere thus far. Turning his light he thought he saw the flash of red, like that of an indicator light. When he shined the light, there was nothing there.


Meanwhile, the insect-like engineer floated down a nearby access corridor, and toward an opening in the bulkhead. His light shined on a nearby sign 'Bridge Elevator three,' Voloxa read the sign aloud as he half turned to the crewmembers that held their weapons ready. Poking his head through the door, he peered up the shaft and saw nothing but darkness and down to see the tangle of debris of the lift that had fallen into the shaft.


"Mind the corridors." Ordered the Engineer and here he found another panel that was half shattered. Voloxa opened the toolbox, and he spliced several wires that hung freely through and from the metal panel.


"Let see if we can get some of the lights working in this section." He said after a moment, flipping the switch on the panel. A low light flickered for a second and a low light illuminated the floor. The insect engineer turned abruptly, when he thought he had seen motion, and his compound eyes showed some emotion when he peered at the ghostly form of a figure, dressed in a space suit, standing before him. The space-suited figure had turned the corner and disappeared through a bulkhead.


"Did you see that?" Voloxa stammered. He turned to the crew who were beside him. They looked at him in silence.


"No, what did you see?"


"There is someone here." He rasped, "Bloody Hell!"


"All teams, weapons on heavy stun. Don't take any chances." He told his boarding party. Voloxa moved down the bulkhead further, and his compound eyes narrowed when he saw something that he did not understand. A lone ghostly figure floated freely down the hallway, but as he raised the weapon, it disappeared. On the other side, cutting through a different room and up a level, Felonious moved down a hallway above with the two shipmates who were with him.


"Felonious." Voloxa said, his voice shaken.


"Go ahead Vol." Felonious replied, "How are things going."


"Power is going to be restored here in a second. I don't know how much life the batteries have in them, but I found it with no problems," Voloxa reported, "But on another note, I think you're right. I just saw something that may be constituted as strange."


"What?"


"I just saw a space suited figure." Voloxa said, "You said, no life signs?"


"I am not sure now." Felonious said, "My hand held scanner is in perfect adjustment, and I think it's the radiation. I have nothing here."


"I am at bulkhead A-41, what appears to be life sciences lab and a medical section." Voloxa said, and he nodded to the crew as they opened each hatch.


"I am going to start searching for survivors." He said, "I sent one member of my party below to find the sick bay and morgue, to see if there were any bodies aboard."


"Can't be, the ship seems abandoned." A voice said, and Felonious recognized it as Hxar's, "If they were killed, where's the bodies? Bodies in a vacuum don't decompose as fast."


"Well yes, but still the ship appears to have no half cups of coffee or anything that would indicate they were not ready for it." Voloxa countered, "I'm wondering if they abandoned ship and it had been set automated for self-destruct."


"Well, that is one thing to find out, once we locate and find the way to the ship's bridge." Felonious replied. He then turned to the corridor ahead


�"Xner come in please? Report�!"


"Something is wrong." Felonious said.


"T'Ver." He said, "Report."


"T'Ver here," A voice said, "Nothing to report, Commander but come three up on the staircase, bulk-head C-3. You are not going to believe this."


"Copy that." Felonious said, and a while later, the feline Science Officer�s team arrived at the staircase, as well as Voloxa and a few of his team.


They shined the light inside the room.


The feline Science Officer peered into the room, and saw the strange bluish glow on the floor. He stared at the scanner in his hand. Voloxa's compound eyes widened when he saw the glow too.


"There seems to be a bit of gravity here." He declared, "And I am reading that the glowing substance is water. That is weird. Why has it not broken into droplets of its consistent elements in the vacuum and why is it glowing like that. It should be the elements or ice by now." What they saw is the remains of the water of Aquarius that had flooded the ship.


"Xner to Felonious," A voice said, and the feline officer looked up.


"Where were you Xner?" He said, "We were concerned."


"I managed to go down a few levels, it's like a bulkhead hell here, but I found what is left of the medical department. I found the morgue and there are no bodies here. There are signs though, blood stains on a couple of the slabs. Otherwise it appears to be deserted." Felonious gasped, as did Ihsss on the Clouds.


"So where did the bodies and or the people go" Ihsss asked, "Were they possibly sucked out, when the explosion breached the hull?"


"They might have transferred the dead to another ship too." Felonious suggested, "Families right to bury their own."


"I think our best bet is to find what we need on the bridge. Xerc, get up here. Wait did you find Engineering?"


�"What's left of it Commander," Replied the voice, "I found the hatchway, and I can, at this point, see off into space. The bulkhead is partially blocked, but I can see over one hundred meters past it..." He paused a moment to grimace.


"...The whole aft section appears to be missing."


"Okay, get up back up here." Felonious ordered.


"Commander�!" A voice stammered, through the crackle of static.


"F'Meher?" Felonious asked.


"�I am at the main bri� I think we�" The COM crackled.


"Where are you?" Felonious yelled.


"Main brid� Bulkhead B�2�" A moment later, the COM went dead.


"Let's go!" Felonious said, charging through the corridors and up any ladders he found and or any stairs. When they found deck B, they charged down the hallway, and they found the members of their crew on the deck. The spacesuit face plate was shattered, and the body exploded inside it. The feline officer grunted. He turned to the hatchway of the bridge and leaned down to pick up the crew member's weapon.


"All internal search teams, if you can hear me� get back up here." Felonious said, "All crew members, yellow alert. Internal search teams, report immediately back to the bridge hatchway using our signal as a guide."


"On my way�" A voice said.


"Acknowledged�" Another voice replied.


"Gotcha�"


"What's happening over there?" Ihsss asked, as the COM crackled.


"Felonious!" She exclaimed, sitting in her chair on the bridge, but there was only silence. On the derelict, the feline science officer stared at his team as they gathered at the emergency stairs hatch that would lead to the bridge.


"Captain�?" Voloxa said, "It appears communications are out Felonious."


"Yes." replied the Science Officer, hitting the buttons of his suit, "Okay, team two, take the hatch on the other side, team one follow me and be careful."


"There is a bit more radiation here." A crew member said, "It's within limits."


Slowly, Felonious climbed the stairs, followed by his group, and when they reached the sliding doors, they paused with their weapons drawn.


"There is some more gravity here, and the oxygen nitrogen atmosphere here too." Xerc muttered, staring at the scanner.


"Set weapons on stun. Put up the portable airlock." The hatch was setup with an airlock and the four space suited figures stepped in. A hiss sounded, and pressure was equalized. Voloxa jury-rigged the control to the hatch and it abruptly opened. The four-held position with their weapons around the hatch and the others came in.


"Steady." Felonious warned, as they all walked in toward the bridge with their weapons ready, and checked every chair.


"Fan out." Felonious ordered, and the crew dispersed.


"It's empty." Felonious grumbled after a moment, and he saw one point at the center console. The whole group spun around, pointing the weapon at the center section, when seeing the body of Avatar sitting in the chair. His body had been preserved perfectly by the vacuum of space, but the low-level atmosphere had not decomposed his body.


"Felonious to Clouds," The feline Science Officer said, but there was nothing but static.


"There is high radiation is in this area and it is interfering with communications." T'Ver reported, "It is within safety limits for our limited exposure."


Sitting on the bridge of the Clouds, Ihsss T'Larra was chewing at the bit as she sat helpless, sending a security team to the derelict because of the silent boarding party.


"What is going on over there?" Ihsss asked, and glanced at Hi'Mthsss who shook her head.


��On the derelict, Veloxa held his weapon ready on the body, his compound eyes watchful for anything to happen on the bridge. Felonious turned his furry head at the two other members of the group on either side of the body, their weapons drawn. His golden eyes scanned the bridge, and he stepped carefully forward toward the seated body. One of the technicians held the scanner over the body, and he took vitals of this strange form.


"No life signs, but appears to be humanoid-like," The tech said, as he used one of the devices, touching it at the temple of Avatar.


"Alright, keep your eyes open." Felonious said, and he slowly turned with scanner in hand. "Voloxa, is it possible to get these consoles to operate?"


"We can try, Fel." Voloxa said, glancing at the antiquated equipment, even in their time. He set to work, putting up a power converter and generator. Opening the panel, he found wired and he began splicing them.


"There is a lot of damage here. We might be able to make it work though." Voloxa grunted, hooking up the wires. Looking up, the feline officer saw the hatch above the body of Avatar.


"You, keep guard on that body." Felonious warned, pointing at a guard "Keep your weapon trained at it. We lost two of our crewmates to something strange happening here."


Turning, he nodded to the crew person who stood at the window, who withdrew a laser beacon. The crew member flashed it, sending a signal to their ship that hovered nearby and on the bridge of the Star Cruiser. There was a cheer.


"Contact established Commander." Reported the crew member, "Sending coded message now of our findings."


Felonious nodded, as Voloxa worked quickly, and after a moment, he flipped the switch as the consoles lit up, blinking and beeping.


Outside, they had no idea that a second team had been sent over to the derelict. They entered in force, entering the ship and had fanned out to search the relic. Several headed to the bridge, posting sentries to make a path through the half-shattered ship. They entered the airlock, and the soon entered the bridge.


"We found them." The young humanoid said, �Relay to the Clouds.�


Felonious turned to see Kwai enter the bridge with a couple of security personnel.
�

"Kwai�" Felonious gasped, and he turned to the young humanoid.


"We're ready." Voloxa said, as he sat at the system, and he began typing in at the keyboard.


"The memory units are seriously damaged, Commander." The insect-like engineer said, as his assistant worked at the science station, Sandor's station.


"Proceed."


"What's going on?" Kwai asked, turning as she saw the body on-board.


"We need to get that body out of here and back to the ship for analysis." Felonious said. "We have things running here, and are about to find out soon enough what happened to the derelict. There is also someone here, I think, and he has killed two of our crewmembers."


"I have security sentries posted."


"Good, but we need to get everyone out of here." Felonious ordered. "Start with the downed crew members and all non-essential personnel to return to the ship at once."


"Aye," Kwai replied, nodding to the two troopers next to her and they went to the body. Gently, they picked up the limp form of Avatar. There was no rigor, and hardly any decomposition. A sealed stasis chamber had been sent for from the Star Cruiser and less than thirty minutes later the body had been passed down and placed in the airlock.


The body of Avatar was put into the container and removed.


However, back on Earth, at the same moment, Denise Watson opened her eyes in the room and focused upon the sterilized interior of the darkened room. As the young woman lay in the room, she managed a groan, feeling nauseated as her eyes fluttered to slowly open. Her eyes focused upon the white ceiling above her, and turning her head, she squinted at the darkened room where she had been for the last two months, before staggering blindly into the hallway.


Her gaze fell upon the room from which she and Emily now lay across from each other. She immediately recognized as a room found in any typical hospital, with sanitary white walls, beds, and the heavy drapes that cover the window. A room, she deduced having been a hospital room, because of the septic smells and background noise she could hear in the hallway outside.


Denise wondered where she was, this place was not what she expected or remembered visiting on the base in San Francisco. Slowly her head turned, catching the movement from the corner of her eye, and her eyes focused upon a nurse standing nearby.


"Nurse�" She croaked, realizing she had no voice.


"Nurse�!" She repeated. Her voice was a mere strained whisper. Astonished, the nurse turned and exhaled quietly before rushing to her side.


The nurse, Major Matilda Downing, an older woman with black hair, a barrel shaped figure and a semi-unattractive face was at her side in a flash. She assessed the situation quickly.


�"Oh my god� Doctor Sane�!" She shouted, turning to the intercom. She hit the button with a shaking hand. "Doctor Sane come quickly! Room three forty five,"


�Her hand slammed the red alert button that flashed lights and a klaxon throughout the ward. Footsteps followed as the doctor arrived on the run, followed by couple of the other nurses.


"Where am I?" Denise croaked, staring at the unfamiliar faces around her, �Who are you people?"


�Doctor Sane shushed her. He turned his head when he heard the murmur of her roommate, her fellow stasis member in the bed across from her.


"You are in Federal Hospital." He told her, as he checked her charts. "My name is Doctor Sane. I am your doctor."


Sane paused, glancing at her vitals as he ran them on the instrument in his hand,


"It appears you are just coming out of unconsciousness from your stasis project again. Just relax."


Sane paused as he grimaced at the device screen.


"How do you both feel?" He asked neutrally as he examined Denise first then moved to Emily's side.


�"A little nausea," Denise replied, "Feel like hell."


"Ditto," Emily added and put her hand on the bridge of her nose. Sane carefully began to examine her, nodding slightly.


"Just relax, just a little exam." He told them, pulling out a stethoscope and placed it against her chest after warming it. He listened to her heart.


"Breathe." He instructed and the young blond haired woman complied. He crossed the room to do the same thing to Emily. Sane hit a switch and a panel lit up beside him, the panel showed their vital readouts. He turned to them, meeting their expressions with a large grin.


"You both are in fair shape, considering the unusual circumstances." He began, and both of the young women turned to regard the doctor with a look of confusion.


�"You both currently are suffering from hibernation sickness. It is not common to have this even after an unusual extended period in cryogenic stasis. You both will recover in time."


"An unusually long time in stasis?" repeated Denise, �What does that mean, it's only been five years right?"


He shook his head silently, amazed by her question.


"Hardly that young miss." Sane replied, and smiled before he spoke again.


"I suggest you not worry." He told them, "Rest assured, you both are safe, and please do not fret. I can bet you both have many questions right now on what happened and where you are. We can take them one at a time."


He turned to the one nurse and nodded. Nurse Downing walked to the nearby intercom.
�

"Have a couple of security personnel come to Federal Hospital please, Room three forty five." She said and her hand hit the switch, before turning back to assist Emily in her bed.


Both women, of the past, were confused by the people around them and nothing seemed familiar to them. Denise did not remember a hospital like this in the city, a sterile, futuristic hospital that is technological for the time.


"If I may permit some introductions," Sane said, managing a grin, "May I introduce Nurse Kelly, Nurse Yakima, and Head Nurse Downing."


He motioned to each as he introduced them.


"You both are lucky to be alive and if you need anything they will be happy to help." Sane continued. "I suggest you rest, you both have been through a lot."


He motioned to the head nurse, and whispered to her quickly.


�"Call the Headquarters staff and let them immediately know that there are two more members of stasis from the twentieth century who have awakened. We need to debrief them as soon as possible. Also keep this under raps, and pass to security everyone now has restricted access to them." Sane whispered, "When HQ responds, let them in."


Denise lay back, overhearing the instructions by Doctor Sane.


"So we�re under arrest?" Denise demanded, as five minutes elapsed, before two security personnel arrived and took post outside. Doctor Sane turned to shake his head at her in wonder.


"No. You're our guests, and expect, Miss Watson that you and Miss Montgomery will be dealt with soon enough."


Sane met the expression they gave him with a quiet gasp and he quickly shook his head.


"Oh no, relax� in a good way�" He told her, "Relax� It will be the official welcome wagon around here."


Here, Sane paused.


"It is an honor to make your acquaintance despite the circumstances."


Now, both of them wore utter confused expressions on their faces, and turned their heads to the open curtain from which the bright light spilled in. They suddenly realized the Doctor was not joking, being very serious. The nurses raised them both to a sitting position and they stared at the window after the young nurses had opened the curtains, allowing the bright light to spill into the room.


Outside, they saw the futuristic buildings, and the two women had gasped openly at the sight. They suddenly realized something was definitely amiss.


"Uh doc," Denise began, "Can I ask what year it is? It should be two thousand and three right?"


"Yes, please, what year is it?" Emily asked, agreeing with Denise with a nod.


"Well, that's a good way to start." He said, "And to answer that question�"


He cast a look at the window and the open curtain. He shot an annoyed look at the young nurse and over to the Major. Sane cleared his throat.


"�um �well if the data holds up of what I have read from the records recovered with your chambers and the information stored in your chambers when examined." He started, shaking his head in wonder, "By the calendar, as you would know it, um� it is the latter part of the twenty-third century."


"The twenty-third century�!" Both Denise and Emily exclaimed together, both amazed by the information given to them.


"Yes, It is the year twenty-two oh eight, about mid-September." Sane told them, "It has been about two centuries from your being placed into stasis."


"What happened, why were we left in stasis so long?"


"That, Miss Watson, is a good question and we are trying to access the computer systems of your chambers to find out." Sane told her, "You both are miracles of modern science. Even our best techs are perplexed how you both withstood so long in stasis. By all rights, you and your party should have been dead a few centuries ago."


He managed a grin and a slight nod.


"There is something called a black box, in your century it was a flight recorder that recorded everything that happened in your chamber. They are looking at that box right now to find out more of what happened."


"Yes, it was used in my century for airliner flights and space flights." Denise prompted making the Doctor nod formally.


"Well according to the data, it was also used to document everything happening in your chamber, where your stasis chambers were located, etcetera." He said, "We located it and it corroborates an event that destroyed the chamber. We have seen a lot of that damage also, and a few bones from bodies that were probably in the room."


Denise closed her eyes for a moment, taking in the information before opening them. She met the Doctor's serious expression.


"Is this for real?" Denise demanded, "Who are you really."


"I told you." Sane shot back, "I am your doctor, who is telling you to rest."


An eerie whistle echoed through the room, and the Doctor grimaced. He raised his hand to the young women.


�Nurse Yamazuki to Doctor Sane�� A female voice said.


�Sane here�� He replied, having walked to the communicator.


�Headquarters is on line two.� The female voice said and he grinned.


�Acknowledged�"


Sane turned to the young patients in the beds.


"Excuse me. I have a call from Headquarters with instructions." He said, "Get some rest. I'll be back in a few minutes."


Both he and the nurse departed, and slowly Denise sat up. The young woman fought down the nausea and swung her legs to the side of the bed. Slowly, she managed to scoot forward until her feet touched the cold floor. Swooning, the blond haired young woman stood up, catching herself on the bed. Glancing down she examined her thin body before grabbing a nearby cotton robe, to cover her nudity. Wavering, she staggered to the window, and caught herself on the windowsill jam.


Denise stared outside at the futuristic buildings that sprawled out before her, looking down upon the hustle and bustle below. An astonished expression appeared on her face as she turned her head back and forth at the spectacular sight of Federal City that lay out before her, in its futuristic splendor. Denise found herself amazed by the sight.


"Oh my god," Denise murmured, "Emily, we're in BIG trouble."


"What?" Emily replied, sitting up and she swooned slightly.


"Come here. Check this out." Denise instructed. Emily rose from the bed, swooning as she sat on the bed. She did the same method as Denise, putting her feet on the cold tiled floor and rose up slowly. Miss Montgomery grabbed a nearby robe, and staggered toward the window catching the jam, with a firm hand to steady from falling. Both of them glanced at each other.


"Whoa!" The young woman gasped, as their eyes panned back and forth to the outside. They stared at the futuristic city where they had landed in astonished silence.


"I totally agree wholeheartedly." Denise replied with a grin, "This is totally amazing."


�For quite a while, Denise and Emily panned a long, examining, look below at the grounds of Federal Hospital.


Specifically, their gazes were on the many people, dressed in the strange uniforms they saw several times today. The guards, posted outside, a couple of the nurses and the people who had been with the Doctor had all worn the unfamiliar uniforms.


Ms. Watson shook her head in an astonished silence and stood watching the outside carefully, still wondering if this was a dream. Emily was thinking the same thing.


"It's unreal." Denise said, "This has to be a dream, but by the look of things it cannot be the twentieth century, or even the twenty-first century."


"That is because it is not, and you're here. You are both displaced out of time and place." A voice said, and behind her, a young woman walked in, Commander Mitty McDonald, Aide to General Singleton and the Earth Defense Command.


�Denise and Emily turned when they heard the voice, both remaining standing beside the window as they met the surprised look of the young officer. The first thing they noted was the unfamiliar uniform, a fine cut blue and black uniform, with a high collar. The stasis members noted the gold cluster collar pin, marking her as a Commander, even in the current day military. The pair also spied the gold braid in on her uniform marking her as an aide to a flag officer.


Both stasis members were both startled how young she is, and are certainly surprised that someone her age held the job she did.


Likewise, Mitty had been just as startled to realize that the two young women were part of the stasis team, and are equally as young as she was. Commander McDonald had expected two older persons, when the project was explained to her, and was told they were over two hundred years old. She had not known what they looked like, anything much about them, or how attractive they were despite their true age. She cleared her throat quietly.


"I'm Commander Mitty McDonald." She said, "I am your liaison for the Earth Defense Commander's Office."


"The Earth Defense Office�? What's that, the military?" Denise asked, and glanced at Emily.


"If you consider it to be military, then it surely is." The Commander replied, as she met the two unfamiliar faces.

�
"You're awfully young to be an officer." Emily commented, and the young woman managed the flash of a smile.


"Thank you." Mitty murmured, before clearing her throat, and grimacing as her face flushed a tiny bit. She had not been prepared for the compliment.


�"Well, I am here to debrief you both, as we did your friends." She began, "What this will entail that our little jam session here will partially help me find out some information about you. Just a little until we can schedule a meeting before the board with the Earth Defense Commander, General Charles Singleton. It will just bring you up to speed what is happening in the century in which you have now arrived."


The young woman quickly explained the procedure to them. They would both be interviewed here, informally, and in the next four weeks, if they were well enough, be escorted to the Commander's office for a meeting. All three sat around the room, jamming, as they answered the young Commander's questions and she answered Denise and Emily's questions.


"What are you doing out of bed!" A shout said, interrupting the trio, and all three turned to meet the grizzled expression of the nurse that Mitty recognized as Nurse Downing.


�"Get back in bed right now."


"It's alright, Major Downing." McDonald said, "I am here. Please don't let anyone else in here till we are through."


"Oh. Aye, Commander," Grumbled the older nurse, and moved to the exit.


"Can I ask what happened to our families?" Emily asked.


"As for your families and the fates of each of them, we are working on that, to help you find out what happened to them."


Mitty paused and nodded her head.


"Many records have been lost from the times before that, because of the planet bombings latter of the last century, so we have very little knowledge of what happened. All we have was stored in the great vault with your chambers but even that was not much."


"There was a holocaust?" Denise asked and Mitty nodded again.


"Yes. Earth has been at war, off and on, for the last eight years or so. Mostly it has been enemies from space, and hostile races." Commander McDonald replied, "Earth has almost been decimated by radiation bombing once, and has endured many attacks."


Both Denise and Emily gasped loudly, hearing this information.


"Attacks from outer space, oh come now, that's a bit corny don�t you think?" Emily said with a chuckle, "That's very hard to believe, like us being in a new century."


�Well I grant you that.� The Commander said with a smile, �But you are here, and we are speaking.�


Mitty paused, glancing at chronometer on her wrist. She turned her head. "Don't worry, we will give you access to our knowledge base and let the two of you do some catch up learning. So you both can be brought up to speed quickly in our century. Once you read about it, you will understand what Earth has endured for two hundred years."


"Strange, your friends were the same way." The Commander told them, and the young women perked up.


"Oh yes, who was left of the group and can we see them? Please?" asked Denise and the young woman regarded her for a second before she nodded her head. Emily grinned happily, knowing that they were not alone in a new place or isolated as only survivors.


"Let�s see." Mitty mused, pulling out the pocket computer, and she punched a few buttons. "Three females, two males, It appears you have five shipmates who are still living and were recovered from the chambers."


"Who though� Which ones�?"


"Oh, let's see, First Lieutenant Melinda Morris, Lieutenant Amy Panstingle, Sergeant Major Manual Perry, Warrant Officer One, Amanda Garcia, and now, Major Seth Aguilera." The youthful Commander replied, pausing to glance at them. She exhaled sharply at their expressions, fear.


�"They are the ones who survived. You lost a lot of the others. They were killed in stasis and you will be taken to the graves when time permits. They were activated yesterday afternoon and returned to limited active duty in the Earth Defense Command Headquarters."


"At least Seth made it." Emily murmured and Denise turned to meet her friend's smile before smiling broadly herself.


"They were promoted too, eh?" Denise asked, and Mitty nodded.


"The least we could do for all of you, to welcome you back to a new world and get you up to speed to our century." She replied, "Think of it as congratulations for a job well done, and a welcome home gift. You both will be granted a promotion too. However, enough of sadness, how bout a little happiness, you will be amongst the living again and it will be arranged to see your friends. Not until you are off the deceased list however."


Emily and Denise's attention had been riveted upon the officer by the statement. They both had shown a strong surprise by the statement.


"What do you mean, we're dead?" Denise asked.


"Well when we found you, the records were very brittle and were demolished and burned." Commander McDonald explained, "We did what we could to recover a lot of information from the computers when we found you. The EDC scientists had no idea who you were and how the chambers worked at first, and had to spend a lot of time researching before we were able to extract anyone from the chambers."


"You assumed we were dead when you saw the deactivated chambers and�" Emily prompted, making Commander McDonald nod her head.


"Very good, yes, we saw your dead chamber and assumed you both were already dead along with the other five whose chambers were impaled or destroyed by damage." Mitty replied. "It was the morgue tech who had examined you and noticed you were moving your fingers, had a low repertory rate and low heart-rate that alerted us you both were alive. It appears when we brought you in, they mixed up some charts with some deceased soldiers who had been killed in the last war we had recently.�


�Lucky for us you were paying attention.� Emily said with a sigh, making the young Commander smile.


�Yeah, when they saw that we immediately revived you both and brought you both up here. Even luckier, they almost did an autopsy on you two."


"Anyway," The young woman said, quickly changing the subject. "I am here to answer any more questions you have."


For the next hour Mitty brought them up to speed on certain things, answering the many questions they had, and they in turned answered her questions. Commander McDonald had gained a lot of information on the two young women who had been technically now deceased for two hundred years and quickly made the arrangements to meet with the Commander Earth Defense Command. Commander McDonald turned her head when he saw Doctor Sane, returning with a nurse to nod to him.


They all jammed for an hour, as the good doctor did a routine checkup of vitals on the patients.


Neither Denise nor Emily had been informed that Seth had passed during the night and of a funeral coming up for him in three days-time. Sane and the young Commander planned to tell them later and what exactly had happened to him.


As for the others, the stasis crew and the Yamato crew, the next event would be the hardest event of their lives. Three days elapsed quickly as the stasis crew and Yamato crew rolled up in an air car. They all got out of the vehicle and stood in a small cluster on the threshold of the granite memorial that lay out before them. It is at memorial where Yamato personnel were buried in honor for their service for protecting Earth and now the stasis crew's final resting place.


It is thanks to the Earth Defense Command, Yamato's crew and the Central Hospital Staff who unanimously voted to put them to rest at this sacred place. That morning, bright and early, a service was being held here, Seth's funeral service was being held here today. Melinda, Amy, Amanda and Manual walked behind the Yamato crew, climbing the hill toward the main memorial where the granite obelisk stands and the graves of the deceased Yamato crewmembers are located.


As they approached the graves, they all gazed upon General Singleton, Commander Mitty McDonald and others who had come to pay their respects at this service. In addition, as they approached the graves, Melinda and the other stasis member's eyes darted uneasily to the surroundings, a grim reminder of the hell they had been through a few days ago. A place where Seth made the ultimate sacrifice of his life to save everyone present at the memorial.


Melinda was first to raise her hand in a crisp salute to General Singleton and Commander McDonald who stood next to the obelisk next to the Yamato crew's graves. They also noted another man, clad in a suit, standing beside the General and recognizing him as the President of the Earth from their catch up learning. He and several of the council attended this meeting, aware of the group and their history of being out of time and place in their century.


"Good afternoon General Singleton." Melinda said, greeting him and he nodded returning the salute. Amy followed suit. Manual and Amanda both, holding hands raised their hands in salute too.


"Good afternoon sir." Amy stammered.


"Good Afternoon General." Amanda and Manual said together.


"Good afternoon ladies." He told them, "Good to see you here Sergeant Major, Warrant Officer."


They passed him, crossing the memorial before the graves of the Yamato crew and all saluting the EDC flag that fluttered in the breeze above them. Turning slightly, they walked twenty-five feet toward the new section for the stasis crew buried here at Hero's Hill. Amy and the others are still stunned by the news of their friend's death and they stared at the coffin that reminded them of their nightmare a few days ago. It lay positioned over the hole dug for it, the lid closed with the EDC flag and the U.S. flag draped over it.


"Please." Singleton said formally, motioning to the grave and to the company of stasis volunteers, Yamato personnel and Earth Defense Personnel who took up a neat formation in front of the grave, facing it. Thankfully, for this ceremony there was no press, it was a military funeral here today. No one else beside the Yamato crew, the stasis crew and a few others part of the HQ staff was here, with added security all around it.


Commander Singleton took a seat next to the podium, as did his aides, council member and women, even the President of the EDC. Everyone else that came, like the press, were turned away by the Marine guards posted around the memorial.


The stasis members, who stood in formation in front of their seats, found themselves generally surprised how many people showed up to this funeral. Their eyes fell upon General Singleton who stood for a moment, and at first, they thought he was going to say a few words as he did last time at the last funeral that they had watched on the monitors.


The General, however, re-seated himself when another officer appeared behind the podium instead. He snapped to attention, saluted the flag and the General who nodded.


�"Who is that?" whispered Melinda, seeing this stranger, and getting a strange sense of recognition. A low ripple of mutters moved through the Yamato crew and stasis crews alike.


Melinda turned her head to Amy who shrugged. Amanda and Manual likewise were curiously watching the stranger behind the podium. He unbuttoned his bridge coat, and from within it that he withdrew a sheet of paper. He placed it on the podium before him. They only glanced at him at the hospital, when he held Denise in his arms and had not thought anything about it the first time they saw him. They had not expected him to be here today and standing behind the podium to speak for their friend.


They studied the officer, who tried to act casual and detached when it came to recognition of the party before him. Even though he knew who they were, and attempted to hide a smile when he saw them. They, in turn stared at the short brown - gray hair, piercing blue eye, the other patched and the complex scar that ran across his face on one cheek from his forehead to his jaw line. The scar, they noted, partially was covered by a full beard. He is a wiry, lean, but a muscular young man who wears the light blue, and dark blue uniform of the Space Corps. The officer wore on his sleeve, a black band, signifying a mourning band. Pinned to his collar is the silver cluster marking him as a Lieutenant Commander in the Earth Defense Command. (EDC)


�He had worked hard when he got out of high school to get his first degree quickly, and had soon had his second before he knew it. By the time the officer went for the military during some troubled times in the world, he had been working on his third degree when he volunteered for military service, putting in for combat first then volunteered for stasis.


After his awakening from stasis, a year before the second group, he had been baptized under fire. They had him through catch up learning and assigned him to a destroyer with Angie, where they got their first tastes of war of the new century. In the first four months, they had moved through the rank quickly, having to learn their jobs in the heat of battle.


The officer�s gaze panned across the memorial to the gathered group.


"Company Atten-hut�!" Derick shouted. The company who had gathered here, all snapped to attention. The young officer panned his attention to the officers, enlisted and civilians before him. His long stare found the familiar faces of Nova, Derick, the Commander, and his aides, Mitty and Kitano.


He nodded a silent acknowledgment to them, meeting the beaming smile of Nova before turning his attention back to everyone present before him, especially the Stasis crewmembers. He wore a grimace on his face.


�"We are gathered here to pay tribute to our honored dead." He said, as he started the eulogy, and everyone showed surprise when he spoke in a low deep voice. The officer briefly paused, meeting each one of the faces gathered here today, and he glanced at Crystal to nod his head. The young woman beside him, whom Seth had met in the lobby of Commander Singleton's Office not long ago, met his glance. She stepped forward with another young Ensign and they carefully removed the EDC flag and the U.S flag from the top of coffin. Together they had folded the flags quickly, to step forward with them.


"�And yet, it should be noted, that in the midst of our sorrow, this death takes place in the shadow of a new beginning, a new century that our beloved comrade gave his life to protect and nourish. He did not feel this sacrifice a vain and empty one - and we will not debate his profound qualities at these proceedings� Of my friend, I can only say this� Of all the souls I have encountered in my travels, his was the most�"


Here, the officer�s voice faltered, and from her place, Angie had tears in her eyes. She had recognized the eulogy words from somewhere else, another time, from a movie a long time ago and they seemed too damn fitting. She met the cold expression of the officer who stared at the group in silence. He managed to straighten slightly, his mouth twitching before continuing, "�Human."


There was surprise among the stasis volunteers who seemed to react to the familiar words. The words, for a moment, seemed to hang there in the air as a warm breeze whipped across the memorial. Melinda, Amy, Manual and Amanda stood there, as the words spoken for Seth seem to fade with the wind, his body now being laid to rest at the memorial. All stood in silent awe at the fine words, fighting their emotions as they stood in the ranks. The Yamato crew stood glancing at each other in the ranks, startled by the words.


�"Honors HUT! - hand salute!" Derick shouted, and the company mass saluted as the coffin was lowered slowly into the grave. A whistle sounded twice. Seth had a sense of drama the last time, using the music of Hamlet to bury the others here. There was nothing here but memories now and death, as Melinda, Amanda, Amy and Angie wept openly. Nova bleary eyed, had turned to salute, meeting the stone cold expression of the young officer who spoke, and who gave a superb eulogy. Manual held a hard look, like the officer behind the podium as he too watched the coffin disappear into the ground. Melinda watched the strange officer in curiosity, holding the rigid military honor as he stood beside the podium, his expression seemed unmoved.


"Return Salute." Derick shouted, his voice listless and the company lowered their hands. It was over.


�Company Dismissed."


�"And now we are six." Amy murmured and beside her Melinda bobbed her head. She watched the workers as they began filling in the grave. They both stopped and gasped in surprise, meeting each other's look of pure astonishment. Both of the women had heard those words before, and it had hit them suddenly, like a lightning bolt striking each of them.


"Holy shit," Amy gasped, "I know where I heard those words before."


"You are thinking the same thing as I am." Melinda replied, and both turned their head to stare at the empty podium then at each other.



"What's wrong?" asked Angie, curious at the four astonished expressions on her friend's faces.


"Those words are from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, when Spock was killed and Kirk read the eulogy." Melinda exclaimed, "That's from a movie that was made during our century, two hundred years ago." She paused to catch her breath, "There is one man from our century who was into the Trek Universe."


"Are you sure? Aren�t you are the only one from your group to survive?" Melinda asked abruptly, making Angie frown, but shake her head. The young woman on the other hand, had not known the young Lieutenant Commander would say those words. He was supposed to say something else, but adlibbed.
�

"In its own way, it was very proper." Angie thought, and turned her head as the officer's words still hung in the air.


"Yes, but how did someone know about a movie from the eighties? You don't think that was someone from our century do you." Melinda pressed.


"If it is who you think, I can say no." Manual replied, "He would be dead now, for two hundred years."


"NAH�" Melinda said, "It cannot be him, impossible. You are right."


"Well, that is no coincidence." Amy said and nodded as Angie motioned to them. She glanced over at the General and the young Lieutenant Commander, her friend, who had volunteered like the others for a project that turned out to be a one-way ticket into the future and oblivion. She made every effort to keep the second group pre-occupied, per her orders.


"I think we all need to get stinking drunk." Captain Stethem suggested, and for once Manual laughed, as did the group.


"Surely a proper send-off� rather than sadness have happiness in a wake. To remember those lost and the good times shared together, despite they were damn short."


"You know that's a great idea." Manual agreed. The Yamato crew moved off toward the main memorial and they chatted with General Singleton. Melinda glanced several times at the grave for Seth, as workers filled in the hole.


"Goodbye Seth." Melinda said, turning and walking toward them. A sharp gust of wind whipped across the memorial and she watched the flag flutter in the breeze.


Together they returned to Melinda, Amy, and Amanda's quarters and here they had a wake among friends. They remembered their friend, sitting for several hours as they drank and talked about the good times. Melinda managed to slip out, what she though was unnoticed by the group, and she made her way back to the memorial.


Here, she sat alone by the sea wall, staring up at the stars. As she sat on the sea wall, letting the moist sea air assault her senses, Melinda took in shallow breaths fighting back the tears and sorrow she felt inside right now. They had lost their best friend and a good man. The young woman was still stunned by his sacrifice. It was hard for her to realize and accept what had happened. She had seen it here, a few feet away, that he had charged down the guns of the enemy and had taken hits to destroy each one.


The stars above her twinkled and shivering, she got up to walk toward the main part of the memorial in the cool ocean breeze that had sprung up.


When Melinda reached the memorial, she peered into the dim light, and at the obelisk that had a twinkling light on top. Her eyes dropped to the statue that was here in the dim light. A place that was sacred to the Yamato Crew and so many had died in this century to defend Earth. Her eye caught the tombstone and the face that was carved into it. The name of their friend glistened in the bright moonlight, as did the stone face carved in the tombstone. It was still rough and new, finished only a few hours ago by the workers who put the final touch upon the surface of it. Half turning her eyes caught the shadowy figure walking toward the graves. Gasping, Melinda watched as the familiar officer, who gave the eulogy, cross in front of the center area. He saluted the graves and obelisk before him. Peering closer, she saw the officer walk only a few feet more and he stood alone at the graves of their friends.


"Oh my, it's the officer who spoke for Seth and gave that splendid eulogy." The young woman said to herself. She watched him closely, trying to make out any detail to tell her whom he was, and examined every move he made. Melinda stared at his face and something seemed familiar to her about this officer. The young woman stood unnoticed, watching him as he stared at the graves in silence, his stolid, emotionless reaction to them. He wore the blue/dark blue trimmed uniform, and on his side is an Astro-automatic pistol side arm.


"Who the hell is that?" Melinda asked herself, and decided to find out, moving like lightning toward the officer. When his head finally turned, she was almost upon him and his hand had flashed to the grip of his side arm. It was not fast enough to draw it as she tackled him to the ground.


"Who the hell are you?" Melinda demanded, drawing a knife from her boot, something she carried concealed on her person, and the blade quickly found his throat. Feeling the blade's cold sharpness against his throat, he stopped struggling.


"A friend," He replied simply.
�

"You have got to be someone I knew before." Melinda demanded, "Your words are something that cannot be known to anyone in this time. I want your name!"


"If you will get off me, and put the knife away� I'll tell you who I am." He told her, pivoting slightly, reaching up to stealthily grab the knife and twist it slightly, and making her drop it. He moved her weight from his body, making her fall face first into the concrete.


"What AGH!" Melinda shouted, the knife skittering off a few feet from her. Rolling, the officer jumped to his feet like a cat, kicking the knife away. He stood his ground, as the first lights of dawn appeared in the eastern sky. The young officer stood ready, standing in an easy stance, his fists ready. He motioned for her to come. She had jumped to her feet too, but paused, seeing his easy posture. Melinda sensed that a trained fighting man now stood before her and she grimaced. The grizzled looking officer seemed to be waiting.


"Who the hell are you?" Melinda asked as she thrust out with martial arts kicks and punches, learned while their training in the military. As the young woman's punches were thrust out, they were quickly blocked. She grabbed him and he flipped her over the top of him. He crouched, and Melinda moved in, circling as they exchanged kicks and punches. The young dark-skinned woman threw a kick and tagged him in the face. He stepped back two steps and blood trickled from his mouth. They circled, despite the one lucky shot, the young woman found it hard to hit him. Even as she punched or kicked, the strikes just did not seem to faze him in any way. Silently, he wiped the blood from his mouth.


"Good one." He grumbled, "But not good enough."


Melinda had been surprised by his quick reflexes, and moving in, they exchanged a series of kicks and punches. She dove and kicked, which he dodged. He stepped in and with a one handed touch; he pushed her backwards to make her fall on her ass. The young woman jumped to her feet as she spun in with a series of high kicks toward his face. He stepped back quickly, blocking each one, dodging the punch that followed. He raised a fist and quickly stepped in to hand strike across her face, making her step back this time. She looked up, wiping the blood from her mouth, and gritted her teeth. The young woman flew angrily forward with a series of high kicks and spinning low, she managed to trip him.


"Damn�� He cursed, as he hit the concrete and rolled with a complete flip onto his feet. He quickly turned as Melinda stepped in again and he dodged her punches. They circled for twenty minutes and finally Melinda saw him back off slightly, putting a slight gap between them. When he turned to go, that she followed, grabbing her knife. Throwing it, she saw the blade strike him in the shoulder, making him stagger backward toward the sea wall and the railing.


"Damn!" He muttered, letting himself fall backward, and flip over the rail. A second later, there was a splash. Melinda ran to the edge and peered down into the dark water.


"Shit." She muttered a curse at herself, "Nice going."


The young woman cursed as she pulled off the tunic and slacks. Standing here at the memorial, Melinda shivered in her skivvies and vaulted the railing into the cold water below. As she came up for air, the young woman bobbed in the ocean for a moment before she took in a sharp breath and she dove deep. A few minutes later, the young woman quickly surfaced and quickly dove again several times. For fifteen minutes, she searched but the young woman did not find whom and what she sought.


Quickly, Melinda swam to shore and as she staggered onto the beach, in the dim moonlight, she saw the gleam of metal lying in the surf. Walking toward it, the dark skinned woman found her knife in the surf, and picking it up she slipped it back into her leg sheath. The young woman stood in the surf near the edge of the beach and peered at the nearby vegetation around it.


�He must have come ashore here and pulled my knife out to drop it on the beach.� Melinda thought, �But any signs of him with any blood trails have been washed away.�


When Melinda staggered back to the memorial, the first light of morning was just rising as she stepped onto the granite walkway. It is here the young woman turned to peer at the first rays of sunlight lit up the sky on the eastern horizon and realized that she had been out all night.


On the eastern horizon, the sky is now a deep colored red, staining the horizon with a deep gold, velvet purple and crisp blue colors. She watched the magnificent sunrise from the top of Hero's Hill, the whole time wondering about the stranger that had been here last night, forgetting why she had really come to the memorial in the first place. She also realized that the effects of the alcohol, that was heavily consumed, had worn off a long time ago and she was now stone cold sober.


She grinned as she watched the spectacular sunrise, seated at the memorial located at Hero�s Hill.


Back in her quarters, shared with her friends: Amy, at five in the morning, awoke in her room in their quarters.


As she opens her eyes, the young blond woman from the twentieth century, sat up and stares at the sunlight that now pours through the window of their quarters. The young woman is first to notice the pain that throbs in her temples and groaning quietly, she managed to yelp as she stretched. She then managed a painful yawn.


The young woman quickly realized that she has a massive hangover from last night�s binge drinking, and at this moment her head feels like it is about to explode from her shoulders.


�Jesus, what a night�� Amy managed to grumble, as she held her head, staggering to her feet as she made her way to the kitchen in their lavish quarters. It is very large and airy, with a simple furnishing like on board ship, with built in table, coffee table, cabinets and shelves. It has deep shag blue carpet, trimmed in gray. A large console dominates the center of the living space, facing the exit doors that lead in and out of this living space manned by the three-stasis personnel. Something they would be used to seeing on board ship or assigned to their posts in the EDC.


Lieutenant Panstingle grimaced at the amplified pain that her footsteps, breathing or any sound makes as she tries to function after their so-called wake last night with their friend Angie. She wondered 'why the hell' she let Angie talk them all into having the wake in the first place for Seth.


Holding her temples with one hand, she managed to click on the coffee pot that began to brew coffee, and turned to pop three Aspirin with a glass of water to quell her headache. They had a great time, catching up with Angie to a point, before the alcohol caught up with them. Her eyes burned with the halo of the dreaded hangover.


�Great, Mr. Hangover is here.� Amy thought, and she staggered on her feet toward the living space and gasped as her silent footsteps echoed through her head. She passed the bedrooms of Melinda and Amanda and knocked quietly on the door. It was time for them to rise. They all had duty at the Headquarters this evening since they were reactivated to this current day military.


This would be the first day of their futures in the service, on a new team, far past their own in a new century that they would be assimilating quickly. Amy wondered how this new assignment would do for all of them, being the first day and wondered if they were up to speed to handle it.


"Yea we're up." A voice replied, muffled through the door, and when Amy opened it, she got a big surprise. Manual and Amanda were together in the bed. The young blond woman stared at them astonished for several seconds before she turned away, blushing profusely.


"Woops!" She gasped, closing the door.


Amanda shrugged, as she turned her head and peered into the young man's eyes beside her. She managed a grin before kissing him, and together they struggled from bed. Amanda blushed, as she had stared into his dark eyes. She tried to remember last night when they were talking and laughing with the others, and he had comforted her last night, later to drop into bed with her. The young woman managed a smile as she peered into his eyes and he nodded in agreement at the unique but awkward situation that had somehow happened between them. He pulled on his uniform bottoms quickly and his tunic.


�Before you say anything about this�� Amanda said, silencing him with a look, �I want you to know that it was not planned, and I don�t expect you to come to me and expect sex always from me when we meet. Not unless you go all the way in a relationship, that means one hundred percent committal. On another note, though, you have my thanks for the comfort. It was needed, and welcomed even after two hundred years. But keep my proposal in mind if we choose to go on with this.�


Manual nodded sharply as he stood, fully dressed now in his uniform. He stepped up to look down at Amanda, deep in her eyes, and take his hands to put on her face. He kissed her passionately on the lips.



Outside, Amy walked back over to the door of Melinda's room. As she stood at the door, that the young woman rapped, not hearing any sound in response from it as before. Curious, she wondered if there was something wrong and reached out to put her hand on the door button. Amy found herself almost afraid to open it. She did not know what to expect in there, she could be dead or poisoned by the booze for all she knew. When the doors slid aside, opening quickly with a whoosh, it revealed an empty room and a neatly made bunk.


Amy in a fog remembered Melinda slipping through the doors of their quarters and wondered where 'the hell' she would have gone in the middle of the night. She thought of the robotic soldiers that were out there and knew that she could be hurt or worse, not knowing this century very well. Anything could happen to her and they probably would not find her, not right away.


"What the hell!" Amy breathed, "Amanda! Manual�!" She shouted, "Get in here� quickly."


She turned, hearing a rush of footsteps and the door opening a moment later, the couple running toward her. She grimaced at the noise of their footsteps as they padded in the deep carpet and her head pounded by the voices and her shouts from just a moment ago.


"What's going on?" Manual exclaimed. Amy noted his pistol was in hand.


"Melinda must have left last night and didn't come home!" She exclaimed, and there was a glance between Manual and Amanda.


"Now, what the hell�?" Amanda gasped, turning her head to the room. Manual understood and checked the bathroom, finding it empty and when he appeared again, he shook his head.


"We'd better call base security." Amanda suggested, "That's not like her, although she was drinking pretty heavy last night."


"Well we were not all seeing straight." Amy murmured, and she nodded to Amanda who stood beside the bulk of Manual beside her. "We should not have let Angie talk us into the wake and drinking that heavily, until we are used to the liquor in this century."


"And you need to get out of here, this is the female quarters." Amanda grunted, "You get caught in here, we are in trouble, Manual."


"Nothing doing, I am now on duty." Replied the young man, walking back, and came back of Amanda�s room with his belt, putting the pistol in the holster.


"Besides she is my friend too." He continued, looking up, to meet the nods of the two young women. Quickly he radioed security officers who came up quickly. He immediately got on the videophone to alert Doctor Sane, who informed the others.


In an hour, they all stood in the apartment and quickly departed to find their friend. Not that it had been a matter of her being AWOL it had been mostly because of the robotic creatures that had ambushed them the other day at the memorial that came to the mind of everyone present. They did not want anything drastic to happen to Melinda.


They worked in pairs as they searched everywhere, searching all sections of the city. During that time they ran into Derick and Nova, who joined them, as well as Eager, Dash and Doctor Sane. Headquarters was notified, and guards had been searching with no results. They racked their brains as they searched, and thought of anywhere that might she might have gone to, logically checking the hospital first.


Several hours elapsed, Nova, Derick, and Sane, with the Yamato crew and the stasis crew now sat in the hospital grounds, in the garden located on the first floor of the hospital. They all looked glum at their recent endeavor of not finding Melinda, having put in a lot of effort to come up empty. There was hardly a word was spoken between them. They were racking their brains trying to figure out what happened to their friend, who had all but vanished like a ghost.


Even Angie was filled in when she arrived at the garden, frowning at the sour expressions on her friends and the Yamato crew�s faces.


"We searched everywhere." Manual said, "There just is no sign."


"I am really worried something happened to her, with all that business at the memorial." Amy declared quietly, "It is not like her to do something like this."


"I hope whatever those robotic creatures were, they didn't get her." Amanda stammered, "We got to look for her. We should search everywhere again. Perhaps we missed something."


They sat there, going over the places checked, and Amy idly worried about her friend, lost in a new century.


"She's probably being tortured by the robotic creatures that have her." Amy thought and grimaced as she shook her head. Her gaze panned the busy street then turning to stare at the memorial in the distance.


�No, she wouldn�t allow that, she�d fight first.� Amy murmured, and she shook her head, her gaze locking on the memorial again.


Slowly the young woman of the past, a soon to be nurse in the military, stared at he memorial in the distance and her gaze regarded it for several seconds. The base command had already been informed of Melinda's disappearance, and the entire Yamato crew had volunteered to continue to look for her. The question remained if they had looked everywhere. The quick answer in Amy's mind had been a solid 'No'.


"Oh my god," Amy exclaimed, without turning. "I think I know where she is. I just thought of it a second ago too."


She sat there silently, and Sane was the first to turn his head to the direction she had been staring. He saw the memorial and one by one, the others peered at it too. Amy had glanced at Sane, Nova and the others. They all exchanged silent looks amongst themselves.



"You know I think I know too." Amanda said, slowly standing as realization appeared on her face.


There were shouts of astonishment as they jumped to their feet and all broke into a run to commandeer a couple of jeeps, driving to the airfield on base. Here, they commandeered a troop transport/landing craft. Holding it steady, Wildstar piloted the craft as it rose up into the sky, banking suddenly and it rocketed into the sky.


Their ship thundered across the sea and then cut in back toward the memorial. People who had been walking on the streets of the futuristic city and in the buildings had heard it. The General had heard it, along with his aides and had come to the window to watch it go by. Their ship thundered toward the memorial, and Singleton knew something was up when a moment later, a voice echoed over the phone intercom system. It is an urgent message that was from the airfield and a young enlisted man jabbered the news rapidly over the phone.


"Slow down, son." General Stone soothed, "What is this all about?"
�

"Doctor Sane and the Yamato crew just commandeered a ship." A voice said, "They said it was a matter of up most urgency. It was something about rescue of a comrade."


"Which direction were they heading?" Stone asked tightly and he glared at Singleton.


"To the memorial sir," replied the voice on the phone.


"Did they say what purpose and who was being held?" Singleton's aide, asked.


"Negative." The enlisted man jabbered on the phone.


"Call the fighter command, intercept at once and shoot down." Stone shouted. He practically screamed at a young Lieutenant who quickly grabbed the phone and Singleton frowned at him.


"Wait. Alert the Reconnaissance group and send a patrol for a photo operation." Singleton said, "We don't know what has happened, but I suspect they have a good reason. Ready a medium sized strike force at once, three platoons of Space Marines to head for the memorial immediately!"


Staff personnel in the office were on the phones, relaying the orders to the necessary groups. Somewhere on base, a klaxon sounded, and men ran from their barracks after gearing up quickly, to form at the flight line. A harried young Captain took charge and briefed the NCOs of each platoon of the objective as it was verbally given to him directly from General Stone.


Singleton turned to the reports from Wildstar and Sane that sat on his desk, giving a detailed account of the firefight at the memorial and their finds. As he read on further, in their extensive report, a lone pilot took his place in the cockpit of his plane at the air base. The Astro fighter taxied and thundered off into the air.


Meanwhile, Derick, the Yamato crew and the stasis crew, on board the landing craft, all landed safely onto the granite walkway near the sea, at the edge of the memorial. When the doors opened, they all appeared dressed in battle gear as they all disembarked from the transport. Manual held a case containing a weapon and he quickly had assembled it in flight, at the dismay of the Yamato crew who watched him do it under two minutes flat. When he emerged, he hefted the rather large weapon by its handle.


"Okay this is how we play it. We�re going to use an OLD strategy called the lame duck." Manual said, "I act as your eyes. The rest split into pairs, stay low and undercover until you reach the top. Stay alert.�


With that, he paused and nodded.


�When you get there, secure and hold. You will act as decoys and lure them out, and I pick them off."


�He glanced at Nova and Sandor, who nodded in approval, being the ranking officers on deck.


"Don't you dare do what Seth did and play the hero, not after what we did together. Not now mister, your ass is mine!" Amanda grumbled, and he shook his head. Derick grimaced at the use of terms and Sergeant Major Parry merely glanced at her. The red haired woman�s eyes held the young man who stood beside them all. She was not about to let him do the same thing that the Major, their friend, had done to protect them all.


"I am not going to do what Seth did." Manual told her, "I promise you that. I won't get myself killed or let anything happen."


Manual hefted up a rather large rifle and he put a rather large object on it. Amanda grinned, and leaning up they exchanged a very passionate kiss between them. Amy grinned, and a low chuckle rippled through the Yamato group. Manual opened the flap on the scope, hefting the weapon into position and began centering it out. It took him no longer than a few seconds to complete the task.


"What's that Sergeant?" Nova asked, and Sergeant Major Parry smirked.


"It's a sniper rifle with a scope." He said, holding it in position, placing the legs on one of the stone pillar that marked the beginning of this memorial.


"May I?" She asked and he nodded. Putting her eye down level, and looking into the scope, she clearly could see the memorial over 500 feet away with exact detail.


"WOW!" She said, "That's amazing."


"You've not seen anything yet." Manual said, grinning, "You are all in good hands."


He took position behind the many stone pillars that marked the edge of the memorial, near the sea, and he nodded to the others.


"Alright take off, I am on station, I'll pick them off from here." Manual said as the pairs moved off in the direction of the memorial top. He watched they moved from stone to stone.


"Check, Check." He said into the communicator, and there was a moment of silence.


"This is Nova, I hear you." She said, "Derick and I are at top of hill, ready to move in.


"I am at main walkway at the sea wall." The Sergeant Major said, "The hunt is on."


"Quack, Quack. Duck one is at back." Amy reported, as the pairs split up and moved off at his direction to the positions Manual suggested they go when they left his side. There was polite laughter over the com-link.


"Quack, Quack. Duck number two is in position." Dash said, a moment later. There was more laughter on the communications channel.


"Okay, Okay, enough with the quacked duck jokes. You are all laying an egg." Manual said over the channel and there was laughter that echoed over the communications channel back at him.


"Us too," Another voice chimed in, belonging to Chief Yamazaki and Cory Conroy.


"Doing a sweep Chief� It looks like nobody is home." Manual said, as he crouched next to a pedestal nearest to the sea wall, and peered through the scope. "It looks clear, go ahead and move in."


"We're moving in." Derick said, "Ok. We're there."


Manual crouched low, with a full visible view of the obelisk, peering through the scope he had put on the futuristic rifle.


"I see you guys." Manual said, "So far it looks clear."


"There is no one here?" Derick asked, "Are you sure?"


"Wait, I do see something." The Sergeant Major said solemnly, "I'm going to take them."


"No wait."


Manual squeezed the rifle's trigger, and a shot rang out as Derick turned. There was a metallic thud, a spark of metal and electric buzzing before a plume of smoke rose upward into the sky. An automatic sweeper had appeared from the shrubbery. Everyone stood at the obelisk, staring down at Manual who still was at the sea wall. It had been a shot over five hundred meters, and he had tagged the small sweeper unit like there was nothing to it. The sweeper jumped off the stone walkway sparking and smoking. The small machine clattered on the ground.


"Did you see that?" Thomas exclaimed, taking a step back. They crouched, in the center of the memorial. Sergeant Major Perry still crouched low at his place, keeping a watchful eye and listening for the signal.


"It is all clear," Dash said impatiently, as a metallic figure appeared behind Derick. A shot rang out, and the shot slammed it hard against the pillar a few inches from Wildstar's head.


"Okay, maybe it wasn't clear." Dash commented, ducking down behind the graves with the others. They turned astonished, quickly taking up defensive positions. Each one held their pistols in their hands, as laser fire erupted from the bushes again.


This time everyone was prepared. As the group continued shooting, Manual picked each one off with a thump as they clattered against the ground. Thick smoke billowed across the memorial after each position was eliminated by Manual's quick thinking and sharp shooting ability. Sergeant Major Perry walked up and he carried the weapon and the scope on it.


�"Hmm, no one here, except these robots. OK we split up and search." Wildstar said, "You two left, you two right."


He motioned to Amanda and Manual. A few minutes later, they gathered in front of Melinda who looked up in astonishment.
�

"Melinda, are you all right?" Amanda asked, as she stood up and greeted her friends. Despite it, Amy, Amanda, Angie and even Manual embraced her. A moment later, another troop transport landed at the memorial and three platoons of Space Marines appeared, taking up flanking up positions in and around the memorial. They were led by a young Captain. Derick greeted him silently with a salute, as did everyone else.


"Yeah, what's this all about?" Melinda asked, clearly puzzled why they were in battle gear and had come in such a way to find her.


The reason suddenly dawned on her, and her laughter echoed the memorial.


"This no time for levity, you could have been killed Ms. Morris." Sane told her, "There were Cybernetic enemy troops stationed here again.


"I didn't see them when I came up here. They must not have detected me." She replied, "I am flattered that you came looking for me, though."


The group met her look with a puzzled one of their own. They led her back to the troop carrier and there Sane checked her over. Derick held himself back, and chatted with the young Captain, showing him the robotic soldiers. He indicated to the officer that this would be the second time they were ambushed at the memorial. He had dropped a big hint of troops being stationed at the memorial and the Captain grinned at the chief, nodding to him in agreement.


�Meanwhile, sitting on the bed on the transport, Sane continued giving Melinda the once over. Her uniform was rumpled, disheveled, and her head was splitting from a hangover, after drinking so much at the wake.


"Are you sure you are alright?" Sane asked and Melinda nodded.


"I am better than ever." She replied, "After what I saw this morning, sitting at the memorial, it is good to be alive."


Melinda had smiled, despite the looks they gave her.


"Huh?" They asked, and all present had met the dazed look upon Melinda's face as they escorted her to the hospital for a check-up, then Headquarters via the transport.


Later in the afternoon, Melinda got a surprise visitor. It was well after being chewed out and confined to quarters for not reporting for duty. It had been someone, and something she had not expected to come to the door.


As the young dark-skinned woman sat on the couch in the quarters assigned to them, she is reading technical documentation on the screen before her. She was studying, catching up on the century and bringing herself up to speed for the new century that they all had arrived. Her head pounded from the headache, caused by the hangover from the boozing binge.


Melinda's ears still burned from the roasting received back at Headquarters, and when the chime sounded, she only winced, ignoring at first, but then looked up annoyance as it sounded again.


She got up, walking toward the door, as her bare feet padded on the plush carpeted floor. Walking to the control panel, Melinda hit a switch and glanced at the door.


"Jesus, come already!" She said sharply, and the door obediently opened revealing the form of a person before her. Someone she had not expected to be visiting her today.


"Oh my god�!" Melinda stammered, as she stared at least two dozen red roses and a vase that seemed to have legs. It slowly lowered, revealing the bearded face of the young man she had stabbed. He smiled, as she ran toward him, very glad to see him alive and well. She was also perplexed 'who the hell' this semi-young officer was who stood before her.


She realized the flowers were for her and she blushed slightly.


"Flowers� Oh my god, roses�!" She gasped, and she took them, inhaling the scent of the red roses that he had held.


"A-are these roses, for me�?"


"Well I am not delivering a pizza." He thought to himself, but aloud, he was sweet at honey.


"Yes, for you." He told her formally, and bowed slightly at the waist.


"You did not need to do that."


"Nah� I thought you would like them." He replied, "Women are always suck ups for flowers. Especially old and very enduring friends�"


The young woman laughed, but found herself glancing curiously at the face. She noted the sling of his arm and Melinda frowned at the friend comment. His statement had been truth, but it had not dawned on her of his identity.


"I thought I killed you." She murmured, "You vanished like a ghost. I thought you were one. Who are you?"


"Wishful thinking� wishful thinking�" He replied, managing a smile. Melinda's mind whirled at the face, wondering who this even remotely COULD be to her. The eye patch made all the difference, and perhaps the full beard. She tried to picture him without a beard, and different hair of someone she had known a VERY long time ago now.


Memories of another place, and faces, from long ago whirled around her. After a moment, her jaw quivered to drop open with surprise, and tears formed in her eyes. She recognized the person in front of her, after a long time apart from each other. A face from a long time ago appeared there, one the young woman stared at that she had not seen in decades, years, and now even centuries. She, like many, wondered what happened to him.
�

"Oh my god�! Nathaniel Miller?" She gasped, "Bellbrook Schools in nineteen eight seven, right?"


With that, he bowed slightly.


"I am at your service� the one and only." He replied and she let out an astonished yelp. The young woman yelped, practically screamed as she bolted to embrace him making him grunt as she held him tightly.


"Oh my god�! OH MY GOD�!" She gasped, holding him tightly. "Thank you� Nathaniel! They are beautiful and I can't believe it!"


Melinda stared at the face that she still could not have expected to see at all in the new century,


"It's impossible. It is incredible! I cannot believe that you are here! This must be a dream."


"This isn't a dream babe. About time, you recognized me� Welcome to the twenty-third century." He said, "Kind of weird in a Trek way. If this was a dream, it would have had a weird ending."


"That's for sure." Melinda said, having been weeping to wipe her eyes, and stood on her tiptoes to kiss him. His expression showed surprise.


"What happened to you, where did you go? How have you been?" Many of her questions echoed the room as she stood next to her friend. Things were looking up, even more so for the young woman. They all did not know how many projects there had really been, but really, there had only been two, one full and a partial destroyed by a terrorist bomb a long time ago.


"Nice." He said, and he tried to answer the many questions that assaulted him. He tried to explain where he went after Bellbrook, his adventures that took him west, and after during High School and College. He described his adventures in the service. He described reawakening into this century, and the battle that Earth had been engaged in. He told her of having to be hurried up to speed while aboard a Destroyer in the space service, learning the ropes the hard way. He told her of his adventures in those four months where he gained experience, respect, and rank quickly. The young officer even described being shot twice in the line of duty, but he had protected the ship against the Dinguil.


Melinda listened in amazement, as he told her the tale. He fell silent as the doors opened behind them, where they sat on the couch. Through the doors, they opened to allow Amanda and Amy to enter their shared quarters. Their expressions were one of surprise on their faces by the visitor, and their eyes fell upon the roses.


�He remained silent as they entered, smiling broadly at the familiar faces of long past.


"Roses�!" Amy gasped, staring at the flowers, and back to the stranger. He and Melinda rose from the plush chairs in middle of the living room where they were seated across from each other.
�

"It has been a long time since I have seen roses!" Amy exclaimed.


"Me too..." Amanda added and both leaned over to inhale the scent of the flowers.


"Those are for me." Melinda told them, and they smiled at her, glancing at the officer who stood next to the chair beside him, across from their roommate.
�

"Yeah, and brought to you by a hunky guy." Amy commented, "So where have you been hiding him? Oh-ho, no wonder you went to the memorial, to meet with a secret lover!"


Melinda blushed at the sentiment. "Oh no he's just an old friend." She replied quickly, holding up her hands.


"An old friend�?" Amy asked, "That is an Earth Defense Uniform. How can that be an old friend? What do you mean by that?"


She turned to the grizzled officer.


The two young women both realized he had been at the funeral for Seth and glanced at each other. His face seemed so familiar to Amy and Amanda, making them both frown. They also peered at him in question then to the beaming delight on Melinda's face. Both women had shaken their heads dubiously.


"Melinda you have not been making sense since we found you at the memorial." Amy demanded, turning to the young officer.


"Please, who are you sir? Have we met before, since our awakening from stasis?" She asked, "You seem so familiar to me. You were at the funeral for Seth right?"


"Me too..." Amanda chimed in, peering at the semi-stranger.


Melinda heard his low chuckle and she smiled quizzically. He nodded his head at the two young women, but even he found himself grinning even more at the familiar faces. The young officer stood there silently, as if he were waiting for something. They both noted his silence at first.


"Firstly, I have been described in many words, but never a 'HUNK', maybe an 'OLD SALT...'" He commented, finally breaking the silence, and flashing a smile at Melinda who still could not believe he, an old friend, was really here standing with them.


"You might as well fill them in Ms Morris." He said, nodding to her. The dark skinned young woman had a large grin on her face.


"Well... May I present," Melinda said, motioning to the officer beside her, "Lieutenant Commander Nathaniel Miller, Second Officer of the Heavy Cruiser Kosheo."


She paused a moment managing a laugh at her friend's expressions. The grizzled officer laughed also.


"He is someone we knew for a long time back at Bellbrook, Amy." The dark skinned young woman told them.


The young man grimaced and chuckled.


"And I am at your service." He replied, bowing slightly at the waist. Although, they did not hear the word 'Again' uttered by the officer, it seemed to hang there with his statement.


"He�s an old friend?" Amy repeated, meeting the bearded face and the eye patch. "I've never met this person before, even at Bellbrook� His name seems very familiar to me."


Amanda grimaced at the name, nodding her head too.


"Mmmm� the name sounds familiar to me too." Amanda said, "From a West coast High School called Adrian Wilcox in Santa Clara."


"Well in my defense I was at Bellbrook Schools from eighty six to eighty-eight, but also at Santa Clara California at Wilcox High School too from Eighty-nine to ninety-one and graduated there." He commented, grimacing at their expressions.


Amanda gasped when he mentioned Wilcox and frowned at him in surprise.


"Wait that can't be possible�" Amanda shot back, shaking her head.


"�Or being at the Bellbrook Schools!" Amy chimed in, both startled by his statement.


"Oh come on Amy, there was a young man who sat on the back row opposite to Dennis Penfield and Scot Patison for homeroom with Ms. Hill at Bellbrook.� Melinda prompted, �You remember, dark brown hair, slightly short at that time, blue eyes, and a stocky build. You know� Dorkish�? He was very bright, very sweet and yet very zany?"


Nathaniel turned his head, about to reply in defense for the Dorkish comment, but he decided to close his mouth and wait it out.


Amy shook her head slightly, closing her eyes, to imagine the room and the faces that she saw there a very long time ago now. Those faces were all dead now for a couple of centuries. She tried to picture the room and the others around her, like a ghost, faces appeared and disappeared before her, for each one she shook her head.


"I was at the memorial, Miss Garcia." He said, addressing Amanda, "Answering your earlier question� I spoke at the eulogy for Seth, because I knew him for a long time. He was a neighbor in my area when I was living in East San Jose. I got to know him and knew him for a long time."


"Those were beautiful words," Amanda said, "You took them from a movie right of the twentieth century."


Amanda finally gasped, remembering a face too from long ago. The young woman thought back to that time and a name vaguely came to mind.


"It seemed appropriate." He said, "For your friend, and mine too. I was a bit distressed when I was told by Captain Stethem about the funeral."


"Angie told you?" Amy asked, as the young woman's eyes narrowed, her memory still searching for the image and possibly the face of this stranger. The young woman still did not recognize the officer before her.


Thinking harder, Amy closed her eyes and this time, a familiar face of long ago finally appeared abruptly before her. It was what Melinda had described to her, but she shook her head as she dismissed the thought. To the young woman, it would be highly impossible that their paths could cross even after centuries, unless he had been put in stasis. Amy had known that Angie had been put in a similar group as she had. She also had mentioned there were only two of them to survive the trip into this century.


The name finally clicked.


"You're right, Melinda. It was in Bellbrook High School, in our homeroom class. Nathaniel Miller, he was from California or something like that� No fracking way�!" Amy exclaimed, her voice a stunned tone. The young woman was hardly able to think of the name, even after many years apart, and now even after stasis for two hundred years.


She screamed and embraced him warmly.


"I don't believe it!" Amy gasped, holding and hugging him warmly.


"You better believe it." He said, confirming the rest with a nod, "Home again."


He turned to Amanda.


"Also Amanda, I was in the Trade group at Wilcox, with Mark, Arnold, Dan, Rube and the other guy... I can't remember." He told her, "Arnold nicked named you Strawberry because of your red hair."


"Oh my god�!" Amanda gasped in surprise from which she was just as blown away as Amy and Melinda were. From two different places across the country, which he had touched them with his presence and now standing before them all.


"My god� It can't be."


"But it is!" He chortled, "And YES it is! Hello!"


Amy continued to hug him and was weeping tearfully, emotional of seeing him again.
�

"Nathaniel Miller... WOW!" She chortled and held him. He held Amy as she put a flurry of kisses on his face. He stepped back as Amanda was grimacing when she saw the face, but even she embraced him.


"I cannot believe it!"


"You'd better believe it!" He replied, "Welcome home!"


Many questions assaulted him from all side and he motioned to the chairs. They sat down and he started from the beginning, telling them lot as they caught up on old times. They called Manual over, who had even bro hugged him, backslapping and shaking his hand many times. He had arrived, bearing alcohol, and sat together talking well into the night. They laughed, cried and roared with the stories of adventures in the past. They were stunned that he knew Seth, long before he had joined military and had taken on stasis. The young Commander had been watching from afar and had never forgotten him, helping each other as they progressed in the service. He had nodded when they mentioned Emily and Denise. He explained why his face was as it is, injured by a bulkhead that split the container and into his face.


Hours later, while the group caught up on old times: Night fell on the city. Lying in her room at Central Hospital that she shared with Denise, Emily awoke screaming as the horrors of nightmares faded around her. The whole ordeal of their trip, and arrival, into this century are vivid in her mind, making her suddenly awake in a pool of sweat and gasping as she scanned the room with wide eyes.


As the young woman lay there for several minutes, she stared out the window at the city, sprawling out before them. Emily was reminded of where she was and what happened, that it was definitely real, not a dream. It is several moments before Emily managed to sit up, and grab a robe nearby. She then sauntered over toward the window to stand looking at the lights of the city that twinkled around her. Glancing at Denise, Emily could see that she was out-cold, having taken a sleep-aid that kept her asleep, despite the same dreams that plagued her too.


"It's just a dream." Emily thought, breathing a sigh of relief as she opened the window, and a cool breeze hit her in the face.


Turning, she walked to the door, her bare feet padding on the tile floor before she found her slippers. With that, she headed for the door, intending to take a walk through the ward. Her mind was a torrent of memories of the stasis chambers, the bloodshed, the carnage of the explosion, and the loss of two hundred years. With her walk, Emily hoped it would occupy her mind, instead of enhancing the vivid nightmares that marched through her brain right now. As the young woman appeared at the door, she had startled the nurses who had looked up at her. The youthful Lieutenant, from the twentieth century, noted the time on the clock on the wall. '04:30' the accusing numbers said on the LED screen and she grimaced.


"Jesus, it is four thirty in the morning." Emily muttered, shaking her head, standing near the door to her room. She hitched a shoulder in the doorjamb.


"Lieutenant Montgomery, what are you doing up?" A nurse asked, "Can't sleep again? We can give you something."
�

"I can't sleep�" Emily told them, "I don't want anything. I had enough sleep to last a lifetime. I thought a walk to one end of the ward and back might do me some good. It might get my mind off my dreams."


Nodding the nurses stepped back, and returned to the desk, leaving Emily to walk the ward. She poked in at the many rooms, the lounge and different parts of the ward as she explored the hospital for an hour or so. The ward was futuristic to the young woman, and it being nothing like her own century.


�She found stairs and finally found her way carefully down them. She had found her way to the galley. Food smells guided her way down the hallway, and Emily smiled at the familiar scents of breakfast and the smell of fresh brewed coffee.


"Oh, that coffee best smells wonderful." She murmured and walked into the galley, clad as she is in her pajamas and a fluffy robe with the hospital logo on the breast. A few of the nurses glanced her way, and a few stopped her, to question her. Ultimately, they left her alone, leaving the young woman to grab a cup of coffee and sip it. She stood outside on the balcony, looking out at the sea, letting the salt air strike her face as she stared at the sunrise on the eastern sky. Emily watched as a new day and a new century welcomed her home. The young woman smiled, taking a determined sip of the coffee in the cup.


"Fantastic!" Emily thought to herself, smiling broadly, as she stared at the spectacular array of color on the horizon. She suddenly felt glad to be alive, even after all the literal shit that she, and the others, had been experienced. A project success for stasis, by their survival, but also it was a project failure with many casualties.


Emily wondered how the others were taking this, being awakened after two hundred years to know they had nothing left of what they knew and having nothing to really to come home to. She had promised her family after the five years that she would come home and "hopefully" be married to a young man she had met in the military. However, Emily never did have the chance to honor that promise. Frowning, she turned away as she made her way inside and refilled her cup, and a long stare to the galley around her.


It is like most hospital galleys, with food sections, salad bars, drink machines, juice cabinets and even a grill. It had many tables that were setup here, past the cash registers where she paid for her refill of coffee. Denise and Emily had already been given a spending account for necessities. Grinning she walked to a nearby table and took a set, glancing at a nearby paper on a tablet screen. Frowning, the young woman began reading as she glanced at the windows at the sunrise. She was flabbergasted by the news it contained, but quickly had a full understanding of the new century at hand. She had confirmed her worst nightmare. The young woman really was in the twenty-third century.


�Oh my god�� Emily murmured as she took in another sip of coffee, "It's true!"


She was silent after, that being the only thing she could think to say at this moment of revelation.


In the quarters assigned to Amy, Melinda and Amanda, the group all laughed, cried, as they talked all night with their friend, who centuries before had been with them. As morning encroached upon them, like Emily, they had adjourned onto the balcony of the quarters. Here, they all solemnly watched the sunrise of a new day, in a new century.


"The sunrise is a simply glorious sight for the opening of a new day." Nathaniel said, "M'friends, we have come home."


At the same moment, in the ether that surrounds the galaxy edge, and near the ninth planet that orbits Sol in this solar system: The Stasis and Yamato crews are all unaware of what is happening in space as a ship hovered at the edge of the Sol Galaxy, and prepared to come to Earth. The Star Cruiser Class Starship, the S.S. Magellanic Clouds hovers in space close to the ninth planet that orbits the Sol star, where humans live, as the crews are recovered.


Sitting on the bridge, Ihsss sat in her chair watching the derelict spin off into the background of stars. Felonious and the others now sit on the bridge, having seen the body of Avatar body that lies on the cold slab and as it is examined by the ship's doctor. They still could not believe that they had found a human on board, and one according to the data recovered from Yamato, who had bravely ignited the Tritium to break the water column of Aquarius. A human named Captain Avatar who died at his post a hero for his entire race of people.


"We have got to go to Earth. It is a priority." Ihsss' murmured, "We need to warn them about the impending attacks."


Here, she scanned the bridge as they all watched the derelict disappear in the shadow of the Milky Way. She managed a grin at the sight before her, all of a sudden feeling a tad bit small in the universe as infinity of space lay out before her. Ihsss and her crew took their positions, preparing to get under way to Earth.


"Navigator, prepare for departure, plot a course for Earth." Ihsss ordered, "Use the radiation trail Felonious plotted."


"Course plotted and coordinates, locked in." Thyrac reported.


"Helm, execute." Ihsss hissed.


Outside in space, the sleek Star Cruiser class starship spun in place and it moved through the stars away from the derelict. Ihsss heard the engines whine as they accelerated away from the derelict they found at the edge of SOL and infinity of space.


"Departure angle, on viewer�" Ihsss ordered.


"Departure angle," The Insect-like helmsman replied.


The view screen switched as the derelict of Yamato's bridge section slid behind them as the ship raced off toward Earth, their mission to warn them before the Cybertron attacked. Sitting on the bridge were Ihsss' ragtag crew, as they too faced forward, as the ship approached the SOL Solar System and the legendary place called Earth.


"Viewer ahead�" Ihsss ordered.


"Viewer ahead," Thyrac repeated and the view screen switched to the stars that seemed to hurl toward them.


"Goodbye Yamato." The reptilian captain murmured, "And thanks�"


Ihsss' wondered how the Earthlings would react to the strange presence of her ragtag crew. They had not yet met many off-world people of other planets and it would be a long time before they would unify with other planets in the many galaxies throughout the universe. As their ship moved through the system, the Feline science officer scanned ahead, mapping out this large solar system, save the large galaxy where they now had come to. Felonious' golden eyes widened at the data streaming on the screen before him.


"Captain, solar system boundary in two minutes," Veloxa warned.


"Helm secure from warp speed. Slow to full impulse power. Come right to zero nine five," Ihsss ordered, "For Earth system only."


At the helm, Veloxa and Thyrac, the insect Helmsman and Navigator both punched in the calculations into their consoles.


"We are entering SOL solar system, home sector for Earth." Felonious reported.

�
"Felonious, activate sensors and sweep for any Earth patrol vessels and bases." The reptilian Captain ordered.


"Negative patrols detected, but there are life signs on the nearest planet here, number nine." Felonious reported, "Out of eleven planets for this system."


"Steady as we go." Ihsss warned.


The reptilian Captain waited in her chair as she watched the stars that appeared to collide with the ship. As she sat there, a grin appeared on her reptilian features, knowing that soon they would be on Earth. A new alliance builds, traveling to Earth to meet with the Earth Command about an armada that would be soon heading to Earth too, its mission to destroy.

�
--- To Be Continued, Episode 3: The New Alliance.

WC: 24,690
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Copyright © 2017 Nathaniel A Miller
Published on the World Wide Web by "www.storymania.com"