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The Calling: Part 2, Chapter 15

THE CALLING: Part 2, Chapter 15

A Work Of Star Trek Fan Fiction By Richard Paolinelli

© 2020 RICHARD PAOLINELLI . ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. NO COPYING OR ANY OTHER REPRODUCTION OF THIS STORY IS PERMITTED WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION. This is a work of fan fiction based in the universe of Star Trek, created by Gene Roddenberry. It is not intended to be sold, to be used to aid in any sale and is not to be copied or used in any other way by any other party.
 
CHAPTER FIFTEEN

 

“Every new corner of this ship you show me is filled with wonders greater than the one before.”

Forelni was showing Avion around Hydroponics after her latest interview with Dr. Whitme. Having a chance to speak to a living person from the far past was too good of a chance to let slip away. Over the last two days she had spent four hours each day telling the archaeologist about her world.

When the sessions ended, Forelni would show her new areas of the ship and answered as many of her questions as he could. She had a sharp mind and quickly grasped many of the concepts that explained how Enterprise could sail the void between planets.

“So much open water,” she cupped some gardenias and inhaled their scent. “All of this life growing so easily.”

“It isn’t like that on Chandera?”

“There is no open water on Chandera,” she replied sadly. “It lies within caverns below the surface. We grow…we grew our food in specific areas, careful not to waste a single drop.

“Standing here,” she continued, looking around. “This seems like paradise to me.”

“You should come with me to Etalya,” Forelni replied. “Our entire world is lush and green, full of life and beauty. And until this very moment I never thought I would find another place to be its equal.”

He gently took her in his arms and kissed her.

*     *     *

Spock walked onto the bridge and approached the Captain.

“Mr. Spock, welcome back to the bridge,” Kirk greeted with a warm smile. “We haven’t seen much of you these last two days.”

“Captain, we have completed our analysis of the transporter accident,” Spock began, then hesitated.

“So you know why it happened?”

“Yes, Sir, but we have also discovered something else in our scans of the area. Our findings are quite…disturbing.”

*     *     *

“Are you absolutely certain, Mr. Spock,” Forelni asked after Spock concluded his explanation in the main briefing room.”

“There is no doubt, Commander,” Spock replied. “The surge of radiation that struck the ship during transport of the Queen’s portrait contained temporal elements Enterprise has encountered before. This temporal radiation was amplified when Mr. Kyle engaged warp power to preserve the pattern until the wave passed.

“This action,” he continued, “opened a temporal rift in space, connect the portrait of the present to the portrait in the past and the Queen was caught up in the effect and brought forward. The portrait taking her place in her time. That connection between the Queen and her portrait remained open in subspace, causing a rift that is growing in size exponentially every hour.”

Spock paused to let that information sink in once again to those gathered in the room. Kirk regarded his Security Officer and the Queen sadly, knowing what Spock’s discovery would mean for them. McCoy could only look stunned as he considered what would happen if the rift kept growing unchecked.

“Are you sure it will keep growing, Spock?” McCoy asked.

“Positive, Doctor, and eventually it will shatter the very fabric of space.”

“How long, Spock?” Kirk asked softly.

“Given our respective lifespans, Captain, I believe Mr. Forelni and I would live to see the destruction of this galaxy.”

“And there is only one way to stop this cataclysm?” Avion had grown pale, but her voice was still strong.

“Yes. We must time your transport back down to the precise location where your portrait was beamed up, and during another surge matching the characteristics of the one that brought you here. In this we are fortunate that these surges are cyclical and we can predict when the correct surge is approaching.”

“So we beam her down, but hold her pattern outside the shield just as before during the surge, then complete the transport to the surface?’

“Exactly, Commander. This should cause the Queen and the portrait to return to their correct times. Once they are back in their proper temporal positions, the breach should seal itself and the threat will be over.”

“Will she survive the attempt?”

“Just as she did with the original incident, Commander, yes, she should. But there is, of course, a chance the return trip to her time could be fatal. However, if we do not make the attempt the loss of life in the future will be uncountable.”

“How soon, Spock?”

“The sooner we make the attempt, the more likely our chances of success, Captain. I estimate we will be ready to make the attempt in twenty-two hours.”

“Very well,” Kirk said, standing up. “Get started on your calculations and be ready to transport in one day.

“My apologies, your majesty,” Kirk continued. “But it seems we must cut short your visit here.”

“I understand, Captain. I wish I could stay longer,” she looked over at Forelni as she laid her hands upon his. “But I would not trade my time here while it lasted for anything on Chandera.”

Kirk, Spock and McCoy silently withdrew, giving the couple their privacy.

“One day,” Forelni said softly when they were alone. “There was so much I wanted to show you…”

“What you have shown me already, my love, is enough to fill an entire lifetime.”

“Then let us fill this last day with yet another lifetime to remember,” he replied.

*     *     *

Spock entered in the last set of adjustments on the cargo deck transporter while Scotty ran a final check to make sure all was in order. There was no guarantee they’d get a second chance at this. Kirk, McCoy and Dr. Whitme stood nearby, waiting for Forelni and the Queen to arrive. Only a few minutes remained until the next corresponding surge was scheduled to arrive.

“Squeezing out every second that they can,” McCoy remarked.

“Can you blame them?” Kirk replied as the couple entered the cargo deck.

“Captain Kirk,” Avion was dressed once again in her gown and robe from the portrait. “Thank you for your hospitality.”

“It has been our pleasure to have you aboard, Your Majesty.”

“Doctor McCoy, I thank you for your kindness. Dr. Whitme, do not forget my world or my people.”

“I suspect that forgetting either will be quite impossible, Your Majesty,” Whitme replied. “Thank you for sharing your knowledge of Chandera with us.”

Forelni escorted her to the pad, then turned and walked to the transporter console.

“Commander Scott.” He said formally. “I relieve you, Sir.”

Scott looked at Forelni with sad understanding.

“Aye, lad, I stand relieved.” Scotty stepped aside, ready to return if his help was needed.

“Thirty seconds to transport, Commander,” Spock reported.

Forelni locked gazes with Avion, flipping off the translator as he said something to her in her native language. She smiled softly, a tear streaking down her cheek as she replied.

“Begin transport…now!”

Forelni manipulated the controls and Avion dissolved in the sparkle of the transporter.

“Raising shields, tying in warp power,” Spock called out. “You may complete the transport cycle…now, Commander.”

Forelni moved the controls the rest of the way down.

“Transport complete. Shields down. Warp power disengaged. The surge has passed, Commander.”

Without a word, Forelni reversed the process, beaming up from the exact location whatever was there on the surface. The effect coalesced into the original portrait they had attempted to beam up days before.

“It worked,” McCoy exclaimed.

“Spock?” Kirk asked as Forelni slowly walked toward the portrait on the pad.

“Confirmed, Captain. The breach has been sealed. The danger has passed.”

Forelni stared at the portrait, slowly raising a hand to gently touch the painting.

“I’m sure she made it back, Commander,” Kirk said as he took a few steps toward the pad.

“She made it, Captain,” Forelni said, his voice a little unsteady as he turned to look at Kirk. His eyes were bright. Kirk looked to painting and saw where Forelni was touching it.

There, where it had not been before the first attempt to beam the painting aboard, on the left breast of the Queen’s robe was painted the Starfleet Delta. A five thousand-year-old message to the future that she had made it back home alive.

Forelni grasped the portrait, which had taken more than one person to move around down below, and lifted it up. He carried it over to Dr. Whitme.

“I believe we’ve finally got the last of your cargo up, Doctor. I’ll see to it that it is stored with the rest.”

“Commander,” Whitme replied. “We’ve located three other portraits of the Queen during our excavations. I think our collection has more than enough. I think you should keep this one.”

Forelni swallowed hard, deeply touched by the gesture and struggled to regain his composure.

“Thank you,” he finally managed to get out and then carried the portrait off the deck without another word.

*     *     *

Forelni had leaned the portrait against a wall in his quarters. He’d have someone come in to rig up a mounting for it on the wall later. He’d set an unopened bottle of Etalyan wine and an empty glass on the table and then sat down and just stared at the painting, lost in thought.

The chime announcing he had a visitor sounded once, then a second time when no answer was given to the first. Forelni decided it was time to rejoin the world of the living, at least long enough to find out who was on the other side of the door.

“Come,” he said and the doors parted.

“Captain,” he got to his feet, suddenly realizing how much time had passed. “My apologies, Sir, I must be late for duty…”

“Stand at ease, Commander,” Kirk waved him back down. “Your duty shift isn’t for another hour yet. Besides, Mr. Arex has volunteered to take your watch and I am ordering you to take the night off.”

“Thank you, sir, but…”

“But nothing, Commander,” Kirk interrupted. “Take the time. The bridge will still be there tomorrow. Besides, you have a lot to process.”

“Thank you, sir,” Forelni repeated. “Please, sit, may I offer you something?”

“In a moment, Commander,” Kirk replied as he claimed a seat. “But first, I have something to offer you.”

Kirk held out a data chip. Forelni took it with a questioning look.

“Orders,” Kirk explained. “The Enterprise has been ordered to return to Earth as best possible speed. We are to deliver Lt. Commander Bari Forelni to Spacedock where he will take command of the new Dreadnought, NCC-1964, currently docked there. I believe your orders also include a request for you to submit the name of the ship so they can have it painted on her hull before you arrive.”

Forelni stared at the chip as it were a living thing without a word.

“Over the years I’ve met many women, Captain, fallen in and out of love with them, never met one that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.

“A week ago this,” he held up the chip as he continued, “was the most important thing in my life. Now, I’ve finally found the one woman I would give everything up for in a heartbeat, even this, and I’ve lost her forever.”

Kirk nodded in understanding. Reaching over to procure a glass for himself, he placed it on the table and lifted up the bottle of wine. He opened it and filled each glass halfway.

“First, we are going to toast to your ship and your Captaincy,” Kirk instructed as he hand Forelni his glass.

“And then?”

“And then I am going to tell you about a woman named Edith Keeler.”

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Places Called Home: Grand Junction, Colorado

I’m writing this before we officially arrive at our new destination. I’m cheating, yes, but today, as you read this, we have arrived in Grand Junction and right now I am busy collecting keys to the new house, arranging for all of the things that need to be arranged before the unloading begins tomorrow morning.

[image error]I’ve done this enough that its become second nature. Still, every moving in day has its challenges. Tomorrow, I likely won’t post anything at all. The Free Read Friday, Star Trek Fan Fiction and Superversive Sunday Spotlight features that will run this weekend have been plugged in for weeks in anticipation of the move.

I figure on Monday I’ll drop a live post here for the first time since our arrival in Colorado. Hopefully I’ll have some first impressions of our new home to share, and no wild anecdotes of the 800-mile drive to share.

But today, we’re in our new home, eager to find out more about it and hoping to find out if we’ve finally found the end to following that Wandrin’ Star.

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Free Read Friday: October 2, 2020

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Places Called Home: Omaha, Nebraska

This was a move that almost didn’t happen. The series of misadventures my poor wife endured trying to fly from Burbank Airport to Omaha and back would make a heck of a comedy film.

The kicker was her getting stranded with several others in Denver when their connecting flight to Burbank took off five minutes early, knowingly leaving six people behind when their plane arrived late and no other west-bound flight was available until the next morning. The flight they put her on was to LAX and as any Southern Californian knows, trying to get anywhere on the 405 Freeway in L.A. is a nightmare, more so during morning rush hour, which I got to do instead of the 15 minute drive to Burbank, I got 90 minutes of mortal combat on asphalt.

But I digress, she got the job and off we went. Omaha has been great and we had planned on making it our last stop. Between COVID and other factors, that decision was taken away from us. So we are moving and today, as you read this, we are somewhere on I-70 in Colorado on our way to our new home. Hoping that this is in fact the end of the line and still a little sad that Omaha is in our rearview mirror.

[image error]Our first winter here was fun for us, and had everyone here thinking we were nuts. We call the winter of 2018-2019 in Omaha “Snowmageddon”. Over six feet of snow dumped on Omaha over the winter and it just kept piling up. There was never a warm enough day to melt it. So, the ground froze underneath all that snow until an early perfect storm from the south brought very warm temperatures and even warmer rain.

All that snow went into insta-melt, and with frozen snow below, the water had no where to go. You probably saw the flooding pictures from the spring of 2019. Months later, we drove down to Missouri and saw many roads that still disappeared underneath the water of the Missouri River. To this day, there are still people who cannot get back into what remains of their homes.

There’s been a lot to see and do here. I got to attend my first, and only (thanks COVID) College World Series game, a Texas loss to Florida, in the new CWS home. I’ve visited the scaled-down replica of Rosenblatt Stadium, the original CWS home. The Zoo there is amazing. Wear comfortable shoes. Its huge!

My first con panel was at O Comic Con in 2018 with my friend Dawn Witzke and my grandson came out to spend a month with us last year, we took the long way back to California, allowing me to show him North Dakota where I lived when I was his age and to fulfill a promise I wasn’t able to keep back in 2015, to take [image error]him up to a place called Ocean Shores in Washington State. There’s a placed called Sharkey’s and he loves sharks. A scheduling screw-up cancelled the 2015 trip. It may have taken me four years to fix it, but I fixed it. And that might not have happened if we hadn’t come to Omaha.

We got word that our time in Omaha was drawing to a close a few months ago. It took some time to sort out the when and where we would go next, but today marks the official close of our time in Nebraska. It will take some time to sort out what we’ll miss most, but we will miss this place and the people we’ve met along the way.

Tomorrow brings us to our new home, a new place to explore and get to know. Hopefully, it is the last time we have to pack up and head for the horizon.

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Places Called Home: Thousand Oaks, California

Oddly enough, we were sitting in an airport in Oklahoma City of all places, when our escape route out of the Bay Area presented itself.

We had flown out to OKC thinking that Shawnee, Oklahoma would be the next place we called home. The job didn’t work out – although Shawnee looked to be a nice town to call home from what I saw of it – and we were waiting for our flight back home when a telephone call changed everything.

We were heading south, not east, to a place I’d always wanted to visit but never thought I’d live in – Thousand Oaks. The Dallas Cowboys used to hold training camp there, and were now in nearby Oxnard. So that was a plus.

[image error]The place we found to live was right on the border of Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley, and across the street from the Reagan Library, which I got to visit. Seeing the old Air Force One on display inside a library is something else. Of course, being in Southern California, we enjoyed one day of spring, eight hours of fall and about four hours of winter. The other 364 days was summer, which kind of gets boring if you actually enjoy changing seasons.

I found one place in Thousand Oaks I never expected – a genuine German deli, complete with goods imported from Germany. Run by George and Elizabeth, I suspect I had lunch there at least twice a week. And I blame them for at least 10 pounds of extra weight I’m carrying because of their apple strudel. Hang on a sec, I’m having a moment here. Okay, lets get off the food wagon here.

Professionally for me, Thousand Oaks was a turning point. I was living there when I made my first appearance on The Writer’s Block and drove over to Sherman Oaks to do the show in studio. It was there that I first met Jim Christina, a man I am proud to call friend.

Its also where I made the decision to go Indie publishing, a decision that changed the arc of my writing career in so many ways I can’t begin to list them all and do them justice.

But California as a state, the state I was born in, has become unlivable for someone who prefers to live free, not be nanny-stated to death. So when an opportunity arrived to move out of state, we decided the time had come to bid California farewell as residents.

We’ve gone back twice since 2018 to visit. The last time was this summer for two quick days because my eldest grandson needed some grandpa time. As long as I’m breathing, I’ll do whatever it takes when it comes to my kids and grandkids.

Oddly enough, this last trip out was the first time we didn’t feel even a slight urge to move back there. We’ll visit for a week or so in the summer, for as long as the kids remain there, but my days as a California resident are far behind me.

In the late spring of 2018 we were heading east – bound for Nebraska.

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Places Called Home: San Francisco Bay Area, California

I’ve called the Bay Area home on three different occasions.

The first go-around was in Half Moon Bay, right on the coastline. Its a tourist town mostly. But there’s something to be said about living near the ocean – until a Pineapple Express bombs the place, triggering a

[image error]

mudslide that closes of Highway 1 (one of only two ways to get out of town) – even on the weekend when everyone from inland California shows up to get away from the heat.

The second time was after we left Colorado Springs and we landed in San Francisco. If it weren’t for the fact that I got to spent an incredible amount of time with my grandson because we were living there I’d say San Francisco was the worst place I’ve ever lived.

If you are a tourist, its a great place to visit. There’s no denying that. But live there? Hard pass. I’d list all of the things that make the place suck on toast, but we do try to be positive here. So lets go with the things to see when you visit.

The San Francisco Zoo and the Oakland Zoo are worth checking out, as is Pier 39. If you’re hungry, hit Don Ramon’s for great Mexican food near Folsom and 9th or the Delancey Street Restaurant on the Embarcadero. 

Other than that, I got nothing for you. 

Our last stay in the Bay Area came on the East Bay side, near Pittsburg. We stayed there a few months, right up until the night in 2015 when a 28-year-old man was walking past our apartment. My office was up front and he walked right by my window and right into an ambush. Five shots rang out. One bullet smashed into the outside wall not far from where I was sitting.

The young man did not survive. His body remained not far from our door until the police finally allowed the coroner to take him away. Listening to the man’s sobbing widow, as she sat as near to her fallen husband as the police would allow, all night is a memory I will never forget. I keep checking to see if his murder was ever solved. As far as I can tell, it has not. The only newspaper report I can find on the murder itself doesn’t even list the poor man’s name.

We decided we’d had enough of the Bay Area.

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Jupiter Ascends

The eighth book of Tuscany Bay’s Planetary Anthology Series, Jupiter, is now live on Amazon:

Amazon Purchase Link for Jupiter

[image error]Icarus Falls (Sept. 29, 2020)

This is the last of the five reprints from Superversive Press’ original attempt to complete the epic 11-book series. In the months to follow Tuscany Bay Books will release three brand new collections – Sol (Nov. 10th), Neptune (Dec. 22nd) and Saturn (Feb. 2nd) – to complete the series. You can order the previous seven books, order your copy of Jupiter and pre-order the final three books right here:

Amazon Purchase Link for Tuscany Bay’s Planetary Anthology Series

The books are also available on Kindle Unlimited, in print and will also be available in Audiobook format. Right now Pluto and Luna are available, Uranus should be out in the next two weeks and Mercury is currently in production. All 11 books will be narrated by Gareth Richards and should all be completed by the end of 2021.

Check out the book trailer for Jupiter:

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Places Called Home: Colorado Springs, Colorado

Our sojurn to “The Springs”, as the locals call the city, came after our second stint in Gallup. We really enjoyed our 18-month run there. But a family issue in California was calling us back and we finally decided it was time to go back.

[image error]But during that time in the shadow of Pike’s Peak (I never did make it up to the top, I’m sad to admit), it was fun. For one thing, they have some amazing golf courses there and an hour away in Denver. Being a big Rockies fan, I got to take in a couple of games at Coors Field. And the World Arena was where I first saw Trans-Siberian Orchestra perform, and caught my first live Jeff Dunham show. And a visit to Garden of the Gods is a must.

Speaking of the Peak, that mountain puts out a monster shadow across the eastern Colorado plains long before sunset. And because there is nothing but flat land to the east, when the sun rises you don’t want to be driving east. All you see is that big ball of light.

Had circumstances worked out differently, we might have stayed there for good. But life says otherwise and in 2010 we were on our way back to California and the Bay Area.

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Places Called Home: Gallup, New Mexico

Up until December of 1991, the entirety of my writing career had been freelance. I cobbled together magazine articles, got in some photography work and all around working in and around the drilling business.

[image error]But Gallup was where I started earning my living as writer. I landed a job as a Sports Writer for the Gallup Independent and for the next two-plus years I was all over New Mexico and Arizona, from Santa Fe to Phoenix, covering high school, college and pro sports. They have an annual balloon rally that is amazing to watch, especially if you find a great spot.

It was also where I got married and became a dad, a much more challenging, and rewarding, undertaking.

There are far too many memories to try to work into such a brief blog post. Suffice it to say that Gallup remains a very special place to my wife and I. We stop in and visit anytime we are close by. We wound up moving away in 1994, returned for about a year in 2008 before moving away again and I think we have stayed at least one night there nearly a dozen times since.

I chose the Gallup area, and the nearby Navajo, Hopi and Zuni reservations as the background for my first novel in the Jack Del Rio series. In fact, many of the places I mentioned in Reservations you can go and visit for yourself. Richard’s Cafe in the book, is actually Earl’s in real life. The first time we visited Gallup after Reservations was released, we stopped for lunch at Earl’s and the waitress unknowingly seated us at the very table location I had described in a scene involving Jack and the city leaders of Gallup in the book.

In Escaping Infinity, inspired by my first appearance on The Writer’s Block, when Henry Parke was describing a dish called “Cowboy Cobbler” at an upcoming Cowboy festival in Southern California, I had the dish (Peach Cobbler) served at a restaurant in Gallup that Pete Childress and his friend, Charlie, stop and eat at before they encounter the Infinity. That restaurant is in real life, Grandpa’s Grill in Gallup.

It is a special place, filled with many wonderful memories. It will likely never be home again. But it will always be a place I look forward to seeing again.

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Superversive Sunday Spotlight: Mark Edward Langley

Welcome to this week’s Superversive Sunday Spotlight. Every week we will chat with a Superversive author that you really should be reading.

This week we welcome Superversive author, Mark Edward Langley:

How long have you been writing?

24 years (on and off while working. The last 4 constantly writing while being retired.) Path of the Dead took 20 years, Death Waits in the Dark took 2 years and my third novel in my Arthur Nakai series, When Silence Screams, too under one year, and is the most tense and disturbing novel yet. My wife actually cried and laughed while reading it and could not put it down.

[image error]Which writers inspire you?

Robert B. Parker, Tony Hillerman, Mickey Spillane, John D. MacDonald, Ernest Hemingway. Currently Anne Hillerman & Craig Johnson. I learned from them all.

So, what have you written?

My debut novel Path of the Dead, Death Waits in the Dark and contributor to 2 short story anthologies. Third book—When Silence Screams—has been turned in and is set for release in 2021. I’ve already begun researching book four of my Arthur Nakai series, Glass. And after that will be Midnight Harvest.

What draws you to Superversive writing?

I didn’t know there was a term for writing about reality and bringing truth to light about how it effects people. I’d guess I’d say because I want to enlighten readers to a truth they might not know about. In Death Waits, it’s a serious look at soldiers still dealing with the effects of PTSD 12 years after discharge along with the effects of fracking and drilling on the Navajo Reservation. When Silence Screams centers around three fictional girls (15, 19 & 21) that have gone missing. I want to bring into the open the missing and murdered indigenous girls and women that have disappeared from all reservations in the USA and Canada. In 2016 alone there was a total of 5,712 girls and women that disappeared and America doesn’t even know about it. Some were found alive; some were found dead and some have never been found. These are the things that aren’t shown on the nightly news. I hope to shine a light on them. In my writing I don’t shape thoughts—I give the reader information from all sides and let them make their own mind up.

[image error]What are you working on at the minute?

Book four: Glass, concerning the Meth epidemic that is plaguing the Navajo reservation.

Do you read much and if so, who are your favorite authors?

The ones I mentioned above; though I only get to read them sparingly.

How can readers discover more about you and your work?

They can go to markedwardlangley.com and through there reach my Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or LinkedIn social media pages.

Thanks for sharing Mark. Be sure to check out Mark’s books and be sure to check back next Sunday for our next chat with a Superversive author.

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