DISCLAIMER: Immortals are of the Highlander type (belonging to Rysher) and vampires of the Forever Knight variety (except for Victoria, who is of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer).  Universe and technology are based on Star Trek.  I own nothing except the characters and plot.  Rated PG-13, as usual.  Enjoy!

Orbit above Jaric 4
2314

Victoria DiThon Kestral (currently going under the name Toria Atlantis), mercenary and pilot/weapons officer, manned the bridge of the cargo/fighter ship SunDescending.  Her crewmates and friends, Justin Le Faye (under Just DarkRising) and Laurana Thompson (Rana SunDescending) were down in the main cargo bay loading supplies for their trip.  Their steadiest client had recently hired them again - Erik Aristopoles, a friend of Laurana’s and fellow vampire with an interest in exploration.  Because of a recent accident, he was paying the three partners to go on the once in a lifetime (well, mortal lifetime) opportunity.

“Toria” came Laurana’s voice through the communications system.  “We’re done down here.  Hail Erik, we’ll be right up.”

She quickly followed instructions and received an answer as Laurana and Justin entered the bridge.  “Erik says he’ll beam up.  He’s got some more gadgets for us.”

Just as she finished speaking, the transporter at the back of the bridge hummed and Erik materialized.  Using his titanium multipurpose cane (another of his inventions), he limped to the rarely used science station and sat down with a sigh.  “I’m getting to old for this” came the familiar grumble.

Laurana laughed.  “Erik, you’re the youngest out of the four of us!  What are you talking about?”  Erik, who had been almost sixty years old when he was turned into a vampire around a hundred years ago, glared at her.

“Erik, Erik, Erik,” Victoria said fondly, shaking her head.  “Why do we put up with you?”

“Because I pay you is why,” he retorted immediately, and everyone laughed.

Justin got down to business.  “All the supplies are loaded.  Any last minute instructions before we leave tomorrow?”

Erik nodded.  “The wormhole will open at exactly 1436 hours, as you should very well know by now.  You’ll only get one chance at this.  And it won’t open again for almost another twenty years, so do you have any last minute doubts?”  The three partners glanced at each other and shook their heads.  “Well, then it’s off to the Beta Quadrant for you.  I wish I could go.”

“No, Erik, you’re needed here.”  Laurana wisely did not mention the accident that prevented him from going.  “You know the vampires are planning on making themselves known to the United Federation of Planets.  You’re known and trusted by the Federation, and you know you want in on this cause.  The three of us can’t be related to the vamps because of that incident last year with the renegades.”

“If you can call it an incident,” Victoria said with a grin.  “More like an interstellar war.  They chased us from Earth to Romulus and back again.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Justin interrupted, getting back to the subject.  “Victoria said you had some new gadgets?” he asked Erik.

The vampire nodded.  “First, a new program.  Based on what you’ve told me, other people might treat you with more respect if they saw you as adults.”  He turned to the science station and inserted a data chip.  Tapping out a few commands, the main view screen switched from a view of Jaric 4, Erik’s home, to the bridge of the SunDescending.  The three Immortals stared at themselves on the screen, then looked back at Erik.

“So?” Laurana asked, a dubious look on her face.

Erik typed out a few more commands, and suddenly the picture shimmed slightly.  Laurana, Justin, and Victoria were faced with adult versions of themselves, though hair and body structures were essentially the same.  “Awesome,” Victoria breathed.  “Of course, we can’t use it unless we know we won’t be encountering the other people in person.”

“Nope,” Erik replied with a grin.  Reaching into his ever-present shoulder bag, he pulled out three rings.  “I made these.  You remember when I had you raid that Cardassian science base for the prototype plans to their personal shielding devise?  I modified them a little to emit a hologram instead of a force field, which was much simpler than a shield would have been.”  He handed them to the three, each their signature metals and gemstones: platinum and diamond for Laurana, copper and amethyst for Justin, and steel and blue topaz for Victoria.  “The circuitry is in the metal, and the power source is in the stone.  I also made a charging devise for them, but the holograms should last for about two months steady without needing it.  Simply tap the stones twice to turn it on and three times to turn it off.”  They complied, and mirror images of those on the view screen appeared.  All three thanked Erik profusely.  He held up his hand.  “No, no, consider it as more payment for this trip.  And I need to go now.  I have a meeting in fifteen minutes with the president of Jaric 4.  So remember, eight years into the Beta Quadrant and eight years back, so you shouldn’t miss the return trip.  Good luck.”  The four said their good-byes, and he beamed back down to the planet.

“Well,” Justin said.  “We leave tomorrow.  I vote we go planetside and celebrate our departure from the Alpha Quadrant.”

“I’m all for it,” Laurana said.  They looked at Victoria.

“I’ve got a few calls to make.  Maybe I’ll catch up with you later?”  The three agreed on a favorite bar and Laurana and Justin beamed down to the planet.  Victoria moved to Laurana’s seat in the center of the bridge and accessed subspace communications.  First she called her former student Kane Nalamas and a good friend, Elizabet Aspen.  Both were on Earth running one of the Alpha Quadrants major corporations, the RoseBlades.  Though no longer made up of exclusively teenagers, the corporation still offered jobs and education to orphans throughout the Federation.  The three long time friends talked for awhile, saying their good-byes, and then Victoria made her other call.

To Methos.

She had been putting it off until now, knowing that he would refuse to let her go if he knew of the plan.  As a Starfleet admiral, he could do it, too.

“Admiral Knirem here” came the dreaded voice.

“Hi, Old Man, its Victoria.”

“Victoria?  How are you doing?  What’s up?” the nearly five and a half thousand year old Immortal asked.

“I’m okay.  The reason I called was to let you know I’m heading off with Laurana and Justin,” Victoria answered.  “We’ll be gone for about twenty years, so I figured you should know.”

Methos immediately became confused.  “Twenty years?  Where are you going?”

Victoria took a deep breath.  “The Beta Quadrant.  Erik Aristopoles of Jaric 4 hired us to do an exploration mission through the Marksom Wormhole, since no one in the Federation seems to want to go over there.”

Methos stared at her across subspace.  “Absolutely not.  You can’t do it.  I’ve heard of that wormhole and it still hasn’t been judged stable.”

Glaring at him, Victoria replied.  “And why the hell can’t we do it?  You may be an admiral, but I’ll have you know that the last time I was in Starfleet I outranked you when I got out!”

“Gods, Toria, why do you have to be so stubborn?  What if your ship gets destroyed over there or something?  We’ll never know what happened to you!”  Methos said, a frantic note creeping into his voice.  “I could stop you, you know.  I care about you too much.”

“Such an expression,” Victoria said, narrowing her eyes.  “I care about you, too, Methos.  In fact, I love you.  Which is why I told you.  But I’ll live my own life if you don’t mind.”  With that, she cut the commlink and sank back in her chair.

A few minutes later, she transported down to the planet and entered the restaurant.  “Hey guys,” she said to Justin and Laurana, who were playing pool in a corner.

“Hey,” Justin replied.  “What did Kane and Beta have to say?”

“Oh, they wish us luck,” Victoria said.  “I called Methos, too.”

Laurana gave her a sly glance.  “And what did he say?”

Victoria sighed.  “Let’s just say we’d better get out of here before the Enterprise-C gets to Jaric 4 on an emergency mission.”

So Pure
Alannis Morissette

You from New York you are so relevant
You reduce me to cosmic tears
Luminous more so than most anyone
And lump in my throat

I love you when you dance when you freestyle in trance
So pure such an expression

Supposed former infatuation junkie
I sink three pointers and you wax poetically

I love you when you dance when you freestyle in trance
So pure such an expression

Let’s grease the wheel over tea
Let’s discuss things in confidence
Let’s be outspoken let’s be ridiculous
Let’s solve the world’s problems

I love you when you dance when you freestyle in trance
So pure such an expression

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This page was last updated: 2.22.5 ~jlg~