John Harriman stood outside the brig, arms folded, leaning against the wall. "That depends. I think I'll debrief you first."
"Debrief me. There is nothing you could say, Captain, that could possibly serve as any sort of mitigating circumstance in your upcoming court-martial."
Harriman proceeded to tell him everything. The admiral's eyes became wider and wider the further along Harriman got.
When the captain was finished, there was a long moment of silence.
"So feel free to court-martial me, Father," said Harriman. "Bring everyone on the Excelsior up on charges too, if you wish. Of course, full testimony will be offered. As it stands, a rescue mission overseen by one Admiral Harriman, aided and abetted by a captain of some renown who is credited with, among other things, saving the Khitomer conference, not to mention the entire Earth … this rescue mission not only recovered a crew woman believed dead—said captain's daughter—but uncovered the illegal use of forbidden alien cloning technology which the Tholian faction was planning to put to use in schemes of conquest. If, on the other hand, you wish the record to show that said admiral was ready to fire on the famed captain's unprotected ship and abandon both captain and daughter, allowing the clone technology to continue unabated … well, sir … that is your choice to make."
Blackjack frowned. "Think you've got me boxed in, don't you, Captain."
Harriman nodded. "Yes, sir, I do."
"And you expect me to knuckle under."
"No, sir. Merely my fervent hope."
"Hunh." The admiral scratched his chin. "If I go along with this … I do not want you to think for one moment I approve of your actions."
"Understood."
"It's for the good of the fleet, you understand. And to make you look good."
"Yes, sir. I very much appreciate that."
Anik and Harriman walked toward the Enterprise transporter room. "So he went along with it," she asked.
"Of course he did. My father may be many things, but stupid he is not. Although I tend to think relations will be fairly … strained … between us for a while. But I can live with that. More importantly, Demora can live with that."
They walked into the transporter room. Anik turned and shook his hand briskly. "Captain … it's been an honor."
"The same to you, Commander. I believe Captain Sulu will be along with you shortly; he's just spending a few more moments with Demora."
"He's certainly entitled." She stepped up onto the platform.
"Uhm, Commander … one thing," he said.
"Yes?"
"That conversation you eavesdropped on. The one about my talking about honor and tradition and what I wanted from life. I remember having a conversation like that … but how in the world did you recognize or even remember my voice from that one fleeting moment ten years ago?"
"Oh, that." Anik laughed. "I made that up."
"What?" He gaped at her. "What?"
"I made it up. I never overheard you. I'm not even absolutely sure we went to the Academy at the same time."
"Then how did you know—?!"
She shrugged. "I guessed. Because everyone at some point in their fourth year sits around and talks about what they want out of life. So I figured it was worth a shot." She winked. "See you around, Captain."
Grinning and shaking his head in amazement, Captain John Harriman said, "Energize." Anik of Matern vanished and Harriman walked out of the transporter room, still chuckling.
Hikaru and Demora stood on the observation deck, staring out at the stars.
"You know," Demora said after a while, "most people can sit down and clear the air without having to face an impending death by rampaging clones."
"We're not most people," said Sulu. "For instance … why didn't you tell me you were upset about my going with Chekov up to our new assignment at the time it was happening?"
"Well … because you'd just saved the Earth by going back in time to get two humpback whales …" Her voice trailed off and she sighed. "All right. I see your point."
"Demora." He turned to her. "Have you considered requesting a transfer to the Excelsior? I happen to know you'd be favorably received by the captain."
"And I'd be worrying the entire time he'd be treating me with favoritism. Either that or he'd be overprotective of me. It doesn't sound like a good idea."
"It did for a moment," he sighed.
"Dad …" She hesitated. "Did you lie to me? About …"
"About that I would have taken you in even if I hadn't been your father? No. No, I wasn't. Because even if you weren't mine … you still would have been hers. And that would have been enough." He smiled. "But I'm still glad nonetheless."
He looked back out at the stars. "And I'm also relieved … that you weren't taken from me senselessly. I've spent my life trying to steer my way through the galaxy … to understand it. I'd like to think there's some order to it, some reason that things happen. That would give it a sort of elegance. That it is … at its core … a positive force. After all, Einstein said, 'God may be sophisticated, but He is not malicious.' I've always believed very strongly in the truth of that."
"Einstein. Hmmm," mused Demora.
"What's wrong."
"Well, didn't he also say that it was impossible to exceed the speed of light?"
This stopped Sulu for a moment. Then he shrugged. "Well … even Einstein had his off days."
He turned to her once more and hugged her tightly. "I love you, Demora."
"I love you too, Dad. Don't be a stranger."
"I won't. Not anymore."
He released her, reluctantly, and started to head for the door when Demora said, "Oh, and Dad?"
"Yes?"
"I stopped by my quarters earlier … and there was mail from you. Just … a chatty letter. You don't usually send chatty letters. What prompted that?"
He smiled. "Just thinking of you, sweetheart. Just thinking of you."
"Well it was nice. Keep doing it."
"Same to you, sweetheart. Same to you."
He walked out of the observation deck, leaving Demora to gaze at the stars.
The End
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