STAR TREK: EQUESTRIA

by Alicorne

Chapter Forty Two- The Last Command

Acting Captains log, Stardate 1012.5, Commander Starry-Eyes recording. We are on course in Cruise Mode for the Epsilon Pegasus System at Time Warp Factor six point one. All ships systems are good with modifications to Sensory and ongoing repairs to Computer Core proceeding as planned.
Captain Caper has been in a coma for the last three days, his condition remains critical. The Chief Medical Officer has determined that microscopic particles of scar tissue from our earlier encounter with the Klingons have become detached and have become lodged within his brain resulting in severe… perhaps fatal…damage. Surgery is not possible and I am told that the particles are so tiny that no Conjuring Spell is finely tuned enough to remove them without taking healthy tissue along with it. The cure would be worse than the condition in this case. Chemical therapies have, to date, been ineffectual in dissolving them. There are limits, it seems, to what Twenty-Third Century Medical Arcaneoscience can do…
Captain Caper’s brain is still active, though at a borderline vegetative state. There have been inconclusive indications that it is possible that at least some of his cognitive functions are still intact, though for how long is anyponys guess. Life-support mechanisms can keep his body alive for the remainder of his natural life but whether or not somepony is still in there is a matter of debate.
In accordance to Starfleet Regulations, based on these findings, I have taken Command of the Hermes as of zero eight hundred hours this morning at the behest of Doctor Solar Cross and on behalf of the best interests of the ship and crew. I am determined to carry out our Mission as the Captain would have us. … Turning back is not an option in any event.
Although we have regained control of our Helm and can return to Federation Space what would this accomplish? No single vessel, no Task Force the Federation could field could hope to stand against the Lord of Chaos in a straight fight. Caper believes… believed… as do I that it is best to keep Discord’s attention focused out here and away from the Federation at large. Although we have detected no indications of such, I’m sure that he lies in wait for us somewhere out here. I am certain he is fixated on us and I would much rather have him hounding us rather than having him run rampant through the civilized Galaxy.
Therefore we continue on course to the anomalies we’ve detected in the Pegasus stargroup. We continue to deploy marker buoys with time-delay updates to Starfleet concerning our experiences in dealing with Discord including suggestions, based on our prior efforts, on how to possibly fight him. For fight him we shall have to. Any attempt at clemency would, in my opinion, be fruitless despite urgings by Tyllae and Doctor Sekkack to the contrary. It is my opinion that any method that can separate Discord from the Power he controls… or is controlled by… would be fatal to him. No balephaser weapon exists that could just ‘stun’ him and we cannot hope to muster a level of Arcane Power to match the Prism. Our only hope lies in using the methods pioneered by Ensign Stimbolt. To that end we have modified elements of our Sensor Suite to broadcast on select high-frequency bands of subspace. We are also attempting to retool the balephaser banks to emit in subspace frequencies. It isn’t an easy task, a rebuild like this is best handled at a Spacedock! Even worse is the fact that it will leave us relatively vulnerable in the event we get jumped by somepony more conventionally armed. For precisely that reason I’ve held off trying to modify our torpedoes. We can’t afford to be so helpless in the face of the unknown.
The promised notion from Tyllae’s Last Trip to the Other Side seems to have panned out. What she heard in the ‘Star-Wind’ is hard for her to describe or understand it seems. She tells us that ‘It isn’t time yet. Tyllae will know when it happens!’ I’ve made it abundantly clear to her that we need to know what to do now… with predictable results. If I were in a sour mood I would say that this is just what you’d expect to happen when you rely on Magic too much. Starry-Eyes, out".
I thumbed off the recorder and plucked the media out of the armrest of the Command Chair and handed it to the waiting Xantippe who took it with quiet Zebrican grace as well as a knowing smile.
“Were I in an ironic mood, I’d roll my eyes and say ‘If you were in a sour mood?’”
I favored the Yoemare with a dark look she didn’t believe for an instant. “Caper was right you are darn annoying at times, you know that? No wonder he spent so much time ducking you!”
“Bark all you want if it makes you feel all right.” Xantippe assumed a superior air. “I know you too well to fear your bite!” Then, more quietly, “I heard your recording but still I hope. Is Captain Caper truly at the end of his rope?”
I sighed. “You heard what Sunny said. She’s done all she can. It could happen at any time. Whenever I’m up here I’m half afraid I’ll get The Call from Sickbay…”
I kid you not! At the very moment the two-tone bosun’s whistle of an incoming call sounded on the Bridge followed by Sunny’s voice. “Sickbay t’ th’ Bridge!”
The sheer coincidence made me raise my eyebrows. Xantippe gasped, clutched her amulet, and made an averting motion with her padd laden hoof. The ears of everypony on the Bridge perked up as they all held their breaths. I signaled to the Comm.
“I’ll take it down here, Merry.”
“Roight! Let’s keep our fingers crossed, you lot!” She tabbed her console carelessly. “Go ahead, Skipper.” An awkward silence followed for an instant. ‘Skipper’ is how she always referred to Captain Caper and it didn’t feel right for me to answer to it. She caught herself too late and offered me an apologetic look. “Sorry ‘bout that, Boss Lady… er, Boss!”
“Never mind.” I said evenly. I tapped the comm set on the chair.
“Starry here, Sunny.” I swallowed quickly. “How’s the Captain? Is he…”
“Nay, nay.” She hurried to assure us all. “There’s naught different there. I just need t’ see ye as soon as ye can manage it. Tis a matter concernin’ th’ Captain.”
“I don’t understand.” I said, frowning. “If there’s no change in his condition then why do you want me down there?”
“I dinna want t’ say over open comm.” The edge of irritation in her voice made me wonder just what was going on in Sickbay. “How soon can ye come then?”
I glanced at the chronometer between Helm and Navigation, glad that I could read it. (It took me over two hours… they told me… to track Tyllae down after her sulk to get her to revoke that spell!) It read fourteen hundred oh-seven minutes, fifty-three minutes to go on the Watch. I chewed my lip for a moment. Whatever was on Sunny’s mind sounded important enough that I could justify leaving early.
“Just let me arrange a replacement and I’ll be right there, ok?”
“Right. We’ll be here. Sickbay done, out, whatever!” She broke the connection and I raised an eyebrow at that ‘we’.
“If I may be allowed to say, you should get down there right away! From the sound of it, she’s chomping at the bit.” Xantippe murmured with downcast eyes.
“And ‘er bite’s worse’n ‘er bark, eh Starry? Ya better get steppin’, eh, eh?” The irrepressible Merry swiveled in her seat, grinning.
It was one thing to be sitting on the sidelines watching it happen to Caper. Being the focus of it myself was quite another!
“All right! All right! I’m going already!” I carefully put my palms on the too-tiny armrests of the crowded arms of the too-tiny Command Chair and pried myself out of its tight confines. Jerry promised two days ago to get it remodeled to accommodate my physique, but they were so backlogged by the Computer rebuild as well as reworking the Balephaser banks that such a relatively low-priority job kept getting pre-empted. Well, I could put up with being unable to open my knees for a while longer. I wished they could at least make the tail-hole bigger. Every time I come in for a landing in the thing I have precisely one chance to get the thing in there straight. Sooner or later it’s going to double up and I’ll have a painful and embarrassing accident! I mean, really now! How hard could it be? Give me a vibrocutter and half an hour and I could have the job done. It might not be aesthetically pleasing but it would make my life that much easier!
I stood and stretched, suppressing the urge to rub my cramped thighs and butt… though I did shake out my tail. “Merry! My compliments to Mr. Kirk and could he please report to the Bridge early? Advise him that I’ll relieve him for the last hour of his Watch.”
“Oy’m on it, Boss!” She turned back to her board as I contemplated the Chain of Command I’d have to redo. Jerry was in Engineering and I hadn’t appointed a new Chief Science Officer yet. I’d planned to nominate Melody but that wasn’t official yet. I was going to eschew the Executive Officer Position for the time being, though I was tempted to fob it off on Jerry the way Caper did with me. The next pony in the chain would be the Chief Helm Officer, therefore…
“Lieutenant Evee, you have the Conn. I’ll be in Sickbay.” I reached out to clap her lightly on her shoulder and took a step toward the turbolift.
“Aye-aye, Ma-… Sir!” She said brightly. “I’ll just stay here till Mr. Kirk shows up, though. That chair’s too big for me!”
“Prolly all stretched outa shape boy now! ‘Nother day loik this and the poor thing’ll be all sprung out loike me ol’ Dads easy chair back ‘Ome!” Merry chortled as my ears drooped flat against my head.
“Yeah, well that’s just the, uh, weight of all the responsibility involved with the job. So there!” I mounted the upper deck of the Bridge with all the dignity I could muster.
“It’s loik they say. Uneasy’s the chair that bears the butt that bears the ol’ Boss! Eh? Eh?” Merry observed. Muted groans, chuckles, and winces swept the Bridge as I stopped just short of the sensors of the turbolift.
“Oh, one more thing Merry.” I cocked a leg. “Call Corporal Punishment to the Bridge. Never mind, here I am!” I administered a scaled-back savate kick to the seat of her chair alongside her tail! Merry hammed it up, clutching her chair and rocking it like we were in a force-ten Ion Storm.
“Oi! Black-and Blue Alert!” She squalled. " Come see the violence inherent in the System! Oy wanna cheap lawyer!”
Xantippe, who’d followed me up, leaned out from behind with an observation of her own.
“There is a lesson to be learned from your applesauce; tender is the butt that crosses The Boss!” Even Merry guffawed!
I stepped closer and opened the turbolift for Xantippe. She shuffled in with politely downcast eyes and a smug smile. I crowded in with her. As the doors closed Merry got in a good-natured last word.
“Bloody suck-up!”
Xantippe got out a few decks before me, on her way to the Captain’s Office to transcribe the log entry and forward the reports that had accumulated over the previous day to the computer terminal in our room for me to electronically sign. I continued on alone and contemplated the implications of the, pardon the expression, horseplay on the Bridge.
Caper’s condition had flashed through the ship in less than a quarter-hour after he’d fallen. I’d made no move to conceal it whatsoever. Morale on a Starship can be a tricky thing, especially on small-crewed ones like the Hermes. The loss of a well-loved officer could and, in the past, had wrought havoc on many a ship. Caper’s illness, coming as it did hard on the hooves on the tragic loss of Stimbolt had the potential to severely disrupt the sense of unity and teamwork onboard. I’d been holding my metaphorical breath ever since the funeral in anticipation of seeing how things would fall out. I’d been keeping my eyes and ears open in the Rec Room, Galley, and the corridors keeping a low a profile as I could in my new gold-yellow uniform to gauge the status of the Crew. Thus far it had been a case of so far so good but Caper’s death, should it come, had the potential of being a tipping point. I was well-liked and, I hoped, trusted by the Crew. More importantly, they knew that Caper trusted me. But push had not come to shove yet, the ship itself had not come face to face with Discord…
I exchanged greetings with Willowbark and the Nurses and made my way to Sunny’s office where I found my Love behind her desk moodily sipping tea and casting the occasional dark glance at the patient form of Mr. Sekkack sitting upright on a nearby chair with his paws folded in his lap. Tyllae was crouched on a padd near Sunny’s elbow playing one of those games involving brightly colored geometric shapes that had to be flipped and turned in order to slip them into place with like colored groups that would go up in a blaze of electronic pyrotechnics and allow everything stacked above them to settle downward to change the dynamics of the playing field. Her antennae were erect with concentration and her little wings quivered in excitement as her hooves skittered across the face of the padd almost too fast for me to keep track. She caught sight of me as I entered and smartly rapped the pause control before launching herself at my chest. Old habits die hard, it seems!
I caught her like a spatball and tucked her into my elbow, making her squeal with delight. “How goes the game, Squirt? What level are you on?”
“Dunno! This many!” She extricated herself and flitted back to the padd, giving it a smart buck with her hindlegs to spin it in my direction so I could take a peek. Teaching Tyllae to read was becoming a lost cause. To the little tyke pictures were worth far more than boring old words.
I gave the padd a quick glance and raised my eyebrows in surprise. “Level sixty-four? Wow!” It was a rather simple children’s game… the kind that many adults find so fascinating… that basically kept becoming more and more difficult until it was frankly impossible to win. … I never got past level twenty-nine, myself, but my fingers are so big it’s hard for me to manipulate the thing accurately. …That’s my story and I’m sticking with it!
“Tyllae is very dexterous and her reactions are commensurately in proportion.” Sekkack put in. “Good afternoon, Captain.” He added with a civil nod.
“Acting Captain, Mr. Sekkack. Caper is still alive and my rank is hardly official until and unless Starfleet approves it.” I said apologetically.
Sekkack regarded me serenely. “And yet you wear a Captain’s uniform. It is my understanding, in any event, that the officer in Command of a ship is customarily referred to as ‘Captain’ regardless of their actual rank. From what I gather from your Service Record it seems to me that the promotion is overdue. I regret that I have spoken in error.”
“My choice of uniform,” I began carefully, squelching a temptation to be irritated at the Vulcan. “Is for the sake of the Crew. They need to see a Captain on the Bridge, that somepony they trust is in Command. You are not in error…outside of a presumption that I want this command. I’m not taking Caper’s ship from him. I’m taking care of it until he can return. If, if ,I seek a command I’ll earn it and not inherit it over my friends’ dead body. Have I illuminated you, Doctor Sekkack?” I held his eyes with a frank gaze for a pair of long seconds.
“The nuances of Equestrian and Equestrin psychology have not been my fields of study, though my time aboard this vessel has been very instructive.” The Vulcan conceded quietly. “Again, I regret that I have spoken in error. I stand corrected, Acting Captain.” He gave me another formal nod and relapsed into silence, staring forward at nothing at all.
A soft, elfin nose nuzzled my ear. “Don’t be mad, Starry! Remember Vulcan Way all differnt from ‘Questrin! Mister See-kack not being mean at all! Nope, nope, nope!”
I reached up to poke the tiny Faery. “I’m not mad, Squirt. I’m just clearing up a case of misunderstanding. I’m positive Doctor Sekkack isn’t angry either. I wouldn’t insult him by implying that he was.”
Sekkack extended a palm for the Fey to land on. “I cannot become angry, Tyllae. Anger is unproductive… and I do not indulge in unproductive behavior.”
From her perch, Tyllae regarded us both with elfin exasperation. “Well… Tyllae is nice enough not to call any of Tyllaes’ friends big fibbers. All Tyllae will say is that everybody all…” She frowned in concentration, casting an eye at the Vulcan. “Wondering ‘bout Poor Cappy Caper. Alla folk wonder if poor Cappy Caper gonna wake up soon. Some,” She darted a hairy, Faery eye at Sekkack. “Worry that it never happen, thatta why Tyllae ask Mister See-Kack to come. Mr. See-Kack can help, yep, yep, yep!”
I regarded the mismatched pair before me a moment, only then becoming aware of Sunny tapping the rim of her teacup with a stylus as her never copious store of patience began to run out. I looked her way.
“Ok. I’m officially lost! What’s happening, Sunny?”
“Nay, nay! Dinna fash yersel’ on me account! Go ahead n’ compare notes on bloody video games or debate grand notions o’ Miltry Protocol, do! Celestia knows I’ve naught better t’ do!” She harrumphed, giving me a baleful look. “Just let me know when ye’ve time t’ git ‘round t’ me, I’ll wait right here, won’t I?”
I stepped up and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Sorry, Sunny. I got distracted. Now, what’s so important that I had to leave the Bridge?”
“Think that gets ye off th’ hook, do ye?” She said in a definitely less snarky voice. “Well…” She dealt me a return kiss straight on the lips, just lascivious enough to make Tyllae giggle, Sekkack look away, and make me stiffen in embarrassment. Again and forever… Alicorns!
“Right!” She broke off and spoke briskly. “Down t’ business!” She drew a fortifying breath and drew herself up in her chair. “’Tis been three days now since th’ Good Captain went into coma. We’ve done what we could to rouse him to no good effect. Ye all know that n’ I put it into th’ ships records. Well, imagine my surprise when I get a message from the ships bloody computer bearin’ a copy o’ Captain Capers’ living will. Apparently tis Starfleet Procedure for th’ thing t’ do a search for such in these cases!”
I nodded. “That’s right. I thought you knew.”
“I most certainly did not! It’s th’ practice o’ any decent Hospital t’ give th’ patient n’ the Staff more time t’ find a cure or t’ come out o’ it on their own. Starfleet, t’would seem, expects its patients t’ be more efficient n’ not be a bloody bother!” Sunny glared at the inboard bulkhead that housed the Computer Core.
I flicked my tail over the corner of her desk and carefully leaned on it. It gave a quiet creak and put up no further complaint. “All right, the problem lies in Capers’ living will?”
“Tis all in here.” Sunny had a hard copy of the document and slid it my way. “Th’ Good Captain’s a bit o’ a fatalist t’would seem. He wishes no heroic measures be taken t’ preserve his life. He also states that, should he lapse into vegetative state, he should be taken off life support n’ be allowed t’ die.”
“But he’s not on life support, at least not yet.” I pointed out as I scanned the document. It was pretty standard wording, only needing the declarers’ name to be inserted in the requisite places. “Ok, what’s got you worked up?”
“There’s a provision that, if he ends up in a nonresponsive state, he wishes t’ be bloody euthanized! If yon tisn’t a reason t’ be ‘worked up’ what is?” Sunny demanded. “Yon Starfleet gives him three mortal days t’ recover! Just three! Medical history is full o’ cases o’ Ponies who recover on their own if given enough time! Tis monstrous t’ simply take th’ chance away from a patient fer the sake o’ a bloody regulation made by a bloody bunch o’… o’ accountants!” She shrilled, slapping the stylus down on the table with a crack!
I scanned the thing again, paying attention to the pertinent clauses. I cleared my throat quietly. “I see…” I steeled myself for what was coming. “But these are his last wishes, Sunny, and they’re perfectly legal. Caper knew and understood what he was talking about. I understand where you’re coming from… and I sympathize, I really do… but…”
“’But’ me no buts, Laddie!” Sunny barked. “I’m no gwin’ t’ kill a Pony who may recover on his own wi’ proper medical care!”
“Or he may not.” I countered as gently as possible. “Doesn’t he deserve the dignity of making that choice for himself?”
“Tis suicide n’ suicide is no a decision a rational person makes!” Sunny snapped back. “I willna condone it if there’s a chance he’s still aware in there! Celestia n’ Luna save me, I may be workin’ fer the bloody Miltry but I still have me conscience t’ answer to!”
“Starfleet is not a Military Arm of the Federation, per se.” Sekkack pointed out in a neutral voice. “Though it is governed by many of the same rules and restrictions.”
“You bloody stay out o’ it!” Sunny rounded on him, her eyes blazing with righteous wrath! “I’ll no be dictated to in me own Sickbay by a gang o’ braid-wearin’, swaggerin’…”
“I cannot ‘stay out of it’, Doctor.” Sekkack’s’ expressionless eyes held hers as he continued. “I was asked to participate in these proceedings. Since I can be of service I am ethically bound to do my best to help as a member of this Crew.” He raised his arm to show Sunny his sleeve and carried on, unperturbed. “I am not a soldier, Vulcans are not soldiers and do not practice violence. I serve onboard in any capacity I am able to.”
“Bloody Vulcan ethics!” Sunny sneered, ready to launch into another tirade.
“That’s enough, Sunny! Clam up and calm down! You’re not accomplishing anything acting like this.” I didn’t raise my voice. Caper never had to and neither did I. Shouting at Sunny was a no-win proposition, anyway. “Who asked whom what and why?”
Tyllae had been watching the exchange half-cringing on the desktop looking unsure and wary. At my question she flitted a little way into the air. It hurt me that she kept pointedly out of Sunny’s reach.
“Tyllae did.” She said in a small voice. “Tyllae wanted to help. Sunny said Sunny needed to talk to Cappy Caper before Sunny would do anything. Tyllae can hear Un-spoken words but Cappy Caper’s are so faint Tyllae can’t hear. Tyllae knows Mr. See-Kack can hear. Mr. See-Kack has Ways Faeries do not. Tyllae thinks Sunny won’t let Cappy Caper Go On to Pony Other Side ‘less Cappy Caper says to. Tyllae promised nice, nice, nice Cappy Caper that Tyllae would help any way Tyllae can. Tyllae was trying to help.” She repeated miserably.
Sunny had wrapped her arms around herself and was breathing through pinched nostrils, forcing herself into a semblance of calm.
“As I stated in me Log,” She said tensely. “I willna be party t’ murder whatever th’ legal niceties say!” She fixed the Faery with a glare that made her drop back to the desktop and hide behind Sekkack’s elbow. “Tyllae acted on her own at no behest o’ mine t’ fetch yon alien hatchetpony t’ force me hoof!”
“If I understand the situation correctly…” Sekkack’s eyes held neither compassion nor judgment. “As long as you could maintain no evidence that the Captain’s personality still exists you felt you could thwart his last wishes on purely moral grounds merely to keep from having to make an emotionally painful decision. You would keep a corpse alive but you cannot bring yourself to end a doomed life at the behest of that life.” He slowly raised his left eyebrow. “The convolutions of Pony rationality are… fascinating.”
“He isna necessarily doomed, damn ye!”
“Neither is he assured of recovery.” Sekkack countered. “It must also be taken into account that, if he is indeed conscious, he may be suffering needlessly. Add to that is the fact that, as an inferior officer, you are obligated to obey the orders of your superiors. These orders were issued by the Captain when he was of sound mind and body. Since he has never been declared unfit to issue these orders you have no other logical recourse than to discharge them as dictated.” The Vulcan ground out his points remorselessly then paused. The glacial eyes didn’t thaw, but there was something indefinably softer in them as he added. “Do not think me to be heartless, Doctor. Vulcans indeed understand the difficulty of making, for lack of a more precise term… emotional decisions. You may consult with Tyllae for verification about this. I will say no more on that subject. For whatever worth it is to you… I grieve with thee.”
Tyllae emerged timidly and flitted forward. “Cappy Caper is like poor, poor, poor Tyllae when Tyllae was a little stachoo buried all alone inna ground, Sunny! Can’t move, can’t talk, can’t cry. All stuck, not really alive an’ not dead. Tyllae never ever gonna forget how bad, bad, bad it felt being made into stone. Not right to have happen to anypony, not Faeries, not Nightmare Moon, not even Discord! If somepony gave poor, poor, poor Tyllae chance to go Other Side, Tyllae would have been very, very, very glad! Yep, yep, yep! What good is being alive if not allowed to live, Sunny?”
“But ye were saved in th’ end.” Sunny whispered.
“Maka no nevermind!” Tyllae retorted. “Every second Tyllae lay inna ground was forever, Sunny! Yes, yes, yes! Tyllae all alive now but nightmares never stop an’ poor Tyllae never same as before! Nope, nope, nope! Tyllae gonna suffer alla resta Tyllae’s life. If Tyllae knew then what Tyllae knows now… Tyllae would have been happier to die. Tyllae would still have had Other Side an’ alla Tyllae’s family an’ friends forever.” She flitted cautiously closer to Sunny and stroked her nose with one tiny hoof. “If Tyllae hada choice to let a friend live in pain or sleep in peace Tyllae would choose mercy. Cappy Caper very, very, very wise like Chief Faery should be an’ Cappy Caper chose mercy too, Sunny.”
Sunny regarded the hovering Fey as if she’d never seen her before. “D’ye ken what yer sayin’?” She asked, incredulously. “Yer askin’ me t’ kill, or at th’ least to authorize th’ killin’, o’ a patient under me care! Does he no deserve th’ same chance o’ livin’ ye yerself had? …Or is yer life now wi’ us so verra, verra terrible that ye’d no wish it ‘pon anypony else?”
Tyllae looked at her with stricken eyes. “Tyllae is very, very, very happy to be alive with Sunny an’ Starry. Tyllae loves Sunny an’ Starry an’ alla new friends. Yep, yep, yep! But Tyllae is very last little Faery onna This Side. Tyllae is very, very, very tired an’ lonely. Even now Tyllae issa still a Faery an’ Tyllae will outlive alla nice, nice, nice Ponies. Even Sunny an’ Starry! How many more friends will Tyllae love an’ leave behind? Even big, big, big Faery heart can only break so many times, Sunny. Now Tyllae gonna die… maybe lots sooner thanks to Discord… an’ Tyllae has no Other Side to go to now. What choice would Sunny make in Tyllae’s place, Tyllae wonders?” She paused to sniffle piteously.
“Tyllae never hada chance to make choice for self. Cappy Caper does. Cappy Caper did! Not fair to take brave choice away from such a good, good, good Pony, Sunny! Not fair at all, nope, nope, nope!” She fluttered down to perch on the swelling of Sunny’s breast and nuzzled her.
“Tyllae gotta be true to self. Tyllae promised to help. All Faeries promised to help nice, silly, confoozled Ponies, Sunny. ‘Sokay if Sunny wants to hate Tyllae now. Tyllae will still love Sunny. Maybe Sunny will unnerstan’ some day, Tyllae hopes so!”
Sunny raised her hooves, at first to support the little thing that lay against her, then to hug her tight. She bent her head to kiss the tiny head with the tears beading bright at the corners of her tightly shut eyes. When she spoke again her voice was barely audible, intended perhaps, just for the Fey.
“Aye, then ‘tis just an example o’ th’ difference ‘tween Faeries n’ Ponies, innit? I dinna ken tha’ I’ll ever understand, me wee Sprite, but tisn’t in me t’ hate yer wee self. Not ever.” She cleared her throat and looked up, blinking back the tears. She regarded me wearily, her emotions spent for the moment.
“Sure n’ ye’ve been mighty quiet now!” She said. “Tis it t’ be three t’ one ‘gainst me now?”
“No pony is ganging up on you, Sunny.” I said softly. “Believe it or not, I really sympathize with your position. I really do. Captains… and First Officers… have to make decisions that send good Ponies to their deaths. It’s part of our job to have to make these choices for the good of the ship and the Federation. …But we don’t often have to sit and care for the ones we give those orders to and watch them die, do we?” I reached out and gave her arm a squeeze. She disengaged one hoof from Tyllae to take mine and squeeze it back.
“Remember what Caper always said?” I said gently. “Whatever happens to any of the Crew is the Captain’s responsibility. For better or worse, I’m the Captain now. I’ll duly note your protest in my log and I will absolve you of any responsibility in what comes. It’ll be my decision and mine alone. Fair enough?”
Sunny regarded me for long, long moments before raising my hoof to her lips, her eyes shining. “Aye. Seems t’ me that no so long ago I took an oath that mentioned ‘Fer better or worse’, didn’t I? Before that I took another one to do no harm t’ any Pony in me care. I’m caught ‘tween th’ two o’ them, aren’t I?” She sighed, whether for myself or her I could not tell. “Tis too great a responsibility fer one Pony t’ bear. I’ll withdraw me protest n’ we’ll share whatever blame there is together. That’s as fair as I can manage it, may Celestia n’ Luna forgive us both!” She drew a shuddering breath and hugged my hoof to her alongside Tyllae who watched with troubled eyes.
“Let’s hope that this will all be moot and we’ve worked ourselves up for nothing.” I disengaged from her reluctantly and turned toward the patiently waiting Vulcan. I nodded to him. “What do you propose to do, Mister Sekkack? Tyllae is the most accomplished empath I know. If she can’t make contact with whatever is left of Caper what can you hope to accomplish?”
Sekkack quirked an eyebrow at me. “How many other empaths do you know, Acting Captain?”
“Touché.” I rolled my eyes. “I misspoke. I should have said that Tyllae is the only one I’m aware of.”
“Vulcan joke, Starry!” Tyllae whispered, giggling.
“I'm sure neither of us has any idea what you're referring to, Squirt.” I deadpanned. “As I was saying, Mister Sekkack...?”
Sekkack folded his paws in his lap sedately before he spoke. “Vulcans have certain extrasensory disciplines unique to our species.” He began. “Among which is an ability to assume direct contact with another mind. You may consider it to be a temporary melding of two minds into a single entity between two bodies. If I may anticipate your next question, yes, it is possible with certain other species including Equestrians. The process is very demanding and personal in nature involving, as it does, a complete lowering of personal boundaries. I am given to understand that it can be quite unsettling when performed with more emotional species.”
“I... see.” I lied. “Then you have never done this with another non-Vulcan before? What dangers, if any, are involved?”
“To answer you first question, no I have not. It is done between Vulcans on certain... ceremonial occasions that Outsiders are not normally privy to. I am, however, conversant with the protocols involved in cross-species Melding. It is not a subject we speak about in casual conversation.” Sekkack averted his eyes politely and I didn't pursue the topic any further.
“In regards to your second question,” He continued. “There exists a tendency for the two minds to resist separation. Third parties are preferred to be in attendance to assure that this takes place. Because the dominant mind will tend to adjust the subjects’ physiology to match its own Medical monitoring will be required to keep harm from befalling either party. Should death occur during the process there is a real danger that both will be lost. Needless to say, I would prefer that Doctor Cross be in attendance... unless she chooses not to participate on moral grounds. Any suitably trained Doctor would do but I have come to trust Doctor Cross's... integrity.” He inclined his head in Sunny's direction. “In any event, her familiarity with Captain Caper could potentially prove critical to the process. I concede there are real risks involved. However, in view of the gravity of the situation, I am prepared to essay them. As a member of this Crew my duty is clear. I, too, wish to help in any capacity that I may.”
Sunny sniffed and dabbed her eyes, making Tyllae squeak and flutter her wings to keep her balance. “'Twould seem tha' we're positively awash in good intentions here. I could point out that th' Portal t' Hell is paved wi' th' same... but I can see th' writin' on th' bloody wall! I'll attend yer Vulcan Magic procedure fer both yer sakes, if Starry'll sign off on it.”
“'Magic', as a supernatural manifestation, does not exist.” Sekkack pointed out. “There is only Psi. The Vulcan Science Academy has proved that...”
“Dinna start wi' me, boyo!” Sunny said wearily. “Tis been a long day n' tisn't a-gettin' any shorter.”
“As you say, Doctor.” Sekkack nodded placidly.
“How do you assess the chances, Mister Sekkack?” I broke in. “It'll be bad enough if we lose Caper. I don't want to lose you, too!”
Sekkack didn't purse his lips in thought. That would imply uncertainty! He did cock his head ever so slightly as he calculated the odds. “Although it is impossible to take into account all the variables of random chance I am confident in both my abilities and those of Doctor Cross. The risk should be minimal. My preliminary estimate of the situation indicates a seventy-seven point eight-one-six chance of success with no adverse effects to either party.”
We both just blinked slowly.
“Yer rough estimate, is it now?” Sunny chuckled. “Well, tis better odds than we'd get in Neighgas, as Daddy'd say! Though I dinna hold wi' gamblin' as a rule, ye ken!”
“Gambling is imprudent as well as being a waste of monetary resources.” Sekkack agreed.
“Those seem to be reasonable odds, Mister Sekkack.” I said dryly. “I'm willing to authorize the attempt... if you can guarantee the odds won't drop below seventy-five percent. Given the choice I'm not a gambler either. Especially when lives are on the line!”
“My estimates were necessarily pessimistic and took into account minimally acceptable conditions as a precaution.” The Vulcan said dismissively. “I should rate our actual chances as somewhere in the approximate range of eighty-six point three-two-five-nine. Better odds than we could expect, indeed, than from the casinos of Las Neighgas, Neighvada. If I am interpreting the reference correctly, that is.” He added.
“You're spot-on, Mister Sekkack.” I said, shaking my head at the sheer incongruity of it all. “In the future, if I should invite you to join me for a game of dominoes, remind me to rescind the invitation!”
“I would have an unfair advantage.” The Vulcan nodded thoughtfully. “I have not been invited to participate in poker for some time now... except as an observer.”
“Small wonder, that!” Sunny quipped. “I seem t' recall from somewhere tha' Vulcans're 'politely requested' from playin' th' games... 'r givin' advice fer that matter!”
“All right, then!” I steered the conversation back on-topic. “I'll ok the procedure. Do you require any special preparations, Mister Sekkack? How soon can we get started?”
Sekkack shook his head fractionally. “Almost immediately. I require a few minutes of meditation before starting. Once I begin I must not be disturbed. The Captain is in the Intensive Care Unit as I recall. If the Staff can be advised that we need privacy that should be sufficient.”
“Then lets do this. I just need to call the Bridge and tell them... we're trying one last thing.” I stood up and eyed the chronometer. Good, Merry would still be at her station.
As I stood and made for the comm Sekkack rose, his face looking even more withdrawn as if he were already preparing himself. “I shall await you there.” He stated and inclined his head in farewell.
As he made to leave, Tyllae poked Sunny with a hoof and jerked her tiny head toward the Vulcan. Sunny gave a hangdog look and cleared her throat.
“Mister Sekkack...”
He paused and turned her way with no particular expression on his furry face.
Sunny fidgeted a little. “... I was about t' say that ye must think me th' worst sort o' Pony. But that would be doin' ye an insult, would it no?” She looked at the Vulcan searchingly for a moment then, “I dinna claim t' be any sort o' expert on Vulcans. But I'm no so daft as not t' realize when I've been a bloody, hysterical fool. I'm no even sure tha', by yer lights, an apology is in order 'r even proper. But in my culture...”
Something came back from wherever it had gone into Sekkack's eyes as he raised one paw to her. “Doctor, this need not be said. I cannot be insulted nor do I presume to judge. We each of us face crises in our own fashion. I am certain...” His voice rumbled softly. “That the Captain would merely grunt and tell you to 'forget it, Good Doctor'. I am honored to perform this task. I... regret any discomfort I may have caused.”
“Aye, well... yer a Grand Sort, fer all yer inscrutable Vulcan ways! I wanted t' let ye know that.” Sunny concluded lamely before turning the full megawattage of her lovely eyes on him in an effort to convey what she was feeling. Magic or Psi, something seemed to pass between the two if the look in Sekkack’s eyes were any indication. It might just have been the hormones I was still getting the hang of, but I couldn't help but to feel a twinge of jealousy!
Sekkack bowed and left. Sunny didn't help my feelings what with the way she smirked at the door. “'Vulcan Science Academy', forsooth! Th' old bloody fraud!”
Tyllae leapt up and huggled her neck. “Sunny did very, very, very good! Yep, yep, yep! Tyllae is very, very, very proud!”
Sunny nuzzled the little thing brusquely. “Feh on yer blather, ye wee Spriggan! I'm a bad-tempered auld bitch at times 'n ye know it. Why ye insist on hangin' round th' likes o' me is a mystery, ye wee, little optimist! ...'N no comments from ye, ye great lump!” She stabbed a finger in my direction.
I shut my mouth with an audible 'clop' in the process of saying something, in my opinion, snarky yet endearing. Magic or Psi, it was hard to get a dig in on Sunny sometimes!
“Tyllae loves Sunny, that's why!” The Faery nuzzled Sunnys' cheek. “Tyllae knows a Good Pony when Tyllae sees one!”
She poked the little Fey in the tummy; something that invariable set her into transports of giggles. “I love ye too, ye wee Scamp. Never doubt it fer a hot, bloody second! Get along then n' tell the Vulcan Laddie we're on our way! We'll be just a tick!”
“'Kay-'Kayyy!” Tyllae zipped up to plant an elfin kiss on her nose before rocketing over to do the same to me before disappearing with a soft 'pif'. Something about the way she left so quickly made me suspicious.
Sunny seemed to deflate visibly and the brave, tender face she put on for the Fey vanished. When she looked at me her marvelous eyes were wide and bright. I changed course and took her in my arms. She buried her head in my chest and mewled a sob as I stroked her horn and curly mane.
I held her tight as I dared as she cried, becoming once again the lost and dismayed Filly she was in the Eugenics Wars.. After a little bit her sobs became words.
“I thought th' bloody War was bad! But this...! This is just horrible! Wha' sort o' Healer kills their patients?” She paused, sniffling plaintively in a little foals' voice. “I dinna want t' do this any more. I canna!” She finished miserably.
“You're not gonna kill anypony, Sunny.” I assured her. “Give me the pill or hypo. It's my responsibility, I'll do it.”
“Nay, nay!” She bucked up and wiped her eyes on my tunic. “Tis like I said. We'll do it... 'cause we have to. Only....only...” She peered up imploringly at me. “D'ye ken They will ever forgive us?” She whispered, so heartsick that I silently vowed to impale Discord on a shard of halite to wriggle for all of eternity!
“Honey,” I gave her the sincerest look of my life! “If They don't they'll to answer to me!” If Sunny was right Khan, Green, Li Kuan, Hitter and Stallion Joe have all had to pass before the Goddesses. We had to be pretty small apples by comparison, and I told her so.
“Aye, 'n ye’d just be bold enough t' stand up t' both o' Them, wouldn't ye?” She paused to sniffle and dry her eyes on my tunic. “Well, ye'll no face Them alone. They'll forgive us both or none t'all. We're a package deal!” She straightened and wiped her eyes, this time with her hooves. “I just need t' grab a tricorder for Sekkack, Caper'll be on th' bio-bed. Gi' me a moment t' freshin' meself up n' we can get this over n' done wi'.” She made an attempt at patting her mane back into place. “I'm sure I look just as bad as I feel.”
“Call me a liar, but I can't believe that you're feeling that beautiful right now.” Maybe it was the new hormones spurring me on to gallantry but it felt right!
Though she smiled, she almost burst into tears again.
“Yer no sort o' liar...” She said tenderly. “But yer nine kinds o' flatterer!” She hugged me tight again.
“We'll get through this, Sunny. Everything will be all right. I promise.” I chucked her under her chin. “You're a stronger person than you think you are. I love you.” I added simply, earning another kiss.
“Make yer call, I'll only be a minute!”
In the privacy of her office, I gave her bottom a little swat as she moved off. The flick her tail gave me was more accurately a caress.
I sighed and damned all that testosterone surging through me as I hit the comm button.
“Sickbay to Communications.”
Merry, as I suspected, must have been hovering over her board. “Roight 'ere, Boss!”
“Caper has a living will authorizing euthanasia if he's been unresponsive for three days.” I said without preamble. “I've authorized a last-ditch procedure to try and bring him out of it. We'll know one way or another in about an hour. Advise your replacement to stand by... and cross your fingers!”
“Fingers, toes, and eyes, Starry! Oy'll stand boy, moyself!”
“Fair enough, Merry. Sickbay out.”
“Luck!”
I clicked off and just stood there for a little. Ever since Caper had fallen ill I'd managed to push away the possibility of his death. Just then, alone in Sunnys' Office, the prospect became suddenly, frighteningly real.
During the Romulan War I'd lost twenty-seven shipmates among four ships, six of them on this very vessel. Although I'd counted them all among my friends I'd never been as close to any of them as I was with Caper.
He'd always embodied for me the highest ideals that the Federation represented, this Old Pegasus from Earth. He was harder than duranium, more unrelenting than gravity, and fairer than an uncaring Universe deserved. The best officer that a Raw Colonial from Equestris could have to serve under!
He made me a Lieutenant after we took part in the battle for Barada-II and made sure Starfleet made it legal, despite lingering anti-Augment prejudice among the Top Brass. In me he saw a Pony who he could work with hoof in shoe. Our strengths and weaknesses overlapped and between the two of us there wasn't anything we couldn't get done. We drank together on Leave, wrangled the Regs to keep the wheels of Starfleet Bureaucracy from gumming up our Ship, and agonized over final letters home to grief-stricken families. Yeah, we'd saved each others' lives now and again, as well as comforting one another in the face of tragic news from the Front. No, I hasten to add, we were never lovers! But neither was he simply a Father Figure, condescending and indulgent. He was, forever and always, my best friend second only to Sunny.
What would I do if he were gone? The Equestrin answer would be to buck up and carry on until The Job Got Done. … But to be an Equestrin one has admit to being but one step removed from being Equestrian, ultimately, and I'd spent enough time among our sometimes bizarre, unfocused cousins to have picked up, if not an understanding then at least tender acceptance for the ways they did things. After all, Family is Family… despite the efforts of Khan and Company who attempted to estrange us. Family, that was it, Caper was like the older Brother I never had. The tears I’d been staving off for days stung my eyes, though I sternly forbade them to fall. There would be time for that later, in private. The Crew didn’t need to see their new Captain-in-name blubbering hysterically. But I was alone, just then, wasn’t I?
I bent my head, closed my eyes, and choked on the single heart-wrenching sob I allowed myself to indulge in. Oh, Caper…!
Earlier, Dazzle asked me if I thought all this was meant to happen. Were we all just characters in a story begun long, long ago? At that particular moment I was taken by a terrible suspicion that if the Goddesses were writing this story They were being mighty casual about the storyline! The Earth Pony… or the Equestrin… in me rebelled at the thought of being a tertiary character in a Pony-Tale. …But good Ponies weren’t supposed to die in Pony-Tales! Weren’t these things supposed to have happy endings? I could see why the characters would be tempted to strangle the Authors…
I forced the tears away and opened my brimming eyes. I straightened my bowed-but-unbroken back with a resolve that Khan would have envied. I was an Equestrin, damnit! If that means nothing else it means, at least, that we recognize the fact that the Universe Doesn’t Care. It’s absolutely neutral as interstellar hydrogen and doesn’t give a Romulans’ damn about what happens in it. It most certainly does not go in for Pony-Tales… but it remembers Histories even if only as quanta streaming through an endless Void. Ponies may very well be a brief, warm spark in the neverending Darkness but, for the sake of Tyllae, Caper, Stimbolt, and my fallen shipmates; it would be a spark the Universe would remember!
This much I could do for my old friend. Failure Was Not An Option.
I never heard Sunny come up to me. When she touched my arm, though, I wordlessly turned and gathered her up in my arms and tried to patch the hole in my heart with her warm body. Magic, Psi, Tyllaes’ Un-spoken Words or Love she knew. She always just knows! Eventually I let her go and she reached up to wipe the tears from the corners of my eyes. Together, always Together, we made our way to where Caper lay in the ICU.
I'd been to see Caper countless times in the last few days, but the sight still tore at my heart each and every time.
The Old Pegasus lay on his back and wore pale blue pajamas decorated with dark blue asymmetric triangles brought down from his cabin three decks above. He was in the bed I occupied after our fight with the Klingons. The last one in the row, farthest from the entrance and closest to the lavatory. His face was drawn, his expression frozen somewhere between a frown and a shout. His arms and knees were drawn up halfway with his hooves out in front. But for the expression on his face he looked like a caricature of an old-time prize fighter taking a stance for a photographer. The tops of his wings had curled up and in like they had stopped in the process of coming up to protect him. His mane had been mussed and the antiseptic light from the bio-bed washed whatever animation the stroke had left out of him. The tears that always threatened came again and I thrust them away, my hooves curling into fists in frustration as the bio-bed blinked and displayed his medical status.
Sunny told Willowbark the bare essentials about what was going on, saying only that there was a Vulcan procedure she wanted to try as a last resort before fulfilling Capers’ Last Wishes. She’d left out the more esoteric details but did emphasize the fact that she wanted the ICU cleared and that we were under no circumstances to be disturbed. He shot the silent Vulcan seated at Capers’ side a dubious glance and did as he was told, helping Sunny draw the privacy curtains around the area before withdrawing. No doubt to stand guard outside the doorway where he felt he could step in if things got out of hoof. Well, I couldn’t damn him for his sense of duty.
The Watch was being changed and we waited for all the comings and goings to cease in the Sickbay as it settled down to its routine. As it did I watched Sekkack closely, an idea taking shape in my mind.
The Vulcan sat quietly, his fingers steepled together in his lap and his eyes looking past them into whatever realm his Altered State had admitted him and he moved not a muscle. I had to look close to see that he was even breathing.
I cleared my throat quietly. “Mister Sekkack…?”
“Yes, Acting Captain?” His naturally calm voice was even more subdued, seeming now to come from somewhere deep within and far away.
“You once mentioned that Tyllae demonstrated a unique ability to keep her emotions from disturbing your mind. If Caper is in there we don’t know what state his mind is in. Because of what’s happened to him, for all we know, he’s a raving madpony by now.”
“And you wish Tyllae to act as a buffer between myself and the Captain.” Sekkack stated in his eerie, distracted tones. “That would be prudent. For all my training, I have never touched a Pony mind before.” He slowly turned his gaze ‘round the room until it alighted on the Fey hovering nearby Sunny who was busily setting up her tricorder. “Tyllae. Are you agreeable to this?”
She flitted to his side so quickly she may have teleported!
“Tyllae says yep, yep, yep! Tyllae said wanna help an’ Tyllae gonna help!”
“You must consider this carefully.” Sekkack cautioned. “There are dangers involved you may not be aware of. Once our minds are entwined there is always the chance you, as a distinct individual, may not return.”
I felt my ears twitch up in alarm! “You didn’t mention this before, Sekkack. I’m not sure I want to risk losing all three of you.”
“Remain calm, Starry.” He admonished and I wondered at the implications of, what for him, was an uncharacteristic lapse of precise Vulcan formality. “It is a necessary risk inherent to the act. Despite the handicap of adding a third mind I would say our chances of success have still improved by as much as five point three percent.”
“We’re no talkin’ ‘bout statistics, ye great, fuzzy calculator!” Sunny butted in. “We’re talkin’ lives here!”
“The risk to myself is acceptable.” Sekkack said serenely. “It is for Tyllae to decide… and Starry.”
“I’ll need another tricorder then. T’ monitor Tyllaes condition if she decided t’ go ‘long wi’ this.” Sunny protested.
“Fifflesticks!” Tyllae waved the need aside with a tiny hoof. “Faeries very, very, very hard to kill, Sunny! No iron in Mister See-Kacks’ mind or Cappy Capers’. ‘Sides, Tyllae is not a stoopid Faery, nope, nope, nope! Tyllae knows enough to be careful. Remember what Sunny an’ Starry saw down onna Gorn-shippy thingy. That was Tyllae then like now, justa shape all different. Just like Starry!” She pointed a hoof at me to illustrate. “Onna outside Tyllae lives on This Side. But in here…” She bonked the side of her head carelessly making her antennae wiggle. “Tyllae is all Other Side, very, very, very strong. Too strong to show all at once alla time. Hard for inside Tyllae to show up onna outside. What Sunny an’ Starry an’ everypony else sees is all that leaks through. Tyllae knows alla Ponies think little Tyllae look an’ sound silly but thatta ok. Tyllae does not mind, nope, nope, nope! Don’t worry for Tyllae! Tyllae keepa Mister See-Kack anna Cappy Caper all safe, safe, safe. Trust Tyllae!”
We all paused to digest that. That the regal, radiant being we saw on the planet dwelt in the head of the little Faery honestly never occurred to me. Personally, I thought that half of her came from the Other Side. It seemed that I was wrong about that.
“Tyllae, Sekkack is right. Are you sure about this? Really sure?”
Tyllae bounced up and down on her hooves in Faery frustration! “Thatta what Tyllae jus said, Starry! Tyllae sometimes wonder what crazy Ponies use to thinky-think with! Does Tyllae gotta say alla that again? Tyllae though Starry smarter than that!”
“Take it easy, Squirt! As far as you’re concerned I’m the Chief Faery here…”
“‘Acting’ Chief Faery, as I recall.” Sekkack said quietly.
I stabbed a finger at the Vulcan. “I’ll get to you later! Like I said, I’m the Chief Faery around here and if you don’t want to eat your cookies in the Brig… like Captain Caper once promised…”
“Muffins.” Sekkack corrected and then clarified. “Apple Muffins. Again, as I recall.”
“Oh for the love of…!” I gave each of them a hard glare. “Are you two in cahoots or something?”
“Her courage is undeniable.” Sekkack intoned. “And I am willing to take her word as to her capabilities. Shall we proceed?” He asked in ostensible innocence.
So help me, I couldn’t help but grin a tight grin. “All right, go ahead. But if you end up frying your collective noodles… well, just don’t! Got me?”
“Understood.”
“Yep, yep, yep!
“Just t' be givin' ye fair warnin'...” Sunny put in as sternly as the action of wiping the smirk off her face would allow. “If anythin' goes South I'll have th' entire Sickbay in here faster n' ye can say 'Donovan’s' Brain'.”
Has he been more actually present, no doubt Sekkack would have quirked an eyebrow! I made a note to acquaint him with Sunny's eclectic library.
“I fail to see what Cardinal compass points have to do with this situation given the lack of reference points inherent in deep space. ...And I am unfamiliar with crewpony Donovan or the workings of his brain.”
“Get t' work, Laughin' Boy … n' mind th' wee Faery!”
Sekkack knew when enough was enough. “Very well. Tyllae, I shall need to be in direct contact with you for this to work. Is that acceptable?
By way of an answer, the little Fey flitted up to perch on the very edge of the bio-bed. Folding legs and wings she sat and smiled brightly at the Vulcan. “Ready, Mister See-Kack. Tyllae is not afraid. Everthing gonna be oakey-dokey, yep, yep, yep!”
Sekkack regarded the little Fey solemnly for a moment, then stretched out his arm slowly. He splayed the fingers of his paw, halting just before he made contact. His fingers quested about, as if he were feeling along the surface of an invisible hemisphere in search of something that would afford him a grip.
“My mind to your mind, Tyllae.” The words were spoken slowly as if each syllable were an exacting effort. His voice sank even lower and became terribly insistent... and, frankly, hypnotic. “Our minds are growing close. Our minds are becoming as one...” His forefinger and ring finger arched slowly and came to rest with butterfly lightness on Tyllae's forehead and the left side of her jaw. Tyllae closed her eyes and crouched stock still as his remaining finger and thumb came to rest on the back of her head and high on the right side of her neck respectively.
Without quite realizing it I stepped forward, concerned for both their sakes. I shot a glance at Sunny. She'd muted the quavering whistle of her tricorder and was scrutinizing the readout. She noticed my look and simply shook her head without saying a word.
Sekkack's fingers shifted their positions ever so slightly as he, himself leaned in toward the Fey.
“My mind to your mind.” His voice tolled, slowing even more as if he were slowing himself down just before making contact with... something. “Our minds are becoming...one.” His index finger suddenly twitched a final millimeter.
“I... am...Sekkack. Our... minds... are... coming... closer. I... am...” A muscle above his eyes gave the faintest tic...
“Tyllae.” They both said in unison!
Despite having some inkling of what was going to happen, I jumped about half an inch!
They spoke quietly in complete synchronization.
“We... are... Sekkack. We... are Tyllae. We are…One.” The last word was spoken with quiet satisfaction. I hoped the decreasing gap between the words meant that the link between them was complete.
I had to swallow before I could speak. I've felt uncomfortable in the presence of Magic before but this was worlds more utterly eldritch than anything I'd ever seen before!
“Sunny...?”
She frowned and adjusted something on her tricorder. “Sekkack is readin' no change, aside from th' depressed activity one'd expect from somebody in a bloody trance.” She muttered with no real venom. “Bide a wee! I want t' check th' Little 'Un.”
Her horn fired up and an opalescent aura sprang up around the crouching Fey. Some variation, I suppose, of the spell Dazzle used to examine things for explosives. I wondered which spell came first?
When Sekkack spoke she almost lost the concentration on her spell. Not being so preoccupied, I whipped my head around and gaped in disbelief!
“Hi-hii, Sunny!” He rumbled, his eyebrows springing up and his face assuming an almost foal-like expression of happiness. I swear on the Honor of Equestris that he smiled! “Hi-hii, Starry! Whee! Thissa fun! Oops! Tyllae should not say things like that when using Mister See-Kack's body! Sorry-sorry, Mister See-Kack. Tyllae jus wanna say Tyllae is a-okay an' not to worry. Bye-bye now! Tyllae gonna let Mister See-Kack talk from now on!” His face fell at once into its accustomed lack of expression before he continued.
“There is no apology necessary, Tyllae. Doctor Cross, I believe that you will find that Tyllae is in perfect health. Her control is... admirable and I am in no discomfort whatsoever. I find that the Meld, thus far, is proceeding splendidly. As you can tell our personalities have indeed remained separate although we exist in what amounts to a shared organism, most extraordinary and by no means the norm in these situations. The experience is proving to be very instructive.”
“Glad ye’re havin’ sich a Grand Time of it. Ye’ll no mind if I verify that mesel’.” Sunny muttered, concentrating on her spell. Tyllae remained englobed for several seconds before the aura faded away.
“She’s got th’ right of it!” Sunny declared. “I canna find a thing out o’ place wi’ the wee Darlin’.”
“Tyllae advises that she ‘told you so’, Doctor.”
“Tell her to no get cocky!” Sunny snapped. “Th’ real job lies ahead o’ ye!”
Sekkack looked, not surprisingly, as if he were listening to something we could not hear.
“Yes, Tyllae. I am quite aware that Doctor Cross is not a ‘meanie’. She is under stress and we must make allowances for her.”
Sunny got That Look and was about to say something further on the subject but I cut in purely in the interests of keeping things moving.
“Make allowances for me as well, you two. Quite frankly I am officially creeped out by this whole performance. Tyllae can explain the idiom to you, Sekkack. Tyllae, behave yourself! You’re a guest in there.” I looked around for a chair and eased myself down into it. The duraplastic creaked with a brittle sound but held.
“We both understand, Starry.” Sekkack sounded distracted and I could only imagine what kind of dialogue was passing between the two of them. The only analogy I could come up with was to liken them to two networked computers exchanging data far more quickly and accurately than we poor, plodding Ponies with our voices.
“If you two are comfortable with your, uh, arrangement I’m authorizing you to go ahead. Contact Caper if you can.” I carefully eased forward in my seat, trying to keep most of my weight over my legs. I heard a slight sound and looked over to see Sunny breaking out a Medical Bag to arrange a hypo and a selection of ampoules within easy reach.
“We are beginning now, Starry.” Since he was facing away from the Captain I was startled that Sekkack’s free hand moved out and made a beeline for Caper’s head until I realized, with a little shock, that he was seeing through Tyllae’s eyes. The Vulcan closed his own as his fingers spider-walked over Caper’s face.
“My mind to your mind, Cloud Caper.” He intoned once again. “…Our minds are growing closer. …Our minds will become One.”
It was different this time. He spent much longer searching Caper’s features compared to what he did with Tyllae as if he were having a harder time finding a way in… or was having to fight against resistance.
His fingers suddenly stiffened and the Vulcan’s features drew tight, his face turning away slightly as if dodging a blow. He made an almost inaudible noise, not quite a grunt nor a gasp. At the same instant Tyllae’s head lifted in his grasp. She almost broke free and I worried about the implications for Sekkack if she did. The little Fey’s wings spread out at high angles and quivered. Her tiny face remained impassive, though the Vulcan’s features erupted in a rapid-fire sequence of uneasiness, concern, and, finally, alarm. Her words but Sekkack’s deep voice charged the air.
“Cappy Caper very, very, very afraid! All scardey-scared, all in pain! Hurtshurtshurts!” Sekkack twisted his face up in resolve. “Don’t worry, Cappy Caper! Tyllae is here! Tyllae brings help! Don’t cry no more! Lissen to Tyllae! Lissen hard! Reach out for Mister Sekkack! Hollld onnn! Don’t worry, Mister Sekkack! Tyllae helps! Reach, reach, reach past alla pain, alla fear. No, no, no Cappy Caper! Scream to Tyllae! Leave Mister Sekkack alone please, please, pleeeaassse! Be sad to Tyllae! Make alla noise Cappy Caper want! Tyllae knows better! Lissen to Tyllae! Tyllae knows Cappy Caper good an’ kind. Pay ‘tention to just Tyllae!”
Shock froze me at first. Shock and a cold terror that clutched at my heart. I sprang to my hooves, narrowly avoiding knocking over my chair. I had to restrain myself from jumping forward to pull Sekkack off Caper and yank the little Fey into my arms.
“Tyllae! Sekkack! Talk to me!” I barked as Sekkack groaned and whimpered the muscles of his body wrestling against an intangible foe. Suddenly he slumped and his head lolled, only his fingers remained rigid, locked against Caper’s head.
The sudden silence was broken only by Doctor Willowbark yanking the curtain aside and rushing in only to stop dead as he took in the tableaux. Before he could speak Sunny snared him with her voice.
“Monitor th’ Captain’s bio-bed! I’ve got th’ Vulcan laddie! ‘N fer th’ love o’ Celestia dinna touch him wi’ yer hoof! 'Tis some bloody sort o’ Vulcan telepathic link!” She rapped out, racing over with tricorder in hoof intent on Sekkack. Willowbark knew enough not to bother with asking Sunny questions at a time like that and didn’t lose a second in coming to Caper’s side. He scanned the display in a second.
“Heart rate, respiration, blood pressure are twenty percent over baseline!” He called out in a steady voice. “K1 and K2 readings are bouncing all over the scale. Alpha, beta, and theta band brain activity is erratic. Temperature is one degree above normal and climbing. I really need to know what’s going on, Doctor!”
“’Tis th’ link!” Sunny said rapidly. “Sekkack’s mind’s hooked up t’ Caper’s body n’ ‘tis doin’ what it can t’ make itself at home! Get ready t’ administer a general sedative, five cc’s o’ tetravalium t’ combat th’ hyperstimulation ought t’ do it. Stand by wi’ cold packs t’ bring his temperature down if it goes up another degree. If we need we can do a cold gastric lavage t’ bring it down more forcefully!” She scanned her tricorder quickly. “As far as readins’ can be trusted wi’ Vulcans, Sekkack is vergin’ on shock. He’s shaky but no in danger…”
“Doctor!” Willowbark’s hooves worked to prep the hypo, his eyes only leaving the display for an instant to dial the dosage. “The Captain’s readings are leveling out. They’re falling back into the normal ranges across the board.”
“Sekkack!” I called out, unable to do anything else and hating it! “Tyllae! Somepony say something! What happened? Are you still with us?”
“Please to not shout, Starry-pushka.” Caper’s thick accent slurred out of Sekkack’s mouth as Sekkack stirred and grimaced like somepony waking up with a truly epic hangover. He opened his eyes and looked around blearily. When his gaze wandered to the form on the bio-bed it stopped and his body stiffened. “Ah! …So is not nightmare after all, nyet?” He said quietly.
We all of us froze in place and in complete silence until I worked up the nerve to speak.
“… Caper?”
“You were maybe expecting the Tsarina of all the Rushias, Starry-pushka?” Sekkack’s face quirked into Caper’s weary grin. “Vulcan ears hear as good as I always imagined your Augmented ones did.” He turned his head cautiously to look around the room, though he seemed careful to avoid looking directly at the bio-bed.
“Good morning, Good Doctor. Do not look so worried! Comrade Sekkack and Leetle Pooka are safe and well. They both decided to let me talk alone for leetle while. Imagine you are as astonished as I am, da?”
I’ve never seen Sunny so at a loss for words! In any other context I would have laughed. She opened and closed her mouth a couple of times before clearing her throat determinedly to try again.
“I’ll no lie t’ ye, er, Captain. I never expected t’ be hearin’ from ye again! How…?” She had to swallow before going on. “How are ye feelin’?”
Sekkack grunted the patented Caper multipurpose grunt. “Have been feeling worse than Gulag food looks! Does Good Doctor really want details? Oi! Would not wish this on no-goodnik Discord! Is good that it stops for this leetle while. Am so very tired, but Rest comes soon enough, nyet?” He smiled a so utterly weary smile at her.
“I know what Vulcan and Leetle Pooka know, Leetle Grandmother. Is Third Day and I am…” He grimaced. “Effectively dead, nyet?” He paused as the silent tears gathered and began to fall from her tragic eyes. “ … Please to not cry Doctor Sunny. Through Comrade Sekkack I know your reasons, from Leetle Pooka I know how you feel. But you must be brave now, braver even than sick, old Pegasus who now begs you…you hear, da? I beg you to do this thing! May you never know how much of a mercy it is!” He closed his eyes for long moments. For so long I feared he’d drifted away from us back into the Hell he’d fallen into. Sunny covered the end of her muzzle with one hoof, smothering her sobs as she hugged herself with her free arm.
Sekkack… Caper… opened his eyes again. “Where is Starry? I have taken too much time. Brave shipmates have only so much strength and will not endanger them on my account!”
“I’m right here, Caper.” I stepped up, fully intending to hug the Vulcan and to Hell with the risk! But a faint pink shell came between us like a sheet of rose-colored transparent aluminum to stop me.
“You must not, Starry-pushka!” Caper admonished. “Our friends do not have strength to waste and is something Valiant Captain wishes to share with favorite hot-headed Equestrin. You must listen to me one last time for just leetle while, eh? Consider it one final order, hokay?”
“What is it, Caper?” I knelt so I could look into his eyes scant inches away.
“At first I thought I was mad with pain and panic.” He began urgently. “But as ship gets nearer to our goal have begun to become aware, even in nightmare and delirium, that somepony was nearby and coming closer all the time. I catch glimpse of now and then. Just leetle, quick peeks at first out of corner of eye at distance then for longer times and more clearly.”
“Is purple-and-blue Mare, Starry. An Alicorn with wings dark as nebula, mane like billowing cloud on a starry night and eyes like Moon on Nipper River back home on Earth. She is beautiful and terrible at same time… and she walks on four legs, Starry-pushka!
“You told me what you saw down on planet, the vision Discord showed you! Is Luna, Starry-pushka, am sure of it! At least have lived long enough to know…” His voice drifted away and his eyes closed suddenly older and more tired than his mere years.
“Caper…?”
His eyes snapped open and fixed upon me at once. “Time is too short, Starry-pushka! Others are tired and Angel of Night is very close. Soon now she comes for me, nyet? Maybe I will be there to see you again when you bring your ship to where Goddesses are. Silver-Tongued Captain will put good word in ears of Sisters on your behalf, da?”
“Your Ship, Caper. I’m just taking care of it for the duration.”
“Bah!” Caper rumbled. “You know Regs! You are Captain now! … New shirt looks good on you, by the way. With little bit work could almost look as good as Valiant Captain, do I lie?” The old Pegasus smiled at me from the Vulcan's relatively youthful face. We wasted several precious seconds looking into each other's eyes, both of us striving to figure out how to say so, so much in such a little time...
“Good-bye, Caper.” Was all I could say in the end. “Thanks for being there.” I choked on the next breath. “We... we won't let you down.”
“Starry-pushka... tell me something I did not already know! Bring all our Little Ponies Home, da?” His gaze flicked to the curtain screening off the foot of the bed and his breath caught. “... Angel of Night is come.” He said in a voice so low we could barely hear it. “I must go now, Starry-Eyes. You are fine Officer, and an even finer Friend. Please to tell Crew how very proud Valiant Captain is of all of them.”
All of us swept the foot of the bio-bed with our eyes, then searched one another s faces. I could see what Willowbark was thinking, that it was the hallucination of a dying mind. Sunny, of course, never had a doubt. Until a month ago I would have sided with Willowbark. Just then, though...
“Sure thing, Caper.” I said softly.
“Wait...” The eerie voice said. Caper's borrowed face became bemused. “I have been asked to pass along message. Captain's work is never done, da? Well, this Yoemare is not one to be ignored!” The Old Pegasus listened intently for a bit, then. “First is announcement... Hoop-ah, Good Doctor! There is to be no talk of guilt or forgiveness. Put mind and soul at rest, Valiant Captain is going through Door with escort! Ha!” Caper barked a laugh before continuing. “Second is message for Starry-pushka-Eyes!” Once again he listened intently, the levity draining from his face as I watched. When he looked to me again he was grave. “Discord is on trail of the Ship and will find soon. Maybe matter of few days, could be much less. Hermes must follow present course and must reach... 'The Ruined Star'...?” He frowned and listened again. “Is, and quote, 'Five hundred and thirteen years away as the light streams. Look for the Storm Among The Stars.' ...Oi! Would be too much trouble to maybe go get Star Chart and just point hoof at destination?”
A hoof, a bare hoof stamped imperiously on the deck at the foot of the bed where nopony stood! Willowbark looked sharply in that direction, then rolled an eye at the rest of us to see if we heard it too.
“Or maybe not! Am nothing if not accommodating Pony! Is old Rushin saying, 'Please to not shoot Messenger'. You are familiar with, da? Hokay, hokay! Last message! ...Is for Doctor Willowbark.”
Willowbark, who had been leaning on the frame of the bio-bed for support, stood straight and tucked his hooves into his labcoat. He looked around warily.
“Yes?”
“Ahem! 'We did what We thought was Right. We are sorry. We are so, so sorry.'” Caper pointed with his eyes to the deck at the Doctor's hooves. “Is gift from apologetic Goddess, believe or not! This will cure any disease, any condition. You may use it three times, then keep it forever.”
Willowbark stared down at the deck and just froze. The bio-bed kept Sunny and I from seeing what lay there.
“Now is time to leave.” Caper said softly. “You will give Good Doctor hug in my name, da?” His eyes searched my face tenderly. “Do not cry, Starry-pushka. Need to remind you of words of Goddess?”
I blinked back mutinous tears and did my level best to smile. “Is that an order, Captain?”
“Da. Last one you get from me... Captain.”
All the Caper drained from Sekkack's face. The magic shield dissolved and the indicators on the bio-bed fell smoothly down to ground against the bottom of their scales. The Vulcan's eyes focused on me as he released himself from both Tyllae and Caper. Wordlessly, he sat back in his seat and ignored us.
“She took him with Her.” Sunny breathed. “Sure n’ I’d be a hypocrite if I didna say I was glad th’ choice was taken off me. hooves. Bless Them both.” She shut down her tricorder with a snap of the lid and came to kneel next to me. I was glad for her company just then.
Tyllae rose and stretched, fluttering her wings but keeping grounded. Alone of us present she behaved as if nothing untoward just happened. She shook herself vigorously before she started chattering.
“Alla oakey-dokes now, yep, yep, yep!” She chirped. “Cappy Caper all good now. All happy! Sunny an’ Starry don’t gotta worry no more! See, Sunny! Jus lika Mister See-Kack said, everthing alla fine! Tyllae wassa little bitsy surprised when Cappy Caper didn’t recognize, but Cappy Caper was very, very, very sick an’ all in pain so Tyllae won’t blame. Mister See-Kack was real, real, real brave, Sunny! Sunny should be proud of Mister See-Kack, da, da, da! Oops!” She shook her head until her antennae whipped. “Little bitsy of Cappy Caper still in there! Oh, hey, Starry! Tyllae knows what ‘pushka’ mean now! Whyfor Cappy Caper call you a big cannon-thingy?”
As she nattered on, I took Sunny’s hoof and gave it a grateful squeeze. My emotions were a surging maelstrom just then and all the new hormones weren’t helping one little bit! When I turned to look at Sekkack it felt like somepony else was doing it by remote control.
The Vulcan sat as still as a statue, his paws once again steepled in his lap. The slightest frown creased his brow as he regarded them in silence.
“Mister Sekkack?” I asked. “Tyllae seems fine. I was wondering how you are doing. She gives you all the credit for the success…” I trailed off when he gave no sign of responding. “…It was a success, wasn’t it? …Sekkack?” I released Sunny and she started her tricorder again, removing the Feinberger to wave it over him. The action dragged his attention away from wherever he had it focused.
“I am…” His voice rasped as his vocal chords rebelled against their recent mistreatment. He cleared his throat and tried again. “I am fine, Goo- … Doctor Cross. Aside from straining certain small muscles I do not usually use…” Absently, he reached up to touch his face. Only the gravity of the situation, I’m sure, kept her from making a quip about a smile breaking a Vulcan face! “I am fine. As is usual in these situations residual elements of the subject’s mind will come forth. I assure you the effect is temporary.” He paused for a fraction of a second to pull himself together. To his credit, he did sound better when he spoke again.
“I have assimilated a vast quantity of data from both Tyllae and the late Captain. I will have to meditate to process it properly.”
Sunny finished scanning him and double-checked the readings. “I canna fault ye on yer physiology, laddie, but yer brain activity indicators seem t’ be showin’ ye’ve run yerself a mental marathon t’ be sure! I prescribe rest, but I reckon meditation is yer equivalent of it. Just fer th’ sake o’ me own conscience I want ye t’ drop back in tomorrow fer another wee look. Yon circus was a learnin’ experience fer me as well!” Once again she shut down the tricorder. But she wasn’t through with Sekkack just yet.
“Indulge me strictly scientific curiosity, Sekkack-me-lad! Th’ two of ye were in direct contact wi’ th’ Captain’s mind. I heard him use yer voice n’ it seemed t’ work just grand. I was wonderin’ if your eyes worked just as well for him?”
“The three of us had access to our collective sensory apparatus.” Sekkack conceded.
“Did ye see Her, then? There at th’ foot o’ th’ bed?”
Sekkack locked eyes with Sunny. “What did you see, Doctor Cross?”
“I asked ye first, Boyo. Dinna try t’ evade th’ question!”
Sekkack held her gaze quietly for a quartet of seconds, his eyes absolutely neutral. Then, “I evade nothing, Doctor. The late Captain was in great pain and mental distress, effectively in tortured isolation for three entire days. Given the manic strength of his mind there is every reason to believe he was deranged by the experience. I saw what Captain Caper thought… or wanted to see. It is even possible that Tyllae may have supplied the imagery from her subconscious.” He stated flatly.
“Then who stomped that hoof?” I asked.
Sekkack dismissed the question with the barest shake of his head. “A noise, nothing more. Your own chair may have caused it when it fell.” He pointed with his eyes to the space behind me.
I turned my head to look at the chair I’d been using. It had fallen, at that.
Tyllae trotted up and plopped her hindquarters down so she could engage a foreleg to waggle at Sunny and me.
“Stop picky-picking on Comrade See-Kack!” She scolded, another stray bit of Caper coming out. “Oops, dida again! Never mind Leetle Tyllae-Pooka, Mister Comrade See-Kack gotta make up own mind about what Mister Comrade See-Kack see! Starry-pushka an’ Good Doctor Sunny should not be so mean an’ try to change mind, nyet, nyet, nyet!” The little Fey tilted her head with a frown and bonked it with a forehoof like a Pony trying to get water out of her ear.
“Fooey!” She declared in disgust. “Thissa no good! Leetle Tyllae-Pooka gotta go take nap an’ get Leetle Tyllae-Pooka’s coco alla straightened out! Nighty night-night!” She vanished with a ‘pif’.
“I am fatigued as well.” Sekkack said. “May I suggest we continue this discussion after we all have had time to reorganize our thoughts?” He rose smoothly to his feet. “I will take my leave of…”
“Willowbark!” Sunny looked up. “What ails ye, lad?” For the stiff, silent Willowbark had slowly bent his knees and reached down to something on the deck. He frowned, unsure whether or not to believe his eyes but unwilling to take them off whatever it was.
When he arose there, across his palm, lay a single midnight-blue feather half again as long as his hoof!
Sekkack never batted an eye, even when Sunny dug him in the side with an elbow and crowed. “What d’ye ken th’ vaunted Vulcan Science Academy’d make o’ yon, laddie!”
I strove to keep a straight face as I did my duty to Vulcan Dignity. Sekkack, after all, was part of my Department!
“I think that I speak for all of us when I say that Enough is Enough. It seems to me that the best thing to do now is to get some rest and try to sort out… all our new data. Mister Sekkack, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for what you did today. Now go get some rest. We all need you to be as your best in the days to come.”
Sekkack tore his eyes off the feather only by dint of a supreme effort. He inclined his head gravely to me and made his way out. As I watched him leave I wondered if it would be considered gauche to feel pity for a Vulcan?
Willowbark’s voice distracted me from my musings.
“I… I… should be getting back to my duties.” He said in a daze, poor buck!
“Light duty, I should think.” Sunny suggested. “Things r’ slow, Nurse Snowflake should be able t’ handle it. I’ll have a word wi’ her. Come along t’ me office, then. I’ve a drop r’ two o’ summat called ‘Saurian Brandy’ I keep fer strictly medicinal purposes… n’ I think we both need a mort o’ restorin’ just now! Will ye no come wi’ us, Starry?”
I shook my head slowly. “No. Thank you, but no. There’s something I have to do first.” I made my way to the Comm panel at the Nurse’s Station.
Sunny’s eyes softened. “O’ course.” She said softly.
“I’ll meet you back in our cabin… in a bit.” I assured her.
“I’ll be waitin’.” She promised and then left with Willowbark in tow. I drew a breath and hit the button.
“ICU to Communications.”
“What’s the good word, Boss?” I could hear the anxiety underlying Merry’s voice. This was just going to kill her. I almost switched off again, but what good would that do?
“Put me on speakers, Merry.” I kept my own voice as neutral as possible, but she knew at that very instant.
“Damn it.” There was a brief pause then, “Go ahead, Starry.”
“Attention all decks! Attention all decks!” I wondered how I could possibly get through this. “This is Captain Starry-Eyes. After a final attempt to rouse Captain Caper from his coma…Captain Caper passed away at fifteen hundred eleven hours. He told me to pass along to you all how proud he was of everypony aboard this ship. His Last Words consisted of an order. An order that I now pass along to you all.” I paused to swallow the lump in my throat. “As of this Stardate all personnel on this ship are directed not to cry because Captain Caper is gone. We are all to smile because we knew him.”
“…I ask you now to join me at the conclusion of this announcement for a minute of silence in honor of a great Officer, a dear Friend, and a wonderful Pony. Memorial Services will be held at eighteen hundred hours tomorrow. That is all. Captain Starry-Eyes, out.”