With no effective way to proceed, Sulu simply gave the order for everyone to report anything else going unexpectedly gold. They would continue trying to put distance between them and the nomad - not that anyone thought it would do any good - and they would continue trying to get a message out to Starfleet. He ordered copies of the ship's logs put into a comm buoy, but when it was launched, sensors reported that it was solid gold. Geoff Redford suggested they etch a warning into the hull of another buoy and send it out: at least that way perhaps other ships could be spared. Jerel pointed out that if the affliction was contagious, simply getting near enough the buoy to read it might prove unwise.
When Jeremy came onto the Bridge to give his report, he did so with calm efficiency.
"No casualties so far, Captain," he said.
"Except for everyone's nerves," Sulu stated.
"Yeah, about that," Paget returned. "My suggestion, sir, is for parents to get their kids from the Nest and keep them in their quarters."
Sulu stared at him incredulously.
"If this thing goes like it did on the Enterprise," the Security Chief continued, "what mother wouldn't wanna spend her last hours holding her child? What father wouldn't want his kids with him at the end?" He cocked his head, his meaning clear.
"I'm the captain," Sulu said tersely. "Jilla's the Chief Engineer. We have responsibilities to more than just..."
"I can hold the Bridge, sir," Courtland broke in quietly. "And Mr. Redford is more than capable of dealing with anything mechanical since we don't have matter/anti-matter conversions to monitor."
As Sulu turned his chair to gape at the Equian, Dylan Paine added, "Go, Captain. Your wife and daughter need you more than we do."
"They're Indiian," Tristan put in. "And the little one is only just past her lay'em tiae. She needs your presence - " He swallowed. "And that of her mother."
"Go on, babe," Jeremy rejoined. "If nothing more happens you can just charge it to leave time."
Sulu glanced around at his crew. Ensigns Shapiro and Heiss were nodding sympathetically. Courtland's blue eyes were full of understanding, Paine's almost pleading. Tristan's grey eyes shone with unshed tears. And Jeremy nodded, his gaze conveying all the emotion that was never spoken between them.
Slowly, Sulu activated the comm.
"Engineering, Majiir," Jilla's voice answered.
"Go to the Nest and get Jenni," Sulu said. "I'll be home in a minute."
Jilla's breath caught audibly. "Sulu, are you..."
"I'm sure, hon."
He rose from the con and headed to the lift. As he passed Jeremy, his best friend murmured, "See ya on the other side, babe."
"I'm Buddhist - and I've got a date in Beggar's Court," Sulu replied.
"That's okay," Paget returned. "Jesus'll forgive you."
Without knowing for certain how it happened, Sulu abruptly found Jeremy in his arms. He swallowed, his mouth working, but the words simply would not come.
Don't worry, Captain, Dylan Paine's voice came in his head. He knows.
The corridor to captain's quarters was dim, standard procedure when under auxiliary power. It made Sulu's mood heavier, seeming to sap his usual energy and optimism, as though trying to use him to recharge its batteries. The feeling - bitter, defeated, trapped, hopeless - washed over him in too-familiar waves, and that, too, drained him. He had no skill that could fight the thing that was slowly destroying his ship.
Your fault, he berated himself. You shouldn't've stayed so long. You subjected your crew to unnecessary danger because you couldn't face what happened to the Enterprise.
And what was I supposed to tell Headquarters? 'Yeah, we found her, but we thought we'd just leave her in orbit around the nomad.' What if we'd found out what happened? What if we'd found a way to reverse it? What if....
What if, what if.... what if you put this pile of pathetic shit in one hand and all your 'ifs' in the other and see which one fills up the fastest?
He shook off the threatening thoughts as he reached his cabin door. If he were to spend his last hours with his sensitive wife and daughter, he didn't want those hours to be filled with weeping.
He didn't bother turning on the light; the low-power-mode, as in the corridor, let soft illumination come from the deck at regular intervals around the bulkheads. Beyond the screen that separated the sleeping area from the bedroom, he could make out Jilla's figure, lying on her side on their bed. Knowing Jenshahn would be cradled in her arms, he pulled off his boots and his tunic and got in beside her.
"She's sleeping," he murmured. "I was worried..."
"She can sense my sorrow, my love," Jilla replied just as softly. "But she can also sense my - our love. It is a comfort to her beyond anything else."
A sad smile crossed his lips, and he kissed both her and their child. He gently stroked Jenshahn's cheek, aware that he was imitating the way he had touched Daffy and Ruth, marveling still at how small she was.
"You've given me a beautiful daughter, Jilla," he said.
"Do you think it will hurt her?" Jilla asked. "I believe those on the Enterprise felt nothing, but it is happening differently here."
"I don't know. Maybe if we don't wake her....." His voice trailed off. "She's been happy, hasn't she?"
Jilla's lips curved into a sad smile, and she nodded.
"She loves us," he went on. "She knows we love her. And she's been so good, my perfect little angel...."
His voice broke and Jilla moved close to him. His arms went around her.
"We have known the joy, my love," she whispered. "That is all we can ask."
"She could've said daddy," he replied, faux-jovially.
A sob escaped from Jilla's lips and Sulu held her, comforting, for a long time.
Finally, she raised her head, her eyes meeting his.
"Celletyea, tu'ros," she said.
Sulu smiled at her. "I love you, my wife," he returned, then added, "For eternity."
"Cortayel," she agreed.
"Celletyea tua aemi," he said. I love our daughter.
"Asi, tay cellet," Jilla echoed. Yes, very much.
Their kiss was warm and passionate and enduring. He felt a strange tingling and broke the kiss. Jilla's eyes were wide with fear and he knew she had felt it too. Quickly they rose from the bed, moving in front of the shrine to Aema. Jilla knelt, and Sulu placed Jenni in her arms. He kissed his daughter, then knelt behind Jilla so that his arms could enfold them both. He bent his head, setting his lips against Jilla's temple.
"I love you, Jilla," he said one last time.
If she answered, he never heard it.
Sulu opened his eyes. He saw blue sky above him, and the leaves of a tree, which his botany-loving mind automatically identified as oak. He could feel soft earth beneath him and heard the twittering of birds and the rustling of small mammals around him. The air smelled fresh, and he could feel a light, warm breeze.
The last thing I remember, he told himself - a habit that had been long unused - was telling Jilla I loved her. We were in our cabin, acknowledging Aema's claim...
He sat up and saw that she was lying beside him, Jenshahn still in her arms. Her eyes were closed, her breathing deep and even.
"I told you Jesus would forgive you," came Jeremy's calm, joyous voice from behind him, and Sulu was on his feet, turning to face the TerAfrican, who was striding toward him across a lush meadow.
"Well, this sure as shit isn't Beggar's Court," Sulu returned, his voice barely concealing his awe. "Unless Jilla had it WAY wrong."
They embraced as Jeremy reached him, clinging together in wonder and confusion.
"Did you feel a tingling..." Sulu began, on top of Jeremy's,
"I felt a tingling, then..."
"Maybe we didn't turn to gold?" Sulu suggested skeptically.
"I saw the tunic I'd just taken off turn," Jeremy returned. "I was still holding it, and I felt this weird tingle, so I figured..." He shrugged, then added, "Yeah, I left the Bridge. Sorry."
Sulu waved it away. "Jilla and I felt it at the same time."
"And Jen?"
It was Sulu's turn to shrug. "She was asleep in Jilla's arms."
A gasp sounded and Sulu quickly knelt beside his wife. "It's okay, hon," he said. "I don't know what happened, or where we are, but we're okay."
Jilla sat up, adjusting Jenshahn in her arms as she did so. Sulu smiled at her, and took his daughter, Jeremy offering his hand to help the Indiian to her feet.
"This is not..." Jilla began dubiously as she looked around the meadow.
"I didn't think so," Sulu agreed. "And unless Jer's done something we don't know about..." He grinned at the TerAfrican.
Jeremy shook his head, grinning back. "Nope. Cross my heart," he said. "Give that baby to her Uncle Jer," he insisted, and held out his arms. When Sulu placed Jenshahn into them, Jeremy immediately lifted her to his face, nibbling at her neck. "Maybe Aema is a softee," he offered, then automatically added to Jilla, "meaning someone who is soft-hearted and so doesn't pursue a previously stated course out of concern for the object of that course."
Jilla shook her head. "Aema is not a softee," she stated. She glanced around at their idyllic surroundings. "Are we dead?" she asked at last.
"I don't know," Sulu said, smiling at his daughter, who was beginning to fuss in her uncle's arms. "But if we are, I'm not sure I mind."
"I will if there's nothin' to eat here," Jeremy quipped. "Damn, I'm starving!"
Jenni started to cry and Sulu chuckled. "I think your niece agrees with you."
"You go on to mama now, girl," Jeremy cooed, handing her to Jilla. Jilla smiled at him, warm and affectionate and accepting, then sat back down on the grass, opening her uniform and placing Jenshahn to her breast.
Sulu and Jeremy moved a few feet away, to give her privacy.
"So, any ideas?" Sulu asked quietly.
"You mean about where we are, how we got here, where's the ship and the rest of the crew and why we aren't gold - ideas about that?" Jeremy responded.
"No, I was thinking more along the lines of when do I meet this Jesus of yours," Sulu said wryly.
Jeremy shrugged. "I got no more clue about that than I do about any of the stuff I mentioned."
"Well, what good are you?"
"I can show you if you want," Jeremy leered, "but your marriage don't end at death."
"And we don't even know for sure we are dead," Sulu agreed blithely. "So that sort of answers that."
"Now who's bein' obnoxious?"
"All your questions will be answered in time," a voice that was gentle nonetheless boomed all around them.
"What the....?!" Sulu began.
A tall figure robed in gold appeared across the glade, walking toward them. He appeared Humanoid, with strong but pleasing features that were smiling as he approached.
Jeremy dropped to his knees.
"Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord," he recited quickly. "Hosanna in the highest, glory is the risen Christ!"
Jilla gasped and got to her feet, standing next to Sulu, holding Jenshahn so that she rested against her father's side. He put his arm around them protectively.
"Are you...? Sulu began again.
"Your ship and crew are quite safe, Captain," the figure said, and his voice was no longer booming, but just as gentle. "Do not trouble yourself about them. They will be returned shortly. For the present, we ask you to dine with us."
Another figure appeared, garbed as the first, but clearly female. Jilla's gasp was louder this time, and tinged with distress.
"Beloved Magdalene, keeper of the sang real, adored of our Lord, blessings on Thy womb and that which issues forth from it," Jeremy said.
The male gave a comforting laugh and stepped toward Jeremy, bending down to place his hand under the TerAfrican's chin.
"Rise, Commander, for we are not who you see."
Jeremy glanced up, then quickly lowered his gaze again. He did get to his feet, but he was muttering "the hell you're not," as he did so.
Jilla was murmuring in rapid Indiian, and Sulu looked down at her. "Honey, what's..." he began for a third time.
"You do not see?" she managed, then whispered, barely audible, "Roshi! Aema Herself!"
Sulu frowned, staring first at her, then at Jeremy.
"Let me get this straight," he said. "Jer, you see..."
"My Lord Jesus Christ and His Blessed wife, the Magdalene," his Security Chief answered without a trace of doubt in his voice.
"Jilla sees Roshi and Aema," Sulu commented.
Jeremy frowned, puzzled. "Noooo..." he said slowly. "That's not a Seeder or an Indiian."
"It is!" Jilla insisted, and Jenni again started to fuss. Sulu took her, bouncing her in his arms.
"And who do YOU see?" the female asked, a touch of mirth in her tone.
"Beats the hell out of me," Sulu replied, "except you're Haven."
The figures' voices rang out in peals of laughter, then they gestured. "Come with us," they said, and turned, heading toward a grove of trees a little way in the distance.
Both Jeremy and Jilla immediately followed, and Sulu shivered uneasily. "What do you think, Jenni?" he asked the child in his arms.
She gurgled up at him smiling, and he shrugged.
"Good enough for me," he said, and, with really no where else to go, he too, walked toward the grove.
There was a walled-in garden at the center of the grove of trees, filled with golden sculptures of every species Sulu had ever heard of - and a few he hadn't. There was also a golden table surrounded by golden chairs, set with golden dishes. To Sulu's relief, the food on the dishes looked real.
At least it's all the right color for real food, he thought, and took the seat the male figure indicated, between Jilla and Jeremy, who were already sitting. Jenni reached for her mother, and Sulu handed her to Jilla, who again put her to her breast.
"Please, eat if you are hungry," the male said. At the glances exchanged between Sulu and Jeremy, he chuckled, but said nothing more.
Jeremy shrugged and reached for an apple - then looked around and instead chose a pear.
"The forbidden fruit was a pomegranate," the female commented with a smile, and Jeremy flushed.
"All right, who are you and what's going on?" Sulu demanded. "Where are we? What happened to my ship?"
"My name is not important," the male replied. "As I already mentioned, your ship and crew are perfectly safe."
"As are the ship and crew you encountered in orbit," the female added.
"In orbit?" Sulu said suspiciously.
"Yes," the male answered. "You are on the nomad planet. You may call it Lauredin."
"That's not possible," Sulu broke in. "Our readings indicated that the nomad was..."
"And it is," the woman returned. "We are existing on a non-corporeal plane, which is the true nature of our home."
"Why does Jer see...?"
"We cannot control the forms you perceive," the male rejoined. "We suspect your minds supply appropriate images from your psyches. Since this all appears to you to be inexplicable and miraculous, it would be only logical for you to see deities."
Sulu's mouth twisted into a frown. "So why don't I see Siddhartha?" he asked.
"Do you truly believe in him as a deity?" the female responded.
"No, I guess not," Sulu said. "But I don't believe in any Haven deities, either."
"Well, then, that is a puzzle, isn't it?" the male chuckled.
Sulu turned to Jeremy. "So, Christ got your tongue, Jer?"
"I'm findin' it hard to argue with God," the TerAfrican replied. "Even if it isn't really Jesus."
The captain turned to Jilla, but she was withdrawn, absorbed in tending to Jenshahn - and since she saw Roshi and Aema, Sulu couldn't blame her.
"We do regret this unfortunate occurrence," the male went on. "We had no wish to inconvenience you in anyway by our sculpting."
"Sculpting?" Sulu repeated.
The male gestured around him. "None of this exists as you understand the term, Captain. We are an energy life form. We have no substance as you know it. We cannot touch nor have we any use for physical objects."
"Until we came into contact with corporeal beings," the female continued. "Then we began to yearn for that which we did not have, all the pleasure that we could sense in corporeal beings but could not share." She smiled gently.
"But we are not warriors, nor conquerors," the male picked up the narrative. "We accepted that we could not take another's physical form. Yes still we desired physical contact. And so we developed sculpting. Those of us chosen to learn this skill roam the galaxy to bring objects back to our home which are touchable."
"You agree it would hardly be right to capture actual life forms, do you not?" the female asked.
"So you destroy those life forms in order to make golden copies?" Sulu asked uncertainly.
"Of course not."
"There was no life on the Enterprise."
"Perhaps we are not being clear," the male rejoined. "We use the life forms as a model, then restore them as they were."
"Then the ship, the people..."
"Are going about their business, completely unaware that they have been sculpted," the female replied with a smile.
"That would explain why we didn't hear about a missing Enterprise or a nomad planet from Starfleet," Jeremy ventured.
"Okay," Sulu said slowly, "then why were we aware of what was happening to us?"
"We meant you no harm," the male said. "If our projection had been functioning properly..."
"What projection?"
"The sculpting projection."
Sulu frowned again. "I'm gonna need more of an explanation than that."
"It is our desires, channeled through a well that transmutes matter and life energy into sculptures that contain the essence of that matter or life energy," the female explained. "It is undetectable by corporeal instrumentation and it accomplishes its transmutation instantly."
"But it malfunctioned," the male added sadly. "We fear it cannot be repaired."
"We took a chance that there was enough will within it to work one more time and directed it toward your ship," the woman continued. "And we were successful."
"Except it didn't work quite instantaneously," the male said. "That is why you were aware of it."
"But you lured us," Jeremy put in, his tone both perturbed and angry. "You left the 'sculpture' of your planet and the Enterprise for us to see."
"Yes," the woman replied simply.
"But why?"
"Our sculptures retain a memory of the life force used to create them," the male explained. "When properly activated in our own plane of existence, they can come alive and perform as the originals would."
"It fulfills the desire the process was created for," the female put in. "We can then manipulate them to our liking. We wanted two starships..."
"Battles, Sulu," Jeremy said. "They want to be able to stage battles."
"Exactly," the male said with a grin of satisfaction. "Selfish of us, perhaps, to risk damage, but since no harm has come to you...." He shrugged charmingly.
After a pause, Sulu cleared his throat. "I still have a few questions," he said. "You say no harm was done, but how am I going to get my crew back, my ship? You talk about a non-corporeal plane, but your sculptures are physical, and gold."
"That's only before they are transported," the female answered. Once that is accomplished, they cease to exist on your plane."
"So we won't be findin' any other 'statues' floatin' around the galaxy, huh?" Jeremy said.
"Not unless one of your physical races creates them," the male chuckled.
"Why gold?" Sulu wanted to know.
"We like the color," the female replied with a blinding smile.
Jeremy and Sulu exchanged glances, and shrugged. Then a thought occurred to him.
"Your projection device," he asked, "is it corporeal?"
"Of course not," the male responded.
"But then neither are we right now, yes?"
"That is correct."
Sulu turned to Jilla. "Hon, do you think...":
Jilla shuddered, hiding her face behind her hair.
"I'm afraid her own reaction to those whom she sees is too overwhelming for her," the male said. "If we could change it to allow her to be more comfortable, we would."
"She's an engineer," Jeremy put in. "She might have been able to fix your projector - or whatever it is."
Both of the beings smiled. "Your offer is most kind," the female acknowledged. "But I fear our technology, as you would call it, is far beyond your understanding."
"At any rate, the transportation is nearly complete," the male said. "When it is, you and your ship and crew will automatically be returned to the state you were in before our unfortunate interruption."
"I trust that will suffice?" the female asked impishly.
Again, Sulu and Jeremy exchanged glances.
"Not much choice, babe," Jeremy said
"True," Sulu returned, "but I'd feel a lot better about it if..."
"Would you care to see your sister ship as it was when we sculpted it?" the male asked.
"You can do that?"
"It hasn't been programmed," the female apologized, "so you will only see what was happening the actual moment of sculpting."
Sulu nodded, and suddenly found himself - and Jeremy, Jilla and Jenni - standing in the recreational garden of the Enterprise. Spock and Ruth and Sarek were exactly as he had last seen them. They seemed to shimmer, and color returned.
"A deciduous member of the Ulmaceae family," Spock's voice said, "the Ulmas parifolia, a small, ornamental variety that is found most often in the Eastern coastal regions of the Terran Asian continent."
Sarek's hand touched the branch his father held down to him. He looked into Spock's eyes.
"Tree," he said decisively.
Ruth broke into giggles.
"Yes, Sarek," Spock agreed with a smile in his eyes. "Tree."
Sulu opened his eyes. He was in his quarters, kneeling before Jilla's shrine to Aema, Jilla in front of him, holding Jenni, his arms around them both.
"What..." Jilla's tremulous voice asked, "what happened?"
"I guess they finished their transportation," Sulu said and he rose, helping Jilla to her feet.
"They... were not..." she began.
"I'm pretty sure not," Sulu replied. "I mean, She didn't strike us down with lightning or anything."
Jilla frowned and Sulu shook his head, pulling her into an embrace. "I wasn't joking hon. If it was really Aema, She would have."
"I suppose, "Jilla answered, then shivered and straightened. She held Jenshahn up, as if inspecting her.
"She seems unharmed," she stated, having shaken off her awe-inspired immobility.
The intercom signaled and Sulu crossed the room.
"Sulu."
"Sir, the power's back," Geoff Redford reported. "I checked the dylithium - they're back to being - well - dylithium. I'm running a full diagnostic now, but there doesn't seem to be any damage."
"Very good. Mr. Redford," Sulu replied, and the comm signaled again. He thumbed the control to switch the channel. "Sulu," he repeated.
"Commander Courtland, sir," came the voice of the First Officer.
"Is everyone all right?"
There was a pause, a swallowed whinny, then, "Well, my horn is still golden, but...."
"Son of a mare," Sulu grinned.
"When I awoke, I found a full report in my logs," the Equian continued. "Sir, who is 'my name is not important'?"
"I take it you read the report?"
"I did."
"Then you know just as much as I do."
"If I may borrow a phrase..."
"Fascinating," Sulu said with him.
"There is also no sign of the nomad or the Enterprise, " Courtland went on.
"I'll want a thorough check of all ship's systems," Sulu stated.
"Of course, Captain."
"Sulu out."
He turned to Jilla, who had laid Jenni on the bed, preparing to change her diaper.
"When you're done, take her back to the Nest," he said. "Then go check your other bairn."
Jilla smiled at him. "Yes, sir," she said.
Jeremy was just coming out of his cabin as Sulu passed it on the way to the lift. The taller man fell into step beside his captain.
"So, everything all right?" the Security Chief asked.
"So Jerel tells me," Sulu replied, then glanced sideways at his friend. "With you?"
"I'm still not entirely sure Jesus wasn't fuckin' with me," Jeremy grinned. "But since Aema doesn't seem the fuckin' around with type..."
"And I saw Havens," Sulu reminded.
"Yeah," Paget said, his voice suddenly pensive. "Why do you suppose that was?"
The lift door opened and they both stepped in. "Bridge," Sulu directed, then turned to face Jeremy.
"Like I told He Whose Name Is Not Important," he said, "beats the hell out of me." He paused, studying Jeremy's face. "Why do you ask?"
"Don't you think it may be important somehow? I mean Jilla and I both saw our deities..."
"What, you think I'm some secret Haven whoever-worshipper?"
"You DID tell me about that time on Lorelei when Spock had to contact Loki and Gage to..."
"I don't want to talk about that, Jer," Sulu interrupted.
"Okay, I just thought..."
"Well, don't."
"No sir, no thinkin' here, sir, just a dumb redshirt, sir," Jeremy returned, then grinned at the exasperated look on Sulu's face. "I know, obnoxious," he added before Sulu could.
"No, I only use that word..." the captain began.
"...when I'm temptin' the hell out of you?" the TerAfrican suggested.
"That's all the time, Jer," Sulu replied, and though he was smiling, it was not teasing; rather it was gentle and full of serious implication.
"Don't go there, babe," Jeremy murmured.
"We'll have to someday," Sulu said. He leaned over and kissed Jeremy's cheek and the lift door opened onto the Bridge.
Sulu had only been on the Bridge for a few minutes when he got an urgent call from the Nest.
"Sir," Nurse Blake said, "Commander Majiir told me to interrupt anything you were doing."
"What's wrong?" the captain asked, alarm rising within him.
"Just come down here, Captain."
Sulu raced to the lift, muttering "come on, come on!" It seemed to take forever to reach the Nest, and when he entered, Lian Rendell was holding Jenshahn.
"Jilla asked me to check her out," the doctor explained, "now that the Gorsini isn't gold anymore."
He stopped short. "So is she okay?" he demanded.
"Oh, I think so," Lian said with a smirk. Then she looked down at the small charge in her arms. "Go ahead, honey," she urged. "Say it again."
"Dah dee," Jenshahn said in a small, perfect, giggling voice. "Dah dee!"
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