All was quiet in the Banshees' temporary quarters aboard Starbase 901. The five squad members were sprawled haphazardly around the common room, Lee Carter reading, Jo and Sam playing a game of 3D chess, Max sharpening her combat knife, and Alex comfortably buried in the depths of an enormous easy chair snoring softy and drooling.
Suddenly, a musical chime rang in their ears and a bright light momentarily blinded their eyes, but the brilliance faded quickly to reveal a new person standing in the middle of the room where only empty space had been moments before. Carter was so startled by the event that she nearly dropped her book. As soon as she saw who it was however, a broad smile warmed her face and she stood and exclaimed, "Kim!"
"Hi, Commander!" returned the newcomer happily, letting Carter embrace her in a welcoming hug. Sam, Jo and Max had given up their individual pursuits as well upon seeing the new arrival, and took turns hugging and greeting the perky, young woman.
The commotion had awakened Alex. She quickly wiped away the trickle of drool running down her chin, hoping no one had seen and then just stared in utter confusion for a while. Finally though, curiosity propelled her from her easy chair. Approaching the newcomer, she thrust out her hand and said, "Hi there. My name is Alex."
Kim turned at the unfamiliar voice. Taking Alex's hand and shaking it, she replied, "I'm Kim Tycho. I used to be a Banshee before I got married and moved away. I guess you're my replacement."
"Moved away…" sputtered Jo in mock disgust. "She married a 'Q' and moved to the 'Q' Continuum!"
"What?" asked Alex, sure Jo was just pulling her leg again.
"It's true," replied Max in a tone that defied anyone to doubt her word. "Kimberly Tycho married Garek Loran, a man who had been invited by the 'Q' to join them. She was made a 'Q' too."
Alex stared in wide-eyed wonder at the petite brunette girl standing before her, finding the whole proposition difficult to swallow.
Kim smiled. "Don't believe it, do you?" She laughed merrily. "I don't blame you! And yes, I read your mind just now. Maybe this will convince you…" She snapped her fingers, and instantly Alex was transported to another place, but after a few moments of adjusting to her new surroundings, she realized that she'd left her physical body behind. She was nothing more than a disembodied spirit, an astral traveler, a fly on the wall, able to see all around her but in turn being unable to be seen. She was inside a chapel somewhere on the station. From the air around her, she heard Kim's voice intone, "What you're seeing is the past, about a month before you joined the Banshees…"
As Admiral Richard Wallace strode through the double doors into the small non-denominational chapel on the ground floor of Starbase 901's Promenade, he almost ran over the electronics tech who was adjusting a temporary camera on the wall there, making sure it was focused on the front podium.
Upon seeing the Admiral, the tech smiled and said, "The ceremony will be carried on all viewing screens, Admiral."
"Good," said Wallace, smiling himself, before resuming his walk to the pulpit. He was in a pleasant mood; it wasn't every day that he got to perform the ceremony at two of his old friends' wedding. He took his place behind the pulpit and tugged on the front of his dress uniform, trying to straighten out imaginary wrinkles, and looked about the room.
Already, most of the seats were occupied by family and friends of Kim Tycho and Garek Loran. It seemed half of the engineering section was in attendance; they filled the left half of the chapel, and were busy talking among themselves. Probably arguing about the proper method for calibrating self-sealing stembolts..., chuckled Wallace silently to himself.
In the front rows sat the happy couple's family and closest friends. Garek's parents, Tan and Belinda Loran sat in the front row, holding hands and looking proud. Kim's mother, Katherine Tycho was also in attendance, handkerchief in hand, trying not to cry and not succeeding. Her husband, Kim's father, hadn't been able to make the occasion, unfortunately. His duties as Chief Engineer on Starbase 74 kept him very busy, but he had sent a hologram along with his wife expressing his joy at the prospect of having an engineer for a son-in-law.
Lee Carter, Max Vasser, Sam Beckett and Jo Schmidt were there of course, all looking extremely sharp and gorgeous in their dress whites.
Garek's long legacy in Starfleet was attested to by Captain Stephen Maruu, his commanding officer from the USS Virgo, and Ka'Rong from the To'Kar, as well as Captain Mallory, CO of Starbase 901, and most of the rest of the upper staff. A sizable Marine presence was in evidence as well, all decked out in full dress uniforms. Wallace couldn't remember if he'd ever seen this much spit and polish concentrated in one place before, and wondered if the fabric of the universe could handle it without bursting.
Wallace turned his attention to the groom himself. Standing nervously before the podium waiting for the ceremony to begin, Commander Garek Loran looked the epitome of dashing 'knight-in-shining-armor', bedecked and mailed in his immaculate, white, ceremonial dress uniform. I doubt I'd be that calm right before my own wedding, thought Wallace. Standing stoically beside Garek was his best man, Colonel Tarik, commanding Marine, managing somehow to look at the same time both fearsome and pleased in his Starfleet Marine dress uniform. Only a Romulan could pull off an act like that, thought Wallace.
A few more guests shuffled in, finding the last few remaining empty seats, then an aide standing near the chapel entrance signaled the bride's readiness. Wallace nodded in acknowledgment, then turned to Garek. "Show time."
The low-level hubbub from the gathered onlookers suddenly hushed, to be superseded by the traditional wedding march wafting from the room's speaker system. At the side of the chapel, the doors slid open and a vision of loveliness stepped across the threshold: Kimberly Tycho dressed all in floaty veils and white satin. She was escorted by Rick, the mysterious and ruggedly handsome, now tuxedo-clad manager of the station's El Taco restaurant. Together, they walked with stately grace in step with the music towards the podium. Garek looked back at them and smiled broadly. Kim smiled back through her veils.
Upon reaching the front of the chapel, Kim released Rick's arm, who disappeared back into the audience, while she came to a stop beside her about-to-be-husband. Kim and Garek looked lovingly at each other, then turned to face the Admiral expectantly.
Wallace cleared his throat experimentally, then began.
"Since the days of the first wooden vessels, all ship masters have had one happy privilege: that of uniting two people in the bonds of matrimony." --Garek and Kim glanced at each other and smiled-- "And so we are gathered here today with you, Lieutenant Kimberly Tycho, and you, Commander Garek Loran, in the sight of your fellows and in accordance with our laws and beliefs, so that you may pledge your--"
ALERT! ALERT! blared the intercom, utterly shattering the solemn mood in the chapel. Everyone in attendance tensed in anticipation of whatever came next. Alert! Alert! This station is under attack! All hands to battle stations!
Captain Mallory immediately sprang up and rushed over to the wall intercom. Slapping the activation button with the palm of her hand, she spoke into the pickup. "This is the captain. Report!"
"Two pirate frigates just dropped out of warp, Captain. They're two light-minutes out from Serenity and burning in at full impulse with shields up."
While she'd been listening to the report, Colonel Tarik had come up behind her. Now he said, "That's an attack run if ever I've seen one."
Mallory turned to look at Tarik and nodded in agreement, then, directing her voice back to the intercom, ordered, "Deploy all starfighters and notify the Iwo Jima and Ronin. I'm on my way to the Command Center."
"Aye aye."
Turning, she addressed the room in general. "All right, everyone! You heard the alert. Move!"
Immediately, the audience erupted into a flurry of motion, Banshee pilots, Starfleet officers and Marines all hurrying to their battle stations. Garek and Kim were no exception. After a helpless and apologetic shrug in Admiral Wallace's direction, the almost-couple ran off hand in hand, headed for Engineering. Moments later, only the civilians were left.
Mrs. Tycho turned to Mrs. Loran and, dabbing at a tear with her hanky, said, "Starfleet weddings always make me cry...."
In the end, the attack turned out to be nothing more than an act of desperation by some ill-equipped renegade Mullurans. The two small pirate ships were quickly disabled and towed back to the Station where their crews were taken into custody. Things quickly settled down and life's normal routine recommenced.
Garek and Kim were finally joined in wedlock by Admiral Wallace in a hastily-improvised ceremony down in Engineering. Both parties' parents seemed terribly disappointed that they'd been robbed of a proper spectacle, but Garek and Kim (being engineers) couldn't have been happier.
Later that evening, when the grand wedding reception was beginning to wind down, Garek addressed the well-wishers. Holding his smiling new bride around the waist, he pronounced: "Thank you all for coming. We're off to our honeymoon!" The crowd cheered, and with a flourish of his hand, Garek snapped his fingers. He and Kim vanished in a flash of white light, off to the 'Q' Continuum and new adventures as the two newest members of that enigmatic race.
…The vision ended and Alex found herself once again standing in the middle of the Banshees' common room with her team mates and Kim Tycho -- a 'Q'. "Guess you weren't kidding after all," she said a little humbly.
"So, what brings you here for a visit, Kimmie?" asked Carter, now that all the introductions and magic tricks were behind them. "Staying long?"
At that questions, Kim's expression turned a little sad. "No, I can only stay a few minutes," she replied. "In fact, I'm not supposed to be here at all." She looked furtively about as if she suddenly suspected the walls had ears. She drew the others in closer and said in a hushed voice, "I've seen the future and I came to warn you."
"About what?" asked Max.
"There's so much," began Kim anxiously, "but I only have another few seconds! The Mullurans, the Smelly Jelly…" An involuntary shudder ran up her spine. "But there's one thing that's more important than everything else." She lowered her voice even further and cast another anxious glance around the room. "One of the Banshees will die."
A cacophony of protests answered that statement of doom, each Banshee demanding in a loud voice to know if she was the one fated to die, and how and when and where and why and a hundred other questions all being shouted at the same time.
Kim did her best to fend them all off with upraised hands and a greatly pained expression on her face. "I can't tell you any more," she was shouting back at her friends, but couldn't even hear herself above the din. Finally, Max shouted at the top of her lungs for everyone to shut up, and even Carter listened.
"I'm sorry," explained Kim looking deeply aggrieved. "That's all I can say and I shouldn't have said even that. I have to go now." She took a long look at her dear friends and said, "Just be careful, okay?" and with a snap of her fingers vanished in a flash of light.
The others just stood in the suddenly emptier room with shocked expressions on their faces, wondering what nasty surprises the future had in store for them.
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