Epilogue

[Rebecca Talon]

"That will not be necessary," she said. "The... well, it doesn't require preparation on our end. The Council will construct a funeral pyre on Monastery." With that Rebecca gave Livvy a kiss on the cheek and was gone.

[Kinsey Calhoun]

“Family meeting?” Kinsey inquired as she slipped her in his, providing her weight to discreetly support him. The twins standing on either side watching quietly. “You need to rest.”

[Jack Ryder]

"Right... dad... we'll meet up later." Jack said as he touched his arm. "Take care of J'Larin..."

"I'll at least do a basic prep... least I can do for her." Nick said and gave Kinsey a smile. "Told you we'd get him back. Trust an old man."

"You've never truly been bonded to a telepath like I am." Jack said with a smile. "When we didn't feel each other through our bond, it isn't an unpleasant experience. Keep mind mind, the two of us have been together in some way shape or form for many many more years than when you married us off only what? 5 years ago?"

"Feels like yesterday. Still proud of you two." Nick crouched down and looked at Mackenzie and Jason. "And you two... "

"I know, the bad guys always want to mess with these twins." Jack muttered and gave them a look. "Well enough speculation, I need rest and we'll have our meeting later. Then... I am taking my wife, my children and my pod and we're going on a well deserved family vacation. I was thinking later 20th Century. I think a certain little brunette would love to meet Yo Yo Ma or Lindsey Stirling in person and I still owe David Bowie a car. Long story."

"Just don't tell them about 2016..." Nick winced.

"Oh heaven's no... that's rule one. But perhaps I may nudge him to get a few more tracks on Blackstar finished... bloody love that album." Jack said as he saluted his father. "Thanks for the save dad. We never really do say that often enough..."

"You're my kid, granted I think I trained you all enough to pull your own fat out of the fire but I'll always be there." Nick said.

"Interesting choice of words." Jack smirked and put his arm around Kinsey's shoulders and made their way to his quarters, he always wanted to keep a quarters near the shuttlebay. Everyone called him crazy but he usually had experiments that he'd run in his quarters and if he had something that needed to be jettisoned, it was far easier to shove it out the hanger deck than decompress a hallway.

[Tereska Kellow]

"Captain? Captain?" A young woman, in an very old style Starfleet uniform, her long red hair was a bit worse for wear, yet she still had it meticulously braided, called out from the shuttle bay where some of the refugees were being beamed in. "Captain... I'm Lieutenant Tereska Kellow... I... I was wondering... what year is it? My shuttle was pulled in by a tractor beam and I was taken... to some starbase. Then all hell broke loose and a voice in my head told me to gather in a particular place with a lot of other, presumably Starfleet officers were and... now I'm here."

Nick looked at the woman and just stared. At first he thought he thought she was another Sandoval, the red hair and height would have been an easy call, but then she spoke her name and he took a moment longer than he should have when she snapped her fingers and shook her head.

"Hey, didn't your mother ever teach you it's not nice to stare? I'm old enough to be your daughter." Tereska said with a bit of a haughty tone of voice, but it was the tone of voice she took when she thought someone was flirting with her when there was business at hand. A tone that never quite left her.

"Mom?" Nick said and shook his head. "I... I mean Lieutenant Kellow."

"Do I know you? You look really familiar." She said and squinted as she looked up at him. "Definitely not from my side of the family, we're all kinda on the short side."

"It's... yeah... uhm... I think you should come with me Lieutenant... there's a lot you need to be briefed on." Nick said as he extended his hand to her.

"And you're Captain...?" she gestured with her hand.

"Ryder... Nick Ryder. And it's... well, my rank is... yeah just call me Captain Ryder. But I think we may be on more familiar terms..." Nick said as he gestured to the door.

"I'll have you know I'm seeing someone and it's serious." she said as she held up a ringed finger. "Even if I'm... not sure if he survived."

"You were the only one so far that came through with that kind of uniform." Nick said with a bit of a somber tone. "But we're still sorting people..."

"Alright but still... no funny stuff or I'm reporting you to Starfleet HR." Tereska said and looked down a bit. "Sorry... I... I had a lot of people pawing at me and trying to..." she clenched her fists. "I know I'm pretty... I take care of myself. I just don't like being looked at as someone's latest conquest. Or a piece of meat. I have a brain. I'm... almost a Doctor. Next spring I get my Doctorate, officially."

"That isn't all you'd get." Nick said under his breath, he remembered the story of how his father proposed on her graduation night and got married that fall.

"What was that?" she looked at him curiously. "You've got a lot brewing beneath the surface, I can tell that much."

"More than you realize... more than you realize." Nick said and took a deep breath.

-- Twenty minutes later --

"Okay soo.... I'm in the future. Like... future future. I'm an old woman... you're my son... with... kids who have kids... who're having kids?" Tereska said and sat down and ran her hands through her hair. "And... this station was run by your evil self?"

"Evil Alternate reality but yeah... apparently you're from another one of those realities. Maybe they thought they could control how the me you'd have would be raised or they thought they could make more of me by going to the source? I have no idea." Nick said as he took a sip of his coffee. "But... I have no idea where you came from, I do the 'when' but my mother certainly would have told me she met me... I mean, she told me when I traveled back to when she was a teenager and gave her something she thought she lost forever. Would have affected her whole life."

"I had a downright asshole give me something." Tereska said and raised an eyebrow. "I slapped him for taking it."

"In mine, you lost it when another time traveler came through delayed you, ended up getting beamed to space, I brought another copy to you, so you could get your entrance exam complete." Nick said. "You gave me a kiss. Thought I was one of Leo's cousins or something."

"Heh... I called him Lee in mine." Tereska said

"You started to, but he thought Leo helped him sound more leadership-y." Nick chuckled and nodded. "He calls you Tess here."

"Bleh. Messy Tessy... I hated that nickname. I used to be an artist, artists are a little messy..." Tereska said and sighed as she caught sight of something in his ready room. "Is that..." she got up and looked at it "This looks like my style."

"It is, you... she made it for me." Nick said as he picked up the candle holder. "You gave it to me as a wedding gift, they were a set you made for your own, passed them to me. I wish I had them when my kids got married, but... well, only my oldest and I really had a wedding ceremony. Her sister eloped. Her brother had a Marine wedding. Second youngest son... they had a Xenexian ceremony. I've got a three year old... so he'll get them. Probably my last so... it's fitting. Unless I adopt of course."

Tereska looked at the family photo on his desk and whistled. "Wow... she's beautiful. Looks young for her age."

"Because she is... she was my daughter's Chief Science Officer. And... she's younger than my eldest." Nick said with a slight blush. "Although I'll be honest, she's more mature than I am and at least a dozen IQ points over me."

"Can't entirely blame you... my father is much younger than my mother." Tereska said and didn't expand, even though Nick's face told her that he knew more than she even probably knew. "So now what? I mean... am I going to ruin the timeline?"

"Well this isn't your timeline, so unless we send you back, which I am not sure we can... you may be stuck here, I'm sorry to say. You're not the only one, I've got copies of my grandkids here, I've got copies of me, I've got copies of... a lot of others around. Hell, my sister is married to an alternate reality version of Khan Singh."

"No! Seriously? You're pulling my leg."

"No, I'm dead serious... she's having his kid." Nick chuckled. "He actually helped save you guys."

"Huh... augments that aren't evil, that's a shocker." Tereska mused.

"I'm an Augment too... kinda against my will." Nick replied.

"That explains why you can be in your sixties and look so young.., still act like a kid." Tereska smiled and got closer to him. "So... just what did you do with your life? You got a ship of your own, that's pretty impressive."

"Ohhh... I did a lot more than that." Nick said as he gestured to frame on the wall that held his Admiral uniform. And a plaque with his inauguration as President. "I... kinda was the 1st President of the Terra Alpha Alliance. I actually won a second term, but... Dominus' son captured me and most of the government held us for almost a year. I gave it to my VP when we got back... his wife ran the Alliance during our absence. You see ma... I learned from you to never underestimate a strong woman and her capacity to lead and kick major ass." he put his arm across her shoulders. "And for the record, even in your 90s you're still a gorgeous woman... even if you... kind of..."

"Got fat and old?" Tereska winced. "Maaannn..."

"I'll say curvy and voluptuous. You had a lot of kids and then you got deaged, and you looked pretty close this... maybe a bit more mature but... then you got pregnant again..." Nick bobbed his head. "And Capitol City has some amazing places to eat... and... you're still a head turner."

"I'll have to see for myself... but... I suppose if I'm a head turner in my 90s..." she smiled. "I guess that's not so bad. Still... Tess? Ugh... please tell me that I at least still attempt to keep my Polish-ness?"

"Tak." Nick confirmed in Polish. "We had a clinic in grandma's hometown Poznan until you decided to come out and help me with the Terra Alpha project. And all my kids call you Buscia."

"Well... then I feel better. So... the 25th Century... and what is she doing now anyway?"

"Knowing her? Probably still running the Naval hospital like it's still her's, even when she should be training. Mom's been teaching my daughter's XO's daughter pre-med stuff..." Nick said and patted her back. "It'll be weird, but trust me... you'll like what you see."

"I'm actually dying to meet your wife and your kids. Your eldest, she seems like someone I could be close to." Tereska said with a grin.

"Oh you two are very close, you taught her how to make clothes... kinda turned her into the fashionista she is... she designed our uniforms. You tell everyone every chance you get." Nick said with a grin. "I do too."

"Really? Your kid actually designed your uniforms? You know how many years and how many designs I've submitted?! Oh I am going to like this reality..." she clapped her hands. "You know... until we get back to this... Terra Alpha... how about I help you with medical stuff? I may not be officially an MD, but I'm still a nurse and a field medic... "

"Be glad to have you aboard. We only have a holographic doctor..."

"Holographic doctors? Shut. UP! No way?! That was just a future thing... wow... oh this is getting better all the time." Tereska could not stop grinning. "Oh... yeah... before I get started where can I get freshened up? I haven't bathed or anything in like a week or so... "

"I'll get you set up in some quarters, in the meantime, you can use my ready room. There's a bathroom, replicator... whatever you need." Nick offered. "I'll give you some privacy... uhm... I'll have to lock out comms, we're trying to keep radio silence until we're closer to home... don't need enemy forces... finding us."

"Right... of course..." She said and gave him a big hug. "So... alternate future son huh? I can live with that."