The New Normal

[Angel Ryder]

Six Months - 2 Weeks - 4 days since the End of the Dominus War --

Admiral Angelica Ryder was sitting on the balcony of the condo she had purchased after she decided that raising twins and a toddler in a construction site was insane. She found she actually kind of enjoyed the high rise, even though she did always enjoy the beach, she liked being greeted by Capitol City's rebuilding efforts when she woke up. Plus, she could walk around nude and few would notice. The birth of her twins had taken its toll on her and she had to have a C-Section, her grandmother's alternate suggested a new type of skin graft to remove the scars and also restore the elasticity of her skin, Angel had been hiding the fact that she never quite bounced back as cleanly as she let on, by way of invisible corsets and high cut skirts and slacks. The result was very sensitive skin until the new nerve endings got used to normal life, as such, she had taken to walking around her condo in the buff, other than when she had her children with her, then she usually wore something soft and light. It had been more than two months since she had gone on maternity leave and longer than that since she had eschewed the uniform.

Sipping her morning coffee and reading the news on a holographic screen while she painted her toe nails, she glanced at her communicator which was flashing.

"Whoever is brave enough to comm me in the morning, before I've had a half cup of coffee is either family or about to be yelled at." Angel teased.

"Well I hoped you considered me both." James Cross replied. "I just wanted to inform you that you're needed at Terra Alpha Tower. Your project that couldn't be moved until this week, is ready for you to move it. Whatever it is." James said as he looked at a locked door. "Not that we mind that you keep your projects running here, but everyone else has moved out of that floor and to the new site, except you ma'am."

"I'll be there tonight. I need to get a few things before I can move it. Thank you for calling me, I had nearly forgotten about it." Angel said as she sipped her coffee. "Well not about the project but the timing, been a bit distracted."

"Understandable ma'am." James replied with a chuckle and smiled. "How are you doing if you mind me asking?"

"Well other than sharing the twins with my husband and the two of us fighting over comms almost every other day... just peachy." Angel said and shook her head. "That and T'Kir suggesting I run for her seat and take her place as Speaker. And Admiral Rigan reminding me that I really should get my ass back to Byron at some point. And my alternate trying to take my jobs... oh yeah... this new normal is just awesome."

"Ouch... y'know I'm not old enough to drink but you sound like you could use a coffee date. Mac and I can get a table at our favorite cafe and we can vent. My sister in law Kassie just informed me that she's not coming back as Chief of Staff so I'm now officially the youngest Chief, younger than Bella was. Which is fine, I was kinda born and bred for it, but no one outside of the core group take me seriously. " James sighed and shook his head. "I should feel honored and yet... it's overwhelming."

"Wait Kassie resigned?" Angel raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah... she just had her baby after the war but she's agreed to be a surrogate for another Xenexian couple. And she's now calling herself Ka'z'ii." James held up a padd with her new name on it. "She's entirely jumped into the Xenexian thing, Mac thinks she's a little nuts but then again neither of us are too keen diving that much into Xenexian culture, even Tali is over it."

"The things you miss when you're away from the office." Angel rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I'd like that... I also have some things for Mac, some suits I designed and some new stuff for you too. You're kind of growing out of those suits kid, they're looking a little tight on you, unless that's what you're going for. You're not that skinny teenager anymore. You're becoming a man."

"I've been working out a lot more. So thank you... I do need some new office wear... skin armor underneath I hope?" James wiggled his eyebrows.

"Of course... wouldn't want my niece's boyfriend to get hurt on the job, besides, I know how dangerous things still are. You hear from Cece?" Angel said before sipping her coffee.

"Not in a few weeks, she's... been working with Vicki Thorne, trying to rehabilitate the Ajem'dasis acolytes that weren't killed in the war, that the Jase refuse to deal with." James said and shrugged his shoulders. "Trying to flush out the Dominus programming. Dad has been making progress with the Clones that defected. Naval Intel has an entire spec ops unit set up now. Which is good, since he and Liara are getting the itch to get back in the field."

[James Cross]

James looked around and whispered. "Don't tell anyone Kaitlyn has been calling her 'mom' and she hasn't been correcting her."

"Oh I won't... she's not Selene but y'know... she's what Selene could have been. Glad to see it's working out. So kid... I've been thinking... since you ARE taking on this role of Chief of Staff, and you're probably the youngest person with the highest security clearance on the planet. I should probably get you some of my father's files, Bella, Kassie and Cece always had access but you were never given access by him. And dad did kind of retroactively name me his heir in terms of his technology, files and his government records. So when we meet up for coffee... I'll get you the access you need." Angel glanced at her father's guitar in the corner next to her amp. "By the way... tell Mac that her Aunt wants to jam with her again, it was fun last time and at least this time I don't have a belly in the way."

"I will tell her." James said with a smile. "President Ryder's files... I'm... honored. Seriously."

"You earned it and as his former Yeoman, I can tell you've got the stuff to handle it." Angel said and frowned as she looked into her empty mug. "I need more coffee... let's meet for a late lunch."

"I'll put it in the calendar." James replied and saluted. "Thank you ma'am."

"You don't have to salute me, or call me ma'am." Angel replied.

[Cece Ryder]

"Hey Auntie." Cece said as she dropped onto Angel's balcony gracefully.

"I knew you were up there." Angel said as she undid the tie on her robe and walked into her bedroom to get dressed. "I'm assuming we're keeping up this little charade that I have no idea where you are?"

"For the moment." Cece said as she picked up the robe and raised an eyebrow. "Why are you always barely dressed?"

"Fabric annoys my skin, it's getting better... and I'm getting used to it. Besides, not like I have visitors and if my husband did drop by, then the sight might be enough to get him to not start up a bickering session." Angel said with a chuckle. "I assume you're here for that box."

"More Huntington gear from the alternate future." Cece said as she opened it up and smiled. "This should help things, we never had a problem with Dominus in my timeline nor the Ajem'dasis so Vicki and I are trying to convince the other acolytes that there IS another way, I just needed some proof, records, photographs that sort of thing, granted all this COULD be faked but my own memories of the events and such cannot be."

"So why all the secrecy?" Angel asked and crossed her arms.

"I'm... kind of on the outs with the Secret Service. Without Eli to smooth things over, they're kind of..."

"Blocking your access?" Angel chuckled. "Yeah, I get that... well you are kind of working with a psychopath."

"Yeah... she's not so bad. We've kind of buried that past. She lost everything but what truly matters, so that HAS changed her. Although reminding her not to cut people's limbs off is a challenge somedays." Cece said with a smirk. "I do miss hanging out with Liara and Clint, but I'll come in from the cold eventually. Just too many acolytes hidden amongst the planet's population and in positions of power, we want to neutralize the threats before they become that."

"I get it... really." Angel shimmied into her dress and zipped up the back. "Too tight?"

"Looks good on you... professional looking." Cece replied and chuckled. "Allergic to clothes and you pick that."

"Yeah I know... walking contradiction, tight feels better if the underneath is soft, go figure." Angel shrugged her shoulders and slipped into her shoes. "So real talk... I know they are going to ask again, what do you think?"

"Honestly ma'am... you should do it. Might save your marriage. I do recall you and Nathan in my era kind of at each other's throats but then you'd be like teenagers and I'd have to wait for you two to get dressed." Cece replied. "BUT that was another world. And you didn't have any other children beyond Trinity. You were very badly injured in the ensuing future Imperium battles and you got grumpy and annoyed easily and didn't really have that maternal drive."

"Can I be honest?" Angel sighed. "The post partum depression is real this time around... I... kind of don't mind Nathan wanting to spend more time with the twins and Seraphina. He's a good father and feels like it's his turn to step up, which I shouldn't mind, but at the same time... I have no idea what I really want. We get on the bridge together and instead of being the dynamic duo, we're fighting. Becky just walks away when she sees us together. Nathan resents not being promoted to Flag but also resents that since I'm taking on more Fleet duties, that I'm not on the ship. That's why I got the condo, because it's closer to Fleet HQ even though Tomarah wants me on Byron to handle things up there, but I don't want to go back to Byron. Ang has been pushing to take over my Fleet since the Scions pretty much trashed what was left of her's and thinks she's more than owed that. I don't know what I want to do anymore... honestly... all I want to do is sleep most days. Or spend it in my workroom. I don't even wear my uniform to the office, even though I did put in the uniform code unless we're in military action business attire is acceptable, as long as I'm wearing my badge and my rank pips."

"Just a tiny abuse of power there." Cece said with a wry grin

"Just a bit." Angel admitted. "Maybe running for Congress and take over Speaker of the House may be a good move... get me out of the Fleet for now, maybe shore up my relationship with Nathan and my children. Of course... then I'll still be in dad's shadow. Then people will expect I'll run when Jon's term is up. Even though he can run two more times, since it wasn't his original elected term, he took over for dad and then from Bella. So he can have basically three terms. I'll be fifty by that time roughly... do I want to be President? Hell to the no."

"Maybe I'll run." Cece ran her hand through her hair. "Only problem is I won't have a first gentleman... No real point in it, I'm sterile, any children I ever raise would have be adopted or clones of some type. Too messy."

[Angel Ryder]

"I'd vote for you, biased but yeah... although maybe I'll at least explore the idea of running for Congress, I mean we do need to get this planet rebuilt after the thrashing Dominus and his ilk did to it... and this District needs someone who 'gets' that the military can't rebuild everything, although I would like to only do a term maybe two... I don't want to make politics a career." she glanced at the window. "Shit... fighter patrols... close the door Cece... you're not wearing a kilden are you?"

"No. Why would I?" Cece replied.

"Well they're running kilden power crystal scans now... they pick up that power signature they tag the location and someone checks in on it. Still far too many hidden Ajem'dasis. Still feels like a little bit of an invasion of privacy." Angel muttered. "And they restricted buffer band usage to military only. At least for weapons storage. Can still use them for non weapons grade matter."

"Suppose that makes sense but yeah... there needs to be some checks and balances to ensure we don't get too draconian... I remember a time when we couldn't even go out in public without having our ID cards, ensuring we were Imperium plants or other malcontents. That's part of the reason dad became an AI, he never could remember to keep that ID chip with him. He liked his freedom and he didn't have a time pod in our timeline."

"Well that future you and Trini and Ethan came from is entirely something I WANT to avoid and I do not want to be the person that Trinity said I was. Ang on the other hand, seems to be that person." Angel said and shook her head. "I'm happy she's back and yes she's got a right to be mad, Dominus and how her Fleet was treated since her death, but still... she's getting really pushy."

[Dalahn Stormrage]

"And what future is that?" The Narlin leader asked entering the conversation at the tail end. He was flanked by the Cardassian ambassador, and President Ortiz of the New Federation.

[Angel Ryder]

"The Battle of Trill, Imperium attack - apparently in her original timeline we lost and we lost horribly." Angel replied.

"They cracked Trill in half and the Alliance was never quite the same since, neither was Angelica." Cece replied. "It was the turning point in the Imperium War, which was why we chose it as a point to go back in time, basically the Imperium developed to the point where they managed to increase the size and density of the temporal rifts all over the Quadrant and eventually caused the end of all things. The universe imploded on itself. It was travel back in time to a point we could fix things, or accept the end of all things."

"See why I love her..." Angel rolled her eyes and chuckled. "Thanks for meeting me here Emperor, Ambassador, Madam President. When you all wished to talk, I thought some place more private would be best, given the circumstances. And I have control of pretty much everything a two floors up and two floors down for the now." she walked over to a small entertaining area. "Can get any of you something to drink? I may not drink like I used to, but I have a little bit of everything."

[Michelle Ortiz]

"I prefer we didn't do any backroom deals," Michelle replied. "Secrecy may help protect governments, but builds mistrust. Who is the Romulan Republic's representative?"

[Ang'Jhu t'Radiak]

"Right here." Ang said as she gave Angel a slight glare. "I'm not entirely sure this is what I wanted when I asked for my Fleet... " she sighed. "BUT the Romulans Republic thinks I'm a good temporary solution until they can figure out what I should really be doing. You just want your ship back..."

"I do... but it's more Nathan's at the moment than it is mine." Angel replied and looked at Ortiz. "This isn't back room, this is tenth story condo deal. Besides, with so much construction and security being what it is... my own personal fortress is probably the closest thing, we COULD have met at AlphaTek... Terra Alpha Tower... but I hate to sound paranoid like my father, but I don't trust heads of state with security and with systems I didn't personally oversee and design." she slipped her glasses on and looked around. "Besides, its much quieter here. So you'll be happy to know that I have talked to our shipyard crew bosses and they are going to send an Independence Class ship building ship toward Bajor to help you get your own shipyards going. They're anxious to build some 'real' Federation ships again. Not the crazy hybrid designs we're going to be using here. And... while we were scouting Dominus' hidey holes, we found a number of stolen Federation ships we can send your way. Honestly... they belong with the UFP. TA Navy is going to be going in some... new directions."

"Which is Angel speak for... I have the budget and the reasoning to make all the next level designs that I have been dying to build a reality." Ang said with a chuckle. "The Romulan Republic also wants a similar system but of course... they want green ships with birds painted on them."

"Naturally. Isn't that always the way it is? UFP 'If it doesn't have a saucer, a sausage and two sticks with engines on it Captain Archer's ghost is going to haunt us'. Romulans 'Paint it green and put a bird on it'. Klingons.. 'we must have big heads narrow necks and oversized engines or it isn't cool. Or we want what the Romulan Pata'qs have!" Angel said with a laugh.

"And the Cardassians want everything... brown, red and orange." Ang chuckled lightly.

"See... that's what I hope this rebuilding process will do... get us out of tired old ideas. Stop thinking with our 'ape brains' as dad's favorite professor Drexler says and push the technical envelope." Angel said and looked at Ang. "We need to come together as a group of leaders and make this not about just rebuilding what was lost, but encouraging some new thoughts and re-evaluate or we're going to stagnate while our enemies innovate."

[Dalahn Stormrage]

Stormrage crossed his arms, "Tradition is what has held the Empire together despite all of the external and internal strife since Youlan the Great conquered the last independent kingdom two-thousand years ago. I don't intend on changing."

"Be that as it may," the Cardassian ambassador said, "One must remain adaptable."

[Angel Ryder]

"Exactly. And while I have no problem with tradition, we also have to not reject new ideas or even radical changes to how we do things out hand. That's why my father's AliceCore technology is going to be shared with all Alliance members. The sooner we are able to transition more of our ships, buildings and cities to an alternative power source, the better off we'll be in this rebuilding process. That's one reason why I wanted to have this meeting be a bit more private, since we all know the deuterium and dilthium trade is very lucrative and the players involved are very powerful. When Frost Industries discovered and started marketing Synthetic Dilithium Crystals, it caused quite a stir and honestly I still think Elizabeth Frost was killed but I never had any proof. When AlphaTek absorbed Frost, and we started selling Synth-D we had more than a few hiccups. Now it powers most of the Fleet and we use it more than the real thing unless we absolutely need it. My father's AliceCore tech and chemical compounds will be able almost entirely replace slush deuterium in smaller craft and in larger you'd need only a third of what you usually carry. That's huge. That's going to save everyone a lot plus... with a nearly unlimited fuel source we don't have to have ships stop in for refueling every few years. We can get back to long term deep space exploration." she pulled out a padd. "Which is where the Federation comes in." she gestured to Ortiz. "What President Price and I have been discussing, a bit of a change to how we all work within this Alliance. While the Federation isn't officially a part of the Alliance you're a part of it, you're an ally and a trusted friend. The OLD UFP was known for its diplomacy above all else. I think we need you to be our diplomats. First contacts. We're the technology and world building. Cardassians I want you to be basically our checks and balances, so none of us get too Empire-builder-ish. And Narlins... you excel at battle, at science and at defense, so I would really like to see the Narlin Empire be the big angry dog we keep in the backyard for security. To most you're friendly, to others, you hold nothing back. The Romulans, I think we need you to keep a covert eye on things, you excel at that as well. Together we can get security back in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants and keep things from getting too chaotic."

"My God... she's like her father. Worse even... I don't think she even took a breath during all that." Ang said with a chuckle and nodded her head. "Hell of a speech sis. All the more reason for you to take Speaker T'Kir's spot. I think we need you in a position of authority more than an Admiralcy. All in favor?" she looked around the room.