PRESENT TENSION PAST IMPERFECT SERIES – BOOK II FLETCHER DELANCEY Copyright © 2005 by Fletcher DeLancey CONTENTS Author’s note v Other books by Fletcher DeLancey vii Chapter 1 1 Chapter 2 8 Chapter 3 14 Chapter 4 23 Chapter 5 32 Chapter 6 43 Chapter 7 54 Chapter 8 66 Chapter 9 74 Chapter 10 83 Chapter 11 93 Chapter 12 109 Chapter 13 117 Chapter 14 122 Chapter 15 138 Chapter 16 156 Chapter 17 171 Chapter 18 179 Chapter 19 190 Epilogue 202 Further adventures 211 AUTHOR’S NOTE This is the second book in the Past Imperfect series. For more in the series, go to fletcherdelancey.com. The author can be reached via email at fl[email protected] OTHER BOOKS BY FLETCHER DELANCEY Past Imperfect Series Past Imperfect Present Tension Future Perfect No Return Forward Motion Chronicles of Alsea The Caphenon Without A Front: The Producer’s Challenge Without A Front: The Warrior’s Challenge Catalyst Vellmar the Blade (novella) Outcaste To learn about the world of Alsea, immerse yourself in the Chronicles of Alsea site: alseaworld.com. For the ones who would not stay silent. 1 The coffee turned out to be something of a challenge. The beans needed to be ground, but since fresh coffee beans were hardly the norm on a spaceship, the replicator contained no patterns for a grinder. The one grinder on board was in Neelix’s kitchen, and Janeway refused to let Lynne out of her sight yet, nor did she want to leave the quarters. “Here, give them to me,” she said, holding out her hand. Lynne looked at her oddly, but dumped the little scoop of beans into her hands. Janeway walked over to the replicator and poured the beans directly onto its smooth base. “How big are the granules once they’ve been ground?” she asked. Lynne thought for a moment. “About two millimeters in diameter, I guess. I don’t know, coffee isn’t really my drink.” “Computer,” said Janeway, “alter physical form to units two millime- ters in diameter.” The replicator glowed for a moment, and the small pile of beans was reduced to a smaller pile of granules. Janeway swept them off into her hand and turned a triumphant smile on Lynne. “Mission accomplished. Now what?” Lynne pulled a cone-shaped contraption and a box out of a bag by the beans. Opening the box, she extracted a bit of paper, opened it into a cone, and fit it into the contraption. She placed the unit atop a mug and held it out to Janeway. “In the filter,” she said. 1 FLETCHER DELANCEY Janeway dumped the granules into the filter and dusted off her hands, watching as Lynne walked back to the replicator. “Computer, one cup of water, one hundred degrees Celsius.” Pulling the hot water from the replicator, Lynne poured it into the filter, instantly filling their quarters with what was surely the most mouth-watering aroma in the entire Delta Quadrant. Sniffing the air appreciatively, Janeway said, “If that tastes half as good as it smells, I’ll be your slave for life.” Lynne grinned at her. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.” Janeway waited impatiently for what seemed like hours until the last of the water had dripped through. Pulling the paper filter out of the cone, Lynne tossed it into the replicator. “Computer, recycle,” she said. Then she turned and, with a flourish, presented the steaming mug of coffee to her partner. “Prepare to be my slave for life.” The first sip nearly sent Janeway to her knees as she closed her eyes and moaned. “Oh my god. Oh my god. This is the best thing I have ever tasted. You are my hero and I will love you forever.” “I thought you already loved me.” “I love you more now. Oh my god.” “Curious,” mused Lynne. “Fresh coffee seems to reduce your vocabu- lary.” She smiled at her partner’s continued moaning. “Haven’t you ever had real coffee before?” Janeway reluctantly ceased her coffee worship long enough to answer. “Only at expensive restaurants. It’s not very common now, not when most people use replicators.” Lynne clicked her tongue disapprovingly. “Not everything can be repli- cated, you know.” There was no answer, only a small slurping sound as more of the precious liquid found its way into an extremely appreciative captain. Lynne rolled her eyes. “Well, I can see you’re going to be non-verbal for awhile. I’ll just go take care of breakfast now.” “Mm-hmm,” was her answer, accompanied by another sip. The rest of the day was spent simply being together in Lynne’s quar- ters, eating fresh bread and, on Janeway’s side, drinking far more coffee 2 Present Tension than was good for her. It was a quiet, unexciting day, and that normalcy went a long way toward knitting their hearts back together. Lynne had brought a disc player back from Earth along with her collection of discs, and Janeway happily set her engineering mind to the puzzle it presented. First she had to figure out a way of modifying it to accept a modern energy source. Once that was accomplished, she fiddled with it until she’d created a means of transferring the data at high speed from the player directly into the ship’s computers. The whole task took only a few hours, after which Lynne set about copying her new library of music into the computer and cataloguing it. Janeway used that time to read some of her favorite poetry. Reading always soothed her mind, but lately she hadn’t felt much like doing it. Now, as the words wrapped their magic around her, she felt as if she were back in the arms of an old friend. Every now and then she looked over the top of her PADD and smiled at the sight of Lynne busily organizing her library. Both women were supremely content. Once Lynne had the music catalogued, she sat against the arm of her sofa and pulled Janeway back against her chest, wrapping her arms around her lover’s waist and bracketing her with her legs. “Okay,” she said. “You just go right on reading, but I’ve got some great background music for you.” Janeway rested her head on her warm pillow. “I’m ready.” “Computer, play Miles Davis, Kind of Blue.” The room filled with a quiet jazz, which soon grew into something commanding much more attention. “Background music, my ass,” said Janeway, admiring the consummate trumpet and saxophone artistry. Lynne laughed. “You’ve picked up too many of my idioms.” “I hate to disappoint you, sweetheart, but that one made it to my century.” Lynne’s arms tightened. “‘Sweetheart’?” “Well, I had to come up with something, and you seemed to object to anything with too many syllables.” “I don’t object to this.” Conversation ceased then, as the women listened to the four-hundred- year-old sounds of Miles Davis and his band. After a while Janeway picked up her PADD again, and a pleasant hour passed away. By the time the album had ended, Janeway had given up on her reading and was just listening, eyes shut, comfortably snuggled against her partner’s chest. 3 FLETCHER DELANCEY When the last strains of music died away, she said, “That was some of the best jazz I’ve ever heard. What a tragedy that it was lost for so long.” “Good thing I brought it back then, isn’t it? I knew you’d love it. That album is a who’s who of the best jazz artists on the planet at that time. In my opinion, that is.” “I’ll respect your opinion in this case.” “Hmm. Nice qualifier there.” Janeway put her arms around the legs holding her in place and squeezed. She felt whole again, and so content that the unfinished issues of the previous night no longer seemed too big to handle. It was time to ask some questions. Lynne had taken care of her the previous night, but she knew her lover was hurting too. After a day of recovery, she finally felt strong enough to help. “I know it must have been hard for you to leave your family,” she said quietly. Lynne’s arms tightened around her, but when nothing was said, she continued. “I want you to know that though I may never understand exactly how hard that was, I do understand what a gift you gave me. And I’ll do my very best to deserve it. I don’t ever want you to second guess your decision.” She felt a kiss dropped onto the top of her head before Lynne rested her chin there. “Thank you. I’m not sure you have the power to keep me from second guessing, but don’t ever think you’re the cause of it. I think that no matter which way I chose, I would have had regrets.” “I know. I just wish you’d never been forced into such a difficult choice. How did you say goodbye to your parents?” After a pause, Lynne said a little too carefully, “I recorded a message for them on a PADD and left it with a lawyer. It will be shipped to them the day I disappear. I mean the day I disappeared. Hell, I can’t keep track of my tenses.” Her reaction set off alarm bells, and Janeway turned to look at her directly. “What did it say?” “I explained what happened to me, and about you, and told them not to worry because I was happy.” “That’s not all, is it?” asked Janeway, watching her body language.