miss you all.”
The black hole seemed impossibly close now. King’s body felt like it was weighed down with lead. She knew that if it weren’t for the artificial gravity on board the Defiant , they’d all be dead by now. The force of the black hole would have torn them free from their seats and crushed them against the far wall.
She had never been so frightened in her life. Or disappointed. After everything they’d survived, it had come to this. A slow and excruciating death. She feared the darkness at the black hole’s centre. She imagined it to be cold, empty. A nothingness that stretched on forever. She absently wondered what it would feel like to be crushed to death like that. Would she feel pain? Would it be so quick that she didn’t even know it was happening?
Her heart pounded in her chest. Jessica gripped the chair. She thought of Andrew. She thought of everyone she’d ever served with. She thought about the mystery regarding her own origins, the lack of parents in her life to guide her through her early years.
Andrew had been there for her. Had seen to it she followed the right path. Had seen the potential within her. Had been a Father to her.
“This is it people,” she said.
Nobody said anything. They were each concealed within their own cocoon of fear.
The Defiant went into a nosedive, down into the black hole. She saw Commander Greene clamp his eyes shut, his body braced for whatever was coming. She did the same. She covered her head with her arms, clutched herself, closed her eyes, and held her breath.
The Defiant was consumed by the singularity.
King felt herself get pulled in all directions at once. She would have screamed, but she had no mouth. No voice. She was nothing and everything all at once.
“We can give you a life, give you a purpose,” Singh was saying.
Jess shook her head. “I’m not good enough. I’ve tried already. I don’t have what it takes.”
Singh tilted her head up, his hand under her chin. “With my help you will have. If you’ll trust me …”
She was by his side as he perished.
Tears streamed down her face.
Her voice cracked as she spoke. “Please don’t go, please.”
Captain Singh shook his head slowly. Smiled. “Jess … We each have our time. My own is at an end …”
“No …” she managed to say.
Singh reached up, stroked the side of her face. “Now it is your turn to do as much as you can with the time you have …”
He smiled again, then his eyes seemed focus on something far away. The light in them faded. Singh’s hand fell away from hers and the sound of his last breath issued slowly from between his lips.
“No …”
Everyone was around her, even Singh, then she was alone.
Floating in a sea of black. A never-ending night, devoid of stars. She saw the Defiant , no more than a foot long, and hundreds of little tiny people falling from it like confetti. She reached out to try and catch them. They fell through her fingers like grains of sand. She cried out, and everything split apart … then there was nothing at all, not even thought.
13.
Everything had been scattered. Blown apart like dust on the wind. Now it came back together. She felt herself becoming whole once more. Becoming herself.
A lot of different puzzle pieces that when whole made something called JESSICA KING moved toward one another. They connected. They became one thing, one being, one mind.
“Now it is your turn to do as much as you can with the time you have …”
His words, again, in the darkness.
” … with the time you have …”
She opened her eyes. “With the time you have,” she said.
14.
The bridge lay in darkness save for sparse pools of emergency lighting that fell in misty bars from the ceiling. Every console was dark. The front viewscreen dead. But the Defiant was in one piece. That much she was sure of.
Jessica tried to move. Her whole body felt as though it’d been beaten with a very hard stick. She groaned
The black hole seemed impossibly close now. King’s body felt like it was weighed down with lead. She knew that if it weren’t for the artificial gravity on board the Defiant , they’d all be dead by now. The force of the black hole would have torn them free from their seats and crushed them against the far wall.
She had never been so frightened in her life. Or disappointed. After everything they’d survived, it had come to this. A slow and excruciating death. She feared the darkness at the black hole’s centre. She imagined it to be cold, empty. A nothingness that stretched on forever. She absently wondered what it would feel like to be crushed to death like that. Would she feel pain? Would it be so quick that she didn’t even know it was happening?
Her heart pounded in her chest. Jessica gripped the chair. She thought of Andrew. She thought of everyone she’d ever served with. She thought about the mystery regarding her own origins, the lack of parents in her life to guide her through her early years.
Andrew had been there for her. Had seen to it she followed the right path. Had seen the potential within her. Had been a Father to her.
“This is it people,” she said.
Nobody said anything. They were each concealed within their own cocoon of fear.
The Defiant went into a nosedive, down into the black hole. She saw Commander Greene clamp his eyes shut, his body braced for whatever was coming. She did the same. She covered her head with her arms, clutched herself, closed her eyes, and held her breath.
The Defiant was consumed by the singularity.
King felt herself get pulled in all directions at once. She would have screamed, but she had no mouth. No voice. She was nothing and everything all at once.
“We can give you a life, give you a purpose,” Singh was saying.
Jess shook her head. “I’m not good enough. I’ve tried already. I don’t have what it takes.”
Singh tilted her head up, his hand under her chin. “With my help you will have. If you’ll trust me …”
She was by his side as he perished.
Tears streamed down her face.
Her voice cracked as she spoke. “Please don’t go, please.”
Captain Singh shook his head slowly. Smiled. “Jess … We each have our time. My own is at an end …”
“No …” she managed to say.
Singh reached up, stroked the side of her face. “Now it is your turn to do as much as you can with the time you have …”
He smiled again, then his eyes seemed focus on something far away. The light in them faded. Singh’s hand fell away from hers and the sound of his last breath issued slowly from between his lips.
“No …”
Everyone was around her, even Singh, then she was alone.
Floating in a sea of black. A never-ending night, devoid of stars. She saw the Defiant , no more than a foot long, and hundreds of little tiny people falling from it like confetti. She reached out to try and catch them. They fell through her fingers like grains of sand. She cried out, and everything split apart … then there was nothing at all, not even thought.
13.
Everything had been scattered. Blown apart like dust on the wind. Now it came back together. She felt herself becoming whole once more. Becoming herself.
A lot of different puzzle pieces that when whole made something called JESSICA KING moved toward one another. They connected. They became one thing, one being, one mind.
“Now it is your turn to do as much as you can with the time you have …”
His words, again, in the darkness.
” … with the time you have …”
She opened her eyes. “With the time you have,” she said.
14.
The bridge lay in darkness save for sparse pools of emergency lighting that fell in misty bars from the ceiling. Every console was dark. The front viewscreen dead. But the Defiant was in one piece. That much she was sure of.
Jessica tried to move. Her whole body felt as though it’d been beaten with a very hard stick. She groaned
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