And now for the conclusion of Calyx...
Epilogue: NO ONE TALKS ABOUT IT ANYMORE
The beautiful arches that marked the entrance to Starfleet Academy shone in the morning sun. Brigade Captain Thomas Applebaum stood on his favourite balcony overlooking the Cathedral. He looked at the Federation Seal on the façade of the chapel and shook his head slowly. He made his way down, through the midshipmen and towards the academic buildings.
"There he goes. I heard Captain Applebaum was injured. Is he okay?" "Captain, how are you today?" Tommy returned the greetings with a casual nod, but did not speak. "Aww. There he goes again." "He's mighty stand-offish lately.” “Just not his old self since he got hurt last month."
Commander Kevin Simon was wearing gym shorts and a t-shirt as he led the boxing team on a morning jog. He caught sight of the Captain passing by and stepped out of line to talk to him. "There you are. Hold up a sec, Tommy. Your name is still listed on the boxing team but your body hasn't shone up for practice since you got injured. You never said how you got hurt. I bet you were chasing some girl's skirt, huh?" He shook his head sadly as his friend walked away without answering. "Tommy?"
Lieutenant Julie Tyler stopped the captain a moment later. Lt. Commander Zoppi was with her. "Tommy, we never see you. How long are you going to neglect your official duties?"
"The spring games are coming up," Mickey said, suggesting the least important task he could think of. "Who's to recite the opening pledge?"
Tommy shrugged. "You guys decide."
Julie brushed a finger against her chin in thought. "A girl, perhaps. A striking beauty. And she should be athletic. A popular student."
Mickey just stared at her. "Around here? Never seen anyone like that." The Captain looked at them in surprise and sighed.
"C’mon Tommy," Julie began, "you know all the girls on campus. Don't you have someone... in mind?" He was walking away from them.
An older man in admiral’s uniform walked past. They both stood to attention. "Good Morning, Commandant Acton, you look well today," Mickey said. He stopped to speak to them and Tommy turned back to watch as he made some point, gesturing with his index finger.
Tommy continued on his slow way to the abandoned Cochrane Hall. He looked up to the darkened windows of the second floor, but there was no sign that anyone had ever been there. After a while, he opened the door and entered the grand foyer. There was no light coming from the cobweb draped chandelier. He trudged to the darkened stairs and sat upon the bottom step.
The voices of two female midshipmen carried into the room. "Oh look. The door to Cochrane Hall is open. Do you think someone moved in?"
"Are you nuts? Cochrane Hall hasn't been used in ten years and I've heard rumours that it's haunted!"
"Really, Wanda?"
"It's true." The two midshipmen entertained themselves with the thought a moment longer before moving away.
Tommy rose and started to climb the staircase. Halfway up a marmoset was playing with a rubber frog. "Geoffrey," he said and sat down beside the creature. "She's gone. Even from memory. Vanished without a trace. It’s as if she was never here. It makes me feel so… alone. Not even my friends remember the duels, Last Judgment, or the consort; that we went to the castle in the sky. Or was that all some crazy dream I had?" He pressed his hand against his forehead and closed his eyes.
The marmoset chattered harshly and he looked up. He noticed the marmoset was wearing a tiny uniform with a gold shirt. "Did Angela make you that uniform?" He jumped up, raced down the stairs and bounded out the door, his eyes searching the midshipmen.
The commandant, his friends, and several midshipmen stood in a crowd as someone recited the pledge for the spring games. "As the spring games begin, I, Angela Oteri, pledge to ever honour sportsmanship, to always hold true..."
"Princess!" he called out and forced his way to the centre of the ring of students.
The student who was speaking stopped in mid-sentence and turned toward him. "Ah, Captain Applebaum." It was Angela, but wearing Acasja's uniform. She was holding a tennis racket under one arm.
"Princess, that uniform…"
She smiled at him. "You're the only one left who still calls me Princess." They stood facing each other for only a moment before he hugged her. The marmoset ran up her uniform and perched on her shoulder.
They slipped away from the group and walked to one of the benches nearby and sat down. Geoffrey curled up between them. "Julie and Mickey came over today and asked me to recite the opening pledge,” Angela explained. “I wanted to give it a trial run.”
"You've changed, Princess," he said, looking at her in appreciation. "But you, you know she was here! I'm not the only one and for that I'm glad.”
"You must have really loved her," Angela said softly, staring straight ahead.
"Yeah," he admitted. "Not as a man, or a woman, but as a human being. Acasja Tilfe! So strong, charming, honest... true. Every time she outdid me, I loved her all the more. Will I never see her again?"
Angela looked at him thoughtfully over her shoulder, her long black hair reminded him of how she had looked in the castle. "Lady Acasja," she said hesitantly, "is still alive."
He breathed in sharply. "How do you know?"
She lifted her right hand and showed him the ring she wore on the second finger. "This."
"The Starship Seal!" he gasped.
"Lady Acasja threw it to me at the very end. This ring sealed away the power of Aion, the power to change the universe.” She continued excitedly, “It's still right here. The ring has yet to be used. The universe is still waiting for the change." As if reaching some momentous decision, she stood up and started quickly walking toward the main entrance, the main exit, of the academy.
"Princess?"
She stopped for a moment and looked back at him. "Tell them for me that I won't be able to do the pledge. I... I have to go."
"To go?" He echoed, and chased after her until they stood face to face again. "Where?"
"To look for my friend Acasja." A sudden wind made her hair billow out behind her. She smiled at him one last time, an angel's smile. "When she and I meet once again, that is when it will begin. This is just the start. The universe awaits the power of Aion." She turned away, walked through the gates.
Ahead of her people went about living their lives singly and in pairs. Far in the distance she could see shock of pink hair; a woman in the uniform of a Starship Captain turned to glance back. A white rose called Sutena separated them from their past: the girl in a men’s cadet uniform carrying schoolwork on her shoulder and the girl with empty eyes. Her friend Acasja stood waiting for her. With a tender smile she took Angela in her arms at last. "And it begins with us."
THE END
Topic: Calyx: A serial novel of the Federation (Read 36688 times)