The Escape (6 page)

Here she was thinking.

And wondering why the three of them were such a spectacle. The room's inhabitants stood around the transporter, five deep, staring at Torres, Kim, and Neelix. The stone room was hotter than the communal deserts on Hafir Minor, but that didn't stop the small crowd from wearing three layers of clothing-all black with white trim-collars up to their chins, sleeves that buttoned around their wrists, and leggings that tied below the ankle. Torres had noted a few people wearing these outfits in the great hall, but she had never noticed the shoes before. The shoes were frivolous-they were sandals made 57 of the same clear material as the transporter walls, only the clear material had been treated with a black stain. The bottom of the shoes came to points beneath the toe and the heel, and required a tremendous amount of balance for the wearer to stand upright.

Those shoes had to add at least six centimeters of height to the wearer-and gave a tremendous advantage to anyone trying to run away from these odd folks, as long as the person running away was wearing sensible shoes.

Torres made note of the clothing in the second after she materialized. Then she looked beyond the people to the room itself. The room had no doors, although an entire wall seemed to be missing on the far side.

Computer stations were scattered around tiny pine trees that grew out of the dirt that composed the floor. Only a few chairs existed at all. Torres suddenly felt sympathy for all these workers. They wore those shoes, and spent all day on their feet.

Toward the open wall the trees changed from pine to a variety that Torres had never seen before.

The broad leaves and ribbed bark made the trees look tropical. They disappeared into the opening leading somewhere. But since she didn't know where she was, and since these people could anticipate her every move, she couldn't make a run for it yet. Their guard materialized beside her.

"Thank goodness," Neelix said, the human expression sounding natural on his lips. "I thought for a moment we would be abandoned to the whims of fate." Both Torres and Kim shot him warning glances, which he seemed to ignore. "After all," Neelix said to the small crowd before them, "you good people would never treat guests the way your orange-suited colleague does. He doesn't say hello, which I grant you is not custom in every culture, but it does, in most, signify politeness. He arrests visitors, and he makes up rules as he goes along. I ask you, is that any way to make people feel welcome?" "Neelix," Torres hissed.

No one else answered him. Their guard stepped out of the transporter as if he hadn't heard Neelix at all. He pushed his way through the crowd-Torres was amazed that no one toppled over on those shoesand then stopped at the open wall.

"I would advise you to follow me," he said.

"Where are we going?" Torres asked.

"To Control," he said.

"I thought this was Control," Torres said.

"They don't look mean enough," Neelix whispered. "I don't know," Kim said. "Those shoes-was "Ensign!" Torres said. The last thing she wanted was for Kim to pick up Neelix's bad habits.

"This is not Control. This is merely a stop along the way," the guard said. "Come along." Torres glanced at her companions, giving them a silent order to follow her, then led the way through the crowd. A few people brushed against her, not too accidentally, she suspected. A few others made eye contact. "Very few people go to Control," one of the wom en said, her voice hushed. 59 "Lucky us," Torres said.

"Time Breaches are serious," a man said.

"It's your fault," Neelix said. "If your ship hadn't taken us from our time, we would not be here.

We would be peacefully minding our own business in that aban-was The guard whirled and grabbed Neelix before he had a chance to finish his sentence. The guard held Neelix at eye level. "Your prattle takes risks of its own." - "I think," Kim said, "you might have been about to say something you shouldn't." "I never say something I shouldn't," Neelix said. The guard tightened his grip on Neelix's collar. "Although," Neelix said, "I sometimes say things I regret. 09 The guard lowered him, then let go. "Now," the guard said. "Shut up and follow me." Neelix bowed his head and followed, playing the contrite prisoner. Torres got out of'the crowd.

Once she did, she and Kim went through the open wall side by side.

The strange trees smelled of juniper and burning pitch. The odor was more pleasant than she had suspected it would be. The trees lined the wall, occasionally almost blocking doors. Orange suits came in and out of those doors, moving quickly and with purpose. A few people dressed in black tottered slowly by.

"Those shoes," Neelix said as he caught up to the guard. "Are they punishment for something?" The guard squinted down at Neelix. "I told you to shut up." "It was just a simple question," Neelix said.

"Actually," said another orange suit who had appeared beside Kim. "The shoes are a status symbol. The I " ess you have to walk, the more ornate your shoes can be." Torres wasn't certain she wanted to wear her jewelry on her feet. Of course, she wasn't that fond of baubles anyway. If something didn't have a purpose it didn't make much sense to her.

The orange suit walking beside Kim was a woman, slender to the point of gauntness, her hair long and caught in an orange thong behind her neck.

More of the orange suits who had come out of the doors had joined their little party until Torres felt like part of an invasion force going through tunnels in Cardassia.

Finally the wide corridor forked and opened into another stone room. The trees disappeared completely, and it took a few extra steps before their pungent odor disappeared from Torres's nostrils. This room reminded Torres more of a shuttlebay. It was wide and tall and the stone had a flat, utilitarian feel. Although the floor was long and flat, and not composed of dirt, but of more of that concrete material, it was empty except for one ship that sat in the very center. The ship was a miniature version of the shuttle they had arrived irl It lacked the long landing legs, and the ramp went in a side instead of under it. The ship's circumference was also much smaller. She doubted a hundred people could fit inside.

She stopped when she reached the cement floor. "I hope," she said in her calmest voice, "that this ship will take us back to our own time." "It would be so wonderful," Neelix said. "I have to tell you that I much prefer newer ships. They are ever so much more reliable. You can escort us back, meet my darling Kes, and then be on your way. I can guarantee that we will be on ours. It would be no inconvenience to any of us and-was "This is the way to Control," the first guard said. "I don't believe that taking a shuttle anywhere except three hundred thousand years in the future will help us," Torres said. She wished for Tuvok. Her calm was slipping.

"We are not trying to help you," the first guard said.

"You committed a Time Breach." "We had no idea that your ship would bringus here.

Your homing device was set for this time. It's the ship's 'problem, not ours," Torres said. "Just take us home. We promise we'll never come here again." The woman beside Kim suddenly grabbed his arm.

"Hey!" he said. "I hadn't even made my move yet." Torres looked at him. "It wouldn't have done any good, Ensign," she said. "Even if they let us ta
ke that shuttle, we probably couldn't run it. It looks like a different model from the one that brought us." "Control is expecting you," the first guard said.

"Well, they can wait a minute," Torres said.

"If we decide to go, you can always back up the time stream a little." All the orange suits gasped around her. They had 62 that shocked look that most Starfleet officers had when someone slandered the Academy.

"I suppose I said something wrong," she said.

"You violated Ordinance 661.33," the first guard said. "Fortunately," said the woman beside Kim, "the six-hundred series are all misdemeanors." "We could," the first guard said to the woman, "attribute this to stress and overlook it." She nodded. "But let's see how the interview with Control goes. You know they hate speech crimes.

And overlooking a misdemeanor can itself be worthy of a fine. The new twelve-hundred series Ordinances..." "Is everything numerical to these people?" Neelix. asked Kim. "My mind spins from the math." "dis.. demand constant vigilance on the part of.

. "There hasn't been any real math yet," Kim said. "dis.. documentation is enormous..." "Except the actual time travel itself," Neelix said. "Have you any real comprehension of three hundred thousand? I once scavenged three hundred thousand lisern seeds off a Uteke freighter, and they filled my cargo bay to the brim.

It took me a week to count the things." "dis.. therefore," the woman concluded, "we should make note of the violation." Torres rolled her eyes. Didn't anyone else understand the seriousness of this? "I think we should do as they say and shut up," Torres said to Kim and Neelix.

"That's good," said a third guard, the one who had stayed close to Torres, "because actually my" col leagues are wrong. Ordinance 661.33 governs time judgments often made in jest. To suggest a crime to more than three others, however, especially to Time Patrol officers, falls in the four-hundred series, most applicable 412.11.

Of course, we could add 486.90, which includes incitement to riot-was "Enough!" Torres said. "Just take us on your damn shuttle.". The orange suits looked at each other.

None of them moved. The woman beside Kim said, "Are we to treat them like four-hundred series violators, eighthundred series violators, or six-hundred series violators?" "I think we should let Control decide that," the first guard said.

"Excuse me," Kim said.

"Everyone looked at him, including Neelix, who appeared to be holding his breath.

"But none of you could help us even if you wanted toeavould you?" "We have jurisdiction for six-hundred-level crimes," the woman said archly. "We do decide who goes to Control and who doesn't," the first guard said. "What I'm asking is-was Kim glanced at Torres. She could see the wild panic in his eyes. "comd any of you have the authority to send us back to our own time?" "Absolutely not!" "No!" "And who would want it?" The first two responses were chorused in unison most of the orange suits. Only the woman answered differently. "I thought you were due for promotion to Control," the first guard said softly to her.

She shook her head. "I withdrew my application." "But the increase in pay would be spectacular," another suit said. "It's not enough," the woman said.

"Do you know that you would be outside Periods for much of your career and that some Control are even asked to forgo families and..." "Can we leave?" Torres asked.

"dis.. if I were to explain that, I would commit a six-hundred violation myself, but suffice to say..

." "Hey!" Torres said, louder than before. "Can we 90"...91 "dis.. I think double the amount of money they pay us still wouldn't be worth the hassles..." "Do I have to commit another four-hundred-level violation?" Torres said as loudly as she could without shouting.

That shut them up. They looked at her. The woman's mouth was hanging open. "I would like to go see your Control people," Torres said. "That's where we were going before we got sidetracked. Can we get on with this?" "Certainly," the first guard said, somewhat chagrined. He led them up the ramp. Kim brushed close to Torres. "What were you doing?" he whispered.

"You were right. They're just petty officials.

Lct's go somewhere where something can get done." "Bravo!" Neelix said.

The ramp leveled into the ship itself. Torres had been right. This ship was much smaller on the inside.

It had only ten seats in a circle around the wall, and six orange guards came along, including the original but not (thank heaven) the gossipy woman. The first guard gave Kim, Torres, and Neelix the seats in the middle. The six guards faced them, as the door slammed closed.

The seats were soft, but not too soft. Torres squirmed, trying to get comfortable, when the little ship shook slightly and seemed to lift, then settled almost as quickly back to the deck.

Torres's heart felt as if it had jumped into her throat. She swallowed hard. Calm, she repeated to herself. Calm. She tried to imagine Tuvok in this situation, and tried to imitate him.

"So tell me," Torres said as if the answer didn't matter to her at all, "how many years did we just travel through time?" The lead orange guard stood. "Exactly four hundred and forty-four million, five hundred thousand years$19 Torres felt her head spin and she took a deep breath. "What?" The door hissed open.

"How many zeros is that?" Neelix asked Kim.

Kim shook his head.

Neelix extended his right hand, counted his fingers several times using the thumb and forefinger of his left hand, and then looked up at Torres. All the charm had 66 left his features, and for the first time since she had known him, his cheek hair stood out straight, and the spots on his skin looked livid. "I think," he said, "I finally understand how you and the other members of Voyager must feel being so far from home."

THE COUPLE GOING UP THE RAMP HAD THREE CHILDREN AND four times the maximum luggage for a warm-climate period. Drickel waited at the bottom of the ramp while the family separated the pieces of luggage, cheap mesh bags that would split apart before their trip was over. The mother ran down the ramp, carrying six bags to the transport, apologizing to the other passengers as she went. She dialed in her personal code, got it wrong, cursed, and redialed. When the bags disappeared, she ran back up the ramp, apologizing again, and then rejoined her family. Security, which watched for precisely that kind of violation, waved the rest of the passengers through. The shuttle was crowded although all the passengers had seats. Drickel leaned back in his chair, arms and legs crossed. Only a few people looked at his utilitariBe an uniform. They assumed, because his footwear was practical and his clothing drab, that he was a low-level bureaucrat. If they had thought about it, they would have realized that he had one of the more exciting jobs in the system.

But people rarely thought of that. The chances of running into the same person again were slim. So for the most part. everyone ignored everyone else.