The Alpha Centauri Mystery - Epilogue, by Ben Versteegt.
TWO WEEKS LATER
Shuttles were flying to and fro in the blue sky above Sandra and Zaag. Her head was resting on his shoulder and she was enjoying the rays of light of the Alpha Centauri sun. She had her eyes closed and a smile on her face. Even though the events of two weeks ago were still fresh in her memory and would probably never leave her mind, she felt she could live with them, as long as Zaag stayed by her side. There was something about the Ferengi that made her comfortable. Zaag wasn't complaining and ran a hand through her hair. He was just happy to sit here with her in the park in front of the Starfleet research base, which was in the process of being rebuilt.
Business had been going well since he returned, for many customers flocked to his bar, interested to hear the stories he had to tell. While they listened, they drank. Still, even though business was going better than ever before, Zaag longed to be with Sandra all the time. It was strange, he thought, that love was so distracting, and he had often told himself to pay more attention to the bar. But of course, whenever he saw her enter his establishment again, he went weak inside. It was crazy, but it was worth it, he had decided.
Footsteps became louder as they neared the resting couple. Zaag looked at the two men who now stood in front of them and nodded at them in greeting. He gently nudged Sandra, who quickly opened her eyes and smiled when she saw who had arrived. "Hello, Uncle Pete."
Ayer returned the smile. "I really must come up with a nickname for you, as well."
"I'll come up with something," Zjavick added. The engineer stood next to his Captain and was wearing a smile on his face as well. "After all, I'll have plenty of time to get to know you a little better, Ensign Burke."
Sandra and Zaag both eyed the engineer in surprise. "What do you mean?"
Zjavick simply smiled ear to ear and looked at Ayer. "We just got our new orders," the Captain told them. "I am to take command of the USS Ockham, Nebula class. My mission is the same as it was when on the Aquinas: to patrol this region of space. Zjavick will be my chief engineer." He looked at Sandra. "I'd like you to be my science officer. Everything has been arranged already, paperwork has been done; all you have to do is say yes."
Sandra gaped at him, dumbfounded. Finally she managed to get a word out. "Uh... yes," she said and started to laugh. "Yes, that'd be great!"
"Hold on just one minute!" Zaag exclaimed as he stood up. "Where does that leave me? We'd be light-years apart!"
Ayer chuckled. "I just happen to know that they do need a new bartender on the Ockham, mister Zaag. You wouldn't happen to be interested, would you?"
"And give up my bar here on Alpha Centauri III?" he asked. He seemed offended by the very thought. Until, of course, he looked at Sandra. She smiled at him and he smiled back. "When do we leave?"
They all had a good laugh, but it wasn't long before someone spoke up again. It was Sandra. "So... We won't be searching for any more crystals, then?" she asked.
Ayer's face darkened. "No. In fact, Starfleet seems intent on denying the very existence of the crystals. My reports on the matter have been closed off for everyone but the top brass of Starfleet, and I have been sworn to secrecy -- well, you know that. We all have."
"Except me," Zaag put in with a sly smile. "I am not a member of Starfleet. They couldn't order me to keep it all a secret."
"No," replied Sandra, "but they did threaten to put you out of business, remember?" She sighed, not pleased with this at all. "I can't believe Starfleet's just going to cover up this whole thing. We've seen what happened, and so have a few dozen other crewmembers."
"Crewmembers who will have their career blown to bits if they ever spill the beans on the situation, I'm afraid," Zjavick stated. "Starfleet Intelligence seemed very adamant about keeping this whole thing a secret."
Ayer nodded in agreement. "It would appear so, yes. I can understand that Starfleet wants to keep the existence of a rogue Starfleet organisation a secret, but they don't even seem to take steps in order to dismantle it. I got the distinct impression that the brass is concerned only with shutting us up, and not with recovering the samples." His brow furrowed in thought. "In fact, I get the feeling that the Admirals I talked to know a lot more than they cared to admit."
Sandra shuddered at the implication. "Are you saying that Donovan's organisation is endorsed by Starfleet?"
The Captain shrugged. "Not officially, I'm sure. But where else would a man like Donovan get his hands on a Prometheus class starship? He had to have had inside help. Someone in the top brass of Starfleet, to erase any evidence pertaining to the existence of such an organisation. They've wiped all information about the crystals, as well. It's as if they never existed."
"So someone high up in Starfleet is part of this... Section 31?" Zaag asked. It was hard to believe. "I can't imagine anyone in Starfleet covering up for the likes of Donovan. I just can't."
"Believe it," Zjavick said. "Someone's erasing information and forcing us to not tell anyone what we've seen. It's clear that Starfleet, or at least part of it, is involved with Donovan and his organisation -- unofficially, of course." He clenched his fists in frustration. "And to think that the crystals are now in the hands of an organisation that wouldn't hesitate to shoot a Starfleet vessel... It gives me the creeps."
Despite everything they had been through two weeks ago, Ayer didn't seem too worried. Sandra, however, knew that his relaxed pose was deliberate and forced. "There were only a small number of crystals in the container," he recalled, "enough to power five, maybe six ships at most. The thought of there being six hideously powerful ships is still frightening, I grant you that, but six ships is not enough to start another interstellar war. If they want to equip an entire fleet with those crystals, they will have to find more of them, and they don't know the location. They don't even know where they came from, or why they were found near Alpha Centauri all of a sudden. They don't know, we don't know, and I doubt anybody will know for a long time to come." He paused, and his doubts were now more clearly visible in his eyes. "As long as Donovan and his organisation do not know where the crystals came from, I suspect the consequences of their possession of the crystals will be minimal."
Zaag nodded, deep in thought. "Eventually they'll find the answers they are looking for, you know. It may take years, but they will unlock the crystals' secrets. It's only a matter of time."
"We'll be ready when they do," Sandra replied. "After all, we will be patrolling this sector, and the answer to this mystery lies here, at Alpha Centauri. We're bound to run into them again some day."
"And here I was thinking I had seen the last of Donovan," Ayer mused and looked up at the clear blue sky. After all they had been through, after all the punches he had taken, after finally having escaped, been recaptured, escaped again, he still wasn't rid of Donovan. He would meet him again, he was sure of that. What plans Donovan and his organisation had in store for the crystals, he shuddered to think. He had meant what he said: there were too few crystals to upgrade an entire fleet of starships. Donovan's crazy plan to take on the Romulans needed at least twice as many crystals, he guessed. But he knew that Donovan wouldn't give up. He would never give up. One day, they would meet again; of that he was sure. By that time, however, Donovan might have solved the Alpha Centauri Mystery.
Donovan had said that what he did, he did for the good of the Federation. Ayer still didn't know whether this was true. He only knew that Donovan was a madman capable of the most horrible of crimes, all allegedly necessary for the survival of the Federation. The cause, Donovan would argue, justifies the means.
