A TIME AND A PLACE: 2

by D. Maxwell

Margaret Hanson decided that she would like some tea. She wandered over to the replicator, her 67 year old body not showing the usual creaks and groans as it normally did. At least her mind was still as sharp as ever, for which she was thankful. She lived in one of the apartment blocks set aside for the aged, due to the enormous population explosion caused by the many immigrant races that now lived on Earth.

Alas for the elderly, space travel was no longer a possibility. Eventually human bodies grew too old and fragile and the luxuries of space travel - even on the swiftest of shuttles - was not recommended. Transporter beams were not so bad but they were only for the use of Starfleet. For elderly citizens like Mrs. Hanson, only retirement was left, living out her remaining days in her rather comfortable and spacious flat. In this modern era, medical science was able to extend a person's life for an extra 40 years or more. People living up to 135 years old were not uncommon, but Mrs Hanson was

allergic to the drugs involved in the life-extending process, and she was thus incapable of receiving the treatments. She would die of old age when she reached her eighties, like ordinary people did over 200 years ago.

Her life was full of memories. Her ex husband was the revered Admiral Hanson of Starfleet Command. Margaret and he had separated may years before, not long after the birth of their first son. She had two boys who were both serving with Starfleet. They had joined as soon as they were able and had long since left Earth after graduating from the Starfleet Academy. One of them was an Ensign on board the Tolstoy and her second and oldest son had just been recently promoted to Lieutenant, serving in the Engineering section on board the USS Bosconia.

Margaret looked at the photos on the wall of her two boys, looking dashing in their Starfleet uniforms. She could imagine girls going weak at the knees in their presence, just as she had done many years ago working at Federation Council Headquarters in the Administration department based in Oslo. These days her life was a lot more simpler and her only current concern now was her tea.

"Tea please, white no sugar." She collected her steaming cup and sat down on her favourite lounge chair. She picked up a book and started to read, but her thoughts soon turned back to her sons and of all they had been through together. Yes even in the 25th Century, people still had social problems.

When Joey, her youngest, was very young, some older boys persuaded him to join them in vandalising the local art gallery. In his heart he knew that what he was doing was wrong, but the pressure from his friends made him go along with it. Jennifer recalled being at the district Police station where Joey and the other boys had been taken in after they were caught by the Internal Security Alarm. She had never seen such a terrified figure as the one before her. She knew that he didn't mean to cause any trouble and that this was the lesson to teach him never to do anything illegal again. Fortunately the local judge thought the same way, a criminal record would have prevented Joey from entering Starfleet, something the judge was fully aware of and could not bring himself to jeopardise. All charges against Joey were dropped. Joey's fear was relaxed, but it was a stern lesson that he never forgot, especially after Astor, his brother who was 2 years older than he, had finished giving him a strict talking to. Joey felt nothing but affection for his brother, even through the tears and so they swore an oath of allegiance to always stick together and to always be there for each other. Although Margaret was not present at this declaration, she had noticed a distinct change in the two boys. They were more supportive of each other than ever before, which was to be helpful when Astor needed the support.

Her name was Joanne Baxter and she was Astor's first love. He had met her when he was sixteen and now a year later they were a couple. Joanne was older by three years but already she seemed uncertain of her future. Unlike Astor and Joey, who had already decided to follow in their estranged fathers footsteps and join Starfleet, her path in life was not clearly defined. Joey, who was five years younger than she, found this aspect of her displeasing. This, combined with the amount of time Astor was devoting to her, meant that hints of jealousy were beginning to weaken the bond between the brothers.

Their precious oath was starting to shake at the foundations.

Astor though, was happy. He was completely enraptured with Joanne and was already thinking of long term plans with her at his side. Since this was his first true love, he could not see warning signs brewing. There was more to Joanne than Astor had realised. Margaret was able to pick up on the signs, and when her suspicions were proven to be correct, she wondered how she could break the news to someone who was so in love. Fortunately the news broke itself. She fell pregnant and Astor knew instantly that it wasn't his. Their relationship never reaching as far as the bedroom.

The break up was a cruel heart-breaking one, Astor never once suspecting that Joanne already had a husband. Joanne's decision to leave Astor was a hard one, but not nearly as hard for him to accept. Margaret could still recall seeing him crying uncontrollably, his howls so loud that she thought the neighbours might think he was being beaten. Joey, unable to help, felt it his duty to stick by his brother's side and do what he could to comfort him. Margaret did what a mother can only do, she let him cry out his anguish in her arms. Ironically she could not bring herself to hate Joanne, even though the world in her son's heart had just died that day because of her.

"These are testing times for a family," she had said, "it is only in the face of pain does a family truly unite. We have passed the test." Astor eventually ran out of tears and quietened down, it was now up to Joey and herself to rebuild the shattered elements in Astor's life, though it would take a long time.

"It is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all," she quoted. Joey did not feel this way at all. His hatred of Joanne Baxter ran deep, etched sharply into his fifteen year old heart. Even though he never saw her again, he always felt the same.

Margaret never told either of her boys that she had run into Joanne purely by chance, at the local shopping complex two years after the break up. Joanne had indeed gone down hill in her life, she and her baby were living the lives of the socially outcast. Joanne never noticed Margaret, which didn't really matter, she wouldn't have had anything to say.

Time is a vampire, constantly draining people of life, and time also plays games - it cheats on you whenever it can. It did for Margaret, the time eventually came for the Hanson brothers to leave home and join the Starfleet Academy. It was the day after their departure when Margaret fully realised she was all alone, her boys had grown into men. They had finished their schooling years and were now able to enter the academy which was based way over in San Francisco. Even though he was two years younger, Joey shared the same level of intellect with his brother. In this time of equality, age was not an important factor, people were judged on ability. Thus both Joey and Astor would be attending the academy and still be together.

It was a sad day when the time to leave arrived, Astor now 21, had a tear in his eye, something which had not been seen in four years. Standing at just under 6ft, he held his mother tightly as he prepared to depart. Neither he nor Joey knew when they would be back. The Federation was a big organisation and as soon as graduation was complete, it was more than likely they would be assigned a post straight away. But that was not for another few years. Joey held Jennifer like there was no tomorrow. Unlike Astor, the tears came freely.

"I love you mum," he said.

The three of them held together for what seemed like an eternity, sharing the unique bond that is family.

* * *

Margaret rubbed at her slightly watery eyes. It all seemed like yesterday but in reality was many years ago. She set down her tea cup while she blew her nose, and once again her attention was drawn towards the photos on the wall, and the third one which now grabbed her interest.

* * *

Margaret never took a day off from work in her life, but this day demanded it. She had travelled to San Francisco to attend the graduation ceremony. Joey and Astor had always remained on a par with each other in class and would graduate together. Jennifer never felt so proud of her sons as she did today, the two of them standing side by side handsome in their uniforms, each with their certificates in hand. Astor and Joey (who now preferred to be called Joe) Hanson, a pair of Starfleet's finest. She recalled sitting next to a lady during the ceremony.

"Which one is yours," the lady whispered indicating to the line of men on the dais.

"The two over on the right," Margaret replied.

"You must feel very proud."

The tears began to roll freely down her cheeks now as the feelings hit home, it took her a moment to get the words out "Oh Yeah," she finally managed to say. It was a feeling she would never experience again.

* * *

Orlando suddenly jumped on to Margaret's lap breaking her reminiscing, his gentle purring and kneading clearly suggested that he intended to say for a while, not that Margaret minded. Her cat was always good company when the mind wandered back into the past. She reached over to grab the book she was reading when the silence was shattered by the front door chime. She cursed out loud with the timing, just as Orlando was sorting himself out. She removed the clearly unimpressed Orlando from her lap. He wandered off in disgust. The front door chimed again.

"Hold on I'm coming," she said as she went to the door. The journey seemed to last for ever, if only I had warp speed. The thought made her smile.

She opened the door to be confronted by a man wearing an officers uniform. She gathered from his rank that he was a Captain, although he wore a silver band around his lower left sleeve.

"Mrs. Margaret Hanson?" He asked politely, with no sign of happiness.

"Yes."

"I am Captain Gerrold Allan of the Starfleet Command Internal Crew Registry. I was wondering if I could have a word with you for a moment."

Margaret indicated for the man to come in and take a seat. She did not like the tone of his voice. Internal Crew Registry? What was that? None of this sounded pleasant. Admittedly there were no wars on at the moment, the Romulans had been pretty quiet for a while now and as far as the Starfleet updates went, everything appeared to be reasonably docile on the space front. Still. Captain Allan sat himself stiffly on the chair.

"Would you like some tea or coffee," She asked.

"No thank you Mrs Hanson."

"Well in that case, what can I do for you, Captain," trying to sound as formal as he was as she sat on her trusty lounge chair.

"I've come here to give these to you," he said as he handed her two yellow envelopes. "Due to circumstances beyond my control, I am unable to divulge all of the information concerning the matter at hand."

Margaret was getting very suspicious, Captain Allan was hiding something, and not only that, his change in attitude showed him to be a someone who had performed this speech many times today. It looked like - routine.

"However, I am able to say that at stardate 44001.4 at Galactic Co-ordinates Wolf 359, Federation Starships engaged a hostile force which threatened this planet and subsequently Starfleet casualties were incurred." Margaret was silently weighing up what Captain Allan was saying, she looked at the envelopes, then back to the Captain and then all of a sudden...

"Just what kind of work do you do at the Internal Crew Registry Captain?" the question caught Allan off guard for a moment but he quickly recovered.

"The ICR is responsible for maintaining the complete lists of all Starfleet personnel, where they are serving and who to contact in case of any incident."

"Oh I see." She realised that she had to prepare for the worst. She looked at the envelopes again. In this age of computer screens and technology, paper envelopes were a rarity. It was as if a tradition was being kept by using them. All she could do was look at them, then suddenly...

"What happened?" she asked.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Hanson, I am not at liberty to say."

Her mind started racing. Something he had said make her think 'Internal Crew Registry, lists of Starfleet personnel, in case of any incident, Starships engaged a hostile force, Starfleet casualties'. Suddenly it dawned on her. At Wolf 359, a lot of Starfleet crews had been killed, maybe even Starships destroyed, her sons were serving on the XXX and the XXX, were they there at this attack?

"How many people were killed at this Wolf 359?" she asked quickly.

"I'm sorry that is classified."

"How many Starships were destroyed?" She was starting to get agitated.

"I'm sorry, I cannot say," he kept his tone calm and reasonable as if he faced these sort of questions all the time.

"Where is this Hostile Force now? You never said if it had been dealt with or not."

"I'm sorry but I cannot..."

"How many parents have you seen today!" she yelled cutting off his pre-recorded answer.

"I am sorry but that is official ICR business only." That was the last straw, she had tried to keep calm through all this but the bureaucratic parrot in front of her finally sent her over the edge.

"Official ICR business! How can you be so cold, you come here to me that my two sons, my only reason for living my life have been killed and you sit there and won't tell me how or why or anything!" Hatred was beginning to brew within her.

"Mrs. Hanson I am only doing my job."

"And is that all you do, going to see parents of children to tell them their loved ones are dead and to hand over....these!" She shook the envelopes violently. Allan was starting to get concerned, people got very emotional when told of news like this, that was natural. But the emotion was usually tears not violence, this was something he was not really prepared for.

"You are pathetic!" she continued, all the rage was being let loose. "My sons have served proudly in Starfleet, they graduated with honours and you sit there and tell me they have died in the line of duty like it was no big deal! Captain," see said through gritted teeth "how do you live with yourself?" She finally stopped to take a breath and try to settle down. This outburst was not like her at all, but it was something she could not contain. Deep inside all she could think about was Astor and Joey, gone forever and they would not have even been together. She started to cry. For a brief instant Allan thought that this was more like it, but what she had said about him triggered something in him and before he was fully aware of it, out it came.

"Mrs. Hanson," he said as she looked up "Wolf 359 was a massacre, over 28 Starships were destroyed and over 10,000 people were either killed or missing, we are still trying to pick up the pieces back here. We don't have a full account of who survived and who didn't. What we do know is that the USS Bosconia where Astor Hanson was stationed, was destroyed in a front on collision with the enemy. The USS XXX where Joe was based was severely damaged in the fighting, over 92% of the crew there perished..." Allan suddenly realised that he was giving away classified information which would get him into serious trouble if his department found out about it. The thought of this made him stop, especially since Margaret was been listening intently.

"Who was this enemy?"

"Sorry that is classified." If word of the awesome power of The Borg got out, the whole planet would go into a panic, especially if they heard about the events at Wolf 359. Even now, an immense cover up operation was under way. Although she had brought up an interesting point. Where were The Borg now? Even his own department couldn't tell him what the result of the battle had been. He paused for a moment, then Allan realised it was time for him to leave, he had said his piece and thus with his duty completed he abruptly got up and resumed his official manner. "You shall of course be informed

when the service is to be held," he said. All she could do was nod. After an uncomfortable pause he turned and left, he had nothing more to say.

Now Margaret was truly alone, it was only when Orlando returned to smooch against her that it all came out, her boys were dead. She began to fall apart.

Somewhere deep in space a body lay in a cluttered medical facility on board a dirty freighter. Space ships from all over were called in to help with the wounded after the carnage of Wolf 359. A medical officer approached the body, he ran his tracer over the stump of the newly amputated leg which had long since been blown off during the battle. Due to the severe damage of the nerve endings and artery, a transplanted one could not be attached, nor for that matter an artificial one. As the doctor continued scanning, the patient came to.

"Where am I?" he asked groggily.

"You are on board the Vastoria," the doctor replied without looking up. "What's your name?"

"Ensign Joe Hanson Sir." The doctor finished his scan and looked into his eyes.

"Well Ensign Joe Hanson, it looks like you're going home."

"Home Sir?"

"That's correct, I'm afraid your Starfleet career has just ended. As I understand it you're from Earth. Surely there must be someone there who would be looking forward to your return. Wife? girlfriend?" he asked.

"No sir, except my mother."

"Well then," the doctor smiled, "I'll put in a call to Starfleet Command and have them contact Earth Base they will get word to her and let her know what's going on, OK."

"Thank you Sir," Joey smiled as well, the doctor turned and left. It was only when he was alone that Joey forgot to ask about Astor, where was he, he hoped he was all right and that they would be together soon. At least he would get to see his mother again, then despite his wounds, he laid down and relaxed.

The trauma of her son's deaths was too much for her. Jennifer Hanson suffered severe cardiac arrest, the two yellow envelopes still unopened in her hand.

Less than an hour later, the soft chime of Earthbase Central calling, echoed through the quiet flat.