Work Text:
~Sarah~
“Approaching vessel, this is Freestar space. Please hold your current speed and course while we scan you for contraband.”
Sarah’s eyes refocused, and she took a moment to adjust to her new surroundings, in orbit around Akila, before scrambling to regain control of the ship. She steadied her grip and dialled the engines back.
Phew, Freestar Security could still be a little jumpy following the war. They rarely waited long before assuming you were hostile. But, she thought, they could have at least done her the courtesy of waiting for the grav drive to spin down first, and her head along with it.
She tutted to herself, aware that the Constellation registry did her little favours in Freestar space; they were treated as if they were UC Military. Still, the approval to land at Akila City took longer than expected.
“You’re good to go. Have a nice time in Akila City,” said a decidedly cheerier, but forced voice over the comms.
“Thank you,” Sarah said through gritted teeth. What did Aja use to say? Kill them with kindness? Rise above! …Aja, I’m trying.
The Frontier may sound like it’s falling apart just before the grav jump, but it was still a reliable ship. It felt good to let the old girl stretch her legs. Even in Akila’s gravity, with an experienced hand at the controls, she landed light as a feather at the makeshift spaceport.
It had been a while since Sarah had visited Akila City, and she remembered why the moment the cargo bay doors opened. She disliked the state of the place intensely and wrinkled her nose in disgust.
Whyever did Solomon Coe choose Akila, anyway? Sarah mused to herself. The oppressive gravity that made her feel like she had lead in her boots couldn’t have been ideal for a farming community that involves, you know, lots of manual labour.
She supposed that was where the Freestar’s love of mechs came from.
The Freestar Collective consider themselves a hardy bunch, but this place took the biscuit. Not to mention the local wildlife, humans are not at the top of the food chain. It’s hardly an ideal planet to settle and raise a family.
At least New Atlantis had been designed to complement the environment, Sarah continued to grumble to herself. Unlike the ugly wall of Akila City, surrounding what amounted to little more than a shanty town. Sarah had always understood why Sam dreamed of escaping this place.
“Hello, Commander, can I be of assistance?” Vasco, Constellation’s robot, greeted her at the end of the ramp.
Sarah paused, scanning the area with her naked eyes, catching movement. A gang of local kids, perhaps? Or thieves waiting for an opportunity to steal from a ship? “No, Vasco. Protocol Blue. Wait here, guard the ship.”
“Protocol Blue, very well.”
Sarah felt for the reassuring presence of her sidearm and stepped down onto the concrete. Turning her head, she saw Sam’s ship. His Freestar Mustang stood on a private pad, off to one side. The engines were cold, and the cockpit was dark. From the dust that clung to the hull, it was clear that the ship hadn’t flown in weeks.
Sadly, it made her think of Valhalla, Trix’s Sheildbreaker that stood so impotently on the tarmac at New Atlantis. The documentation for its decommissioning had appeared on Sarah’s slate this morning. No one wanted to fly a ship that had lost its captain. Spacefarers were a superstitious bunch, and that was a bad omen.
For so many months, as they chased down the artefacts, Trix’s ship had kept them all together. It had been their home-away-from-home, a place of so many memories. Some good, and some not so good, but they’d somehow got through it all.
Well, most of their little found family had. Such times were gone forever. Much like the person it had all hinged upon, she feared.
Sarah would be forever sorry that she hadn’t been there when it happened. Trix and Sam had left to meet the Emissary together, and Sarah listened in from mission control, back at the Lodge.
She’d been distracted. There was so much to do, the Unity to discuss, and a wedding to plan. It would have been Sarah’s job to pick up the suits and dresses and escort Trix’s parents to the ceremony on Akila.
Some may have thought it madness that Sam and Trix would choose to cement their feelings for each other just before Constellation had finally cracked this mystery, but Sarah understood. Nobody knew what was around the corner. Better to live in the moment. If she had been in their shoes, she would have done the same.
Love conquers all, or so they say, but Sarah was beginning to think ‘they’ were mistaken. For there was no ceremony, no wedding, no promise of love and commitment. Something else happened that meant the bride never made it to her wedding.
Sarah was forced to make a visit of an entirely different nature to Trix’s parents. It wasn’t the first time she had had to deliver such heartbreaking news to the family of someone she had lost under her command. It was never easy.
Constellation may be a non-military organisation, but they still operated within the UC. When one of their own goes missing, there are protocols to be followed, investigations to be had. What had happened? Could they prevent it from happening again? Her report was due by the end of the week, but the single most important person in this investigation, the star witness, had yet to offer his version of events.
To her surprise, Sarah was greeted by Freestar security at the gate. So that was the reason for the delay- they’d been mustering a welcoming party. She wasn’t sure if she should be flattered or insulted. “Is there a problem, gentlemen?” Sarah asked.
“Ma’am, we’ve been asked to escort you to the Rock.” Said one, “Marshall Blake would like a word.”
“No problem,” Sarah was determined to find Sam and would have happily made her own way, asking throughout the town for sightings of him. This way would be quicker.
Sarah looked about. The place hadn’t changed and likely never would. Okay, she thought to herself, maybe there was a certain charm to its rustic aesthetic, but you’d think in three hundred years they would have at least laid a decent path? The mud was unbearable, as was the smell.
She caught sideward glances from a few of the locals as she followed the guards up the main street. She clearly looked out of place. The sooner this is over, the better. I just need to find Sam.
The Rock was cosy inside, in many ways it reminded her of The Lodge - except for the dead animals on display, she shuddered and allowed the guards to show her up to the Marshall’s office.
“Commander Morgan, good to see you. What can I do for you?” He didn’t even look up from his slate as she entered.
“Marshall Blake. I was told you wanted to speak to me.” What kind of a shakedown is this? She thought.
“Well, that’s right. I figured there was only one reason Constellation’s Commander would be down here in the dirt with us Freestar folk.” He finally looked up at her. “Look, he ain’t here.”
Oh, for goodness’ sake. Sarah turned to leave, “Thank you for taking the time to see me,” she said and forced a smile.
“He was your responsibility, Commander. What happened to him? What did your Constellation do to Akila’s prodigal son?”
“You know I cannot discuss that, Marshall. It’s confidential. I’m here both as his employer and as a friend.”
“Lord knows, he needs a friend right about now. Don’t you think he’s been through enough? If you want my advice, you’d do well to leave him be. Let the man grieve.”
“I’m also here in an official capacity,” said Sarah, “there are questions, and I need some answers.” Next stop, the Coe Estate, then.
Marshall Blake seemed to read her mind or perhaps knew exactly what was involved in an investigation of this nature. “I was afraid of that. I don’t think he’s ready to answer. Think about it, Commander, put yourself in Sam’s shoes. You’ve just lost your fiancé, on route to your wedding? You’d want to drink the whole town dry.”
“That’s what he’s doing?” Sarah’s heart sank, but she couldn’t say that she was surprised.
“Last I heard, he’s drinking at Aggie’s. Sworn off space travel, can you believe it? A Coe who refuses to get on a ship?”
“Let me talk to him, he’ll come around,” Sarah tried to sound more confident than she felt.
Marshall Blake ignored her, “Jacob’s thrilled, of course, his son and granddaughter are back where they belong. Trust me, Commander, you’re the last person any of them wants to see. Leave them be.”
Sarah left the Rock with the Marshall’s ticking-off still ringing in her ears. She’d come all this way and wasn’t about to give up now. Eventually, she found Aggie’s, but Sam wasn’t there.
Okay, now what? She took a little of the Marshall's advice and tried putting herself in Sam’s shoes.
You’re hurting and drinking to forget the pain. But you’re also Sam Coe, and here everyone knows your name, so where would you be? The Hitching Post has great beers, but it’s a tourist trap. He’d find no peace there. Or at The Rock, where half his former colleagues still held a grudge.
Aggie’s was loud, no tourists, but who’s ever heard of a Coe who’s sworn off space travel? What do you think the locals will have to say about that? He’d be a laughingstock with all the other Spacefarers in there, desperate for work. No wonder he moved on.
There was only one other bar in Akila City that Sarah knew of, and sitting at the dark end of it, finally, was the unmistakable Sam Coe. He was nursing a drink, wearing the same outfit he always wore, just a little more dishevelled. His beard had grown out a little more, and there were dark circles under his eyes, as if he hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in days.
He took one glance at Sarah as she entered and returned to looking at the back of the bar, hiding his eyes behind that hat, shaking his head slowly as she approached.
“Hello, Sam,” said Sarah.
“Sarah,” he acknowledged her with a note of reluctance, “why are you here?”
“Checking on a friend. How are you?”
“Oh, you know me. Busy being father of the year.” He took a swig from his bottle. “Cora’s been messaging you, hasn't she?”
“Sam, you can hardly blame her. The Lodge is her home. How can we claim she’s the youngest member of Constellation and yet take away her agency when it suits us? She’s worried about you. We all are. We want you to come home.”
“It’s not home anymore. At least not for me.” Sam shrugged it off and carried on drinking.
Sarah reached across and placed her hand on his shoulder, gripping it lightly, “I am…” she hesitated and sighed, “so sorry for your loss.”
“Please, Sarah, all this way for platitudes- “
“You’re not the only one who’s hurting.” Sarah cut him off, “Trix touched us all. I always had a feeling about her, like she was only visiting and wouldn’t stay long. A born wanderer. I mean, aren’t we all? Isn’t that why we joined Constellation?”
There was an uneasy silence. The Marshall had been right. Sam was clearly not in the mood to talk. “We’re here for you, Sam. Whenever you feel ready.” She took the unoffered stool beside him and ordered herself a drink. “We missed you at the memorial,” she said.
Sam squirmed on his seat, “She’s not dead, Sarah. Just gone.”
“A memorial is more about acceptance and adjustment, for the people who are left behind.”
Sam shook his head again, “I’ve got Cora to think about, that’s one very confused little girl. We need to heal, I’m just not sure I can do it at The Lodge.”
“I have to know,” Sarah said, as gently as she could. “What really happened to Calatrix?”
“The same thing happened to Sebastian Banks,” Sam stated with confidence.
“What? How can you be sure?” Sarah asked. The disappearance of their founder, Sebastian Banks, remained a mystery for Constellation. But there had never been any mention of artefacts…
“Think about it,” said Sam, “he makes this grand speech, gets into his cockpit, and grav jumps to who knows where and is never seen again. What if he jumped to the Unity? What if he switched to a parallel universe?”
“Is that what you think happened to Trix?”
“All I know is, we met the Starborn, found all of the artefacts… I don’t know about you, but I just followed along in awe. Of course, she was destined for greater things; what more should I have expected?” He half-cried, half-laughed into his glass.
Sarah just looked at him, astonished. She hated seeing him like this.
He continued to ruminate, “I don’t know, maybe I thought that we’d jump to Akila, hold the wedding ceremony and live happily ever after? Did I know what the love of my life was about to do? I didn’t even get the chance to say goodbye.”
“We’ve taken readings. Noel hasn’t been able to make any sense of it.” When Sarah felt lost, she immediately turned to science for answers, but there had been none. “Grav drives can sometimes fail, or are improperly mounted, teleporting only half the ship, or a navigation error, it happens.”
Sam vehemently disagreed and almost choked on his drink, “But every time the ship is destroyed. This was different.”
“Different how?”
“It was just like any other grav jump. Trix sat in the cockpit. She turned and smiled back at me, just as the grav drive fired, bathed in light, she was so beautiful, my angel… I was going to marry my angel. We arrived, and she was just gone.”
“Gone?”
“Completely, Sarah, not dead, no trauma, nothing, the light faded, I opened my eyes, and it was just an empty seat. She disappeared without a trace. I don’t know how, and I don’t know why.
“And if I thought for a moment, she had done so deliberately…” his voice trailed off.
“Noel says one thing: the Armillary was complete when you jumped. And now it’s gone too. Vlad has been able to trace the pieces; they’re once again scattered across the galaxy. It doesn’t make any sense.”
“Then I’m going to find them again,” said Sam.
“But you have never reacted to the artefacts before.”
“Maybe I will this time. Maybe, it’s not a first touch, but the artefact that triggers the visions.”
“Are you thinking of following her?”
“How could I? I couldn't leave Cora. But kids grow up fast, in the blink of an eye, she’ll be forging her own path without me- and I have to know, Sarah. I have to know what happened to Trix for sure.”
~Sam~
Eventually, years later, Sam had tracked down the artefacts again and stood before the Armillary in The Buried Temple. It was his turn to jump this time.
Only one man stood between him and his end goal.
The Hunter laughed. “Oh dear, this is entertaining. The jilted lover.”
“Do not mock him,” said the Emissary, standing behind Sam, “We have a future Starborn among us. Although I distrust his reasons.”
“Not just a future Starborn, he’s a Hunter. Not just of the artefacts either, for him they are a means to a very different end.” The Hunter stopped talking to the Emissary like Sam wasn’t there, standing between them. “She left you, just like I always knew she would. Perhaps there is a universe out there where you find her, and the answers.” The Hunter chuckled under his breath again in a mocking way that made Sam’s blood boil. “Perhaps there is a universe where she is mine.”
Sam clenched his fists. He wanted to tear this guy’s head off. First, he kills Sarah, then goes after Cora, and now he wants Trix? Who the hell does this guy think he is?
The Hunter cleared his opaque faceplate, and to Sam’s surprise, he found himself looking into a mirror. The Hunter had his face!
“But I thought you were- “
“He doesn’t know who he is anymore,” said the Emissary.
The Hunter, with Sam’s face, explained, “There comes a time in a Starborn’s existence when you jump so many times that you become me. We are all at one time both The Emissary and The Hunter.”
The Hunter laughed again, “Oh, this is too good. I’m of the mind to give you the final artefacts and send you on your way.”
“I’ll never be like you,” said Sam, as he took his prize.
“Oh, really?" The Hunter laughed once more, "Are you so sure about that?"
~Trix~
“Not far now,” said the Emissary.
Trix looked at him. Now they were here, back down on this planet. In front of the base that held The Buried Temple, as she had done many times before, she began to realise. There was something different about this Emissary. She swallowed the lump in her throat and tried to push her curiosity to the back of her mind.
The Starborn ambush wasn’t really an ambush if you expected it. These days, Trix always opted to go high. Before long, they reached the doors of the base, with Andreja in her puffy Constellation spacesuit, bringing up the rear.
“This is it,” the Emissary told her, “Hold nothing back.”
“When have you ever known me to hold anything back?” Trix replied, without thinking. She reloaded her weapon.
“You have a point,” he conceded, for the first time, a flicker of emotion in his voice that sent a pain of longing through Trix’s heart.
Once inside, Trix ignored the bodies and locked doors, moving directly to the first anomaly. She ran headfirst into her past. She jogged past Lin and Hellar, endlessly debating without stopping this time. I’ll see you again, my friends, I promise. She never reached the artefact; she stepped back through the anomaly and into the base at The Buried Temple once more.
“The Temple is testing you, always.” The Emissary said.
“I know,” said Trix.
The Emissary paused, “Sorry, I forgot,” his voice cracked again, “Noble Starborn.”
Trix was now sure. She had heard that voice before; she recognised it even under all the modulation. This Emissary was none other than Sam Coe.
If only it were her Sam.
The next fight was long and tough, but soon, more Starborn were dust and echoes.
Trix spent some time with a locked case but found it to contain only junk. She wasn’t sure why she was bothering with it at this stage, so close to the Unity, but the thought crossed her mind that she could leave everything of value she had collected this run in the ship’s hold for her crew after she had gone. It was something at least. If poor compensation for being dumped by their captain. Again, at least from her perspective.
Trix had done this more times now than she cared to think about. Always jumping in the hope that this time… what exactly? That she would find her forever home? She feared that perhaps she had already left it behind, and there was no going back.
She missed Sam so much. Missed his smile. His carefree disposition. How easy it was to be around him, to always have someone to talk to, to hold, and be held. She missed his attention, his teasing, his need for her. Why that had gone away, or when, she couldn’t fathom. She thought hard and tried to remember where it had all changed.
The first time she had reached the Unity, their time together had not been perfect. She wished that she had done things better, that they could have their time over again and that it would be different, that she would be the Trix that Sam deserved.
The whole time, they had promised each other that they would go through the Unity together. To face whatever was to come, united as a family, Sam, Cora and her.
But then she fired up the drive and met herself. There was a Starborn Trix in the Unity. Trix couldn’t understand why. Were they her future? They didn’t sound like her. Maybe they were the Creators, and it was just the way her mind interpreted the information. Or maybe, Trix in another universe always did sound like that, and therefore it was her fate to jump, because she always has done. But what about Sam?
He was there. Standing in the Unity. He looked at her but didn’t acknowledge her. It was heartbreaking, almost frightening. Trix hated every moment of it, especially the confirmation that they would not be jumping together. That he, Cora and everyone else on the ship would be left behind. That he would one day jump himself, without her, to who knows where.
Trix couldn’t take it. She could face life without him. So, when her Starborn self gave her a choice to go back to him, she took it. After everything they had done and been through together, she would not sacrifice what they had for the Unity. To hell with eternity.
She turned and walked away. She walked back to him.
And, shockingly, he didn’t seem to care. He brushed off her return like it was nothing. Spoke something about how they would all reach the Unity eventually, but for now, this would have to do. He seemed nonplussed and unaffected by her choice, or the sacrifice she had just made - the refusal of knowledge, all for them. She’d never felt so disappointed. Here was the proof. He would always put reaching the Unity ahead of their lives together.
That was the moment when she realised she could jump, jump and find him again. But a new Sam, a different Sam and do it right this time. Perhaps this Sam belonged to her, one who cared.
And he did, the second time around, oh, how he cared. Probably too much. But now Trix was Starborn, and Sam would never understand, not unless he jumped and left her. One day, she was sure that he would. Curiosity would get the better of him, and one day, whether she jumped or he did, she would lose this Sam, too.
She couldn’t bear it. The thought was too much. So, she jumped on what would have been their wedding night.
And now, Starborn, several times over, she was about to jump again. Only for the first time in a long time, the Emissary had sounded like Sam. All the old feelings were bubbling to the surface. She just had to hold it all together, just this one last time.
Trix was busy emptying all the crap out of her pockets when this Emissary, the one with Sam’s voice, half-ran over to her position and startled her.
Her hands fumbled in her pockets, and she dropped a key.
The Lodge Key.
It was a key like all others, but instantly recognisable to those who knew.
Trix paused; the Emissary stared down at the key for a moment. A sharp audible breath left their helmet.
Trix couldn’t stand it any longer. Having become accustomed to always wearing her own Starborn suit, for the first time in as long as she could remember, she removed her helmet and looked at him. She looked for something, anything that would tell her that this was the man she knew.
The Emissary groaned, “You have no idea how long I have waited to see that look in your eyes, Trix. Jumping from one universe to the next, hoping that this time… I don’t know if it’s you, I mean, my you. But…” He took his helmet off and dropped it. His face was thin, his hair and beard short and streaked with grey. His blue eyes, ringed dark with age and time, were full of tears. He held out his arms to her, “close enough!”
Trix flew into his embrace, and they kissed so fiercely, like it was the last thing they would do in this life.
She had found it, the thing that had been missing for so long. The feeling she had searched for, and it wasn’t through the Unity. It was right here in front of her. They had seen and heard each other. It had caused that pull, the undeniable attraction, from which neither could escape. That divine rush of endorphins as they gave into it, the need to touch, feel, hold and taste him, and to feel that same need in return. That was what she had been looking for all along.
Her heart sang with pure joy.
Andreja caught up with the pair and stood awkwardly off to one side, “Umm, okaaay. So… we’re kissing the Emissary now, and he’s, oh, hey! Sam, good to see you, I guess… I’ll er… be just over here if you need me.”
And so, after all their searching, they finally settled together in this universe. Okay, so it wasn’t perfect. But it was close enough.