. . . 2400. . .

. . . August 17th. . . 7:48 AM. . .

"Aunt, I am going into Starsearcher academy." T'Spol said.

"But you are only fifteen!" Tawny said.

"The younger we get to the academy, the more likely chance we will learn quicker," T'Spol said. "I am likely to be alone with you being assigned to a new ship starting today."

Tawny had recently accepted the promotion to becoming Lieutenant Commander.

Chen had gotten a new rank.

Staff Sergeant.

And he was so happy about that, too!

Though he preferred to be called Sergeant.

Tech Staff Sergeant was a mouthful to say, Chen claimed.

"I don't even know what the name of the ship is," Tawny said. "Or who my captain is."

T'Spol had her belongings packed. Her Quehal had died a few months ago due to a hover-car accident when it shoved her out of the way and took the massive fatal blow. T'Spol was crying, that day, and Tawny was there for her. They grieved together for the death of the Quehal. Though days afterwards, Tawny would find the shape of a large furry ball curled at the foot of T'Spol's bed being solid and visible to her eye. The next second it was gone.

"It is going to be just fine, Aunt Madison." T'Spol said, wheeling what luggage she had from out of her temporary room.

"Do you have the portable spike bed?" Tawny said.

"Yes." T'Spol said.

"Do you have your clothes packed?" Tawny asked.

"Yes." T'Spol said.

"Birth control?" Tawny asked.

T'Spol raised a slanted eyebrow.

"Birth. . . control? Why would I need that?" T'Spol asked.

"Nevermind." Tawny said.

"Humans are weird." T'Spol said, lowering her eyebrow.

Tawny nodded, adding "So are the men."

"Do you have everything packed?" Tawny said.

"Yes," T'Spol said. "All in one luggage."

Tawny narrowed her eyebrows.

"One luggage? Missy, you need more than one luggage!" Tawny darted into the room to see a messy bedroom with her belongings all over the place. Her portable bed of spikes were covered by T'Spol's attire. "T'Spol!" The house rattled while the endless hall echoed back Tawny's voice into the living room. "I KNEW YOU DIDN'T PACK ANYTHING!"

T'Spol fought back a smile but it won out and she had a sigh of relief then turned back in the direction of her room and headed back in.

Safe to say she orchestrated this.

. . . 2400. . .

. . . August 17th. . . 12:48 PM. . .

"Chen?" Tawny said, recognizing the man in the line boarding the surface pod.

Chen turned away from the surface pod.

"Ah, Tawny!" Chen said, his expression turned into a happy one. "Nice to see you again."

Tawny came over to the side of the surface pod then she came back to the back end puzzled and turned her head in the direction of Chen.

"You are assigned to the same ship, too?" Tawny asked, her hands around the portable luggage she had opted to take aboard the ship while her other belongings be digitized to the ship. She had opted to meet her crewmates first rather than being digitized to the ship. She had her eyebrows raised.

"Yes." Chen said.

Tawny lowered her eyebrows and Chen got inside the surface pod. She heard a pair of familiar voices heading her way. She looked over to see there being Laredo and Roc, hand in hand, both wearing wedding rings. Roc appeared as though he had recently shaved but decided to keep his goatee. Laredo looked over in the direction of Tawny with a wave. Why were the crew of the Protector being assigned to a different ship?

"Hey Tawny!" Laredo said.

The two couple had their belongings towed in their free hands.

"Why this is a surprise." Roc said.

"You are going too?" Laredo asked.

"I am," Tawny said. "You finally tied the knot."

"My parents had one objection to our wedding," Roc said. "They did not want NSEA genetic engineers to attend it."

"Congratulations!" Tawny said.

"I finally got myself a last name," Laredo said. "Laredo Ingersol!"

Tawny raised her eyebrows as Roc put in their belongings into the side compartment.

"You didn't have a last name all this time?" Tawny said.

"Affirmative," Laredo said. "I was named after the L.A.R.E.D.O. Program."

Tawny raised an eyebrow as they went into the surface pod.

"I never heard of the program." Tawny said.

"Language Archeology Existential Deficiency Operation," Laredo said, going into the front right into the pilots chair. "It was really popular in the 22nd century." He sat down down into the chair then turned on the auto-pilot mode. They saw two other crew members in purple uniforms coming over without any belongings. "I only know of it because the head genetic engineer told me when I was eight about who and what I was, also how important I was to NSEA." Tawny recognized these two as Tulvans both of whom were science officers. "Which I still remember to this day."

Tawny sat down into the seat then buckled herself in.

"That is interesting." Tawny said.

Laredo looked over toward Tawny.

"You heard anything from them?" Laredo asked.

Tawny shook her head.

"Not at all," Tawny said, her voice low. "I miss them."

The two science officers sat down into the back, where Lazarus and Peter would sit. She looked over her shoulder toward the two Tulvans who were sharing a light hearted conversation about who their captain may be. Tulvans were excellent listeners and obeyed the rules that were set. Just like the example that Lazarus set. Tawny turned her head away lowering her head toward her hands set on her lap. The door behind the two Tulvans shut. T'Spol reminded Tawny of Lazarus. Lazarus hadn't told her that he was leaving his sister with her for a year plus more. Nor did he call Tawny after Peter paid her a visit before heading over to Lazarus's place. Lazarus didn't answer his Vox that day. In fact, T'Spol came with her brother's Vox claiming he left with Peter "To the stars. Where he belongs."

Either one of the two Tulvan science officers could be the head science officer on the starship.

"Sometimes I try to call Lazarus and all I get is a static reply," Laredo said. "Then I am reminded they are missing. Purposely."

"Not even NSEA knows where they've gone," Tawny said. "If they knew, they would have told us."

"NSEA would tell us!" Laredo said. "They never keep secrets."

The two Tulvans were Shruk and T'Vienne.

"There are known occurrences were the NSEA lies for the safety of the planet," T'Vienne said. "So you are wrong."

"She is correct," Shruk said. "The first encounter between our races was deemed classified for fifty-two years on our planet before the leaders of our planet bothered coming over and joining the Galactic Peace Accord."

The surface pod's landing gear lifted up.

"Lifting off." Laredo said.

"I can't want to meet the commander!" T'Vienne said, her hands clutched around her seatbelt.

The surface pod went through the atmosphere. Ever since seeing Lazarus and Peter together for the first time in year,as natural as they were, it was reassurance that everything would be fine. Just them together by each others side was enough evidence. It made her feel better, honestly. She had kept contact with Lazarus for the past fourteen years but this year: it was like Lazarus fell off the grid. All together. Seeing them together reminded Tawny how she missed them. Seeing Lazarus without Peter felt odd and unusual, not quite right, but she was always glad to see him.

"Oh my god," Laredo said, suddenly. "It is her!"

Tawny's attention turned toward the screen where they could all see a replica of the Protector in spaceport. It was balled: NTA- 3120, NSEA-Protector III. NTA stood for New Terra Engineering. Their jaws came to a open while a gasp escaped from the two Tulvans. Roc had a groan, muttering "Oh no, not the Thermians again" almost as though he had expected for this to have been created by the Thermians. Chen had a smile on his face seeing the old girl in tact. Laredo piloted the ship right into the surface pod bay where there were other officers getting out. They were the last of the officers to be brought aboard the ship.

The back end retracted.

Tawny unbuckled herself, got her belongings, and went out of the surface pod.

"What's up with her?" Shruk asked.

"Maybe she has to use the ladies room." T'Vienne said, with a shrug.

After finding her quarters and putting her luggage beside the desk, Tawny immediately went out of her quarters then strolled down the hallway. The design of the hallways were different: the shade was darker, the once brighter colors were duller, and she could almost see her reflection in the floor. She was joined by Laredo and Roc both heading to the command deck. She had a inkling, or rather,a guess of who the commander might be. Tawny could hear her heart beating.

"I am chief of security," Roc said. "I must know who the commander is."

"I am dying to know who he/she is." Laredo said.

"I have a feeling who it might be." Tawny said.

"NSEA would have told us." Roc said.

"They never said a word about building a new Protector." Tawny said.

"Good point." Chen said, suddenly appearing behind them.

"Nice that you could join us, Chen." Tawny said.

"Guys like me who are the head of the technology department must meet the men who's going to break them." Chen said.

The doors opened to reveal the command deck that seemed as though it had been left intact, virtually rebuilt. Tawny saw a familiar nurse by the captain's chair with her arms folded, her hair brown and short, she had hazel eyes, and African American. She had a gray uniform with blue shoulder pads. She had her eyes narrowed down upon the figure sitting down in a chair with a set of hair that seemed to be clearly cut with precision. The group came into the command deck.

"Commander, Doctor Zirenge has concerns about Lazarus's health." Nurse Church said.

"He is fine, Nurse," Peter said. "He is a Mak'Tar. If he were pregnant again he would have told me. Which I doubt he is."

Nurse Church sighed.

"Henry must have his shots before we break orbit from Earth," Nurse Church said. "Doctor's orders."

"Which doctor?" Peter asked.

"Both." Nurse Church said.

"And Lazarus has just recently been there for Henry to get the shots in the medical quarters," Peter said, earning a raised eyebrow from Nurse Church. "Sometimes you just gotta love a fatherly doctor," He smiled then shook his hand. "We have a bond: that is how I know." He took the padd from her hand then he signed it with a pen and handed it back to her. "There's my signature for the shot."

Nurse Church went past the crew holding the padd in her hand then went out the door.

"Peter?" Tawny said.

Peter turned the chair in the direction of his crew with a grin.

"Nice to see that you could make it!" Peter said. "Do you like Protector the third?" He waved his hand to the side with his elbow on the arm rest. "They were already building her last year! They just had to change the label." He had a short laugh standing up from his chair walking forward. Roc fell back fainting with a thud on the floor. "Now," Peter came to a stop spreading his arms out with a smile. "I know you are dying for a group hug."

What many crewmembers on the bridge would say is that he was given a group glomp to the floor more than a decent hug. Peter, however, was amused. So amused that he had a good light hearted laugh. He had a human heart under his chest lacking the metal brace that surrounded his miracle partial heart that had managed to beat. He was no longer the subject of pain by the metal brace. In fact the metal brace was destroyed shortly after being taken out of his chest including the partial heart. The group got back up then Laredo went over to Roc's side and he shook the man awake.

"Where have you been for the past year, Peter?" Tawny asked.

"Finding a new home planet for the Thermians," Peter said. "Settling takes a lot of work and the natives," He shook his head. "Biased natives," He had a sigh. "They were the most difficult race I ever came across. The new home planet is Alpha point twenty-zero-thirty. Though the NSEA refers to it as New Thermia."

"And why didn't you contact us?" Chen asked.

"We were very busy, Chen," Peter said. "Negiotating peace, raising a child, helping the Thermians build their new housing, and the Voxes didn't work with sending messages to you guys so we were lucky NSEA was able to get Lazarus's messages. We just got back last week via surface pod. Or what remained of a surface pod."

"No wonder I heard static." Tawny said.

Laredo helped Roc up.

"Congratulations on your marriage, Mr and Mr Ingersol," Peter took out a pair of long wide boxes from out of no where. "I bought this for you two."

The pair ripped open the boxes and took out a pair of electronic guitars with jaws dropped.

"Ohmygodohmygodohmygodiloveitiloveitiloveitiloveit!" Laredo said.

"Guitarheroguitars! Guitarheroguitars!" Roc said, with speed.

"Thankyoucommander, thankyou,thankyou,thank you!" Laredo said, shaking the hand of Peter quickly.

"Letstakethesetoourquarters!" Roc said.

"YES!" Laredo said.

The pair left with their trash and guitars out of the command deck.

"How the hell did you know they liked guitar hero?" Chen asked.

"I didn't." Peter said.

Through the doors came Lazarus with a little one year old boy by his side. The little boy darted over Peter with a squeal, "Daddy!" Peter picked up the little boy into his arms. Tawny gasped. The little boy was a human with curly blonde hair, blue eyes, and it seemed as though he resembled both parents but he had the distinctive facial features of both parents. The arched eyebrows of Lazarus. The cheeks of Peter. Lazarus's nose. Peter's eyes. Human set of ears.

"This is Henry William Taggart," Peter said. "He is soo human."

"Dad told me we are go-eeng spelunk-eeng." Henry said.

"There is a major difference between spelunking and exploring, Lazarus!" Peter said.

"Awww, I can't tell which one of you he resembles." Tawny said.

"And he is one year old." Chen said, in shock.

"He resembles Peter," Lazarus said. He turned his head in the direction of Tawny with a smile. "Hello Tawny."

"I got my flu shot,daddy," Henry said, pulling his right sleeve up to his shoulder where a band-aid is shown. "I was a brave little boy." Peter rolled down the sleeve. "Who are they?"

"These are two of the people I told you about," Peter said. "Tech Staff Sergeant Chen-"

"Sergeant Chen." Chen said.

"Sergeant Chin," Henry said. "Kool name."

Chen raised an eyebrow at Peter.

"Lieutenant Commander Tawny Madison." Peter said, gesturing over toward Tawny.

There was a look of recognition on Henry's face.

"Daddy told me stories about you when were you were captured," Henry said. "He doesn't give your face the justice it deserves."

Tawny looked over toward Peter with a horrorfied facial expression.

"You did not do that!" Tawny said, as Chen went over to the tech station where it was virtually upgraded and new.

The room was slightly darker than it had been before on the Protector II. There were blue lights on the surrounding stations that were not set in the middle of the room as Laredo,Lazarus,and Tawny's were. Chen reviewed the technology aboard the ship: the projection deck, the digital conveyor room, Lazarus's personal lab, the armory, rec room,engine room, meeting room, medical quarters, and so on. Lazarus went over to his station then began to activate it using a code.

"I did," Peter said. "But I had to make the story PG-13 so I didn't describe you perfectly. What kind of father would I be to tell my son a. . ." He covered Henry's ears. "Rated R mission?"

"A terrible father." Tawny said, her arms folded.

Peter unplugged Henry's ears then he put him down.

"Go ask Mr Chin about technology."

"Sure, daddy!"

Henry darted over to the technology station.

"Let's talk outside," Peter said. Tawny went out first. "Lieutenant Quellek,you have the bridge."

Lazarus turned from his station to see Quellek, grinning, at the helmsmen station.

"Hello, Doctor Lazarus!" Quellek said.

. . . Projection room. . .

. . 13 minutes later. . . Projection: Balcony. . .

"Did you ask NSEA to assign us here?" Tawny asked.

"No, not at all." Peter said.

Tawny turned away from the balcony then frowned facing Peter, hands on her hips, and a look of disbelief.

"Peter." Tawny said.

"Really!" Peter shook his hands. "I am not. I was surprised as you were, and, by the way how has T'Spol been?"

"Fine, despite losing her Quehal months ago," Tawny said, taking her hands off her hips then turned toward the Paris scenery. "She has entered Starsearcher academy."

Peter looked over toward the sprawling night lit city below.

"You know," Peter said. "We may come across a planet similar to Earth: beautiful lights, monuments, natural lights, and the beauty . . . Preferably, I like my friends to see it with Lazarus and I." He leaned his arms on the rail. "The Thermians had their young, like, super fast. Six months really. They are a fast reproducing bunch. I never seen such a fast baby boom a short amount of time. The baby boomers are taking care of them."

"And Martinsar?" Tawny asked.

"He named one of his clutch after his brother," Peter said. "You should have seen them. There were hundreds of them clung to their mothers and fathers!" He waved his right hand in the air dramatically. "It was a pretty sight to see." He had a smile on his face. "It can't be said as pretty. It was beautiful. I will never forget that." He looked over in the direction of Tawny. "You should have been there to see it."

"I can picture it." Tawny said.

"They were on the rocks," Peter said. "We were in a surface pod watching it with Quellek and Martinsar." He turned his head away from Tawny toward the sight. "Underwater." Tawny raised an eyebrow. "The planet is mostly covered in water and most of their time is spent in the water. It was at night. The planet does have a moon. A huge ass moon in fact!" His hands moved as he spoke exaggerating the size. "Quellek piloted the surface pod. We couldn't leave Henry at home alone. We saw the little guys hatch out of their white eggs then cling onto their parents. Multiple colored octopoidal babies changing colors. You know it was a lot like a light show or the aura lights."

Tawny nodded.

"It sounds beautiful." Tawny said.

"It was." Peter said.

"So who carried Henry?" Tawny asked.

"Lazarus. Turns out he has a uterus." Peter said.

"How was his pregnancy?" Tawny asked.

"It was fine." Peter said.

"A male pregnancy is not usually fine." Tawny noted.

"We had some scares," Peter said. "At one point our boy was growing a arm out of his head." Tawny gasped. "The body part vanished a few days later much as what Betzalar had assured us, and Lazarus assured me." He had a sigh lowering his head. "I was scared. For the longest time. . . of the baby getting a small head, distorted limbs, malformed, and then he came out as a healthy human baby boy."

Tawny gave Peter a hug.

"It is okay to be afraid, Commander." Tawny said.

"Thank you." Peter said, briefly closing his eyes.

. . . Two hours later. . .

. . . Command deck. . .

Peter was walking down the hall. This was the hour they departed Earth for a twenty-five year exploration in space and then, everyone would go their separate ways and Peter would command a different starship but with his most trusted partner Lazarus. He wouldn't command a starship without Lazarus. He felt excited about this voyage. One of the longest voyages in NSEA history.

"-Ready to go." The computer said.

Peter walked aboard the command deck, grinning, and it seemed he was at ease with himself completely.

"All systems ready to go,Commander." Tawny said, as Peter went into the Commander's chair.

Quellek was babysitting Henry.

"Take us out, Laredo." Peter said.

Laredo grinned, as Peter and Lazarus shared a glance together then back to the view screen.

"Ay, Captain," Laredo said, grabbing onto the bars. "Mark 2."

The Protector III flew out of the spaceport into space followed by a familiar ear friendly music then the starship zipped away leaving behind a trail of blue gassy like flakes. The spaceport started to darken. But somewhere, out there, on planet Earth there was a little boy camping outside his house beside a tent watching the night sky holding one action figure in his left hand with pointy ears, fine bowl hair cut, and Caucasian skin along with a second action figure that had blonde hair and hazel eyes in his right hand.

"Go Protector III!" The boy cheered,shortly after the moving light in the nightsky had vanished.

One day,I'll be up in space too, the boy thought looking up toward the nightsky with a hopeful look.

Just like his space idols.

Never give up, never surrender.