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Chapter or Story 
Chapter or Story
Disclaimer see part 1
An imaginative view of the world 21-25
She opened her eyes. She was lying in a comfortable bed. No plane anymore. The light on the nightstand was turned on. She looked around the room. The universe with the psychiatrist Michelle Parker. Right. She had been afraid to lock the door because the house could have burned down while she was asleep and nobody could have rescued her. Hadn't that been exactly what she had been hoping for? Dying so she could get out of the universe where Miss Parker was no real Parker? She had wanted o get up early and go to the lake if there was a lake in this universe. She looked at the clock. Half past four in the morning. Not exactly the time for getting up. Maybe she could just go to sleep again. Or she could get up and have a look at her computer. If she had a connection to the internet she could try to reach the others. Maybe she was lucky and got an answer.
She hated to get up early. She got out of bed and tiptoed to the bathroom. She hoped Parker wouldn't hear her and ask silly questions. She looked at herself in the mirror. She looked like she always did and somehow she was disappointed. Somehow she had had hopes that she would look different in each universe. That her blond curly hair would suddenly be black and not curly. Or her eyes turned from blue to brown. Or maybe even her skin colour would change. She had always wanted to have some more colour. But no. She was always the same. Always the same boring Kyla Parker she used to be. What if she changed herself in one universe? But what for? She would always remain Kyla. Why was she standing in front of the mirror at half past four in the morning in a reality that was not her own and wondering about her looks? Hadn't she anything useful to do? Find a way to her real universe maybe. She sighed. Did she want to go back? She had asked herself the same question over and over again. Did she want to go back? Her mother had sent her to a shrink to get rid of her mental problems. But this had been where the problems had started. Everything had been daydreaming about the universes she loved so much. About the TV series she loved to watch. When she had been with this Dr. Greene her dreams had started to become real. Everything contradicted itself. Some universes didn't make sense and they weren't even close to her daydreams. They were like nightmares. This one included. Had she really dreamed about Parker being her aunt? About a Parker like that? She shook her head and tiptoed back to her room. She closed the door and locked it tight. She didn’t want Parker to sneak up from behind and watch her again. She wasn't allowed to go to school or leave the house without Parker at her heels. The internet was her only connection to the outside world.
Maybe a search in the medical files could help her. She opened the medical archives of several universities all over the world to search for anything that might have been connected to her case. Factitious disorder seemed somehow appropriate but that didn't include shifting through universes. It only meant shifting through personalities. Something like multiple personality. Didn't the archives say anything about multiple universes? A thought struck her mind. What if she was searching the wrong archives? What if this had nothing to do with medicine but with physics or astrophysics? Some spatial phenomenon? Something like that happened in Star Trek all the time. What if this was something similar? Maybe she should ask the people from the Star Trek universe what they thought about it or if they could help her.
Maybe there was another way to shift through to another universe. Maybe she only had to wish hard enough and she would shift. At the beginning it had worked as well. Not wishing hard but changing without falling asleep or unconscious. Maybe there was something else. Something like the red shoes from Dorothy in Wizard of Oz? Why red shoes? In the book they had been silver. She looked at her red socks. Maybe they would do the trick as well. Clap your heels twice and you'll be back in Kansas? What if she ended up in Oz? What if it didn't work the way she anticipated? Well, things couldn't get much worse, could they? She switched off the computer. It was a quarter past five. Parker wouldn't be up yet. She stood in the middle of the room and felt silly. Clap your heels twice and you'll be back with Star Trek. She squeezed her eyes shut and clapped her red socked heels twice. Believe it. Believe it. Believe it.
***
She opened her eyes. She was lying on a bed. Every movement hurt. Without having to look around she knew where she was. This was the Enterprise. She had spent a training lesson with T'Pol and now every muscle in her body hurt. It had worked. She had changed to another universe and hadn't fallen asleep in the other. But what had happened to her in the Parker universe? Was she still standing in the middle of the room with her red socks and her eyes squeezed shut? Would Parker find her like that? She smiled and rolled to one side to get up. She had to be on time for her duty. She could hardly walk. She treated herself with a hot shower and put on her uniform. She left her quarters and shot a look at her room number so she would find it again.
She was standing in the turbolift when it came back to her. She had no idea where she had to go. What was her duty aboard the Enterprise? With a loud bang the lift stopped dead and Kyla fell to the floor. She hit her head. The lights went off and an alarm started to blare. At least she had an excuse for being late. She sat down on the floor, crossed her legs and waited. Someone would come and get her.
"T'Pol to Ensign Parker."
Kyla got up and fingered for the communications panel on the wall.
"This is Ensign Parker."
"You're late. Where are you?"
"I'm stuck in a turbolift."
"You're in there? Why didn't you call? Are you hurt?"
"I don't know. It's quite dark in here. My head hurts a little."
"I'll tell them down in engineering to hurry. Stay where you are."
*I won't try to run away,* Kyla thought and sat down on the floor again. On TV they always did heroic things like climbing out the lift through a hidden door in the ceiling and climbing up Jeffrey's tubes to the next floor even with a broken leg. But she was no superwoman and had no idea where to go. She decided on just staying there and waiting. Maybe it would work. Maybe she would be brought to her station. Or she would be stuck in there forever. She could try to get to another universe. They couldn't help her in here. And being stuck in an elevator wasn't something she wanted to do forever. She felt silly. She couldn't play Dorothy again. Maybe there was another way to get away. Krystal had said that she had simply opened the door and was in another universe. And she had crossed universes through doors before. There had been the door to her quarters aboard DS9 that had brought her to Michelle Parker's house and the holodeck doors aboard the Enterprise D that had brought her to Parker's house as well. Maybe doors only led to Michelle's house. Pretending to be Dorothy had brought her here. She squeezed her eyes shut and wished herself away.
She opened her eyes again. Still dark. Still blaring alarms. Still the same place. Stuck in a turbolift. No chance of getting near a science station in the near future and finding out about spatial anomalies. She didn't have her red socks anymore only black boots. But maybe they worked as well. Clap your heels twice and you'll be back in Kansas. She got up. Clap your heels twice and you'll be back in another Star Trek universe. Clap. Clap.
She opened her eyes again. Still dark. Still blaring alarms. Still the same place. Stuck in a turbolift. Why hadn't it worked??? Why was she still here? Was it the fact that she didn't have her red socks anymore? Or hadn't she wished hard enough? Maybe it was just her will that brought her to another place. She squeezed her eyes shut again. *I want to be somewhere else. I want to be somewhere else. I want to be somewhere else. I want to be somewhere else.*
She opened her eyes. It was still dark. But there were no alarms. It was as if there was nothing. As if she was nowhere. In a bubble with nothing. Completely black. Completely silent. It hadn't worked properly. She was no longer in the turbolift. *I want to be somewhere else.* She squeezed her eyes shut again. *I want to be somewhere else.*
***
Dark. Silent. But she was somewhere. She was lying on a sofa. Covered with a blanket. The room was dark. She looked around. The room was completely furnished and sparsely illuminated from the streetlamps outside. She was back in the Buffy universe. She had been sitting on the sofa while the others had been in the kitchen. She had fallen asleep and changed universes. Now she was back by wishing herself here. Had she wanted to be here? She had wanted to be in a Star Trek universe. She had wanted to know something about spatial anomalies. But the Buffy universe wasn't bad either.
She jumped when she saw someone sitting in the armchair.
"Sorry to scare you," the man said, "How do you feel?"
"Except being scared I'm fine. Why?"
"You were sleeping like dead. You didn't react when I tried to wake you and you were talking in your sleep."
"Why's everyone saying that I'm talking while I'm sleeping. That's not fair. Did I say something important?"
"No," the man laughed, "Just something about spatial anomalies and the need to find someone to help you."
Kyla tried to think. She was sitting here with Giles in the darkness and talking. Should she tell him what had happened to her? Should she tell him the truth? Would he believe her? Could he help her?
"Giles, can I ask you something important?"
"Sure. What do you need?"
"The thing I said about spatial anomalies and the need to find someone to help me. I meant it."
"Can you explain that further?"
She told him the whole story. From her mother who had sent her to see a shrink to her last findings that she could change to other universes by wishing real hard. Giles looked sceptical. Kyla wondered why they were still sitting in the dark. She fumbled for the matches on the table and lit a candle. The whole thing didn't look so conspicuous anymore. More like a little meeting to talk about the day. Giles scratched his chin.
"Have those changes come in regular intervals? I mean, have you been in the universe for an hour each or did it differ?"
"It's different each time."
"Doesn't sound like a demon to me. I haven't heard about anything like this before."
"A completely different question. Why are you sitting here?"
"Beg you pardon?"
"Why were you sitting here while I was sleeping?"
"I was worried."
"What about Buffy and Willow?"
"They're upstairs and sleeping."
"I don't get it. Why didn't you simply tell one of them to look after me?"
"You're something special."
"Special? In what way?"
Giles simply looked at her. Something was wrong. First there had been this demon – and she still had no idea what had happened back there – then everybody had been talking in riddles and now Giles was doing it again. She had no idea what was happening.
"What do you know?"
"What do I know? What kind of question is that, Giles?"
"What do you remember from the time before you've woken up back in the cellar?"
"I told you, this is the first thing I remember from this universe. I haven't been here before."
"Kyla, I think something has happened to you when this demon attacked you. Do you remember what happened to Buffy? She thought that this universe was just a dream. No, you can't remember, of course not.."
"Are you talking to yourself? I know what happened. She thought that she was in a facility in Los Angeles and that this reality was just a dream. But in the end she decided that this was real and that saved her and she came back. But that's something different. I wasn't attacked by anything. I was simply daydreaming. And when my mother sent me to see the shrink it started to become real. Giles, I'm not crazy. This is real."
"Of course this is real. I just can't believe it. It sounds so unreal. Star Trek is something fascinating but it can never be real. Kyla, are you sure that you're not dreaming?"
"Dreaming? Of course not."
Tears of anger started to build in her eyes. Why didn't anyone believe her? Giles got up and sat down on the sofa beside her.
"There is no need to cry, Kyla. I know that this is hard for you. Even though it's hard I try to believe it. But before you judge me from what I say – listen to me. I'll tell you a story. Not just any story but your story. The past few months I spent with the Kyla I know. The last few months we spent together. The things you don't remember and the things by which I judge you. OK?"
Kyla closed her eyes and tried to stop the tears that were threatening to roll down her cheeks. She felt Giles hand at her neck and he gently pulled her towards her. Her head rested on his chest and she could hear his heart beat. He hugged her until the tears subsided. She felt better now.
"Do you want to go to the kitchen and have some tea or do you want to stay here?"
"If you don't mind I'd like to stay here," she said and sat up. Giles smiled at her and put his hand onto her chest.
"In there is the truth. You know it. And if it's true you'll find a way. Now, lean back and listen. Will you?"
Kyla nodded and snuggled herself into the blanket. Giles had a wonderful voice and she felt like a little girl who was sitting on the sofa with her father who was telling her a goodnight story. She was close to crying again but she concentrated on Giles' voice. He was going to tell her everything she needed to know about this universe.
"The day we first met wasn't a very happy one. It was the day your parents died. You were in hospital. Buffy got a call from the hospital. They said that her aunt and uncle were killed in a car accident and that her cousin was in hospital. She was the closest relative to you. She asked me to come along because she hated hospitals. She hated them since her mother died. So we drove there together with Willow. You were hurt badly but the doctors said you'd survive.
"When we visited you the first day you had no memories left except your name. You couldn't remember the accident or anything else that had happened before. When you were released from hospital Buffy decided to take you home with her. I was asked to take care of you by a social worker. You moved in here and the house you lived in with your parents was locked up. You weren't very cooperative at first. You blamed us for your unhappiness. You didn't want to accept that your parents were dead and that I should be responsible for you from now on. Willow and Buffy told you everything they knew about your past. But somehow you rejected everything. You were sitting in your room the whole day and were reading Star Trek books. You didn't go to school anymore and rejected anybody's attempts to get closer to you. Then after a few weeks Buffy suggested that you join her on her nightly watch. And suddenly you were a completely different person. You started to talk again and didn't read anymore. You practised with Buffy and went to school again.
"Willow tried a few spells to bring back your memory but nothing worked. We gave up on that. You didn't seem to care anymore and accepted me as your guardian. Then a few days ago I found something in an old book about a demon with healing powers. It was written that the person who summons the demon is granted a wish and then gets the demon's powers when he performs a sacred ritual in which the person kills the demon. The demon then should dissolve in flames and leave behind an amulet that inherits all its powers. The book said that the amulet could heal both the wounds in the flesh and the wounds in the soul. There was a picture in the book that described how the amulet and the demon looked. The summoning was very strict and there was also a description of all the things that could go wrong. Something as simple as a sneeze could ruin everything. And that was what you did. Involuntarily you changed the demon into something bigger. It is said that only the person who summons the demon can destroy it. Well, Willow summoned it but you sneezed. So both of you are responsible for it. Willow said it dissolved into thin air but left the amulet behind. It shouldn't have left the amulet. That's what's wrong. The demon itself should have turned into the amulet. You didn't help to kill the demon so the amulet shouldn't have any healing powers at all. I can't explain it myself but somehow it worked. At least for your wound. And I don't have the slightest idea why it attacked you. It should have bowed before you but instead it attacked you. Buffy and Willow went after it. While you were unconscious you were talking about someone named Scott. Can you imagine now why I didn't believe you?"
"What a story. I can't believe it either but I think I have to. The Kyla in your story doesn't sound like me at all. Guess I have to accept that as much as you have to accept that I'm neither hallucinating nor am affected by some demon."
"But what if it is a demon? What if all your changes are caused by an unknown demon?"
"What if it has something to do with aliens?"
"Nice attempt. You know I don't believe in extraterrestrial life. At least not yet. Prove me wrong but I like to remain with the demon theory."
"OK. Everyone believes what he or her wants until we have prove for anything. What time is it? Don't you have to sleep?"
"Half past two in the morning. Guess I could use some sleep. You coming as well?"
"I'm not tired but I guess a little sleep couldn't hurt. Somehow I'm afraid to leave this universe. I'm feeling save here."
"We could sleep on the sofa. I'll hold you tight and won't let go until you're back. I'll make sure you're safe as long as you're gone."
Kyla smiled. Something she had always been dreaming of. She snuggled into Giles' arms and closed her eyes. But sleep wouldn't come. Soon she heard Giles's regular breath and knew that he was sleeping. Her head was resting on his upper arm, his other arm was closed tight around her. He could feel his heartbeat and somehow she knew she would be safe until she was back in this universe. If she were in her own reality this would be a dream and she would wake up smiling. What a wonderful dream. She closed her eyes and dozed off.
***
She opened her eyes. Had this been a dream? Falling asleep in Giles' arms? If it had been a dream it had been a wonderful one. Where was she? Her head hurt and something warm was trickling down her head. She lifted her head and touched her forehead. Warm and wet - and red. Voyager. She had hit her head at the table when she had collapsed. She wanted to get up when she remembered what had happened in this universe.
"Ensign Parker to sickbay. Can anyone come and help me? This is kind of an emergency."
*I don't like this universe. And I definitely don't like to be Harry's girlfriend.*
The doorbell chimed and Ensign Paris came in. He looked quite annoyed but that changed when he saw her lying on the floor. He kneeled down beside her and ran his tricorder over her.
"From what the tricorder tells me you've been lying here for nearly two hours. But that can't be because you left sickbay only one hour ago. Can you stand up?"
"I'll try."
Two hours? About the time she spent in other universes. After leaving Voyager she had been with Jarod and Miss Parker on the plane, then with Michelle Parker, then aboard the Enterprise and afterwards in the Buffy universe. About two hours. But if she had been lying here would that mean that she was still standing in Michelle Parker's house with her red socks and her eyes squeezed shut? She grinned. Tom looked at her with a quizzical look in his eyes.
"Why are you grinning? What's so funny?"
"I'll tell you later. I have to talk to Captain Janeway."
"Janeway? Sounds important. But first we have to get you to sickbay. Lean on my shoulder and we'll walk to sickbay. Can you do that?"
"Sure. Don't you know how stubborn I am?"
"I sure as hell know and it took quite a long time to get over you if that's what you wanted to hear."
Kyla stumbled from surprise. She and Tom Paris? What kind of universe was that? Everything was getting more peculiar. She couldn't imagine herself being with Harry Kim but Tom Paris? Wasn't he involved with B'Elanna?
"What about B'Elanna?"
"We are married and I love her but being with you was something different. Do you love Harry?"
"I'm not quite sure. I think so. I can't tell you. You have to listen when I speak with Captain Janeway. I think things will be clearer then."
The turbolift doors opened and they stepped outside. Sickbay doors were only a few meters away. They opened and Captain Janeway stepped out.
"There you are. We've been waiting for you. I think we have a lot to talk about."
Tom and Kyla looked at each other and only shrugged. Kyla had no idea what Captain Janeway wanted to talk about but she hoped that she had the chance to talk to her about spatial anomalies. The Doctor treated her cut on the forehead while Janeway stood beside him without saying anything.
"Why did you break down the first place?" he asked.
"I don't know. I was standing at the replicator and wanted to go back to the sofa when my knees went wobbly. I tried to steady the cup and myself but it didn't work."
"There was no broken glass," Tom interrupted, "I didn't see any broken cup where she was lying."
"Go to her quarters and check that again, Tom. Doctor, would you please leave us alone? We need to talk."
He wasn't very happy but left them alone. Kyla was sitting on a bio bed Captain Janeway was standing in front of her.
"There is something I need to tell you. We have found something in your quarters that's not very pleasant."
"Has it something to do with an anomaly?"
"How do you know?"
"I need to talk to you as well. There are a few things you need to know."
She told her the whole story she had told Giles. She didn't leave anything out but told it in a different way. Janeway wouldn't understand the concept of Star Trek in itself so she just said that she changed places. Janeway looked curious.
"Have you ever tried to bring something from one place to another?"
"No, I have only just managed to change universes on my own will twice. The other times I fell asleep and woke up in another universe. What do you want me to take with me?"
"I thought about a padd. We could store all the information we collect about the anomaly and everything else on it and you could take it with you. If you're with Captain Picard you could work with him on a way back."
"You believe me?"
"I never believed in time travel before I had a voyage to the past myself and ended up in Earth's 20th century. But I do believe that there are an indefinite number of parallel universes. In each universe there exists a Kyla and you change places with that Kyla from the universe while you are there. At least that's what I believe."
"Sounds good. At least something I can work with. But when does my real self – the one that belongs here – come back? And how do I find a way back to my universe?"
"I'll ask Tuvok to store all information about the anomaly on a padd and give it to you. Please don't show the padd in a universe that's further back in time. I don't want you to draw attention on yourself."
"But why do you give me the padd then? I'm from the past. I am Kyla from the beginning 21st century."
"You seem to know a lot about our time and technology and I trust in you not to use it against us."
"That sounds fair, Captain. Do you think it would be possible to modify a transporter to bring me to another universe? I've heard about an incident aboard Deep Space Nine where such a thing was possible."
"You really know a lot. I could ask Seven and Tom to try. At least we could make sure that the padd goes along. But that will take some time. And we'll have to modify a communicator as well in case something goes wrong. You'd need a homing beacon so we can bring you back in case of an emergency. By the way, how are your legs?"
"Guess I'm getting used to it. They feel fine. Feel would be an exaggeration. I can walk and I think I should be content with that. Would you mind if I return to my quarters to conduct some research on my own?"
"Sure. I'll see to it that you get access to the main computer."
"Are you sure? I could steal technology from the future to bring home."
"I had hoped you'd ask that. And by saying so you proved that you had no intentions of stealing anything. And since you already know a lot about our time I'm sure you already know more that you are supposed to. Do you want someone to go with you?"
"Where is Tom? Is he still in my quarters searching for the broken cup?"
"Janeway to Paris. Where are you?"
"Still in Ensign Parker's quarters. I have found some things."
"I'm on my way."
"Let's go. I'll escort you to your quarters," Janeway grinned.
They entered Kyla's quarters only to find Tom crouching under the table. Kyla grinned and even Janeway smirked. Tom crawled from under the table and handed Janeway a necklace. She looked at it and gave it to Kyla.
"Do you know what this is? Has it something to do with the shifts or is it simply a necklace you lost?"
"This is the necklace the demon left behind. I have no idea where it came from. Anything else you've found down there?"
"A lot of things but no broken cup."
"What other things?"
"A padd, a pair of chopsticks and an old book."
"Sounds completely like me. I guess I'm the same person in each universe. What kind of book is it?"
"Looks like a diary of some kind. It's handwritten but I can't read it. It's not English. There you are."
He handed her the diary and sat down on the sofa. Janeway still leaned against the doorframe.
"Does it belong to you?"
"No but I know the handwriting. This belongs to Rupert Giles. I never read it. He kept it safe in his desk. I have no idea how it came here. The chopsticks belong to me – I used them for my hair-do. What's on the padd?"
She touched the screen. Nothing happened.
"Seems to be empty. Might be an old one I used. No idea. But that looks a lot like me. I'm a very chaotic type of person."
Janeway smiled, "That sounds exactly like the Kyla Parker I know. We'll leave you alone with the book. Just tell us if something odd happens or if you find out anything important. I'll ask Tuvok to bring you the padd with the readings from astrophysics and tell Seven and Harry to work on the transporter. Contact me as soon as something happens. Even if it's in the middle of the night."
"Yes Captain. I don't think I will got to sleep any time soon. Thanks for your help."
She nodded and left the room.
"Can I stay with you for a while?" Tom asked.
"Sure. I could use some company. Do you know how to retrieve the information that was last stored on the padd?"
"Yeah, no problem. Can you read the book? What language is it?"
"It's supposed to be English. It's just Giles' handwriting that's a little funny."
"Can you read it?"
"I'm trying. It says something about a demon that influences thoughts. No idea when he wrote that. His handwriting is terrible. A lot like mine," she grinned and Tom grinned back.
"How do you feel?"
"Good question. I don't know what to think."
"I mean, how do you feel after the accident on the holodeck? Have you had a chance to talk to Harry since?"
"No. He was there when I woke up in sickbay but I haven't seen him much since. To be true I don't even care. I'm too much into all this stuff to care about anything else. Would you like to have dinner with me? I'm quite hungry."
"At least something you can think about. But you still haven’t told me how you feel."
"Lonely. Lost. My head hurts. Enough?"
"Yup. And yes eating sounds fine. And while we eat would you care to tell me the whole story? I don't understand a thing."
"Right. You were here while I talked to Captain Janeway. Oh my. I think I should write a holonovel or a book so I don't have to tell the story over and over again. What do you think about nachos?"
"What?"
"Nachos."
"For dinner?"
"You can also prepare it like dinner with cheese, onions and meat."
"Sounds a lot like 20th century on Earth."
"21st to be exact. Guess you need to hear the story before we eat. Explains a lot."
She told her story once more but this time it felt wrong. It was the same story but she thought about something that she hadn't thought about before: How can a person from the 21st century know about all the people and the technology from this century? To her it was science fiction but to those people it was real life. So how could this be possible? Janeway hadn't asked her about that. She had just accepted the fact that she was here and that she wanted to go home again. How could it be that a person like herself – Kyla Parker – existed in this fictional universe? The whole Star Trek universe had come from the mind of Gene Roddenberry and had evolved during the years to a universe that lived in the people's minds. This couldn't be real, could it? How could it be real? This was the future.
Tom looked at her. Had he asked her something?
"Uuh, what did you say?"
"I was asking if you felt ok. You look as if your thoughts are anywhere but here."
"They were. Sorry. I'm fine. Just trying to sort out a few time paradoxes."
Tom grinned, "I'll leave you alone then. Don't do anything stupid. Tell us if you find out something useful from this book."
He pointed at Giles's diary. He got up and went to the door.
"See you soon. I'll tell you when I've found out what was on this padd before it got erased as soon as I find out. Bye."
The door closed and she was alone again. She didn't want to get away from this universe. Things seemed so clear and logical and she was closer to an answer than she had ever been since this journey began. She had to find out why she was here and why things happened. She sat down on the sofa and started to read. Giles' handwriting was plain and easy to read – she had no idea why Tom hadn't been able to decipher anything. She started reading from page one. This was Giles' third diary. It started with the day where Sunnydale fell into the hellmouth. It started where the series had ended. It was like reading fan fiction. It didn't seem real. She hoped that she's find a lot of things that would help her. After 5 pages her eyes grew heavy and she had to lay the book aside. She closed her eyes. She didn't want to sleep. Didn't want to leave this universe but she couldn't keep her eyes open any longer.
***
"Kyla, wake up. We're almost there."
"Almost there? Where are we? Where am I?"
"Calm down. You're safe. You're in a plane with Parker and me and we're about to land in New Zealand."
"New Zealand? What are we doing here?"
"Hiding. Hoping to find a home and living our lives in peace."
"I don't get it. Why New Zealand? Why now? Why aren't you two fighting each other? What did I miss?"
"You missed nothing. That's what we always wanted but weren't able to express until now."
"Nice for you. Where's Scott?"
"Scott? No idea. Why?"
"We left him when he tried to stop the sweepers back at the airport. Where is he?"
"As you said, we left him. Guess they took him back. He's an employee of the Centre anyway."
"He saved us and you don't even know what's happening to him?"
"Kyla, calm down. We'll find him. There's a house where we'll settle down for now and then we'll look for him. What's so special bout him?"
"He saved our lives?"
"OK. We can't go back right now. We'll find him from our new home. I promise. Now get dressed. It's quite windy outside."
"Where are we going to land and where are we going to live?"
"We'll land in Auckland and will drive to Taurua. There's a place called Cook's Beach. I have rented a house near the beach."
"I've been there before. This is a wonderful place to be. Do you have a car?"
"You've been to New Zealand? A car? No. We'll take a cab."
"A cab? This is approximately a two hours drive. Don't you think a car would be nice?"
"You know how to drive a car on the other side of the road?"
"It's been two years since I've been there. I wasn't allowed to drive back then."
"Sorry. I forgot. Do you remember the way?
"Sure. The way down there's easy to find. I wouldn't even need a map."
"That's great. I don't have one."
Kyla simply shook her head and took the clothes Jarod was holding in his hands. She looked at Parker who was sitting in her seat with her eyes closed.
"Is she alright?" Kyla whispered.
"I'm just tired. No need to whisper," Parker answered and opened her eyes. Kyla looked at the clothes. Jeans and a shirt. She looked at herself. She was still wearing her gigantic sweater and a pair of jeans with more holes than a golf course. Jarod sat down beside Parker and she hid herself behind the seats to get changed.
"I have no idea what to think about her," Jarod whispered to Parker, "she's strange and the story she told us back in the car sounds more like a dream to me than something she's been living through."
"You're a pretender, Jarod. Pretend to be her. Find out something about her."
"That's the job of a profiler."
"Then pretend to be a profiler. Where's the problem?"
"I'll wait until we're settled in Cook's Beach. We'll try then."
Kyla was finished changing her clothes. She had heard them clearly. They didn't believe her. She had feared something like that. At least they didn't put her in a loony bin straight away. She hoped she would find a way to prove it. A way to prove she wasn't imagining all this. But she was here, wasn't she? Wasn't that prove enough?
"How long have we been flying?"
"21 hours."
"What? I was asleep the whole time?"
"Yes. I think that was because of Lyle's drugs. Parker was asleep a long time as well."
"21 hours seems strange. Don't you think that's a little too long?"
"I tried to wake you a few times but you didn't react so I let you sleep. I was a little worried, yes, but Parker said that it'd be alright."
"OK. Everybody now sit down. We're going to land."
The landscape outside looked familiar. How often had she wished to be back in New Zealand. Now her dream was coming true.
Passport control held a few surprises for her. She had a New Zealand passport and Jarod was shoving them towards the VIP gate. There were no people there and they were quickly inside the baggage claiming area. Their baggage was waiting for them and Jarod handled the paperwork perfectly. They rented a car and drove away from the airport quickly. They had gotten a map and the man at the counter had been so kind and had marked them the way out of town. Kyla knew the way perfectly and within 2 hours they were standing in front of their house. They had a wonderful view on the beach and the ocean. It was even better than she had had in mind. The house was near the beach and from her room she had a view on the sea and the islands all over the bay. This was like a dream. Something had to be wrong This was too perfect to be true but she couldn't put her finger on it. Maybe it was a dream. Maybe this was due to Lyle's drugs as well and they were still inside the plane? She looked around the room that was supposed to be hers for now. Why was she here? Why had they decided to go to New Zealand? In her dreams she had always wanted to be back here and see the beach again. Maybe take a long walk towards Cathedral Cove and go swimming in the blue water. Now she could do anything she wanted. It seemed so unreal and so wrong. Everything she wanted became real. Everything she dreamed of became reality. This was wrong. Life didn't work like this. This had to be a dream. To her it felt like reality. IT was her reality right now. She wanted to wake up. This universe was worse than the others because it was so perfect right now. One universe was off her list. The Deep Space Nine one. She didn't know if there were more to come but she hoped not. She wanted to go home. But she didn't like the thought of a psychologist telling her to stop dreaming. Maybe she DID stop dreaming after this adventure was over. Maybe she would become a normal girl and become interested in the things normal girls did - like romance, dancing and other "normal" things. But wasn't she interested in those things? She loved Michael, loved doing ballet and dancing and she loved reading. Weren't those things considered normal? Maybe hanging out with friends. This was something she was not doing very often.
Well, maybe a little walk would help. She went downstairs and told Parker and Jarod that she was going for a walk to try to sort her mind and get some exercise after having slept for 21 hours and spending 2 hours in the car. They didn’t even protest. Jarod just told her to be home before sunset and Parker told her not to get lost. Both things weren't too hard to forget.
She closed the door behind her and walked down the hill. The street was narrow but there were only few cars. She reached the main road and followed it towards the beach. She took off her shoes and enjoyed the feeling of the warm sand beneath her feet. She walked towards the water. Seagulls were flying high above her and a fresh breeze was blowing near the water. This had to be a dream. She walked along the beach. She looked at her watch. It was only just 1 pm. Enough time to try the thing she had always wanted. There was a huge staircase starting at the beach which laid to the Cathedral Cove car park. It was supposed to be a 90 Minute walk. There had been another sign at the car park that said that it was another 90 Minute walk to Cathedral Cove. They had only needed 50 Minutes to reach the Cove. Maybe it was the same with this sign. She grinned. Nobody had told her to stay close to the house. She started walking towards the stairs when someone called her name. She stopped in her tracks and turned around. There was nobody there. She must have imagined it. She turned to walk again when she heard her name again. She stopped. She was still alone. There was nobody else. Alone. All alone with the waves and the sunshine. Maybe she was really crazy. She looked up at the stairs. They were higher than she had thought. Maybe those 90 minutes were right. But who cared. She needed some time to be on her own. Time to think and to find a way back home. And she wanted to enjoy the place she was right now before she had to leave again.
The stairs were higher than she had thought and it took her almost 90 minutes to reach the car park. She chided herself for not having taken something to drink. It was warm and the walking hadn't made it any better. She didn't care. She wanted to reach Cathedral Cove and be "home" before sunset. What would happen if she wouldn't be home in time? Would Jarod start to search for her? Maybe it was worth a try. She walked on. From the terrace at the car park Cathedral Cove was visible in the distance. Another hour and she would be there. The weather was wonderful. Much better than it had been when she had been here the last time. And there were no people around. It was as if she was all alone. What if something happened to her during her walk? Would someone find her?
*No thoughts about that right now. Enjoy the day and be happy to be in New Zealand,* she thought and walked on. Down the hill, up the next one, through a gate and over a plateau and through another gate, through a wild forest, down and up again and then there were stairs again. At the feet of the stairs she could see the white sand. On the walk she had seen no human. Just a few cows and birds. She took off her shoes and went down the stairs. The sun was shining even brighter when she stepped from the shadows onto the beach. Nobody. All alone. She smiled. She had taken her bikini with her. She took off her clothes and went towards the water. It was nice and quite warm. She swam out into the bright blue sea. She had a wonderful view when she turned around and started to swim back. She wished this moment would never end but it had to. When she came from the water she squeezed the water from her hair and sat down on the warm sand. A perfect afternoon. More than perfect. She laid down in the sand and closed her eyes. The sun was shining on her skin and warming her body. She didn't want to but she fell asleep after a while.
An imaginative view of the world 21-25
She opened her eyes. She was lying in a comfortable bed. No plane anymore. The light on the nightstand was turned on. She looked around the room. The universe with the psychiatrist Michelle Parker. Right. She had been afraid to lock the door because the house could have burned down while she was asleep and nobody could have rescued her. Hadn't that been exactly what she had been hoping for? Dying so she could get out of the universe where Miss Parker was no real Parker? She had wanted o get up early and go to the lake if there was a lake in this universe. She looked at the clock. Half past four in the morning. Not exactly the time for getting up. Maybe she could just go to sleep again. Or she could get up and have a look at her computer. If she had a connection to the internet she could try to reach the others. Maybe she was lucky and got an answer.
She hated to get up early. She got out of bed and tiptoed to the bathroom. She hoped Parker wouldn't hear her and ask silly questions. She looked at herself in the mirror. She looked like she always did and somehow she was disappointed. Somehow she had had hopes that she would look different in each universe. That her blond curly hair would suddenly be black and not curly. Or her eyes turned from blue to brown. Or maybe even her skin colour would change. She had always wanted to have some more colour. But no. She was always the same. Always the same boring Kyla Parker she used to be. What if she changed herself in one universe? But what for? She would always remain Kyla. Why was she standing in front of the mirror at half past four in the morning in a reality that was not her own and wondering about her looks? Hadn't she anything useful to do? Find a way to her real universe maybe. She sighed. Did she want to go back? She had asked herself the same question over and over again. Did she want to go back? Her mother had sent her to a shrink to get rid of her mental problems. But this had been where the problems had started. Everything had been daydreaming about the universes she loved so much. About the TV series she loved to watch. When she had been with this Dr. Greene her dreams had started to become real. Everything contradicted itself. Some universes didn't make sense and they weren't even close to her daydreams. They were like nightmares. This one included. Had she really dreamed about Parker being her aunt? About a Parker like that? She shook her head and tiptoed back to her room. She closed the door and locked it tight. She didn’t want Parker to sneak up from behind and watch her again. She wasn't allowed to go to school or leave the house without Parker at her heels. The internet was her only connection to the outside world.
Maybe a search in the medical files could help her. She opened the medical archives of several universities all over the world to search for anything that might have been connected to her case. Factitious disorder seemed somehow appropriate but that didn't include shifting through universes. It only meant shifting through personalities. Something like multiple personality. Didn't the archives say anything about multiple universes? A thought struck her mind. What if she was searching the wrong archives? What if this had nothing to do with medicine but with physics or astrophysics? Some spatial phenomenon? Something like that happened in Star Trek all the time. What if this was something similar? Maybe she should ask the people from the Star Trek universe what they thought about it or if they could help her.
Maybe there was another way to shift through to another universe. Maybe she only had to wish hard enough and she would shift. At the beginning it had worked as well. Not wishing hard but changing without falling asleep or unconscious. Maybe there was something else. Something like the red shoes from Dorothy in Wizard of Oz? Why red shoes? In the book they had been silver. She looked at her red socks. Maybe they would do the trick as well. Clap your heels twice and you'll be back in Kansas? What if she ended up in Oz? What if it didn't work the way she anticipated? Well, things couldn't get much worse, could they? She switched off the computer. It was a quarter past five. Parker wouldn't be up yet. She stood in the middle of the room and felt silly. Clap your heels twice and you'll be back with Star Trek. She squeezed her eyes shut and clapped her red socked heels twice. Believe it. Believe it. Believe it.
***
She opened her eyes. She was lying on a bed. Every movement hurt. Without having to look around she knew where she was. This was the Enterprise. She had spent a training lesson with T'Pol and now every muscle in her body hurt. It had worked. She had changed to another universe and hadn't fallen asleep in the other. But what had happened to her in the Parker universe? Was she still standing in the middle of the room with her red socks and her eyes squeezed shut? Would Parker find her like that? She smiled and rolled to one side to get up. She had to be on time for her duty. She could hardly walk. She treated herself with a hot shower and put on her uniform. She left her quarters and shot a look at her room number so she would find it again.
She was standing in the turbolift when it came back to her. She had no idea where she had to go. What was her duty aboard the Enterprise? With a loud bang the lift stopped dead and Kyla fell to the floor. She hit her head. The lights went off and an alarm started to blare. At least she had an excuse for being late. She sat down on the floor, crossed her legs and waited. Someone would come and get her.
"T'Pol to Ensign Parker."
Kyla got up and fingered for the communications panel on the wall.
"This is Ensign Parker."
"You're late. Where are you?"
"I'm stuck in a turbolift."
"You're in there? Why didn't you call? Are you hurt?"
"I don't know. It's quite dark in here. My head hurts a little."
"I'll tell them down in engineering to hurry. Stay where you are."
*I won't try to run away,* Kyla thought and sat down on the floor again. On TV they always did heroic things like climbing out the lift through a hidden door in the ceiling and climbing up Jeffrey's tubes to the next floor even with a broken leg. But she was no superwoman and had no idea where to go. She decided on just staying there and waiting. Maybe it would work. Maybe she would be brought to her station. Or she would be stuck in there forever. She could try to get to another universe. They couldn't help her in here. And being stuck in an elevator wasn't something she wanted to do forever. She felt silly. She couldn't play Dorothy again. Maybe there was another way to get away. Krystal had said that she had simply opened the door and was in another universe. And she had crossed universes through doors before. There had been the door to her quarters aboard DS9 that had brought her to Michelle Parker's house and the holodeck doors aboard the Enterprise D that had brought her to Parker's house as well. Maybe doors only led to Michelle's house. Pretending to be Dorothy had brought her here. She squeezed her eyes shut and wished herself away.
She opened her eyes again. Still dark. Still blaring alarms. Still the same place. Stuck in a turbolift. No chance of getting near a science station in the near future and finding out about spatial anomalies. She didn't have her red socks anymore only black boots. But maybe they worked as well. Clap your heels twice and you'll be back in Kansas. She got up. Clap your heels twice and you'll be back in another Star Trek universe. Clap. Clap.
She opened her eyes again. Still dark. Still blaring alarms. Still the same place. Stuck in a turbolift. Why hadn't it worked??? Why was she still here? Was it the fact that she didn't have her red socks anymore? Or hadn't she wished hard enough? Maybe it was just her will that brought her to another place. She squeezed her eyes shut again. *I want to be somewhere else. I want to be somewhere else. I want to be somewhere else. I want to be somewhere else.*
She opened her eyes. It was still dark. But there were no alarms. It was as if there was nothing. As if she was nowhere. In a bubble with nothing. Completely black. Completely silent. It hadn't worked properly. She was no longer in the turbolift. *I want to be somewhere else.* She squeezed her eyes shut again. *I want to be somewhere else.*
***
Dark. Silent. But she was somewhere. She was lying on a sofa. Covered with a blanket. The room was dark. She looked around. The room was completely furnished and sparsely illuminated from the streetlamps outside. She was back in the Buffy universe. She had been sitting on the sofa while the others had been in the kitchen. She had fallen asleep and changed universes. Now she was back by wishing herself here. Had she wanted to be here? She had wanted to be in a Star Trek universe. She had wanted to know something about spatial anomalies. But the Buffy universe wasn't bad either.
She jumped when she saw someone sitting in the armchair.
"Sorry to scare you," the man said, "How do you feel?"
"Except being scared I'm fine. Why?"
"You were sleeping like dead. You didn't react when I tried to wake you and you were talking in your sleep."
"Why's everyone saying that I'm talking while I'm sleeping. That's not fair. Did I say something important?"
"No," the man laughed, "Just something about spatial anomalies and the need to find someone to help you."
Kyla tried to think. She was sitting here with Giles in the darkness and talking. Should she tell him what had happened to her? Should she tell him the truth? Would he believe her? Could he help her?
"Giles, can I ask you something important?"
"Sure. What do you need?"
"The thing I said about spatial anomalies and the need to find someone to help me. I meant it."
"Can you explain that further?"
She told him the whole story. From her mother who had sent her to see a shrink to her last findings that she could change to other universes by wishing real hard. Giles looked sceptical. Kyla wondered why they were still sitting in the dark. She fumbled for the matches on the table and lit a candle. The whole thing didn't look so conspicuous anymore. More like a little meeting to talk about the day. Giles scratched his chin.
"Have those changes come in regular intervals? I mean, have you been in the universe for an hour each or did it differ?"
"It's different each time."
"Doesn't sound like a demon to me. I haven't heard about anything like this before."
"A completely different question. Why are you sitting here?"
"Beg you pardon?"
"Why were you sitting here while I was sleeping?"
"I was worried."
"What about Buffy and Willow?"
"They're upstairs and sleeping."
"I don't get it. Why didn't you simply tell one of them to look after me?"
"You're something special."
"Special? In what way?"
Giles simply looked at her. Something was wrong. First there had been this demon – and she still had no idea what had happened back there – then everybody had been talking in riddles and now Giles was doing it again. She had no idea what was happening.
"What do you know?"
"What do I know? What kind of question is that, Giles?"
"What do you remember from the time before you've woken up back in the cellar?"
"I told you, this is the first thing I remember from this universe. I haven't been here before."
"Kyla, I think something has happened to you when this demon attacked you. Do you remember what happened to Buffy? She thought that this universe was just a dream. No, you can't remember, of course not.."
"Are you talking to yourself? I know what happened. She thought that she was in a facility in Los Angeles and that this reality was just a dream. But in the end she decided that this was real and that saved her and she came back. But that's something different. I wasn't attacked by anything. I was simply daydreaming. And when my mother sent me to see the shrink it started to become real. Giles, I'm not crazy. This is real."
"Of course this is real. I just can't believe it. It sounds so unreal. Star Trek is something fascinating but it can never be real. Kyla, are you sure that you're not dreaming?"
"Dreaming? Of course not."
Tears of anger started to build in her eyes. Why didn't anyone believe her? Giles got up and sat down on the sofa beside her.
"There is no need to cry, Kyla. I know that this is hard for you. Even though it's hard I try to believe it. But before you judge me from what I say – listen to me. I'll tell you a story. Not just any story but your story. The past few months I spent with the Kyla I know. The last few months we spent together. The things you don't remember and the things by which I judge you. OK?"
Kyla closed her eyes and tried to stop the tears that were threatening to roll down her cheeks. She felt Giles hand at her neck and he gently pulled her towards her. Her head rested on his chest and she could hear his heart beat. He hugged her until the tears subsided. She felt better now.
"Do you want to go to the kitchen and have some tea or do you want to stay here?"
"If you don't mind I'd like to stay here," she said and sat up. Giles smiled at her and put his hand onto her chest.
"In there is the truth. You know it. And if it's true you'll find a way. Now, lean back and listen. Will you?"
Kyla nodded and snuggled herself into the blanket. Giles had a wonderful voice and she felt like a little girl who was sitting on the sofa with her father who was telling her a goodnight story. She was close to crying again but she concentrated on Giles' voice. He was going to tell her everything she needed to know about this universe.
"The day we first met wasn't a very happy one. It was the day your parents died. You were in hospital. Buffy got a call from the hospital. They said that her aunt and uncle were killed in a car accident and that her cousin was in hospital. She was the closest relative to you. She asked me to come along because she hated hospitals. She hated them since her mother died. So we drove there together with Willow. You were hurt badly but the doctors said you'd survive.
"When we visited you the first day you had no memories left except your name. You couldn't remember the accident or anything else that had happened before. When you were released from hospital Buffy decided to take you home with her. I was asked to take care of you by a social worker. You moved in here and the house you lived in with your parents was locked up. You weren't very cooperative at first. You blamed us for your unhappiness. You didn't want to accept that your parents were dead and that I should be responsible for you from now on. Willow and Buffy told you everything they knew about your past. But somehow you rejected everything. You were sitting in your room the whole day and were reading Star Trek books. You didn't go to school anymore and rejected anybody's attempts to get closer to you. Then after a few weeks Buffy suggested that you join her on her nightly watch. And suddenly you were a completely different person. You started to talk again and didn't read anymore. You practised with Buffy and went to school again.
"Willow tried a few spells to bring back your memory but nothing worked. We gave up on that. You didn't seem to care anymore and accepted me as your guardian. Then a few days ago I found something in an old book about a demon with healing powers. It was written that the person who summons the demon is granted a wish and then gets the demon's powers when he performs a sacred ritual in which the person kills the demon. The demon then should dissolve in flames and leave behind an amulet that inherits all its powers. The book said that the amulet could heal both the wounds in the flesh and the wounds in the soul. There was a picture in the book that described how the amulet and the demon looked. The summoning was very strict and there was also a description of all the things that could go wrong. Something as simple as a sneeze could ruin everything. And that was what you did. Involuntarily you changed the demon into something bigger. It is said that only the person who summons the demon can destroy it. Well, Willow summoned it but you sneezed. So both of you are responsible for it. Willow said it dissolved into thin air but left the amulet behind. It shouldn't have left the amulet. That's what's wrong. The demon itself should have turned into the amulet. You didn't help to kill the demon so the amulet shouldn't have any healing powers at all. I can't explain it myself but somehow it worked. At least for your wound. And I don't have the slightest idea why it attacked you. It should have bowed before you but instead it attacked you. Buffy and Willow went after it. While you were unconscious you were talking about someone named Scott. Can you imagine now why I didn't believe you?"
"What a story. I can't believe it either but I think I have to. The Kyla in your story doesn't sound like me at all. Guess I have to accept that as much as you have to accept that I'm neither hallucinating nor am affected by some demon."
"But what if it is a demon? What if all your changes are caused by an unknown demon?"
"What if it has something to do with aliens?"
"Nice attempt. You know I don't believe in extraterrestrial life. At least not yet. Prove me wrong but I like to remain with the demon theory."
"OK. Everyone believes what he or her wants until we have prove for anything. What time is it? Don't you have to sleep?"
"Half past two in the morning. Guess I could use some sleep. You coming as well?"
"I'm not tired but I guess a little sleep couldn't hurt. Somehow I'm afraid to leave this universe. I'm feeling save here."
"We could sleep on the sofa. I'll hold you tight and won't let go until you're back. I'll make sure you're safe as long as you're gone."
Kyla smiled. Something she had always been dreaming of. She snuggled into Giles' arms and closed her eyes. But sleep wouldn't come. Soon she heard Giles's regular breath and knew that he was sleeping. Her head was resting on his upper arm, his other arm was closed tight around her. He could feel his heartbeat and somehow she knew she would be safe until she was back in this universe. If she were in her own reality this would be a dream and she would wake up smiling. What a wonderful dream. She closed her eyes and dozed off.
***
She opened her eyes. Had this been a dream? Falling asleep in Giles' arms? If it had been a dream it had been a wonderful one. Where was she? Her head hurt and something warm was trickling down her head. She lifted her head and touched her forehead. Warm and wet - and red. Voyager. She had hit her head at the table when she had collapsed. She wanted to get up when she remembered what had happened in this universe.
"Ensign Parker to sickbay. Can anyone come and help me? This is kind of an emergency."
*I don't like this universe. And I definitely don't like to be Harry's girlfriend.*
The doorbell chimed and Ensign Paris came in. He looked quite annoyed but that changed when he saw her lying on the floor. He kneeled down beside her and ran his tricorder over her.
"From what the tricorder tells me you've been lying here for nearly two hours. But that can't be because you left sickbay only one hour ago. Can you stand up?"
"I'll try."
Two hours? About the time she spent in other universes. After leaving Voyager she had been with Jarod and Miss Parker on the plane, then with Michelle Parker, then aboard the Enterprise and afterwards in the Buffy universe. About two hours. But if she had been lying here would that mean that she was still standing in Michelle Parker's house with her red socks and her eyes squeezed shut? She grinned. Tom looked at her with a quizzical look in his eyes.
"Why are you grinning? What's so funny?"
"I'll tell you later. I have to talk to Captain Janeway."
"Janeway? Sounds important. But first we have to get you to sickbay. Lean on my shoulder and we'll walk to sickbay. Can you do that?"
"Sure. Don't you know how stubborn I am?"
"I sure as hell know and it took quite a long time to get over you if that's what you wanted to hear."
Kyla stumbled from surprise. She and Tom Paris? What kind of universe was that? Everything was getting more peculiar. She couldn't imagine herself being with Harry Kim but Tom Paris? Wasn't he involved with B'Elanna?
"What about B'Elanna?"
"We are married and I love her but being with you was something different. Do you love Harry?"
"I'm not quite sure. I think so. I can't tell you. You have to listen when I speak with Captain Janeway. I think things will be clearer then."
The turbolift doors opened and they stepped outside. Sickbay doors were only a few meters away. They opened and Captain Janeway stepped out.
"There you are. We've been waiting for you. I think we have a lot to talk about."
Tom and Kyla looked at each other and only shrugged. Kyla had no idea what Captain Janeway wanted to talk about but she hoped that she had the chance to talk to her about spatial anomalies. The Doctor treated her cut on the forehead while Janeway stood beside him without saying anything.
"Why did you break down the first place?" he asked.
"I don't know. I was standing at the replicator and wanted to go back to the sofa when my knees went wobbly. I tried to steady the cup and myself but it didn't work."
"There was no broken glass," Tom interrupted, "I didn't see any broken cup where she was lying."
"Go to her quarters and check that again, Tom. Doctor, would you please leave us alone? We need to talk."
He wasn't very happy but left them alone. Kyla was sitting on a bio bed Captain Janeway was standing in front of her.
"There is something I need to tell you. We have found something in your quarters that's not very pleasant."
"Has it something to do with an anomaly?"
"How do you know?"
"I need to talk to you as well. There are a few things you need to know."
She told her the whole story she had told Giles. She didn't leave anything out but told it in a different way. Janeway wouldn't understand the concept of Star Trek in itself so she just said that she changed places. Janeway looked curious.
"Have you ever tried to bring something from one place to another?"
"No, I have only just managed to change universes on my own will twice. The other times I fell asleep and woke up in another universe. What do you want me to take with me?"
"I thought about a padd. We could store all the information we collect about the anomaly and everything else on it and you could take it with you. If you're with Captain Picard you could work with him on a way back."
"You believe me?"
"I never believed in time travel before I had a voyage to the past myself and ended up in Earth's 20th century. But I do believe that there are an indefinite number of parallel universes. In each universe there exists a Kyla and you change places with that Kyla from the universe while you are there. At least that's what I believe."
"Sounds good. At least something I can work with. But when does my real self – the one that belongs here – come back? And how do I find a way back to my universe?"
"I'll ask Tuvok to store all information about the anomaly on a padd and give it to you. Please don't show the padd in a universe that's further back in time. I don't want you to draw attention on yourself."
"But why do you give me the padd then? I'm from the past. I am Kyla from the beginning 21st century."
"You seem to know a lot about our time and technology and I trust in you not to use it against us."
"That sounds fair, Captain. Do you think it would be possible to modify a transporter to bring me to another universe? I've heard about an incident aboard Deep Space Nine where such a thing was possible."
"You really know a lot. I could ask Seven and Tom to try. At least we could make sure that the padd goes along. But that will take some time. And we'll have to modify a communicator as well in case something goes wrong. You'd need a homing beacon so we can bring you back in case of an emergency. By the way, how are your legs?"
"Guess I'm getting used to it. They feel fine. Feel would be an exaggeration. I can walk and I think I should be content with that. Would you mind if I return to my quarters to conduct some research on my own?"
"Sure. I'll see to it that you get access to the main computer."
"Are you sure? I could steal technology from the future to bring home."
"I had hoped you'd ask that. And by saying so you proved that you had no intentions of stealing anything. And since you already know a lot about our time I'm sure you already know more that you are supposed to. Do you want someone to go with you?"
"Where is Tom? Is he still in my quarters searching for the broken cup?"
"Janeway to Paris. Where are you?"
"Still in Ensign Parker's quarters. I have found some things."
"I'm on my way."
"Let's go. I'll escort you to your quarters," Janeway grinned.
They entered Kyla's quarters only to find Tom crouching under the table. Kyla grinned and even Janeway smirked. Tom crawled from under the table and handed Janeway a necklace. She looked at it and gave it to Kyla.
"Do you know what this is? Has it something to do with the shifts or is it simply a necklace you lost?"
"This is the necklace the demon left behind. I have no idea where it came from. Anything else you've found down there?"
"A lot of things but no broken cup."
"What other things?"
"A padd, a pair of chopsticks and an old book."
"Sounds completely like me. I guess I'm the same person in each universe. What kind of book is it?"
"Looks like a diary of some kind. It's handwritten but I can't read it. It's not English. There you are."
He handed her the diary and sat down on the sofa. Janeway still leaned against the doorframe.
"Does it belong to you?"
"No but I know the handwriting. This belongs to Rupert Giles. I never read it. He kept it safe in his desk. I have no idea how it came here. The chopsticks belong to me – I used them for my hair-do. What's on the padd?"
She touched the screen. Nothing happened.
"Seems to be empty. Might be an old one I used. No idea. But that looks a lot like me. I'm a very chaotic type of person."
Janeway smiled, "That sounds exactly like the Kyla Parker I know. We'll leave you alone with the book. Just tell us if something odd happens or if you find out anything important. I'll ask Tuvok to bring you the padd with the readings from astrophysics and tell Seven and Harry to work on the transporter. Contact me as soon as something happens. Even if it's in the middle of the night."
"Yes Captain. I don't think I will got to sleep any time soon. Thanks for your help."
She nodded and left the room.
"Can I stay with you for a while?" Tom asked.
"Sure. I could use some company. Do you know how to retrieve the information that was last stored on the padd?"
"Yeah, no problem. Can you read the book? What language is it?"
"It's supposed to be English. It's just Giles' handwriting that's a little funny."
"Can you read it?"
"I'm trying. It says something about a demon that influences thoughts. No idea when he wrote that. His handwriting is terrible. A lot like mine," she grinned and Tom grinned back.
"How do you feel?"
"Good question. I don't know what to think."
"I mean, how do you feel after the accident on the holodeck? Have you had a chance to talk to Harry since?"
"No. He was there when I woke up in sickbay but I haven't seen him much since. To be true I don't even care. I'm too much into all this stuff to care about anything else. Would you like to have dinner with me? I'm quite hungry."
"At least something you can think about. But you still haven’t told me how you feel."
"Lonely. Lost. My head hurts. Enough?"
"Yup. And yes eating sounds fine. And while we eat would you care to tell me the whole story? I don't understand a thing."
"Right. You were here while I talked to Captain Janeway. Oh my. I think I should write a holonovel or a book so I don't have to tell the story over and over again. What do you think about nachos?"
"What?"
"Nachos."
"For dinner?"
"You can also prepare it like dinner with cheese, onions and meat."
"Sounds a lot like 20th century on Earth."
"21st to be exact. Guess you need to hear the story before we eat. Explains a lot."
She told her story once more but this time it felt wrong. It was the same story but she thought about something that she hadn't thought about before: How can a person from the 21st century know about all the people and the technology from this century? To her it was science fiction but to those people it was real life. So how could this be possible? Janeway hadn't asked her about that. She had just accepted the fact that she was here and that she wanted to go home again. How could it be that a person like herself – Kyla Parker – existed in this fictional universe? The whole Star Trek universe had come from the mind of Gene Roddenberry and had evolved during the years to a universe that lived in the people's minds. This couldn't be real, could it? How could it be real? This was the future.
Tom looked at her. Had he asked her something?
"Uuh, what did you say?"
"I was asking if you felt ok. You look as if your thoughts are anywhere but here."
"They were. Sorry. I'm fine. Just trying to sort out a few time paradoxes."
Tom grinned, "I'll leave you alone then. Don't do anything stupid. Tell us if you find out something useful from this book."
He pointed at Giles's diary. He got up and went to the door.
"See you soon. I'll tell you when I've found out what was on this padd before it got erased as soon as I find out. Bye."
The door closed and she was alone again. She didn't want to get away from this universe. Things seemed so clear and logical and she was closer to an answer than she had ever been since this journey began. She had to find out why she was here and why things happened. She sat down on the sofa and started to read. Giles' handwriting was plain and easy to read – she had no idea why Tom hadn't been able to decipher anything. She started reading from page one. This was Giles' third diary. It started with the day where Sunnydale fell into the hellmouth. It started where the series had ended. It was like reading fan fiction. It didn't seem real. She hoped that she's find a lot of things that would help her. After 5 pages her eyes grew heavy and she had to lay the book aside. She closed her eyes. She didn't want to sleep. Didn't want to leave this universe but she couldn't keep her eyes open any longer.
***
"Kyla, wake up. We're almost there."
"Almost there? Where are we? Where am I?"
"Calm down. You're safe. You're in a plane with Parker and me and we're about to land in New Zealand."
"New Zealand? What are we doing here?"
"Hiding. Hoping to find a home and living our lives in peace."
"I don't get it. Why New Zealand? Why now? Why aren't you two fighting each other? What did I miss?"
"You missed nothing. That's what we always wanted but weren't able to express until now."
"Nice for you. Where's Scott?"
"Scott? No idea. Why?"
"We left him when he tried to stop the sweepers back at the airport. Where is he?"
"As you said, we left him. Guess they took him back. He's an employee of the Centre anyway."
"He saved us and you don't even know what's happening to him?"
"Kyla, calm down. We'll find him. There's a house where we'll settle down for now and then we'll look for him. What's so special bout him?"
"He saved our lives?"
"OK. We can't go back right now. We'll find him from our new home. I promise. Now get dressed. It's quite windy outside."
"Where are we going to land and where are we going to live?"
"We'll land in Auckland and will drive to Taurua. There's a place called Cook's Beach. I have rented a house near the beach."
"I've been there before. This is a wonderful place to be. Do you have a car?"
"You've been to New Zealand? A car? No. We'll take a cab."
"A cab? This is approximately a two hours drive. Don't you think a car would be nice?"
"You know how to drive a car on the other side of the road?"
"It's been two years since I've been there. I wasn't allowed to drive back then."
"Sorry. I forgot. Do you remember the way?
"Sure. The way down there's easy to find. I wouldn't even need a map."
"That's great. I don't have one."
Kyla simply shook her head and took the clothes Jarod was holding in his hands. She looked at Parker who was sitting in her seat with her eyes closed.
"Is she alright?" Kyla whispered.
"I'm just tired. No need to whisper," Parker answered and opened her eyes. Kyla looked at the clothes. Jeans and a shirt. She looked at herself. She was still wearing her gigantic sweater and a pair of jeans with more holes than a golf course. Jarod sat down beside Parker and she hid herself behind the seats to get changed.
"I have no idea what to think about her," Jarod whispered to Parker, "she's strange and the story she told us back in the car sounds more like a dream to me than something she's been living through."
"You're a pretender, Jarod. Pretend to be her. Find out something about her."
"That's the job of a profiler."
"Then pretend to be a profiler. Where's the problem?"
"I'll wait until we're settled in Cook's Beach. We'll try then."
Kyla was finished changing her clothes. She had heard them clearly. They didn't believe her. She had feared something like that. At least they didn't put her in a loony bin straight away. She hoped she would find a way to prove it. A way to prove she wasn't imagining all this. But she was here, wasn't she? Wasn't that prove enough?
"How long have we been flying?"
"21 hours."
"What? I was asleep the whole time?"
"Yes. I think that was because of Lyle's drugs. Parker was asleep a long time as well."
"21 hours seems strange. Don't you think that's a little too long?"
"I tried to wake you a few times but you didn't react so I let you sleep. I was a little worried, yes, but Parker said that it'd be alright."
"OK. Everybody now sit down. We're going to land."
The landscape outside looked familiar. How often had she wished to be back in New Zealand. Now her dream was coming true.
Passport control held a few surprises for her. She had a New Zealand passport and Jarod was shoving them towards the VIP gate. There were no people there and they were quickly inside the baggage claiming area. Their baggage was waiting for them and Jarod handled the paperwork perfectly. They rented a car and drove away from the airport quickly. They had gotten a map and the man at the counter had been so kind and had marked them the way out of town. Kyla knew the way perfectly and within 2 hours they were standing in front of their house. They had a wonderful view on the beach and the ocean. It was even better than she had had in mind. The house was near the beach and from her room she had a view on the sea and the islands all over the bay. This was like a dream. Something had to be wrong This was too perfect to be true but she couldn't put her finger on it. Maybe it was a dream. Maybe this was due to Lyle's drugs as well and they were still inside the plane? She looked around the room that was supposed to be hers for now. Why was she here? Why had they decided to go to New Zealand? In her dreams she had always wanted to be back here and see the beach again. Maybe take a long walk towards Cathedral Cove and go swimming in the blue water. Now she could do anything she wanted. It seemed so unreal and so wrong. Everything she wanted became real. Everything she dreamed of became reality. This was wrong. Life didn't work like this. This had to be a dream. To her it felt like reality. IT was her reality right now. She wanted to wake up. This universe was worse than the others because it was so perfect right now. One universe was off her list. The Deep Space Nine one. She didn't know if there were more to come but she hoped not. She wanted to go home. But she didn't like the thought of a psychologist telling her to stop dreaming. Maybe she DID stop dreaming after this adventure was over. Maybe she would become a normal girl and become interested in the things normal girls did - like romance, dancing and other "normal" things. But wasn't she interested in those things? She loved Michael, loved doing ballet and dancing and she loved reading. Weren't those things considered normal? Maybe hanging out with friends. This was something she was not doing very often.
Well, maybe a little walk would help. She went downstairs and told Parker and Jarod that she was going for a walk to try to sort her mind and get some exercise after having slept for 21 hours and spending 2 hours in the car. They didn’t even protest. Jarod just told her to be home before sunset and Parker told her not to get lost. Both things weren't too hard to forget.
She closed the door behind her and walked down the hill. The street was narrow but there were only few cars. She reached the main road and followed it towards the beach. She took off her shoes and enjoyed the feeling of the warm sand beneath her feet. She walked towards the water. Seagulls were flying high above her and a fresh breeze was blowing near the water. This had to be a dream. She walked along the beach. She looked at her watch. It was only just 1 pm. Enough time to try the thing she had always wanted. There was a huge staircase starting at the beach which laid to the Cathedral Cove car park. It was supposed to be a 90 Minute walk. There had been another sign at the car park that said that it was another 90 Minute walk to Cathedral Cove. They had only needed 50 Minutes to reach the Cove. Maybe it was the same with this sign. She grinned. Nobody had told her to stay close to the house. She started walking towards the stairs when someone called her name. She stopped in her tracks and turned around. There was nobody there. She must have imagined it. She turned to walk again when she heard her name again. She stopped. She was still alone. There was nobody else. Alone. All alone with the waves and the sunshine. Maybe she was really crazy. She looked up at the stairs. They were higher than she had thought. Maybe those 90 minutes were right. But who cared. She needed some time to be on her own. Time to think and to find a way back home. And she wanted to enjoy the place she was right now before she had to leave again.
The stairs were higher than she had thought and it took her almost 90 minutes to reach the car park. She chided herself for not having taken something to drink. It was warm and the walking hadn't made it any better. She didn't care. She wanted to reach Cathedral Cove and be "home" before sunset. What would happen if she wouldn't be home in time? Would Jarod start to search for her? Maybe it was worth a try. She walked on. From the terrace at the car park Cathedral Cove was visible in the distance. Another hour and she would be there. The weather was wonderful. Much better than it had been when she had been here the last time. And there were no people around. It was as if she was all alone. What if something happened to her during her walk? Would someone find her?
*No thoughts about that right now. Enjoy the day and be happy to be in New Zealand,* she thought and walked on. Down the hill, up the next one, through a gate and over a plateau and through another gate, through a wild forest, down and up again and then there were stairs again. At the feet of the stairs she could see the white sand. On the walk she had seen no human. Just a few cows and birds. She took off her shoes and went down the stairs. The sun was shining even brighter when she stepped from the shadows onto the beach. Nobody. All alone. She smiled. She had taken her bikini with her. She took off her clothes and went towards the water. It was nice and quite warm. She swam out into the bright blue sea. She had a wonderful view when she turned around and started to swim back. She wished this moment would never end but it had to. When she came from the water she squeezed the water from her hair and sat down on the warm sand. A perfect afternoon. More than perfect. She laid down in the sand and closed her eyes. The sun was shining on her skin and warming her body. She didn't want to but she fell asleep after a while.
