Through the Looking Glass, part 6
Through the Looking Glass, part 6
Here is part 6 of my recent fic.
Rated NC-17. Supergirl (CW)/Arrow (CW), Kara Danvers/Oliver Queen.
Warning: Please note that this part of the story does contain some graphic violence.
I’d just like to send a shout out to the NSA, CIA, and CSIS (i.e. Canadian Security Intelligence Service, or the Canadian version of the CIA), just in case they’re wondering at my strange pattern of internet searches lately. I truly hope you guys haven’t wasted too much time investigating a lowly fanfic writer, lmao. Because yes I totally searched for how to break someone’s knee with a kick and other things just to make the written fight scene more realistic and I searched missile types and lmao oh god…
Also, please note that this is AU. My beta pointed out to me that there is an episode of ‘Supergirl’ which suggests (i.e. I had forgotten) that Kara does need to breathe. I chose to ignore this for this fic.
Finally, I’m also ignoring the fact that Clark may well (actually he probably did) tell his cousin about kryptonite. For this fic, I’m assuming that Kara has never heard of it.
-Previously-
Oliver and Commander Anders quickly reached the first of the prisoner holding areas and Oliver watched as Anders demonstrated how to work the doors' locking mechanism without an implant. (This was 'difficult but not impossible,' according to her, and would enable them to speed things up by having him free some of the prisoners while Anders freed the rest.)
He stood and waited impatiently as she worked the delicate control panel, showing him how to raise it to the machinery underneath. After considerable wrangling with the recalcitrant controls, the doors finally slid open.
As they did so, Oliver felt the deck begin to shake under his feet. Anders turned towards him, alarm on her face. “Someone has activated the engines!” She cried out, as prisoners began to stream out of their cell.
-And now-
Kara! Oliver thought in alarm. Had something happened to her?
“We must get to the bridge to discover what is happening -there should be no reason for the ship to depart at this time! I must get to the command center,” Anders was saying. Oliver shook his head.
“Something must have happened to Kara -we should see what’s happening with the engines.”
Anders was shaking her head. “She is Kryptonian -they are a very powerful race. She will be all right. I must discover who has given the order to depart.” Oliver reluctantly followed as she began to hurry down the corridor -they didn't have the time for him to get her to tell him how to get to the engine room and while he might have been able to figure it out based on the instructions she had given Kara, he wasn’t completely certain he wouldn’t lose himself in this unknown ship’s corridors.
They reached an elevator of some kind and made their way towards the command center, which was apparently located one level up. The room was small, with smooth bulkheads interspersed with various consoles whose markings appeared utterly foreign and incomprehensible to Oliver.
As they entered the compartment, Commander Anders gasped in shock: a humanoid alien with shiny grey skin was lying unconscious on the compartment floor, wearing what appeared to be manacles of some kind clamped around its upper and lower limbs.
“What is the meaning of this?” She asked in a clipped, angry voice.
Roughly ten humans were working at various consoles in the command center. One of them stood in response to Anders’ question. He was a tall reddish-haired man with freckles and pale skin, who greeted them with a cold smile and pointed what appeared to be some kind of weapon in their direction. Several of the others then stood and moved to surround them, pointing more weapons. They searched both Oliver and Anders and placed manacles around her wrists and ankles. One of the strangers gestured at Oliver, indicating that he should move off to the side of the compartment. Once he did so, his wrists were also handcuffed.
“Commander Anders.” The man’s smile was sharp enough to make one bleed, and it also held a strong element of self-satisfaction. “I truly did not think we would meet under such circumstances.”
Anders began to speak, and he cut her off, “Don’t bother trying to justify your actions, as it was all recorded via your implant. I trust you did not think the retrieval corps would let the navy interfere in our operations without taking some essential precautions -the recordings from your implant will be transmitted to your superiors and will provide us with ample justification for your… disappearance.”
He favored her with a terrible smile as she stared back in stony silence. “The empire does hate disloyalty, after all, so I’ll actually doing them a favor by removing their problem.”
“And removing your problem at the same time, evidently.” Commander Anders responded calmly and with considerable sarcasm.
The man nodded unapologetically. “Of course. As you can see, we have detained your officer -they are only unconscious, not dead. We took the liberty of stunning them. We are well aware that the true nature of your mission in this system is to investigate the corps’ operations, so your recent... disloyalty has been of great use to us. There is however one thing I would very much like to know.”
He paused, apparently for effect. “We know why you were sent, but not who. Who has become so interested in our operations?” He asked Anders.
“I don’t know.” She replied.
He shook his head. “While you may not now exactly who wrote your orders, I know enough of the navy’s operations to know that you do most assuredly have some idea of who is behind them. I want a name.”
“No.”
Her head whipped backwards when he hit her with the butt of his strange gun.
“Wrong answer, my dear.”
She shrugged, somehow managing to retain a stoic expression.
What followed was difficult to watch, as the man rained blow after blow on Anders. Oliver worked at his cuffs, trying to work his hands free. The woman who had manacled him turned to him and laughed at his efforts.
“Let me tell you something, my man. Not only will you not be able to free yourself from your restraints, but there is literally no point in trying to help. Even if you did manage to get free, you are a simple, unaugmented human -we have many augmentations which make it vanishingly unlikely that you could ever defeat one of us in combat. I would therefore advise you not to try.” She said, smiling brightly at him before returning her attention to the torture being carried out in front of them.
It lasted for about an hour. Eventually after several stops and starts, shouted questions, and attempts to cause pain using various means, it stopped. Anders was lying facedown on the deck, barely conscious. The alien humanoid was still unconscious. The man who had been beating Anders turned to Oliver. “We have been asking for days and it seems this officer of hers does not have the answers we seek. I wonder if you do, perhaps?” He asked. Oliver looked back at him calmly.
The man moved towards him, his expression menacing. “I must admit that I don’t know how you do it -merely having to use your language throughout this ‘conversation’ has been incredibly restricting. We learn to do so in order to interact with your world, of course, but it must be so *limiting*.”
“What is it you’re looking for, exactly?” Oliver interrupted bluntly.
The other man smiled and did not immediately answer.
Apparently this one is into petty displays of power, Oliver thought to himself.
“You see, little man, there are factions within our great empire. The commander and her acolyte here represent one faction. We represent another.”
He smiled again. “I suppose it doesn’t matter whether I tell you now, since none of you will be living much longer… We have been stockpiling our resources, weapons, and manpower, for some time now, because the empire is in dire need of proper leadership. As for what I would like to know… I want to know whether the good commander here said anything regarding her orders for this mission.”
He paused, the continued, “We do have the recordings of what she has said to you, but recordings can be incomplete. Context can be missed. Implants are not yet a perfect technology and can occasionally be affected by other implants and devices both internal and external. It is not very likely for top of the line military grade equipment, I will grant you, but it does happen. So I need to know what she told you, exactly.”
Oliver shrugged. “I don’t know anything. I mean, I’m just a primitive unaugmented human from a backwater planet.”
His head snapped back from the blow he received in response to his flippant comment. As expected, more followed. He let himself collapse more and more after each one, until he finally fell onto his side on the floor.
The other man stepped away from him, shrugging. “That wasn’t even a challenge, honestly.” The man said, still smirking that annoying smirk as he and his cohorts began to move purposefully around the command center, apparently readying the ship.
Lying on his side and pretending a greater degree of injury and incapacity than was actually the case, he watched carefully as the men and women who had captured them argued among themselves.
Taking advantage of their distraction, he inched closer to Anders. He heard her gasp as the discussion above them became particularly animated and realized she might be conscious. Reaching out, he shook her shoulder.
“Do you know what’s going on?” He whispered as the others continued their argument, seemingly agitated by something having to do with the ship’s controls. She turned to face him, her bruised face shocking.
“My ship!...” She began, her expression one of panic.
He squeezed her shoulder. “Please, just explain it to me.”
She shook her head, visibly trying to calm herself. “These idiots! They are panicking because they do not know how much I and the navy know -and because they are panicking they have not been paying attention to their surroundings. The retrieval corps has traditionally made use of navy staff to fly its ships -it is only very recently that they have begun to distrust us to the point that they have begun to fly their ships without our assistance. It is not surprising to me that their staff are of limited competence. They have just made a mistake -they have inadvertently armed a missile and begun a countdown to launch -their ship's systems were tracking my ship, so when it launches...”
She paused and took a deep breath. “They will destroy my ship -the navy ship I came in.”
“They could do that?” He asked, feeling very much out of his depth.
She winced. “Yes. My ship is larger and better armed, but they will not be expecting an attack from another imperial ship. I had moved the ship closer to your world when I decided to accompany the corps to the surface of your planet, so it is not far from this ship’s current position. They are at a full stop -it will take time for the engines to fully activate to either generate enough momentum to move out of its path or to generate enough power to create a strong enough shield against it. I believe they will not have enough.” Her eyes were wide with worry.
“These officers will not listen to me, and I am not certain the launch could be aborted at this late stage. If there was a way I could warn my ship and get them to activate the engines sooner, before their sensors detect the launch…” Her voice trailed off.
Oliver nodded to indicate he understood. “If you were free to move, could you contact them?” He asked, and she nodded.
“Yes. But I… do not think I will be able to free myself in time.” She thrust her chin towards the viewscreen, which now showed a large structure floating in space. “That is my ship -the launch has not yet taken place, so there might still be time. But I would need to take this group out and I am not in a condition to be able to do so.”
Oliver smiled. “Actually, I think that I can take care of that for you.” He said, and let his manacles/cuffs fall to the ground.
He smiled as Anders looked at him in shock and, without missing a beat, turned to the other humans in the room.
Pushing the pain of his own injuries aside, he vaulted over one of the instrument panels, kicking the one who had beaten him in the side. The man fell. While he was down, Oliver kicked him in the head and the man’s head lolled as he lost consciousness. Out of the corner of his eye, he noted the others advancing on him.
Kicking backwards, he hit one opponent’s knee, then elbowed another in the face. A roundhouse kick to a third was accompanied by the crunch of bone. He then vaulted over another and caught them in a choke hold while kicking out at yet another opponent. Keeping them from closing on him and being able to attack him simultaneously, he turned around and around as he kicked and punched, ducked and bobbed and weaved and danced in an explosion of violence. He was somewhat surprised when, some time later, he realized that he was the only one left standing, all of his opponents having been rendered unconscious.
There was a brief moan of pain from one, abruptly cut off.
Taking a deep breath, he pulled himself away from darkness and back to humanity.
“I guess an unaugmented human from a backwater planet can still do some damage after all,” he said drolly. “Especially when supposedly high tech cuffs aren’t much of an improvement on the Earth version,” he added as he walked over to Commander Anders and helped her to stand.
“What do you need?” He asked, and she pointed to an instrument panel. He helped her sit and waited as she punched a series of commands, then sat back.
“There. I was not able to halt the launch but I have sent an emergency transmission, warning them of the incoming missile. I am not certain... The missile is locked in and will launch in just a few moments. They will have just a few minutes, given their current position.”
She shook her head. “It may still not be enough time.”
Oliver considered this briefly, then, “Maybe, maybe not.” Moving beside her, he pointed to the instrument panel she had used to send her message. “Can this send a message to somewhere inside this ship? Like the engine room?”
Anders sucked in her breath. “I had not considered... yes!” She tapped in a few commands and pointed to the panel, “Speak.”
Leaning forward, Oliver called out, “Kara, can you hear me?”
When Kara awoke, it was to the sensation of pain and to the sound of someone calling out her name. She clapped a hand to her head, trying to quiet both sensations.
“Kara?” As her insides heaved with pain, she recognized Oliver’s voice. He wasn’t in the room -she was now awake enough to realize that much.
Painstakingly, she sat up.
“Kara? Can you hear me?” He said again, and Kara realized the sound was coming from some kind of ship’s communication.
“Oliver?” She spoke out loud, not certain he would be able to hear her.
As it turned out, he did. “Kara! We need your help. Please!”
Her mind seemed to be returning to full awareness, but the pain was still present. “What is it?” She asked.
“There’s a missile that’s just been launched from this ship -it’s heading for the commander’s ship and they won’t be able to move fast enough to avoid it. Is there anything you can do to stop it?” He asked.
She nodded, then remembered somewhat fuzzily that he couldn’t see her. “Yes, all right. I’ll see what I can do.”
Pushing to her feet, she stepped out of the engine room and stopped abruptly in her tracks.
I actually feel fine now. How strange is that? She thought, then pushed such thoughts aside to concentrate on the problem at hand.
Flying at superspeed out of the open entrance to the ship’s shuttle bay, she launched herself into space.
It’s nice to see the lack of air doesn’t bother me, she thought to herself with some amusement. Otherwise I’d be a little bit… dead right now.
She caught sight of it immediately. It was an ungainly, huge thing, and as she moved closer to it she tried to figure out how to grasp its smooth surface. In the end, she had to punch her hands through its housing, while hoping this wouldn’t detonate the missile’s payload.
She pushed, pulled, pushed, and pushed again some more.
Finally, she saw that she had changed the missile’s course. Using her enhanced vision, she could make out the second ship in the distance, and watched as the missile sailed beyond it towards the sun. There were no other objects in its path.
Turning, Kara headed back.
When the fact that Kara had saved her ship became known to her through the ship's sensors, Commander Anders closed her eyes in relief.
After a brief moment she opened her eyes and turned to Oliver. “Thank you.” She said, the relief ringing through her words.
Oliver nodded, accepting the thanks for himself, but added, “You’ll need to thank Kara. She's the one who saved your people in the end.”
Anders nodded, turning to check on her officer. The alien awoke just as she did so, then visibly winced as the manacles were removed from its wrists.
While Anders helped her still groggy friend to sit up, Oliver picked up the unconscious humans' weapons and searched them to ensure they were not hiding anything else on their persons.
It was at this moment that the ship’s lights suddenly flickered and dimmed and the various displays around them flickered or, in some cases, went dead. Anders frowned at this, apparently puzzled, then turned back to Oliver as he spoke.
“So what happens now?” Oliver asked. “I don't suppose you have anything to bind these people's hands with, or somewhere we can put them for the time being?” He asked as he looked at the cuffs he had escaped from.
Anders looked down at the unconscious people before them, her expression one of cold disdain. “It may be for the best to simply put an end to them, before they cause more... difficulties.”
Oliver shook his head. “No. It wouldn't be.”
He continued on as Anders gazed at him questioningly. “I've done the kind of thing you're suggesting. I've killed people -bad people. Doing things like that changes you, and not for the better.”
“Whatever you think you can accomplish by killing these people, it won't be worth it in the end. Trust me, I know. It may be more difficult to find another way, especially if you've already done things you regret in the past, but I've... recently been made aware that just because I did something wrong in the past doesn't mean I can't choose to change. To take another path.”
He put a hand out and gripped her arm. “Don't let them push you into doing something you'll regret. Because trust me, if you have any inkling of a conscience, you will regret it eventually if you don't at least try to find another way. There may not be one, but you have to try.”
Anders inhaled deeply as she considered, then finally nodded. “Very well. I will do so, in honor of you both.”
Oliver smiled. “Someday, you'll be glad you did.”
Anders shrugged, not entirely convinced. She moved to a control panel where she attempted another series of commands, then sighed in frustration. “Something is wrong -I can’t seem to contact my ship.” She leaned back in frustration.
Behind her, her officer blinked and came fully awake. “Did you need to send a message?” It asked.
“Yes.” Anders said, puzzled.
It leaned its head backward, closing its eyes. “You will be able to send it now.” It said, just as the lights and instruments came back to life.
Anders frowned, looking at her officer. “Did you just…?” Her voice trailed off, before she turned to the instruments before her. She tapped out a few commands, then leaned back.
“I have sent a message to my crew. They will send a team which should arrive shortly.”
“What's going to happen now?” Oliver asked.
Anders thought about her reply for a moment. Then, “I am honestly not certain. I should be able to maintain order in this system for the time being and I will do everything in my power to release your people as I promised. There is not much the corps will be able to do to gainsay my authority for the time being given our prior orders and the overwhelming strength of my ship when compared with the corps’ current presence in this system -you may be certain my ship will now be kept on alert to prevent any other events such as this.”
She sighed. “That is, as long as my ship and my crew support me. Despite the recent changes to my ship’s crew for this mission they should be loyal, particularly as I was able to keep my key personnel. There is not much I can do for those of your people who have already been taken out of this system, but I can do that much to keep my promises. As for the rest...” Her voice trailed off. “I do not believe my superiors will take what has happened lightly. I do not believe that I will be able to have the information which these corps officers gleaned from my implant suppressed -their security systems are second to none for such things, and even if it were not so a transmission may have been sent already. My superiors had suspicions regarding the corps, but my recent actions would not be well regarded -I may not have much time remaining in this posting.”
“To be honest,” she continued, “I do not know what will happen to me.”
Oliver was silent for a moment. “Have you considered the possibility of staying here? On Earth?” He asked.
Anders shook her head. “I have considered it, but no. My place is with my people -I took an oath. I will respect it.”
It was at that moment that her officer -Ital'- joined the conversation.
“There may perhaps be some additional considerations.” It said, and Anders turned towards it in surprise.
Oliver had to admit that he didn't know quite what to make of this strange being. That sense of mystery was compounded by its next words.
“You should know that there are several important facts which I have been keeping from you. Now may not be the best time to admit this, but you will need to know.”
“I am Gral.” It said, and Anders' eyes widened in shock.
The founders of the empire? Oliver thought to himself.
“There is much about my people that has been forgotten -we preferred it that way. We chose not to enmesh ourselves in your daily struggles.” It continued, its voice modulated in strange, alien tones.
“I was sent here merely as an observer. The reason being that, while we have no desire to change the degree of our involvement with you, we have seen that our silence has contributed to certain... undesirable factions moving to gain power, as well as several regrettable situations which have prompted us to act. I was sent to observe and report on events beyond our world.”
“...How? How is this possible? How could you know anything about what is going on if you have not left your world in centuries?” Anders asked, shock still evident on her face.
The one before her blinked.
“We are not like you, my dear commander.” It said gently, “We are of you but not of you.”
Anders' expression was one of extreme frustration. “What does that even mean?”
Ital' gestured expansively with its hands. “I refer to events which have been forgotten by the descendants of the races we conquered. We were the product of technological developments which led to a war which has long been forgotten by all but us.”
“Quite simply, we are what you would call machines, but the term is imperfect as it does not encompass the similarities and differences between us and you, or the complexities of what my people have become and what we have evolved to be. And to answer your question… we are aware of what has happened because you use routinely what comes from and is a part of us.”
It gestured again. “We are not without our own ways of doing things. Despite my... temporary incapacitation at the hands of these humans, I have... arranged for a virus of sorts. Your superiors will not learn of what happened to you on the human world, because this is what I have chosen -neither these humans or their recordings will retain the memory of what you have done here. There is still much for you to accomplish in the empire, Sia Anders, and it will not be achieved in a prison cell. For the rest... all I ask is to remain as I was in order to continue to observe.”
There was silence in the room for a moment, as Anders processed what she had just learned. Finally, when she spoke, it was in a hushed tone. “I can't believe this.” She said. “All this time, and you were spying on me? On us?”
Ital' shook its head. “We had to venture out if we were to discover what has been taking place in the empire. My presence among your crew and your lack of knowledge of it is no reflection on your capacity or your leadership.”
Anders closed her eyes, suddenly appearing very tired. Then, “All right. I do not believe I have a choice and I do require your assistance. I will allow you to stay, so long as you do not prevent me from doing what I must.”
Ital' gave a short, sitting half bow in acquiescence of her request. “I did promise to follow your orders, and will do so insofar as they do not conflict with the well-being of the empire or any of its peoples.” It said, and Anders blinked in surprise as the rooms' lights fluctuated. “I believe you will find that the other corps staff on this ship have been incapacitated. They will not retain knowledge of their fellow crewmembers' actions on this day -your ship's crew will arrive momentarily and will be able to assist you in calming the corps’ human prisoners.”
After another moment to ponder what she had just learned, Anders shook herself, putting imperial machinations aside to deal with more immediate considerations. She turned to Oliver, “I wish to ask whether you and Kara would consider staying for a time, in order to assist with returning your fellow humans to your world.” She asked, turning to Oliver.
Oliver nodded, “Of course.”
Ital' spoke again, “I was glad to meet with you both -none of us had thought that any of Krypton still survived. I feel I should however warn you -her presence here will also act as a powerful symbol to the people of the empire. It is a symbolism that some in the empire may not care for.”
Oliver nodded, “I understand. Now though, I think I'd just like to see how Kara's doing. Well, once your people get here, anyways.”
Ital' blinked in that strange way it had, then, “Of course,” it said, as they all settled in to wait.
A short time later Oliver was running through the ship’s corridors, following Anders’ directions to the ship’s shuttle bay. Once there he waited impatiently for her to come. When he finally saw Kara, she had passed through a decontamination cycle and her clothes, which had been both singed as a result of her efforts and deemed to be a hazard, had been replaced by some kind of overlarge jumpsuit. Around them, several people were going about the business of making repairs and carrying out maintenance on the ship’s shuttles.
He smiled at her as she approached, “What you did was… incredible.”
Kara laughed, “Yeah, it was pretty cool, wasn’t it?”
Oliver shook his head. “Nope. ‘Pretty cool’ means you just passed a new level on some video game or something. What you did… that was incredible.”
Kara shrugged at that, apparently embarrassed at being so praised.
“Was everyone all right? What happened, exactly?” Kara asked.
Oliver shrugged. “It’s a bit of a long story. If you want, we could go see about getting something to eat and I could tell you about it. I also want to know what happened to you, too, by the way. What happened with the engines?”
Kara winced. “Finding something to eat sounds great -and it’s complicated. I don’t know that I understand what happened, myself. I think I passed out.”
Oliver frowned. “Are you sure you’re all right?”
Kara nodded. “I feel just fine now. We’ll try to figure it out later, I guess. For now, taking a lunch break sounds really, really nice.” He nodded in reply.
As Kara stepped towards the door, Oliver put out a hand to stop her. Maybe this wasn’t the best place or time for it, but no one was paying any attention to them and he desperately wanted to say this now, before events got away from them again.
“I just wanted to ask you something.” He said.
Kara frowned, “What’s wrong?” She asked.
Oliver shook his head. “Nothing’s wrong. I… just wanted to say that I…” He winced. “This isn’t coming out right.”
“What are you trying to say?” Kara asked.
“I wanted to ask you if you’d consider giving me -giving *us*- another chance. I know I didn’t react well when I learned about your secret. I know I gave you a hard time. I guess I’m hoping you can forgive me for that.” He said.
Kara sighed, “I don’t know, Oliver. Until recently that really wasn’t what you wanted. What’s changed?”
“I guess that’s a fair question.” Oliver replied. “The answer is that I guess I needed time -time to accept the revelations about you. Time to think about the fact that I have trouble trusting people. Aaanndd… Like I said before, John told me I was being an ass. And I might’ve realized that he was right.”
Kara laughed at that, then they were both silent for a moment as she considered his words.
“I think…” She paused, “I think that I’d like to try. But I also think we should take things slowly.” She said. Then she smiled up at him, “And I think that you… should take this time to convince me.”
Oliver grinned back at her. “I think I could… see my way to doing that.” He said, and offered her his arm. She took it, and they left the shuttle bay together.
“Um… Excuse me. I was wondering whether you could help me…?” A young woman with large, dark eyes was standing nervously near Kara, fidgeting slightly.
“Can I help you?” Kara asked, giving her a friendly smile.
“I was wondering when I’ll be able to go back home. The others like me here, they say that you’ve promised people are going to be able to go home. Is that true?” The other woman asked her.
Kara nodded. “That’s true. I’ll look up when you’re scheduled for, if you want -what’s your name?” She asked.
“Ann. Ann Davis.”
Kara paged through the data on the handheld device the imperials had lent her for this very purpose. “I have you listed for five days from now. And don’t worry, someone will come to let you know where you should go when it’s time.”
“Thank you.” Ann said in relief. Kara watched her walk away.
It had been almost a month since the battle and despite wanting to be cautious, Kara would have had to agree that things were going pretty well.
There had so far been no new communications from Commander Anders’ superiors and the mysterious Ital' had so far been as good as its word, although Commander Anders was not entirely convinced that she would not run into problems later on down the road, particularly once she met with her superiors in the empire.
At the request of Anders and following her promise to release all the corps prisoners still in Earth’s solar system, Kara and Oliver had agreed to stay behind to help act as intermediaries between the prisoners and the imperial personnel, as well as to help figure out how best to resettle everyone. It was proving to be an interesting experience: while most of the people on the first ship had been from Star City and other areas of the United States, the next ships proved to have prisoner populations originating from various other countries. Thankfully, imperial translation software was more advanced than that of Earth and had been programmed with all of Earth’s languages (and while the lack of implants would have prevented them from using the translators once they were away from the ships, these could be programmed to be usable by them while on board the imperial ships), such that it was possible for Oliver and Kara to act as go-betweens with relatively little help from imperial personnel and without the kind of translation snafus that the lack of human interpreters would have entailed on back on Earth.
Kara and Oliver had arranged for messages to be sent to Diggle and Felicity, in order to reassure them that they were both all right and in order to have them cover for their absence as best they could.
They had several discussions with Commander Anders and Ital’ about what the empire’s response to recent events might be. Ital’ was confident not only that its people would agree with its recent actions but that they would be able to bring about change in the empire. For herself, Anders was not certain that any of these promises would materialize and she was dreading her next meeting with her superiors (thus far there had been no communication from them): Ital’ had on several occasions demonstrated unusual abilities and knowledge (though it was careful never to do so where others might be aware of what it was doing), but so far they had only its word that what it said was true.
Regardless of her fears however, once she had made up her mind that something was right and that she was going to follow a particular course, Anders had been as good as her word and had not let anything change her mind, which Kara could respect. (Of course, Kara admitted to herself that she probably wouldn’t have been so grateful for or admiring of the woman’s stubbornness if not for the fact that she was being stubborn in a way that dovetailed with Kara’s and Oliver’s efforts.) The fact that there had been no orders removing her from command and that no new ships had arrived in the system suggested that, in the event that Ital’ was mistaken and that her superiors were aware of what had happened, they were at least willing to keep the whole matter quiet.
These considerations were an important reason why Anders had wanted Kara in particular to be highly visible: she insisted that Kara’s presence would help her keep the local imperial troops in line. (Kara had been forced to admit that she may have had a point, as the awe she had faced from imperial personnel had been intense.) Commander Anders had also promised to send a pre-recorded transmission to Earth’s governments before departing the system, informing them of the imperial threat and making the witnesses’ eventual stories more credible.
Kara and Oliver had tried to determine what had made Kara so sick: they had discovered that it manifested exclusively in the proximity of some ships’ engines. When they questioned Commander Anders about the nature of the engines she had at first been understandably reluctant to divulge information regarding imperial military technology. When they had explained the reason behind their questions (while emphasizing that they were placing their trust in her by revealing such a weakness) she had revealed that after the destruction of its people, Krypton and its solar system had been mined rather extensively by the empire when certain substances were discovered there which proved to be quite useful power sources.
Mostly though, Oliver and Kara spent their days helping with the resettlement of the corps’ prisoners, in order to ensure that everyone was indeed released as promised. (While the imperial personnel were aware of their true identities, Kara and Oliver had asked that their names not be shared with the humans who would be resettled on Earth.) The commander’s staff had provided them with a list of all those who had been abducted and were still in Earth’s solar system, which both of them spent time validating by travelling to many other ships located throughout local space. They also spent time speaking with the former prisoners and reassuring them that they were being returned home. They also spent considerable time mediating between the former prisoners and with Anders’ people, particularly once the people came to know them and look to them to deal with the various problems which arose in large groups of frightened people.
What had been particularly surprising had been both the numbers of people abducted, which ran in the several thousands, as well as the fact that there were people of all ages, including some young children. Most of the people felt lost and afraid. Some were not in the best of health, and Oliver and Kara had quickly pointed out the need for medical personnel to oversee their care.
They had both quickly realized that theirs was a monumental task. Once their lists of names had been confirmed and corrected as needed, they had worked with Anders’ staff to establish priority lists with the most vulnerable taking precedence: one particular objective had been to return children to their parents as quickly as possible. The only exception to quick resettlement had been for those who needed medical care -a certain number of individuals had conditions which could be cured or ameliorated using imperial medicine but for which Earth medicine might not be able to provide much help and would be returned last. (In a very small number of cases Kara and Oliver, with the consent of the people involved, had been able to arrange for people who would have died without imperial medicine and for whom the treatments would be lengthy to be resettled in the empire -since the only other option was death some of these people had chosen to take the risk of doing so, despite the Commander’s warnings.)
In addition, things were complicated by the necessity of returning people to their various countries of origin in order for people not to be stranded in a strange country or locale. Children would need to be able to contact their parents or the authorities and the sick or injured would in many cases require follow-up care, such that the logistics of returning such a large number of people was complex and a massive process which consumed Kara’s and Oliver’s days.
By mutual agreement, while their days belonged to the complex task of resettling all these people, their nights belonged to them.
Every night when their long days ended, Oliver would find Kara and they would have dinner together. Some nights they roamed and explored the corridors and crannies of whatever ship they were on. On other nights they simply sat and talked about their lives, their hopes and dreams. They discovered that Commander Anders’ ship had a tiny garden and spent several evenings sitting among the plants. It was a magical time in that, despite all their worries and everything that was going on around them, those evenings they somehow felt as though they had created their own small happy universe.
So, despite everything that had happened, Kara was actually happy. Oliver seemed pretty happy too and he was as good as his word, doing everything he could to make these moments together special.
And so it happened that, on one particular night after two weeks and six months of dancing around each other, they were walking towards that tiny garden one evening when Kara told him that he had convinced her. She told him that she was willing to take the plunge on their relationship if he was.
Oliver’s reply was not delivered in words.
After several weeks of wrangling, diplomacy, and various logistical nightmares, their task was finally completed and Kara awoke in Oliver’s arms in their quarters to find that the day they would return home had arrived.
She sighed, and his arms tightened around her. “I don’t want to go either.” He said, and she laughed.
“I know. It’s weird, given everything that’s happened, but somehow this time has been kind of wonderful. Especially since there’s a lot waiting for us back home.” She said, turning to kiss his shoulder.
“I guess there’s no reason we can’t make time for this, for us, when we get back.” He said into her ear.
She turned to face him. “I support that idea. I mean, we have responsibilities, things to do… Can we promise not to let it make us forget this? Forget us?” She asked, and he smiled.
“I think that sounds like a plan.” He said, and he kissed her.
Some time later, they took stock of their spartan accommodations for the last time, then left to take the shuttle that would take them back to Earth. Back home.
Part one is here, part two is here, part three is here, part four is here, part five is here, part seven is here.
Links:
These are things I looked up when writing this story and that I found interesting. Mostly I’m having fun looking at all this stuff because I’m a nerd. I also try to get things right when writing.
-(Basically I used this site to help me with ship jargon.) Speak the language. Here is a list of terms that will help you adjust to life in the U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps. (http://www.seacadets.org/nautical-terms/)
-I have NO IDEA whether it is actually possible to escape from handcuffs. I have read online that some people claim to have done it -who knows whether it's true or not. Here are some (purely anecdotal and not the best sources) links I found on the subject. So I totally fudged on this one, I admit it.
(1) (This was one of a few videos.) 3 ways to get out of handcuffs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfE5Wjc31kA
(2) What is the secret to escaping handcuffs? https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-secret-to-escaping-handcuffs
(3) How to escape from handcuffs: https://www.wikihow.com/Escape-from-Handcuffs
-A manacle can also be a handcuff: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/manacle
-It is indeed true that our current (i.e. here on Earth!!) translation software is still not… that great. As someone whose mother tongue is actually not English, I can attest to the fact that plugging things into Google translate can sometimes produce some howlers.
(1) Wife cake and evil water. The perils of auto-translation. “Imagine a far flung land where you can catch a ride from the Jackie Chan bus stop to a restaurant called Translate Server Error, and enjoy a hearty feast of children sandwiches and wife cake all washed down with some evil water. If such a rich lunch gets stuck in your gnashers, you'll be pleased to know there are plenty of Methodists on hand to remove your teeth. And if by this point you've had enough of the bus, fly home in style on a wide-boiled aircraft. But whatever you do, please remember that when you land at the airport, eating the carpet is strictly prohibited. No, I haven't gone mad. These are all real-world examples of howlers by auto-translation software.” ( https://ontd-political.livejournal.com/11479317.html)
(2) Another example of the problems with translation software turned into humor is the recurring feature on Jimmy Fallon’s late night talk show. In this feature they have people sing well known songs that have been put through Google translate to some language other than English, then translated back. It’s actually quite funny, two examples are here.
(EDIT: Originally I had linked to videos of Jimmy Fallon's late night segment where he has guests sing versions of songs that have been Google Translated away from English and back. It looks like he and/or his people probably ripped the idea off a YouTuber though, which is pretty awful. So I'm going to link to the YouTuber's videos instead. She called herself 'Google Translate Sings' on her videos and they even called their segment 'Google Translate Songs'... Here is a tweet from the YouTuber in question, as well.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=957K58gMbPA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxoY5G5sj9Q
-I was trying to make Oliver’s fight realistic. So, while I have studied martial arts in the past I was kinda rusty. I wanted to look a few things up.
(1) Can you really break someone’s knee with a kick? The following site doesn’t suggest that you can but you can cause the knee to hyperextend which surely can’t feel very good. (https://www.fighttips.com/limb-destruction-break-your-opponents-limbs/)
(2) For those who don’t know what this is, here is a random YouTube video of someone demonstrating a roundhouse kick: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp_QVO7kYtg
(3) Having a rib cracked by a roundhouse kick happened to some people I trained with in martial arts. There are some videos on YouTube of people getting their ribs broken by roundhouse kicks. (I have chosen not to link to them, I think the world is a sad enough place as it is.)
(4) Bobbing and weaving: https://www.wikihow.com/Bob-and-Weave-in-Boxing
-Missile: https://www.britannica.com/technology/missile
-Investigating rockets - introduction: https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/resources/385-investigating-rockets-introduction
-A new kind of missile makes for even bigger explosions: https://io9.gizmodo.com/5832708/a-new-kind-of-missile-makes-for-even-bigger-explosions
-Solar System Planets: Order of the 8 (or 9) Planets: https://www.space.com/16080-solar-system-planets.html
Here is part 6 of my recent fic.
Rated NC-17. Supergirl (CW)/Arrow (CW), Kara Danvers/Oliver Queen.
Warning: Please note that this part of the story does contain some graphic violence.
I’d just like to send a shout out to the NSA, CIA, and CSIS (i.e. Canadian Security Intelligence Service, or the Canadian version of the CIA), just in case they’re wondering at my strange pattern of internet searches lately. I truly hope you guys haven’t wasted too much time investigating a lowly fanfic writer, lmao. Because yes I totally searched for how to break someone’s knee with a kick and other things just to make the written fight scene more realistic and I searched missile types and lmao oh god…
Also, please note that this is AU. My beta pointed out to me that there is an episode of ‘Supergirl’ which suggests (i.e. I had forgotten) that Kara does need to breathe. I chose to ignore this for this fic.
Finally, I’m also ignoring the fact that Clark may well (actually he probably did) tell his cousin about kryptonite. For this fic, I’m assuming that Kara has never heard of it.
-Previously-
Oliver and Commander Anders quickly reached the first of the prisoner holding areas and Oliver watched as Anders demonstrated how to work the doors' locking mechanism without an implant. (This was 'difficult but not impossible,' according to her, and would enable them to speed things up by having him free some of the prisoners while Anders freed the rest.)
He stood and waited impatiently as she worked the delicate control panel, showing him how to raise it to the machinery underneath. After considerable wrangling with the recalcitrant controls, the doors finally slid open.
As they did so, Oliver felt the deck begin to shake under his feet. Anders turned towards him, alarm on her face. “Someone has activated the engines!” She cried out, as prisoners began to stream out of their cell.
-And now-
Kara! Oliver thought in alarm. Had something happened to her?
“We must get to the bridge to discover what is happening -there should be no reason for the ship to depart at this time! I must get to the command center,” Anders was saying. Oliver shook his head.
“Something must have happened to Kara -we should see what’s happening with the engines.”
Anders was shaking her head. “She is Kryptonian -they are a very powerful race. She will be all right. I must discover who has given the order to depart.” Oliver reluctantly followed as she began to hurry down the corridor -they didn't have the time for him to get her to tell him how to get to the engine room and while he might have been able to figure it out based on the instructions she had given Kara, he wasn’t completely certain he wouldn’t lose himself in this unknown ship’s corridors.
They reached an elevator of some kind and made their way towards the command center, which was apparently located one level up. The room was small, with smooth bulkheads interspersed with various consoles whose markings appeared utterly foreign and incomprehensible to Oliver.
As they entered the compartment, Commander Anders gasped in shock: a humanoid alien with shiny grey skin was lying unconscious on the compartment floor, wearing what appeared to be manacles of some kind clamped around its upper and lower limbs.
“What is the meaning of this?” She asked in a clipped, angry voice.
Roughly ten humans were working at various consoles in the command center. One of them stood in response to Anders’ question. He was a tall reddish-haired man with freckles and pale skin, who greeted them with a cold smile and pointed what appeared to be some kind of weapon in their direction. Several of the others then stood and moved to surround them, pointing more weapons. They searched both Oliver and Anders and placed manacles around her wrists and ankles. One of the strangers gestured at Oliver, indicating that he should move off to the side of the compartment. Once he did so, his wrists were also handcuffed.
“Commander Anders.” The man’s smile was sharp enough to make one bleed, and it also held a strong element of self-satisfaction. “I truly did not think we would meet under such circumstances.”
Anders began to speak, and he cut her off, “Don’t bother trying to justify your actions, as it was all recorded via your implant. I trust you did not think the retrieval corps would let the navy interfere in our operations without taking some essential precautions -the recordings from your implant will be transmitted to your superiors and will provide us with ample justification for your… disappearance.”
He favored her with a terrible smile as she stared back in stony silence. “The empire does hate disloyalty, after all, so I’ll actually doing them a favor by removing their problem.”
“And removing your problem at the same time, evidently.” Commander Anders responded calmly and with considerable sarcasm.
The man nodded unapologetically. “Of course. As you can see, we have detained your officer -they are only unconscious, not dead. We took the liberty of stunning them. We are well aware that the true nature of your mission in this system is to investigate the corps’ operations, so your recent... disloyalty has been of great use to us. There is however one thing I would very much like to know.”
He paused, apparently for effect. “We know why you were sent, but not who. Who has become so interested in our operations?” He asked Anders.
“I don’t know.” She replied.
He shook his head. “While you may not now exactly who wrote your orders, I know enough of the navy’s operations to know that you do most assuredly have some idea of who is behind them. I want a name.”
“No.”
Her head whipped backwards when he hit her with the butt of his strange gun.
“Wrong answer, my dear.”
She shrugged, somehow managing to retain a stoic expression.
What followed was difficult to watch, as the man rained blow after blow on Anders. Oliver worked at his cuffs, trying to work his hands free. The woman who had manacled him turned to him and laughed at his efforts.
“Let me tell you something, my man. Not only will you not be able to free yourself from your restraints, but there is literally no point in trying to help. Even if you did manage to get free, you are a simple, unaugmented human -we have many augmentations which make it vanishingly unlikely that you could ever defeat one of us in combat. I would therefore advise you not to try.” She said, smiling brightly at him before returning her attention to the torture being carried out in front of them.
It lasted for about an hour. Eventually after several stops and starts, shouted questions, and attempts to cause pain using various means, it stopped. Anders was lying facedown on the deck, barely conscious. The alien humanoid was still unconscious. The man who had been beating Anders turned to Oliver. “We have been asking for days and it seems this officer of hers does not have the answers we seek. I wonder if you do, perhaps?” He asked. Oliver looked back at him calmly.
The man moved towards him, his expression menacing. “I must admit that I don’t know how you do it -merely having to use your language throughout this ‘conversation’ has been incredibly restricting. We learn to do so in order to interact with your world, of course, but it must be so *limiting*.”
“What is it you’re looking for, exactly?” Oliver interrupted bluntly.
The other man smiled and did not immediately answer.
Apparently this one is into petty displays of power, Oliver thought to himself.
“You see, little man, there are factions within our great empire. The commander and her acolyte here represent one faction. We represent another.”
He smiled again. “I suppose it doesn’t matter whether I tell you now, since none of you will be living much longer… We have been stockpiling our resources, weapons, and manpower, for some time now, because the empire is in dire need of proper leadership. As for what I would like to know… I want to know whether the good commander here said anything regarding her orders for this mission.”
He paused, the continued, “We do have the recordings of what she has said to you, but recordings can be incomplete. Context can be missed. Implants are not yet a perfect technology and can occasionally be affected by other implants and devices both internal and external. It is not very likely for top of the line military grade equipment, I will grant you, but it does happen. So I need to know what she told you, exactly.”
Oliver shrugged. “I don’t know anything. I mean, I’m just a primitive unaugmented human from a backwater planet.”
His head snapped back from the blow he received in response to his flippant comment. As expected, more followed. He let himself collapse more and more after each one, until he finally fell onto his side on the floor.
The other man stepped away from him, shrugging. “That wasn’t even a challenge, honestly.” The man said, still smirking that annoying smirk as he and his cohorts began to move purposefully around the command center, apparently readying the ship.
Lying on his side and pretending a greater degree of injury and incapacity than was actually the case, he watched carefully as the men and women who had captured them argued among themselves.
Taking advantage of their distraction, he inched closer to Anders. He heard her gasp as the discussion above them became particularly animated and realized she might be conscious. Reaching out, he shook her shoulder.
“Do you know what’s going on?” He whispered as the others continued their argument, seemingly agitated by something having to do with the ship’s controls. She turned to face him, her bruised face shocking.
“My ship!...” She began, her expression one of panic.
He squeezed her shoulder. “Please, just explain it to me.”
She shook her head, visibly trying to calm herself. “These idiots! They are panicking because they do not know how much I and the navy know -and because they are panicking they have not been paying attention to their surroundings. The retrieval corps has traditionally made use of navy staff to fly its ships -it is only very recently that they have begun to distrust us to the point that they have begun to fly their ships without our assistance. It is not surprising to me that their staff are of limited competence. They have just made a mistake -they have inadvertently armed a missile and begun a countdown to launch -their ship's systems were tracking my ship, so when it launches...”
She paused and took a deep breath. “They will destroy my ship -the navy ship I came in.”
“They could do that?” He asked, feeling very much out of his depth.
She winced. “Yes. My ship is larger and better armed, but they will not be expecting an attack from another imperial ship. I had moved the ship closer to your world when I decided to accompany the corps to the surface of your planet, so it is not far from this ship’s current position. They are at a full stop -it will take time for the engines to fully activate to either generate enough momentum to move out of its path or to generate enough power to create a strong enough shield against it. I believe they will not have enough.” Her eyes were wide with worry.
“These officers will not listen to me, and I am not certain the launch could be aborted at this late stage. If there was a way I could warn my ship and get them to activate the engines sooner, before their sensors detect the launch…” Her voice trailed off.
Oliver nodded to indicate he understood. “If you were free to move, could you contact them?” He asked, and she nodded.
“Yes. But I… do not think I will be able to free myself in time.” She thrust her chin towards the viewscreen, which now showed a large structure floating in space. “That is my ship -the launch has not yet taken place, so there might still be time. But I would need to take this group out and I am not in a condition to be able to do so.”
Oliver smiled. “Actually, I think that I can take care of that for you.” He said, and let his manacles/cuffs fall to the ground.
He smiled as Anders looked at him in shock and, without missing a beat, turned to the other humans in the room.
Pushing the pain of his own injuries aside, he vaulted over one of the instrument panels, kicking the one who had beaten him in the side. The man fell. While he was down, Oliver kicked him in the head and the man’s head lolled as he lost consciousness. Out of the corner of his eye, he noted the others advancing on him.
Kicking backwards, he hit one opponent’s knee, then elbowed another in the face. A roundhouse kick to a third was accompanied by the crunch of bone. He then vaulted over another and caught them in a choke hold while kicking out at yet another opponent. Keeping them from closing on him and being able to attack him simultaneously, he turned around and around as he kicked and punched, ducked and bobbed and weaved and danced in an explosion of violence. He was somewhat surprised when, some time later, he realized that he was the only one left standing, all of his opponents having been rendered unconscious.
There was a brief moan of pain from one, abruptly cut off.
Taking a deep breath, he pulled himself away from darkness and back to humanity.
“I guess an unaugmented human from a backwater planet can still do some damage after all,” he said drolly. “Especially when supposedly high tech cuffs aren’t much of an improvement on the Earth version,” he added as he walked over to Commander Anders and helped her to stand.
“What do you need?” He asked, and she pointed to an instrument panel. He helped her sit and waited as she punched a series of commands, then sat back.
“There. I was not able to halt the launch but I have sent an emergency transmission, warning them of the incoming missile. I am not certain... The missile is locked in and will launch in just a few moments. They will have just a few minutes, given their current position.”
She shook her head. “It may still not be enough time.”
Oliver considered this briefly, then, “Maybe, maybe not.” Moving beside her, he pointed to the instrument panel she had used to send her message. “Can this send a message to somewhere inside this ship? Like the engine room?”
Anders sucked in her breath. “I had not considered... yes!” She tapped in a few commands and pointed to the panel, “Speak.”
Leaning forward, Oliver called out, “Kara, can you hear me?”
When Kara awoke, it was to the sensation of pain and to the sound of someone calling out her name. She clapped a hand to her head, trying to quiet both sensations.
“Kara?” As her insides heaved with pain, she recognized Oliver’s voice. He wasn’t in the room -she was now awake enough to realize that much.
Painstakingly, she sat up.
“Kara? Can you hear me?” He said again, and Kara realized the sound was coming from some kind of ship’s communication.
“Oliver?” She spoke out loud, not certain he would be able to hear her.
As it turned out, he did. “Kara! We need your help. Please!”
Her mind seemed to be returning to full awareness, but the pain was still present. “What is it?” She asked.
“There’s a missile that’s just been launched from this ship -it’s heading for the commander’s ship and they won’t be able to move fast enough to avoid it. Is there anything you can do to stop it?” He asked.
She nodded, then remembered somewhat fuzzily that he couldn’t see her. “Yes, all right. I’ll see what I can do.”
Pushing to her feet, she stepped out of the engine room and stopped abruptly in her tracks.
I actually feel fine now. How strange is that? She thought, then pushed such thoughts aside to concentrate on the problem at hand.
Flying at superspeed out of the open entrance to the ship’s shuttle bay, she launched herself into space.
It’s nice to see the lack of air doesn’t bother me, she thought to herself with some amusement. Otherwise I’d be a little bit… dead right now.
She caught sight of it immediately. It was an ungainly, huge thing, and as she moved closer to it she tried to figure out how to grasp its smooth surface. In the end, she had to punch her hands through its housing, while hoping this wouldn’t detonate the missile’s payload.
She pushed, pulled, pushed, and pushed again some more.
Finally, she saw that she had changed the missile’s course. Using her enhanced vision, she could make out the second ship in the distance, and watched as the missile sailed beyond it towards the sun. There were no other objects in its path.
Turning, Kara headed back.
When the fact that Kara had saved her ship became known to her through the ship's sensors, Commander Anders closed her eyes in relief.
After a brief moment she opened her eyes and turned to Oliver. “Thank you.” She said, the relief ringing through her words.
Oliver nodded, accepting the thanks for himself, but added, “You’ll need to thank Kara. She's the one who saved your people in the end.”
Anders nodded, turning to check on her officer. The alien awoke just as she did so, then visibly winced as the manacles were removed from its wrists.
While Anders helped her still groggy friend to sit up, Oliver picked up the unconscious humans' weapons and searched them to ensure they were not hiding anything else on their persons.
It was at this moment that the ship’s lights suddenly flickered and dimmed and the various displays around them flickered or, in some cases, went dead. Anders frowned at this, apparently puzzled, then turned back to Oliver as he spoke.
“So what happens now?” Oliver asked. “I don't suppose you have anything to bind these people's hands with, or somewhere we can put them for the time being?” He asked as he looked at the cuffs he had escaped from.
Anders looked down at the unconscious people before them, her expression one of cold disdain. “It may be for the best to simply put an end to them, before they cause more... difficulties.”
Oliver shook his head. “No. It wouldn't be.”
He continued on as Anders gazed at him questioningly. “I've done the kind of thing you're suggesting. I've killed people -bad people. Doing things like that changes you, and not for the better.”
“Whatever you think you can accomplish by killing these people, it won't be worth it in the end. Trust me, I know. It may be more difficult to find another way, especially if you've already done things you regret in the past, but I've... recently been made aware that just because I did something wrong in the past doesn't mean I can't choose to change. To take another path.”
He put a hand out and gripped her arm. “Don't let them push you into doing something you'll regret. Because trust me, if you have any inkling of a conscience, you will regret it eventually if you don't at least try to find another way. There may not be one, but you have to try.”
Anders inhaled deeply as she considered, then finally nodded. “Very well. I will do so, in honor of you both.”
Oliver smiled. “Someday, you'll be glad you did.”
Anders shrugged, not entirely convinced. She moved to a control panel where she attempted another series of commands, then sighed in frustration. “Something is wrong -I can’t seem to contact my ship.” She leaned back in frustration.
Behind her, her officer blinked and came fully awake. “Did you need to send a message?” It asked.
“Yes.” Anders said, puzzled.
It leaned its head backward, closing its eyes. “You will be able to send it now.” It said, just as the lights and instruments came back to life.
Anders frowned, looking at her officer. “Did you just…?” Her voice trailed off, before she turned to the instruments before her. She tapped out a few commands, then leaned back.
“I have sent a message to my crew. They will send a team which should arrive shortly.”
“What's going to happen now?” Oliver asked.
Anders thought about her reply for a moment. Then, “I am honestly not certain. I should be able to maintain order in this system for the time being and I will do everything in my power to release your people as I promised. There is not much the corps will be able to do to gainsay my authority for the time being given our prior orders and the overwhelming strength of my ship when compared with the corps’ current presence in this system -you may be certain my ship will now be kept on alert to prevent any other events such as this.”
She sighed. “That is, as long as my ship and my crew support me. Despite the recent changes to my ship’s crew for this mission they should be loyal, particularly as I was able to keep my key personnel. There is not much I can do for those of your people who have already been taken out of this system, but I can do that much to keep my promises. As for the rest...” Her voice trailed off. “I do not believe my superiors will take what has happened lightly. I do not believe that I will be able to have the information which these corps officers gleaned from my implant suppressed -their security systems are second to none for such things, and even if it were not so a transmission may have been sent already. My superiors had suspicions regarding the corps, but my recent actions would not be well regarded -I may not have much time remaining in this posting.”
“To be honest,” she continued, “I do not know what will happen to me.”
Oliver was silent for a moment. “Have you considered the possibility of staying here? On Earth?” He asked.
Anders shook her head. “I have considered it, but no. My place is with my people -I took an oath. I will respect it.”
It was at that moment that her officer -Ital'- joined the conversation.
“There may perhaps be some additional considerations.” It said, and Anders turned towards it in surprise.
Oliver had to admit that he didn't know quite what to make of this strange being. That sense of mystery was compounded by its next words.
“You should know that there are several important facts which I have been keeping from you. Now may not be the best time to admit this, but you will need to know.”
“I am Gral.” It said, and Anders' eyes widened in shock.
The founders of the empire? Oliver thought to himself.
“There is much about my people that has been forgotten -we preferred it that way. We chose not to enmesh ourselves in your daily struggles.” It continued, its voice modulated in strange, alien tones.
“I was sent here merely as an observer. The reason being that, while we have no desire to change the degree of our involvement with you, we have seen that our silence has contributed to certain... undesirable factions moving to gain power, as well as several regrettable situations which have prompted us to act. I was sent to observe and report on events beyond our world.”
“...How? How is this possible? How could you know anything about what is going on if you have not left your world in centuries?” Anders asked, shock still evident on her face.
The one before her blinked.
“We are not like you, my dear commander.” It said gently, “We are of you but not of you.”
Anders' expression was one of extreme frustration. “What does that even mean?”
Ital' gestured expansively with its hands. “I refer to events which have been forgotten by the descendants of the races we conquered. We were the product of technological developments which led to a war which has long been forgotten by all but us.”
“Quite simply, we are what you would call machines, but the term is imperfect as it does not encompass the similarities and differences between us and you, or the complexities of what my people have become and what we have evolved to be. And to answer your question… we are aware of what has happened because you use routinely what comes from and is a part of us.”
It gestured again. “We are not without our own ways of doing things. Despite my... temporary incapacitation at the hands of these humans, I have... arranged for a virus of sorts. Your superiors will not learn of what happened to you on the human world, because this is what I have chosen -neither these humans or their recordings will retain the memory of what you have done here. There is still much for you to accomplish in the empire, Sia Anders, and it will not be achieved in a prison cell. For the rest... all I ask is to remain as I was in order to continue to observe.”
There was silence in the room for a moment, as Anders processed what she had just learned. Finally, when she spoke, it was in a hushed tone. “I can't believe this.” She said. “All this time, and you were spying on me? On us?”
Ital' shook its head. “We had to venture out if we were to discover what has been taking place in the empire. My presence among your crew and your lack of knowledge of it is no reflection on your capacity or your leadership.”
Anders closed her eyes, suddenly appearing very tired. Then, “All right. I do not believe I have a choice and I do require your assistance. I will allow you to stay, so long as you do not prevent me from doing what I must.”
Ital' gave a short, sitting half bow in acquiescence of her request. “I did promise to follow your orders, and will do so insofar as they do not conflict with the well-being of the empire or any of its peoples.” It said, and Anders blinked in surprise as the rooms' lights fluctuated. “I believe you will find that the other corps staff on this ship have been incapacitated. They will not retain knowledge of their fellow crewmembers' actions on this day -your ship's crew will arrive momentarily and will be able to assist you in calming the corps’ human prisoners.”
After another moment to ponder what she had just learned, Anders shook herself, putting imperial machinations aside to deal with more immediate considerations. She turned to Oliver, “I wish to ask whether you and Kara would consider staying for a time, in order to assist with returning your fellow humans to your world.” She asked, turning to Oliver.
Oliver nodded, “Of course.”
Ital' spoke again, “I was glad to meet with you both -none of us had thought that any of Krypton still survived. I feel I should however warn you -her presence here will also act as a powerful symbol to the people of the empire. It is a symbolism that some in the empire may not care for.”
Oliver nodded, “I understand. Now though, I think I'd just like to see how Kara's doing. Well, once your people get here, anyways.”
Ital' blinked in that strange way it had, then, “Of course,” it said, as they all settled in to wait.
A short time later Oliver was running through the ship’s corridors, following Anders’ directions to the ship’s shuttle bay. Once there he waited impatiently for her to come. When he finally saw Kara, she had passed through a decontamination cycle and her clothes, which had been both singed as a result of her efforts and deemed to be a hazard, had been replaced by some kind of overlarge jumpsuit. Around them, several people were going about the business of making repairs and carrying out maintenance on the ship’s shuttles.
He smiled at her as she approached, “What you did was… incredible.”
Kara laughed, “Yeah, it was pretty cool, wasn’t it?”
Oliver shook his head. “Nope. ‘Pretty cool’ means you just passed a new level on some video game or something. What you did… that was incredible.”
Kara shrugged at that, apparently embarrassed at being so praised.
“Was everyone all right? What happened, exactly?” Kara asked.
Oliver shrugged. “It’s a bit of a long story. If you want, we could go see about getting something to eat and I could tell you about it. I also want to know what happened to you, too, by the way. What happened with the engines?”
Kara winced. “Finding something to eat sounds great -and it’s complicated. I don’t know that I understand what happened, myself. I think I passed out.”
Oliver frowned. “Are you sure you’re all right?”
Kara nodded. “I feel just fine now. We’ll try to figure it out later, I guess. For now, taking a lunch break sounds really, really nice.” He nodded in reply.
As Kara stepped towards the door, Oliver put out a hand to stop her. Maybe this wasn’t the best place or time for it, but no one was paying any attention to them and he desperately wanted to say this now, before events got away from them again.
“I just wanted to ask you something.” He said.
Kara frowned, “What’s wrong?” She asked.
Oliver shook his head. “Nothing’s wrong. I… just wanted to say that I…” He winced. “This isn’t coming out right.”
“What are you trying to say?” Kara asked.
“I wanted to ask you if you’d consider giving me -giving *us*- another chance. I know I didn’t react well when I learned about your secret. I know I gave you a hard time. I guess I’m hoping you can forgive me for that.” He said.
Kara sighed, “I don’t know, Oliver. Until recently that really wasn’t what you wanted. What’s changed?”
“I guess that’s a fair question.” Oliver replied. “The answer is that I guess I needed time -time to accept the revelations about you. Time to think about the fact that I have trouble trusting people. Aaanndd… Like I said before, John told me I was being an ass. And I might’ve realized that he was right.”
Kara laughed at that, then they were both silent for a moment as she considered his words.
“I think…” She paused, “I think that I’d like to try. But I also think we should take things slowly.” She said. Then she smiled up at him, “And I think that you… should take this time to convince me.”
Oliver grinned back at her. “I think I could… see my way to doing that.” He said, and offered her his arm. She took it, and they left the shuttle bay together.
“Um… Excuse me. I was wondering whether you could help me…?” A young woman with large, dark eyes was standing nervously near Kara, fidgeting slightly.
“Can I help you?” Kara asked, giving her a friendly smile.
“I was wondering when I’ll be able to go back home. The others like me here, they say that you’ve promised people are going to be able to go home. Is that true?” The other woman asked her.
Kara nodded. “That’s true. I’ll look up when you’re scheduled for, if you want -what’s your name?” She asked.
“Ann. Ann Davis.”
Kara paged through the data on the handheld device the imperials had lent her for this very purpose. “I have you listed for five days from now. And don’t worry, someone will come to let you know where you should go when it’s time.”
“Thank you.” Ann said in relief. Kara watched her walk away.
It had been almost a month since the battle and despite wanting to be cautious, Kara would have had to agree that things were going pretty well.
There had so far been no new communications from Commander Anders’ superiors and the mysterious Ital' had so far been as good as its word, although Commander Anders was not entirely convinced that she would not run into problems later on down the road, particularly once she met with her superiors in the empire.
At the request of Anders and following her promise to release all the corps prisoners still in Earth’s solar system, Kara and Oliver had agreed to stay behind to help act as intermediaries between the prisoners and the imperial personnel, as well as to help figure out how best to resettle everyone. It was proving to be an interesting experience: while most of the people on the first ship had been from Star City and other areas of the United States, the next ships proved to have prisoner populations originating from various other countries. Thankfully, imperial translation software was more advanced than that of Earth and had been programmed with all of Earth’s languages (and while the lack of implants would have prevented them from using the translators once they were away from the ships, these could be programmed to be usable by them while on board the imperial ships), such that it was possible for Oliver and Kara to act as go-betweens with relatively little help from imperial personnel and without the kind of translation snafus that the lack of human interpreters would have entailed on back on Earth.
Kara and Oliver had arranged for messages to be sent to Diggle and Felicity, in order to reassure them that they were both all right and in order to have them cover for their absence as best they could.
They had several discussions with Commander Anders and Ital’ about what the empire’s response to recent events might be. Ital’ was confident not only that its people would agree with its recent actions but that they would be able to bring about change in the empire. For herself, Anders was not certain that any of these promises would materialize and she was dreading her next meeting with her superiors (thus far there had been no communication from them): Ital’ had on several occasions demonstrated unusual abilities and knowledge (though it was careful never to do so where others might be aware of what it was doing), but so far they had only its word that what it said was true.
Regardless of her fears however, once she had made up her mind that something was right and that she was going to follow a particular course, Anders had been as good as her word and had not let anything change her mind, which Kara could respect. (Of course, Kara admitted to herself that she probably wouldn’t have been so grateful for or admiring of the woman’s stubbornness if not for the fact that she was being stubborn in a way that dovetailed with Kara’s and Oliver’s efforts.) The fact that there had been no orders removing her from command and that no new ships had arrived in the system suggested that, in the event that Ital’ was mistaken and that her superiors were aware of what had happened, they were at least willing to keep the whole matter quiet.
These considerations were an important reason why Anders had wanted Kara in particular to be highly visible: she insisted that Kara’s presence would help her keep the local imperial troops in line. (Kara had been forced to admit that she may have had a point, as the awe she had faced from imperial personnel had been intense.) Commander Anders had also promised to send a pre-recorded transmission to Earth’s governments before departing the system, informing them of the imperial threat and making the witnesses’ eventual stories more credible.
Kara and Oliver had tried to determine what had made Kara so sick: they had discovered that it manifested exclusively in the proximity of some ships’ engines. When they questioned Commander Anders about the nature of the engines she had at first been understandably reluctant to divulge information regarding imperial military technology. When they had explained the reason behind their questions (while emphasizing that they were placing their trust in her by revealing such a weakness) she had revealed that after the destruction of its people, Krypton and its solar system had been mined rather extensively by the empire when certain substances were discovered there which proved to be quite useful power sources.
Mostly though, Oliver and Kara spent their days helping with the resettlement of the corps’ prisoners, in order to ensure that everyone was indeed released as promised. (While the imperial personnel were aware of their true identities, Kara and Oliver had asked that their names not be shared with the humans who would be resettled on Earth.) The commander’s staff had provided them with a list of all those who had been abducted and were still in Earth’s solar system, which both of them spent time validating by travelling to many other ships located throughout local space. They also spent time speaking with the former prisoners and reassuring them that they were being returned home. They also spent considerable time mediating between the former prisoners and with Anders’ people, particularly once the people came to know them and look to them to deal with the various problems which arose in large groups of frightened people.
What had been particularly surprising had been both the numbers of people abducted, which ran in the several thousands, as well as the fact that there were people of all ages, including some young children. Most of the people felt lost and afraid. Some were not in the best of health, and Oliver and Kara had quickly pointed out the need for medical personnel to oversee their care.
They had both quickly realized that theirs was a monumental task. Once their lists of names had been confirmed and corrected as needed, they had worked with Anders’ staff to establish priority lists with the most vulnerable taking precedence: one particular objective had been to return children to their parents as quickly as possible. The only exception to quick resettlement had been for those who needed medical care -a certain number of individuals had conditions which could be cured or ameliorated using imperial medicine but for which Earth medicine might not be able to provide much help and would be returned last. (In a very small number of cases Kara and Oliver, with the consent of the people involved, had been able to arrange for people who would have died without imperial medicine and for whom the treatments would be lengthy to be resettled in the empire -since the only other option was death some of these people had chosen to take the risk of doing so, despite the Commander’s warnings.)
In addition, things were complicated by the necessity of returning people to their various countries of origin in order for people not to be stranded in a strange country or locale. Children would need to be able to contact their parents or the authorities and the sick or injured would in many cases require follow-up care, such that the logistics of returning such a large number of people was complex and a massive process which consumed Kara’s and Oliver’s days.
By mutual agreement, while their days belonged to the complex task of resettling all these people, their nights belonged to them.
Every night when their long days ended, Oliver would find Kara and they would have dinner together. Some nights they roamed and explored the corridors and crannies of whatever ship they were on. On other nights they simply sat and talked about their lives, their hopes and dreams. They discovered that Commander Anders’ ship had a tiny garden and spent several evenings sitting among the plants. It was a magical time in that, despite all their worries and everything that was going on around them, those evenings they somehow felt as though they had created their own small happy universe.
So, despite everything that had happened, Kara was actually happy. Oliver seemed pretty happy too and he was as good as his word, doing everything he could to make these moments together special.
And so it happened that, on one particular night after two weeks and six months of dancing around each other, they were walking towards that tiny garden one evening when Kara told him that he had convinced her. She told him that she was willing to take the plunge on their relationship if he was.
Oliver’s reply was not delivered in words.
After several weeks of wrangling, diplomacy, and various logistical nightmares, their task was finally completed and Kara awoke in Oliver’s arms in their quarters to find that the day they would return home had arrived.
She sighed, and his arms tightened around her. “I don’t want to go either.” He said, and she laughed.
“I know. It’s weird, given everything that’s happened, but somehow this time has been kind of wonderful. Especially since there’s a lot waiting for us back home.” She said, turning to kiss his shoulder.
“I guess there’s no reason we can’t make time for this, for us, when we get back.” He said into her ear.
She turned to face him. “I support that idea. I mean, we have responsibilities, things to do… Can we promise not to let it make us forget this? Forget us?” She asked, and he smiled.
“I think that sounds like a plan.” He said, and he kissed her.
Some time later, they took stock of their spartan accommodations for the last time, then left to take the shuttle that would take them back to Earth. Back home.
Part one is here, part two is here, part three is here, part four is here, part five is here, part seven is here.
Links:
These are things I looked up when writing this story and that I found interesting. Mostly I’m having fun looking at all this stuff because I’m a nerd. I also try to get things right when writing.
-(Basically I used this site to help me with ship jargon.) Speak the language. Here is a list of terms that will help you adjust to life in the U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps. (http://www.seacadets.org/nautical-terms/)
-I have NO IDEA whether it is actually possible to escape from handcuffs. I have read online that some people claim to have done it -who knows whether it's true or not. Here are some (purely anecdotal and not the best sources) links I found on the subject. So I totally fudged on this one, I admit it.
(1) (This was one of a few videos.) 3 ways to get out of handcuffs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfE5Wjc31kA
(2) What is the secret to escaping handcuffs? https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-secret-to-escaping-handcuffs
(3) How to escape from handcuffs: https://www.wikihow.com/Escape-from-Handcuffs
-A manacle can also be a handcuff: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/manacle
-It is indeed true that our current (i.e. here on Earth!!) translation software is still not… that great. As someone whose mother tongue is actually not English, I can attest to the fact that plugging things into Google translate can sometimes produce some howlers.
(1) Wife cake and evil water. The perils of auto-translation. “Imagine a far flung land where you can catch a ride from the Jackie Chan bus stop to a restaurant called Translate Server Error, and enjoy a hearty feast of children sandwiches and wife cake all washed down with some evil water. If such a rich lunch gets stuck in your gnashers, you'll be pleased to know there are plenty of Methodists on hand to remove your teeth. And if by this point you've had enough of the bus, fly home in style on a wide-boiled aircraft. But whatever you do, please remember that when you land at the airport, eating the carpet is strictly prohibited. No, I haven't gone mad. These are all real-world examples of howlers by auto-translation software.” ( https://ontd-political.livejournal.com/11479317.html)
(2) Another example of the problems with translation software turned into humor is the recurring feature on Jimmy Fallon’s late night talk show. In this feature they have people sing well known songs that have been put through Google translate to some language other than English, then translated back. It’s actually quite funny, two examples are here.
(EDIT: Originally I had linked to videos of Jimmy Fallon's late night segment where he has guests sing versions of songs that have been Google Translated away from English and back. It looks like he and/or his people probably ripped the idea off a YouTuber though, which is pretty awful. So I'm going to link to the YouTuber's videos instead. She called herself 'Google Translate Sings' on her videos and they even called their segment 'Google Translate Songs'... Here is a tweet from the YouTuber in question, as well.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=957K58gMbPA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxoY5G5sj9Q
-I was trying to make Oliver’s fight realistic. So, while I have studied martial arts in the past I was kinda rusty. I wanted to look a few things up.
(1) Can you really break someone’s knee with a kick? The following site doesn’t suggest that you can but you can cause the knee to hyperextend which surely can’t feel very good. (https://www.fighttips.com/limb-destruction-break-your-opponents-limbs/)
(2) For those who don’t know what this is, here is a random YouTube video of someone demonstrating a roundhouse kick: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp_QVO7kYtg
(3) Having a rib cracked by a roundhouse kick happened to some people I trained with in martial arts. There are some videos on YouTube of people getting their ribs broken by roundhouse kicks. (I have chosen not to link to them, I think the world is a sad enough place as it is.)
(4) Bobbing and weaving: https://www.wikihow.com/Bob-and-Weave-in-Boxing
-Missile: https://www.britannica.com/technology/missile
-Investigating rockets - introduction: https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/resources/385-investigating-rockets-introduction
-A new kind of missile makes for even bigger explosions: https://io9.gizmodo.com/5832708/a-new-kind-of-missile-makes-for-even-bigger-explosions
-Solar System Planets: Order of the 8 (or 9) Planets: https://www.space.com/16080-solar-system-planets.html