All Things Inherit – Seven – DizzyDrea

Chris settled into the chair behind his father’s desk, feeling a little awkward and out of place with the fresh perspective it gave him. Not just about all the times he’d sat there as his father lectured him or grilled him over some minute detail he’d gotten wrong on an exam, but also, just the odd feeling of being the head of the family and the weight of it that his father carried with ease.

He wasn’t looking forward to the day his father passed, though he knew it would come someday. Given his life and profession, it would probably come when he was on the other side of the galaxy and unable to get home to say goodbye.

Shaking off those maudlin thoughts, he keyed up his father’s comm system and entered the access codes for Starfleet. After the confrontation with the Sentinel the day before, he’d come to the decision that they needed to talk to someone without a tight connection to the Cascadia Foundation and their agenda. Len had offered to reach out to her mentor, but Chris had declined. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust her assessment of the woman, but more that he didn’t want to put her in a dangerous position.

Robert April’s smiling face appeared on his screen, drawing a smile out of him. “Chris, it’s good to see you up and about. How are you doing?”

“I’m good, Admiral,” Chris said. “Getting stronger by the day. The yoga really helps, which is all kinds of weird, but I’m trying to just roll with it.”

“That’s not your usual MO,” April said. “You’re usually pushing hard to have things exactly as you want them.”

“Not this time,” Chris said. “I’m pretty much out of my element with both the rehab and the Sentinel training. In this case, it’s better to defer to the expert than to try to do things my own way.”

“That’s good,” April said. “I was worried you’d have a setback because you’re too stubborn to take anyone’s advice.”

“Well, I can’t say I haven’t had setbacks,” Chris said. He’d had a hellacious headache when he woke up that morning, probably because he’d overextended his empathic abilities the day before. There was, he was learning, always a price to pay for pushing too hard. “But I’m working hard to exercise what little patience I have. It helps that I feel safe here. I don’t feel like I need to push myself to get back to normal just to protect myself. The security detail helped, so thanks for that.”

“Of course,” April said. “You’re still a member of Starfleet. We take care of our own, you know that. Was that your only reason for calling?”

“No,” Chris said. He frowned. “I had another visit from a rogue Sentinel and Guide yesterday. I don’t know whether they were from the San Francisco Center or from someplace else. It’s making me itchy not knowing, but the Council has assured us that they’re working to root out the corruption, no matter how far it has spread.”

“That’s gotta be frustrating for you,” April said.

“It is,” Chris said. “So, I was wondering if you know of any Sentinel and Guide pairs within Starfleet that aren’t controlled by the Foundation.”

“Sentinels within the fleet tend to be loyal to Starfleet first,” April said. “I’ve talked to more than one pair that has said the Foundation doesn’t even register on their list of priorities. Let me see if any of them are near Earth and able to talk to you. I’m assuming you’d prefer an in-person conversation.”

“Yeah, that would be my preference,” Chris said. “It’s easier to conceal motivations over a comm, and right now, I’d rather have as much control over the conversation as I can.”

“I understand,” April said. “I’ll let you know when I find someone, so you’re not taken off guard.”

“Thanks,” Chris said. “I find I like surprises less and less the more I learn about my senses and capabilities.”

“You’ve never been overly fond of surprises anyway,” April said, chuckling. “Speaking of which, I’ve changed your status in the database. I wouldn’t want you to go looking at your own service record and having a heart attack when it shows you’re a Sentinel.”

“I don’t think I would have a heart attack, but I’m still adjusting to the idea, so thanks for the warning,” Chris said. “I have a feeling I’ll have one more status update before I leave Montana, so be ready for that.”

“Your Guide?” April asked.

Chris nodded. “We haven’t talked about it, but I can’t imagine it being anyone but Doctor McCoy. It’s taking a monumental effort on my part not to just throw her over my shoulder and hole up somewhere for a few days.”

“You should probably make time for that conversation sooner rather than later,” April said, his smile growing wider. “I don’t know her well, but I’d say she wouldn’t react well to you going all caveman on her.”

“I didn’t say I was going to do it,” Chris said. “I like my anatomy just as it is, thank you.”

April laughed. “Smart man. And when you’re ready, you can let me know what you want to do next.”

“Do next?” Chris asked, utterly bewildered.

“Chris, you’re a Sentinel now,” April said, loads of patience in his tone. “Generally, Sentinels can write their own ticket. You don’t have to go back to Enterprise if you don’t feel it fits your mandate. You can have pretty much any position in the fleet. Well, except mine. Unless you can talk Archer into retiring, in which case, I’ll take his chair, and you can have mine.”

“I think I would be utterly bored in a desk job, but thanks for that,” Chris said. He was glad it was April who was next in line to be head of Starfleet. Admiral Marcus had been the obvious choice for a while, but ‘Fleet Sec had discovered that he’d been plotting to get rid of Archer for some time, so they’d arrested him and thrown him in an offworld prison somewhere. “I haven’t really thought about it. I just assumed I’d be headed back to the Enterprise, honestly.”

“Well, if you and the doctor do bond, you’ll want to talk it over with her,” April said. “She’s got… opinions about space travel, so you’ll want to take that into consideration. From what I understand, having an unhappy Guide on one’s hands is potentially life-ruining.”

Chris shuddered. “Yeah, even the thought of Len being unhappy leaves me cold. Though she’s already assuming that she’ll be going with me on whatever ship I’m assigned to next, so I don’t think it’ll be an issue. But I’ll make sure we talk about it.”

“Good idea,” April said. “Anything else you need?”

“Nothing comes to mind,” Chris said. “I’ve got everything I need to get back on my feet. I’ll keep you posted on my progress.”

“Thanks,” April said. “It’s good to hear from you. Take care of yourself and that lovely Guide of yours.”

Chris laughed. “Will do. Thanks, Admiral.”

The comm winked out, and Chris sat back. He knew he needed to talk to Len about what was brewing between them, but he needed more information first. He couldn’t protect her, on Earth or out in the fleet, if he didn’t understand the lay of the land.

The smell of fresh bread wafted through the air, making his mouth water. Helena had told them they were having deli sandwiches for lunch, so she’d probably made a fresh loaf of bread. His stomach rumbled, letting him know it had been hours since breakfast.

He pushed himself up and out of his father’s desk chair, pausing until he felt his balance stabilize before he headed for the kitchen.

~0~

Three days later, Chris and Len were sitting in the living room, waiting on their guests. Saulter had just notified him that the Sentinel and Guide that Admiral April had sent had arrived. Chris was on high alert, extending his hearing as far as he reasonably could so he could hear the pair as they were escorted up to the house.

“Hey, relax,” Len said.

She had her slim fingers wrapped around his wrist, trying to ground him so he didn’t get lost in one sense and zone out. It had happened a couple of times, in the beginning when he’d been testing his limits. Turned out, he had very few. It had freaked him out, but Len seemed unsurprised. She’d told him that it wasn’t uncommon for those who came online without prior knowledge of their status to have powerful senses because they simply didn’t know there were any limits.

“I’m fine,” Chris said absently as he listened to the approaching group.

Len snorted. “You’re anything but fine. They’re not here to invade your territory or take you away. They don’t mean us any harm. Everything’s going to be fine.”

“Considering what happened the last time a Sentinel came to the house, I think I have every right to be nervous about how this is going to go,” Chris muttered.

“And you’d be correct.”

Chris looked up to see Saulter entering the room with two men behind him. One was shorter and stockier, with salt-and-pepper hair and a charming smile. The other man was tall and rangy, with a shock of red hair and an easy smile. Probably the Guide, if he had to guess, which was interesting and challenged some of his assumptions.

He stood up, pulling Len with him. “What am I correct about, exactly?”

“You are right to be wary of those who enter your territory, invited or not,” the Sentinel said. “As a new Sentinel, you are hypervigilant about your surroundings and the people within your sphere because you have so few defenses.”

“I’m not exactly defenseless here,” Chris said.

The Sentinel smiled. “Of course not. Nature provides, most especially for those of us who were unprepared for our circumstances.”

His accent was French, which was interesting. Very few people on Earth had accents anymore because English had become the universal language planetwide. Even those who learned their native tongue did so alongside English lessons.

Chris took the measure of both men, allowing his empathy to open up just a little, even though Len had advised him to keep it locked down since he’d over-exerted himself recently. She huffed when she realized what he was doing, but when he glanced at her, she merely nodded, understanding his need to evaluate the men in front of him.

The Sentinel tilted his head, a small smile drifting over his face even as his Guide took his wrist and edged closer.

“My apologies,” Chris said. “I need to know whether I can trust you, and this is the fastest way.”

“No apologies needed, Captain,” the Guide said. “As I understand it from Admiral April, there have been two attempts to abduct you since you came online. That’s enough to make even a mundane slightly paranoid.”

“Admiral April sends his regards,” The Sentinel said. “If that makes any difference at all.”

“It does,” Chris said. “I’ve always trusted the Admiral, and that hasn’t changed since I’ve come online. Please, sit down.”

“Thank you,” the Guide said. They settled together on the loveseat adjacent to the couch Chris and Len had claimed. “My name is Commander Hugo Gallatin, and this is my Sentinel, Commander Remy Martin.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you both,” Chris said, and found he meant it. “I’m Christopher Pike, as you know. This is Doctor Eleanor McCoy.”

“Doctor McCoy,” Gallatin said in his cultured British accent. “I’ve been looking forward to meeting you since Admiral April asked it of us. Your work on Delta radiation was stellar. The Nobel Prize was much deserved.”

“Thank you,” Len said. “The dossier Admiral April sent to us said you were in the sciences division, but not much else.”

“I’m a bio-mechanics researcher,” Gallatin said. “I received my MD from Oxford, and a Master’s degree in bio-mechanics at Starfleet Academy.”

“He’s rather overeducated, in my estimation,” Martin said with a sly smile at his Guide.

“Ha, no such thing,” Len said. “I took on a minor in mechanical engineering at Emory once I realized my Delta radiation project was going to need some sort of equipment as proof of concept.”

“I didn’t know that,” Chris said, turning to her. “So, when you said you helped design the machine you used on me, you meant that literally.”

“I worked with a team at MedTech Enterprises, but yes, I meant that literally,” she said.

“Well, aren’t you just full of surprises?” Chris said with a smile. He turned back to the Sentinel, one eyebrow raised. “And you?”

“I went to the Academy straight out of school,” Martin said. “I have degrees in Computer System Dynamics and Systems Operations.”

“So, maybe a little overeducated yourself, huh?” Chris said.

Martin chuckled. “One of the reasons Hugo and I were well matched, both in personality and temperament, was that we both value lifelong learning. I am currently serving in Fleet Security, though I have served in Operations in the past.”

“Which do you prefer?” Chris asked, mildly curious.

“Security,” both he and Gallatin said at the same time. They smiled at each other, but it was Martin who elaborated. “My Sentinel instincts lend themselves toward security work, though I thrived in both areas. I found that after I’d come online, security just suited me better.

“Makes sense,” Chris said. He adjusted himself so that he was pressing his shoulder into Len, which she didn’t seem to mind. “Did Admiral April tell you why we asked to speak to you?”

“He said that you have questions about how Sentinels and Guides function within the fleet,” Gallatin said. “And concerns about the Foundation and how much control they have over the Sentinel and Guide population on Earth.”

“I have a great many concerns about that,” Chris said. “Particularly as it relates to my ability to function without interference from the Foundation. I don’t like that they thought they could control me through a Guide of their choosing, or that they assumed they could bring me around to their way of thinking. Is that sort of thing pervasive in the community?”

The two men shared a look, but it was Martin who spoke. “It has been my experience that the Foundation thinks it has more control than it actually does. Many Sentinels are loyal to the organization they serve, be it the local police, their country’s military, or a hospital, just for example.”

“The same is true of Starfleet,” Gallatin said, picking up his Sentinel’s line of thought. “Though I would say that Sentinels and Guides in Starfleet are perhaps more loyal to that organization than even the ones serving Earth-bound organizations.”

“Why is that?” Chris said. “What makes Starfleet different?”

“The protection of the planet is the highest calling for a Sentinel,” Martin said. “There is no greater responsibility than to protect the home we all share. In that equation, the Foundation has no place. My Guide, my family, and Starfleet are my priorities. I owe the Foundation nothing because they can offer me nothing of value beyond political posturing and—as we’ve learned recently—corruption on a level we’d once thought impossible.”

“Our best guess is that you were coveted specifically because of your advanced empathy,” Gallatin said. “It’s a rare find among Sentinels. More and more are coming online with a sixth developed sense, but very few of them have advanced empathy roughly on par with a Guide. As a result, we believe they won’t stop attempting to take custody of you.”

“Even if they tried, I would never cooperate with them, no matter what they asked me to do,” Chris said. “So why keep trying?”

“They think they can control you with a Guide,” Len said. “Or they have some other means—a drug or a suppression cuff, for example—that would allow them to exert some measure of control over you, so they could bend you to their will.”

“Which makes you a target as well, Doctor,” Gallatin said. “You are a powerful Guide in your own right, and at the moment, you’re well-entrenched in the captain’s life. That makes you attractive to them as a leverage point.”

“We’re not bonded,” Len said. “We’ve not even discussed it yet.”

“You needn’t be bonded to be at risk,” Gallatin said. “You represent an obstacle as much as an opportunity.”

“They’re assuming they’d have to either go through her to get to me or try to leverage her to their way of thinking so they could control me,” Chris said. “The Guide they brought a few days ago was weak, empathically speaking, compared to Len. I could feel it.”

“It’s quite likely you’d have burned out a low-level Guide in a matter of days if they’d tried to force a bonding,” Gallatin said. “Even though there’s no rating system in place, it’s generally accepted that a Guide who is weaker simply doesn’t have enough control of their abilities to be able to support a strong Sentinel.”

“See, that’s where you lose me,” Chris said. “I always thought there was some sort of rating system, so people know what they’re getting with a Sentinel or Guide.”

“All Sentinels and Guides have the same access to the psionic plane,” Martin said, speaking for the first time in a while. “As such, we all have the same gifts. It is our belief in our own ability to use those gifts that determines how strong we are.”

“So, you’re saying that every Sentinel or Guide is capable of being powerful, and it’s their own… psyche that’s holding them back?” Chris said incredulously. “That sounds too easy.”

“Perhaps, but it’s no less true,” Gallatin said. “When you trust yourself and your senses, you can do with them whatever you need to. Some fear the gifts they’ve been given, and that impacts their ability to use those gifts.”

“It’s not uncommon for the strongest among us to be the ones who came online when they weren’t expecting to,” Martin said. “Some are fearful of the power they’ve been given, but some simply don’t see the limits that others place on themselves.”

“Len said something similar the other day,” Chris said. “Frankly, I’m having a hard time wrapping my brain around that.”

“And that is precisely why you’ve embraced your gifts and become such a powerful Sentinel,” Gallatin said. “You were an impressive man before this happened, comfortable in your own skin and accepting of the power you’d been entrusted with. That’s transferred to your Sentinel abilities without conscious thought. It serves you well to be so accepting. Your Sentinel abilities will allow you to protect your Guide, your ship, and your world.”

“In that order,” Martin said, as though he were reading Chris’ mind.

“What a mess,” Chris muttered. “So, how does this impact Starfleet’s Sentinels? You’ve said you don’t owe allegiance to the Foundation, but is this going to cause issues in the future?”

“You may not be aware, but the Foundation’s leadership has acknowledged that their lax oversight has created pockets of corruption,” Gallatin said. “As a result, they are in discussions to transfer management of Earth’s Sentinel and Guide population to the Federation, which already has an oversight organization. It’s the right thing to do, particularly because there are Sentinels and Guides on Earth colonies all over the galaxy that are vulnerable to corruption due to the terrible situation here on Earth.”

Chris shifted in his seat. “That… doesn’t sit well with me. Those Sentinels are on the frontier, for all intents and purposes. They’re our first line of defense when it comes to the Federation’s enemies. We can’t just leave them unprotected.”

“Which is why many believe it’s time to join the Federation’s S&G Council,” Martin said. “But more importantly, it may be the reason why so many Sentinels are coming online and joining Starfleet. We are flocking to the stars in greater numbers every year. Our mandate is shifting from Earth to the stars, Captain Pike.”

“I know,” Chris said. “I can feel it. Being on Earth and staying with my family has been wonderful, but I feel the pull to the stars like never before. Like it’s my duty to find and protect burgeoning Sentinel and Guide populations out there.”

“You may also be feeling pulled back to space because, instinctually, you recognize that the only place you’ll be safe going forward is onboard your own ship,” Martin said.

Chris and Len shared a glance. “I suspect you might be right, but that’s a conversation Len and I will have to have before I make any decisions on my future. As it was recently pointed out to me, one doesn’t court war in one’s own home if it can be avoided.”

Martin smiled. “You are wise beyond your years, Captain.”

“Speaking of, if I requested it of Admiral April, would you two be willing to join me aboard Enterprise?” Chris asked.

Martin and Gallatin shared a look, and Chris could see a whole conversation happening in head tilts and eyebrows. He wondered if he and Len would get there. As if she were reading his mind, she nudged him with his own shoulder, rewarding him with a smile when he glanced her way.

“Are you certain you trust us enough to invite us aboard your ship?” Martin asked.

“Yes, I am,” Chris said without hesitation. “I realize I need someone to teach me the finer points of being a Sentinel, particularly being a Sentinel in Starfleet. Len’s been working with me on my senses, but the more teachers I have, the better. Plus, I think I’d do better if I had a Sentinel or two under my command.”

“Not a surprise,” Gallatin said. “And yes, we’d be willing to sign on. Our loyalty and whatever knowledge we have is yours for as long as you require it.”

“This is the Alpha thing, right?” Chris asked.

Martin chuckled. “Yes, it is the ‘Alpha thing,’ as you so eloquently put it. It is our privilege to serve such a powerful Alpha, and in so doing, to serve our community.”

“Well, then, welcome to the team,” Chris said. “You boys interested in some home cooking? I think I could talk my stepmother into feeding you.”

“I cook for us most nights,” Martin said. “But it would be nice to have a meal with friends that I didn’t have to cook.”

“You and I need to have a long conversation about that,” Chris said as he stood up, bringing Len with him. “I love cooking. We should trade recipes and tips.”

Martin’s face lit up at that, drawing a groan out of Gallatin. “Good lord, there he goes. We’ll have a bugger of a time dragging him out of the kitchen now.”

“That’s okay,” Len said. “You and I can share a bottle of wine and commiserate.”

Gallatin laughed. “That’s a deal I’ll gladly make. Perhaps you can tell me more about your Delta radiation treatment. I confess to being rather curious about it all.”

Conversation flowed easily as the four of them moved toward the kitchen and the smell of Helena’s cooking. Chris was relieved that they got along so well. Somehow, he felt safer just having the other Sentinel in his space, though he couldn’t quite figure out why.

“You look good like this,” Len said quietly as she sidled up next to him just short of the kitchen. “You trust them to watch your back, and that’s relaxed you more than even being home has. It’s good.”

“Thanks,” Chris said, taking her hand and squeezing it. “It feels good, actually. It feels… right.”

~0~

Cast (from top left):
Anson Mount, David Strathairn, Adrian Holmes, Jess Bush, Zachary Quinto, Sam Neill, Sela Ward, Jean Reno, Damian Lewis, Stana Katic