Star Crossed Teaser: Epilogue

I sat down, turning on my computer. “J’ran! How are you doing?” I asked, seeing his smiling face.

“I’m good. Very good,” he answered. “I have news for you. Some bad. Some good.”

“Well, let me hear the bad news first,” I said, almost afraid to hear what he had to say.

“The Saratoga was traveling past the Gamella’an system. They checked Gamel III for any sort of humanoid life signs. There weren’t any. They assembled an away team to check. The team found the remains of Caius about ten kilometers from his camp. He had been dead for some time, being crushed by a fallen tree during a storm.”

“Have you informed Counselor Marcusi?” I asked, saddened for the death of the brother of one of my closest friends and most-trusted advisors.

“I’ll contact him after I finish my discussion with you,” J’ran said, his face grim.

“No. No, I’ll do it. Marcusi deserves to hear this from me and from Nirabelle,” I muttered. I blew out a breath, looking back at him. “Now, the good news?”

“I’ve met a mate,” he blushed, his spots glowing. “A Turulian/Human woman. Her name is T’Paal.”

“When did this happen?” I asked, grinning happily for my friend.

“We met at an embassy function. She is a part of the science directorate on the Turulian home world. She came to Earth to work with the Galaxy Fleet science division on a recent discovery in the outskirts of the Beta Quadrant. We met and it was almost subtle. We were talking over our meals and this warmth filled my belly, traveling outward until my spots began to glow brightly. T’Paal asked what it was and I explained to her about the phenomenon of imprinting. She was intrigued. We continued to talk and then it hit her. It took all of my strength to stop her from kissing me.” He chuckled, his spots burning just underneath his skin’s surface. “We took a shuttle to a city in the desert. Las Wages?”

“Las Vegas,” I laughed. “You got married in Las Vegas?”

“We found a temple …”

“Chapel,” I snickered. “They’re called chapels.”

“Chapel, temple, whatever!” J’ran grumbled, arching a brow at me. “Are you going to let me finish my story?”

“I’m sorry. I just find this to be hysterical,” I said, barely containing my laughter.

“Anyway, T’Paal and I found a Turulian chapel in one of the smaller hotels. The priest performed a beautiful combination of a Turulian and Cygnarian ceremony. Of course, we’ll have the full ceremonies on our own worlds, in front of our families and friends, but we are, for all intents and purposes, mated,” J’ran smirked.

“Wow! Congratulations, J’ran. This is better than good news. This is great!” I beamed. “When are you coming back to Forx so we can give you a mating ceremony?”

“In two Earth years. That’s why we flew to Las Vegas,” J’ran explained. “This project that T’Paal is working on is keeping her here for two years, with the possibility of flying out to the Beta Quadrant to collect more samples. We couldn’t wait that long to mate. We are both older and felt the effects slowly, but once they hit, it was overwhelming. We would not have lasted very long before we would have started to fail. One of the Cygnarian Federation delegates acted as one of my witnesses, while T’Paal’s sister, T’Mienne, acted as hers.”