by Mera 491

"Commander, get up here!" Harlan yelled into the intercom. "There's an escape pod in the landing bay!"

Commander Goddard spoke back quickly, "No, Harlan. You, Radu, and Mera meet me at the airlock."

"Okay, Commander." Harlan said, and he, Radu, and Mera shot down the jumptubes to the airlock, wondering what was going on.

Mera was the newest member of the Space Cases crew. She was the second Andromedan student at the Starcademy. She was eleven, like Radu, and was also sent to the academy because of her individualism. And the Starcademy had quickly sent her out on a journey to search for the Christa. But her ship had been small, and she was running out of fuel and oxygen...fast. So the Christa boarded her, and the crew took a liking to her immediately, even Harlan. And especially Radu. In fact, in the past week that she had been with them, he had developed an enormous crush on her. And she felt the same way about him, but both were too shy to admit it.

As the three crew members ran to the airlock, they were joined by Rosie and Catalina, who had heard their conversation with the commander. As soon as they reached the entrance to the landing bay, they saw the Commander with a worried expression on his face.

"Radu, I can't get this door open. Could you-" Before he could finish, Radu and Mera had opened the door to the airlock with their incredible Andromedan strength. Mera gasped when she saw what was behind the door.

"What? What is it?" Cat asked worriedly.

"It- it's a baby." Radu whispered. "An Andromedan baby."

Mera pushed past him and scooped the baby up out of the opened escape pod it had been in. She carried it into the Christa. The others gathered around her.

"Oh, it's so cute!" breathed Rosie.

"Do you think it's a boy or a girl?" Catalina asked.

"I think it's a girl." Mera answered. "I mean, who would dress their baby boy up in a pink dress?"

"Who do you think her parents are?" Harlan wondered.

"What would an Andromedan baby be doing way out here?" Commander Goddard said.

"Hey, look!" exclaimed Radu. "There's a computer chip in here!" he said, pulling his hand out of the pod. He held up a tiny chip.

"Maybe it's from her parents." Mera murmured. "Maybe they had a good reason for putting their baby in this life pod."

"Well, let's check it out!" Harlan said, and they all walked down to the command post, because Mera said she wasn't about to take a baby through the jumptubes.

In the compost, the crew was joined by Bova and Miss Davenport. They put the chip into the computer and waited, with Mera still cradling the baby in her arms.

"Here's the message." Rosie said cheerfully.

An image came up on the view screen. The entire crew was silent when they saw the baby's parents.

They were a slightly older version of Radu and Mera!!

* * * * *

The parents in the message bean to speak. The woman said, "Yes, I know what you're all thinking. We look like Radu and Mera, right?"

Then the man spoke up. "That's because we are......but we're from the future. And you see...... we needed a place for our baby to stay, where she would be safe. We're in the middle of another Spung/Andromedan war, and our daughter, her name is Seja, just hatched a few days ago, and a newborn Andromedan isn't going to be safe in the middle of a war between the Spung and our race, so-"

"So, " the older Mera cut him off. "We asked Cat and Bova if they could come up with a way to send her back in time. Obviously, if you're listening to this recording, they succeded."

"The year now is 2268." the older Radu said. "That makes us eighteen. But, Miss Davenport, Commander Goddard, don't freak out. Sixteen is actually the normal age for Andromedans to start having children. Mera and I just decided to wait..." His voice trailed off. Then he said, "Just please take care of her. We'll be there to get her as soon as possible. We don't know the exact day we sent her to, but we know the year and month. We'll be there."

The message shut off. Everyone was silent.

Finally, Radu spoke up. "What did they say her name was?"

"Seja." Mera whispered. "What a beautiful name. In Andromedan it means-"

"'Beloved'" Radu finished for her.

Harlan, who was standing next to Mera, gazed at the little baby, and said, "You know, now that I think about it, she does look an awful lot like you guys. I mean, she's got dark brown hair, like Mera's, and she's got the same grey eyes as Radu."

Mera looked at Seja and said, "Yeah, she does have your eyes, Radu! And your nose!"

Radu jumped down from his spot on navigation and looked at the baby. "I don't see it." he said after a moment. "She looks more like Mera to me." He hesitated, then said, "Here, let me hold her."

The other Space Cases grinned at each other as Mera placed Seja into Radu's arms. Radu smiled down at the baby, and she yawned and snuggled down into Radu's arms.

"Awwwwwwwwwww," the entire crew murmured.

"Oh!" Rosie cried out. "We need to get her down to the Medlab so I can scan her and make sure the time travel didn't have any effect on her!"

Radu and Mera looked at each other worriedly, and the whole crew rushed down to the Medlab, pushing past Thelma, who was about to inform them of the Spung killcruiser that was approaching them.........

*****

Rosie held the microscanner above the baby. "Nope! This little one's as healthy as can be!"

"Good." Mera said. She reached down and picked Seja up from the examining chair in Medlab. The baby whimpered a bit, then began to cry. Mera looked up with a panicked expression on her face, terrified that she had hurt the little baby. "Commander, I didn't-?"

Commander Goddard smiled. "Don't worry, Mera. I think she's just hungry."

Mera breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh."

"Well," Harlan said. "Let's go feed this cutie!"

They all followed Mera and Radu to the Galley, with Thelma trailing behind.

After Seja had been fed, she quicky fell asleep in her future father's arms. The crew just stood there, watching her sleep.

"Excuse me, Commander?" Thelma spoke up.

"Hmm?" Commander Goddard said, not taking his eyes from the sleeping baby.

"There is a Spung killcruiser thirty kilometers away, and closing in fast."

Everyone's head snapped up quickly.

"The Spung??" Radu exclaimed. The baby stirred in his arms at the sound of his loud shout. His arms instinctively curled tighter around her.

"Everyone to the command post!" Goddard said.

"What are they doing here?" Harlan excaimed as he jumped to his spot at helm.

"Why didn't our scanners pick them up?" Cat exclaimed.

"They were in hyperspace!" Bova cried. "Our scanners can't pick up ships in hyperdrive!"

"What are we gonna do?" Mera moaned.

"What about Seja?" Radu said.

"Give her to me, Radu." Miss Davenport said. "We need you on navigation."

Radu handed her the still zonked out baby and quickly took his spot on navigation. Suddenly, a figure teleported into the compost. It was Elmira!

"Hurry!" the Spung princess said. "There's a time portal close to the cruiser! Go into it!"

Harlan looked over at the Commander.

Goddard nodded, and Harlan quickly took the ship through the portal that Elmira had shown them. Everything went pitch dark for a second, then, when the lights came back on, the crew saw an amazing sight on the view screen. It was another Christa! *****

"What happened?"

"Why is there another Christa?"

"Elmira, how did you do that?"

"Where are we?"

"Is the baby okay?"

"What's going on?"

"What happened to Miss Davenport?"

Their confused cries rang out all throughout the command post. Miss Davenport had fainted (as always), and she was lying on the floor with Seja on her stomach, still asleep.

"Good grief, Radu! Did you put sleeping powder in that milk you fed her?" Mera cried. "Nobody could possibly sleep through that!"

"Maybe she's a heavy sleeper, like me." Radu said. "Besides, I still want to know how Elmira got here!"

"I used a teleportation machine. But don't worry about my father finding it. I left a detonation device to destroy it as soon as I was gone." Elmira said. She glanced at the baby Andromedan, then to Radu and Mera, who were side by side next to the sleeping Miss Davenport. "You two have some explaining to do." she said with raised eyebrows.

Mera and Radu both blushed, knowing exactly what Elmira was thinking... Radu opened his mouth to explain, but before he could speak, Harlan said, "Not now! We need to check out that ship!"

*****

The crew boarded the other Christa quietly, so as not to alert the crew of the second ship. Radu quietly explained to Elmira what had gone on in the past half hour.

Suddenly, as the crew silently crept through the halls of the second Christa, a little girl, no more than five years old, ran around the corner and right past them, as if she didn't even see them. She was Andromedan, and had dark brown hair.

Radu had a feeling he knew exactly who she was.

"Mera," he whispered. "I think that's Seja!"

Mera looked at the little baby curled up in her arms and then at the little girl, who was crouching behind the airlock control console. "You know, I think you're right!"

The others nodded.

"But what in the galaxy is she doing?" Commander Goddard said.

Just then, a little boy, the same age as the girl, with dark skin and rainbow streaks in his brown hair rounded the corner and said, "Seja, I'm gonna find you!"

The little girl giggled and said, "That's what you think, Zackeri Band!"

The entire crew turned to Harlan, who just said in an amazed voice, "He must be my son!"

*****

The crew turned back to the two children, who still didn't (or maybe COULDN'T) see them.

Zackeri laughed and crept to the control console that Seja was behind. While he wasn't looking, Seja crawled out and skittered to the corner, looked back, and giggled at her friend. He saw her, and began to chase her down the halls.

"Let's follow them!" Cat said, and the crew trailed the boy to the team room, were they all stopped dead in their tracks. Seja had hidden behind the older versions of Radu and Bova!

"Daddy, he's gonna get me!" she cried happily.

Zackeri and Seja began running in circles around the adults. The older Radu and Bova grinned at each other and then each grabbed one of the playful children and held them high in the air.

"Zack, what is your father going to say when he hears you've been chasing girls?" Bova asked.

"And YOU, young lady!" Radu said to Seja. "Are you flirting with this boy?"

The kids looked at each other and said in unison, "Ewwwwwww, gross!"

And the crew of the Christa just stood there watching in shock.

What would happen next?

*****

As if answering their question, an older version of Rosie walked past them, with a little girl trailing behind her. The little girl had black hair, and looked much like Bova, except she didn't have antenae.

"Bova!" the older Rosie laughed. "What are you doing to him? You know, I don't think Harlan and Catalina would appretiate you torturing their son!"

In the doorway, Harlan's heart skipped a beat. Alright! he thought. I'm gonna marry Catalina! He glanced at Cat and grinned at her, and Cat just blushed and smiled back.

The older Bova put Zack down, and Zack scurried out of the team room in a flash. The little girl who had come in with Rosie ran over to Bova and tugged gently on his arm.

"Daddy, Daddy, torture me, now!"

The crew all looked at THEIR Bova in surprise. Bova? A father? It was too weird to think about. Bova just shrugged and pointed at his older self. The crew turned back to the scene before them.

"I don't know, Valleri." the older Bova said. "You'd better ask Mommy. She'll probably say no."

Well, Goddard thought. At least Bova's still his old, depressing self!

Valleri turned and said, "Can he, Mommy?"

It took the crew a moment to realize that she was talking to ROSIE!!!

******

The Space Cases just stood there for a moment, in complete shock. Then, all of a sudden, Harlan began laughing hysterically.

"Rosie and Bova?" he gasped between laughs. "They're total opposites!"

"Oh, yeah?" Bova snapped. "Well, you and Cat seem to hate each other, and you two will end up together!"

Rosie smiled when she heard this. Bova was defending their future together!

They turned back to their future selves and saw the older Rosie smile and nod. Valleri grinned from ear to ear and lept into 'Future' Bova's arms. 'Future' Bova swung the little girl up into the air. Valleri giggled, and for the first time, the Space Cases heard Bova laugh. And it wasn't 'Future' Bova that laughed, either. It was THEIR Bova! They stared at the boy, and he just shrugged and said, "What? She's a cute little girl!" The crew laughed and watched the scene before them.

Just then, an older version of Commander Goddard walked in, holding a little boy in his arms. The blond-haired boy squirmed until the Commander let him down. The boy ran over to Seja (who had been set down during all of this), grabbed her hand, and said, "Come on, Seja! Zack's hiding in the galley! Let's go get him!"

The two children ran out of the room, with 'Future' Goddard calling after them, "Just don't play near the engines!"

"Let's follow the kids!" Elmira said to the crew.

The others nodded.

When they got to the galley, they saw 'Future' Harlan and 'Future' Catalina. Catalina was cradling a baby with rainbow hair, and Harlan was watching the kids play.

'Future' Harlan whispered in a voice that only Seja (along with the invisible Radu and Mera) could hear, "Try under the table!"

Seja smiled at Harlan and crouched down slowly, like an animal hunting it's prey, and......

She pounced under the table, startling Zack so badly that he jerked up and hit his head on the table. "Ouch!"

Seja giggled and cried triumphantly, "You're it, Zack!"

"No fair!" Zack said as he crawled out from under the table. "You scared me!"

"That's the way it crumbles, cookie!" Seja cried as she ran out of the room.

"That's Radu's daughter?" 'Present' Harlan said. "She's too wild to be his!"

Radu blushed. "You never know, Harlan." was all he said in return.

*****

The crew all gave Radu funny looks. He just blushed more and shook his head. Then something strange happened.

Seja came running down the hall then stopped dead in her tracks. The Space Cases looked around to find what the little girl was staring at.

Then they realized that she was staring at them! She could see them! Before any of them could speak, Seja got a terrified look on her face and screamed at the top of her lungs, "Daddy!!!"

The older Radu showed up in less than a minute. He stopped and stared when he saw his former self. He grabbed Seja and pulled her closer to him.

"What's going on?" he demanded. By now, all of the future Space Cases had shown up, including Elmira, an adult male Spung, and a little girl Spung, obviously their child. Like Radu, as soon as they saw their former selves, they pulled their children closer. 'Future' Harlan had picked Zackeri up and held him close, Catalina still cradled the rainbow-haired baby, 'Future' Goddard was holding the little blond boy again, and 'Future' Davenport was holding on to his arm, 'Future' Bova stood close to 'Future' Rosie, who held Valleri in her arms, and 'Future' Elmira had her hand rested on the little Spung girl's shoulder.

"Well??" 'Future' Radu demanded.

Mera stepped forward, still cradling baby Seja in her arms. "Well, you see, we found this baby in an escape pod, and found a computer chip with that said she was Radu's and mine, from seven years into the future. We were asked to take care of her until our older selves could return for her. They said that they were in the midst of another Spung/Andromedan war, and that the baby wouldn't be safe in their time. So, we fed her, and everything, and then there was a Spung killcruiser coming up on us, and Elmira teleported onto the Christa, and then we went though a time portal, and then we were here!"

The future Space Cases thought about what she said, and memories of the events slowly came back to them. 'Future' Radu smiled down at his daughter and scooped her up into his arms. He balanced her on his hip and walked over to Mera.

"Remember how I told you that you were a pretty baby?" he murmured to his little girl. Seja nodded.

"Well," he said, pointing to the baby. "That's what you looked like."

Seja looked at the baby for a moment and said, "I was that cute?"

The entire 'Future' crew laughed.

"Well," 'Future' Goddard spoke up. "I suppose you guys are more confused than us, so I'll introduce you to our newest crew members. This," he said, motioning to the boy in his arms, "is Peter, mine and TJ- I mean Miss Davenport's son."

'Present' Miss Davenport and 'Present' Commander Goddard looked at each other strangely. THEY would have a son? Weird!

"And this is Zackeri. He's Cat and Harlan's son. And Zack has a new baby sister, whose name is Leena. She's the little one with rainbow hair that Cat's holding." 'Future' Goddard contiued. "This is Valleri, Rosie and Bova's daughter, and this is Seja, of course. And this," he said, motioning to the Spung child, "is Emillie, Elmira and Ching's daughter."

"Ching?" 'Present' Elmira asked, confused.

"Oh!" the male Spung said embarrasedly. "You won't meet me for a couple more years."

"And I take it you don't believe in the Spung Empire?" 'Present' Elmira said.

Ching shook his head. "No way! I don't have a cruel bone in my body. In fact, I'm a bit of a wimp." Both Elmiras giggled at that.

Suddenly, they heard an evil laugh behind them.

It was Warlord Shank!

"Unfortunately, none of thessse little bratsss will ever exissst, becaussse I will kill you all before they are born!" he growled.

'Future' Radu handed Seja to 'Present' Radu and shoved Shank into the jumptubes and pulled the jumptube connector signals apart. Then he grabbed his child back and said, "Team Room, NOW!"

They all crowded into the Team Room and 'Future' Harlan began to speak. "All right, Miss Davenport, Mrs. Goddard, both of you stay in here with the kids. Everyone else, to the command post!"

By now, Shank had crawled out of the jumptubes and disassembled 'Future' Thelma. The crew came running in and immediately, both Radus and both Harlans began to tackle the Spung Warlord.

Soon, Shank was bound, gagged, and on the floor. The crew smiled proudly.

But now what would they do with him?

Both Radus dragged Shank to an escape pod and ejected the pod, so that he would float in space until the Spung found him. Knowing that there were many killcruisers in this sector, they didn't have to worry about him being out in space too long without food or water.

Even though they hated the evil warlord, they didn't want to kill him, just keep him away from them and the kids.

When everyone was back in the teamroom, 'Future' Radu held his daughter's hand and looked at the 'Present' crew members. "Well," he said. "I think we'd better find a way to get you guys back to your own time."

Everyone else nodded.

"Oh, my stars!" Mera exclaimed. "What are we going to do about her?" she said, motioning to the baby in her arms.

'Future' Radu closed his eyes for a moment and thought back to when he and his wife had sent their infant daughter through time to keep her safe. He opened his eyes and said, "Mera and I got there to take her home three days after you found her."

"Good." 'Present' Radu said. He looked around the 'Future' crew members for a second, then said, "Where is your Mera, anyway?"

'Future' Radu closed his eyes, hung his head sadly, and held his little girl close.

"Um," 'Future' Catalina said in a hushed voice. "Mera died three years ago. She had a fatal disease in her blood. We tried to do all we could for her, but she didn't make it."

The entire 'Present' crew was shocked. 'Present' Radu stepped a little closer to Mera. Poor Mera looked devastated. Radu looked as though his heart had shattered to a million pieces.

I'd better spend as much time with her as I can. he thought.

Soon, the crew was back on their Christa. The time portal was still open. They slipped through, back to their time. The next two days were quiet. Mainly, the kids wanted to play with Seja. The little Andromedan baby slept quite a bit. Her parents arrived soon after and thanked them, then took the little one home.

Later, when they were alone in the compost, Mera asked Radu a question that had been bothering her since they had gotten back. "Radu? If I die when she's two, will she be able to remember me?"

Radu looked straight into her eyes and said, "I'd never let her forget."