The Final Frontier

Shyann didn't remember being Asima, Royina, Sita, or Lakshmi. She had dreams, though, of a heavenly realm, and of being something more. She held fragments of those dreams in her mind, and sometimes she sketched them when she woke. But now, Shyann, the Earthling, sat in the captain's chair and watched the stars as they streamed by. Warp speed soothed her.

As first officer, Shyann led when the captain left the bridge. On the fringes of space, though, nothing much happened, so her shifts at the helm were quiet. She could gaze into space as light flowed by.

The stars halted suddenly.

Shyann turned to her navigator, a green-skinned Orion she had grown quite fond of, looked extremely perplexed, hands raised.

"I don't know. I don't know," Lara answered before Shyann even asked. Lara pushed buttons and slid levers, but nothing changed. Their engines had stopped.

"Planet on our starboard bow," another officer called from behind Shyann. "It seems to be pulling us in."

Shyann began pacing. "Engineering, do you read me? What's going on down there? Can you get our engines back online?"

Ashmik's voice burst through the comms. "We're still trying to figure that out. Chief is up in the rafters doing inspections, and I'm fiddling with control panels, but there seems to be some kind of interference. Chief says she's never seen anything like it."

"Any chance the source is on the starboard side?"

"Yeah," Ashmik replied after a short, startled pause. "Yeah, how'd you know?"

"We've got an unidentified planet. Its gravity is astounding. I don't understand. It won't let us go. I can't see this ending well." Shyann tugged on her lower lip. "This is first officer Shyann, requesting captain to the bridge. All other personnel get to the escape pods."

The bridge crew eyed Shyann reluctantly, but Shyann shooed them off the bridge. "I'll be right behind you."

When the captain reached the bridge, she took one look at the dead sensors and turned back around. "Great. My ship is now a glorified coffin. Good call. Let's go."

Shyann hurried down the corridor. Rounding a corner, she nearly collided with Ashmik. "There you are, love. I've been looking for you."

Shyann shook her head. "I gave everyone orders to board pods immediately."

Ashmik took her hand with an apologetic smile. "I wanted to make sure you weren't trying to fix everything all on your own."

"You know me too well."

They boarded a remaining pod, just Shyann, Ashmik, and a Vulcan woman from engineering. Shyann stood in the pod, stretching her head into the hallway until the captain gave her all-clear over the intercom. The confirmed departure of the crew allowed Shyann the comfort she needed to abandon ship.

The stars agitated Shyann when her crew mates floated among them in little, fragile pods. She watched through the small pod window in silence as one by one the pods followed the starship down into the atmoshpere. She squinted through the heat of atmospheric entry to see their ship mangle itself on a jagged mountain ridge. Escape pod parachutes began to open under her, and Shyann worked to map them out in her head around a theoretical landing point for her own pod, so she could gather her crew back together.

Ashmik laid his hand on her shoulder and pressed a kiss to the side of her head. "We'll find them. You're the best first officer I know."

"I'm the only first officer you know," Shyann whispered.

The pod jerked as their parachute opened, and the three occupants descended without another word. When the door opened, the silvery landscape urged them to stay in the pod. Shyann stepped outside anyways.

The three survivors carried as many supplies as they could, and they began the search for survivors.

They hadn't gotten far when a tentacle snaked out of a hole in the silvery ground and wrapped around Shyann's ankle. Before anyone else could react Shyann had reached down and severed the tentacle with a blade she kept in her boot. She glanced back at the others. Ashmik was bristling.

"Won't you let me lead, dear?"

"Are you an officer? No? Okay then, let me do my job."

Ashmik nodded curtly. "I'll cover you."

"Thank you."

When they reached the first pod, a writhing mass of tentacles covered it. Only a few gaps allowed Shyann to be certain it actually was one of their pods. Shyann called directions to her crew members, and they made quick work of the mysterious attackers. Quick stabs and shots scared them away easily. The pod's occupants had been crouched inside against the door, but sprang to their feet when liberated. They armed themselves and joined the search party. Gradually, their numbers grew and grew, Shyann ever in the lead, Ashmik at her side.

The rescue ship, a ship protected properly against the strange energy of the planet, didn't arrive for years. The survivors had built the wrecked starship shell into a compound, safe and secure under the leadership of Shyann. They had never found their captain, as well as a few others. They had built a memorial out of glistening earth and billowing parachutes for them. Shyann fixed her eyes on the melancholy structure as they finally pulled away from the planet.

Back home, Starfleet awarded Shyann a medal for her part in keeping her crew safe. She accepted reluctantly. Praise didn't feel right, considering all they had lost.

"You did such good work, though," Ashmik said after the ceremony, cradling her face in his hands. "We all put our faith in you, and you never let us down."

Shyann nestled herself against him, her back to his chest, and looked up. The stars fell around them, and she was at peace.

Author's Note: This story is another life of Lakshmi, known in the Ramayana as Sita. In this story, Lakshmi has been reborn as Shyann, the first officer of a Federation starship. This story takes place in the world of the Star Trek movies. This tale, though, breaks the format that I have been following for the other stories. Most of them have followed Sita's format of kidnapping, betrayal, and escape. This story, however, felt like it needed to be unique. Several reincarnations later, Lakshmi has broken out of all of the cycles she seemed to be stuck in. She finds a better life, a better man, she is sure of her power, and so are the people around her. For my last story, I wanted to give Lakshmi a more beautiful send off. I wanted to write the story that I felt she deserved in the first place. Sita was a woman full of love, and in this incarnation, Shyann is surrounded by love as well. The future is a place of hope. Though this is more of a continuation of the Ramayana than an adaption, my source for the Ramayana was Narayan's version and Paley's film. I also want to mention, because Professor Gibbs so wonderfully referenced it in her feedback, the Shanti Mantra. At the beginning and end of these peace bringing mantras, one repeats "shanti shanti shanti" to be at peace with the physical world, the heavenly beings and spiritual hosts, and one's inner self. So, for my Lakshmi, shanti shanti shanti.

Photo Source: Space Engine by Wake Up Freeman