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Epilogue: 2041

"Scott, wake up!" Marie Freeman said, shaking her husband.

"Unhh? What time is it?"

"Oh-eight-hundred. One of the girls slipped in and turned off the alarm clock."

"What the hell for?"

"They don't want to go to the pre-launch ceremony; Mir's got a crush on Drannin, and doesn't want him to see her with her arm in a sling."

"She's the one who got herself into that predicament with that arm-wrestling stunt; She might be 3 years older than Devin, but even at eight, he's still full-blood Zentraedi, and she's not. Why don't you yell for Noel, and see if she's up to using her 'phenomenal cosmic powers' to speed healing on the sprained shoulder and elbow? For that matter, she keeps offering to teach you and Dana how to do those sorts of things, but you two keep begging out of it. Am I gonna have to make the two of you do it by making it an order?"

"Oh, all right; I'll have her work with me on those skills during the mission, and I'll drag Dana along whether she wants to or not. Oh, and Noel says that she'll meet us with Alex and Vanessa in the VIP lounge, before we fly over to the space dock for the ceremony."

"I'll just be glad to get all this pomp and circumstance out of the way, and start the mission."

"You sound soooo thrilled; you were the one that volunteered for this - hell, you were the one always pushing for us to actually meet Karen's challenge and go dimension hopping, even when most others were against it. From the way you sounded, someone might think you were Shanghied. Besides, it will be nothing like the SDF-3 mission; we should be able to monkey with the time vector a bit, and come back within a couple months after we leave, regarding of how long we actually spend out."

"Yeah, based in the calibration data Karen keeps dropping in Louie's office like Easter eggs; but do you really think I trust it all that much? She's not even telling us where we'll actually end up. I understand the logic of using the numbering system for the local cluster of universes, based on the contest between Zor & Haydon, and that makes us Universe 3; but the whole point is for us to contact Universe 4, where the Korra'ti ended up after its original misfold - but it hardly inspires confidence that she's not telling us if we'll even get NEAR it, using her data."

"Don't take this the wrong way, but I think I'd trust her guesses before I'd trust your facts."

"Is that so?" He reached up, and pulled her back into bed, by her robe's belt, loosening it.

"Scott, do we have time for this?"

"Just send the kids ahead, with the luggage."

"But-"

"I'm the captain, remember? I'd like to see them leave without me."

"I love it when you're right - but let's take this to the shower..."

*******

Seven hours later, the ceremony was behind them. Six years of hard work and planning had gone into this mission, and while Scott was the prime motivator, it was Rem, Zor & Louie that had done the majority of the work trying to figure out the really bizarre data Karen sent them from where ever she was at now. They also had to figure out how to put into engineering terms, the ideas Scott had for the ship. As a result, the Dreamweaver was definitely one of a kind.

The heart of the ship was the old Korra'ti, now totally converted for a Micronian crew, from the dual-size setup that had been engineered originally in Universe 4. Within it was the actual dimensional drive, much expanded from the original fold drives of the former scout ship. Built around it was the true Dreamweaver, itself massing about as much as a Zentraedi flagship, and from its Zentraedi-style construction, looking more like what a Star Wars Super Star Destroyer would look like if built by the Mon Calamari. The Korra'ti section still had all its conventional drives and weaponry, and could separate from the larger hull as needed. The large secondary hull contained more weaponry than the SDF-3 (and, of course, power generation and drive systems), but otherwise was mostly empty, designed to eventually accept cargo (including life forms) from other worlds, as well as (hopefully) equipment from worlds far different than the core worlds little different from their own.

The name of the aggregate ship had been the source of much debate, eventually coming down to polling. In the end, it was decided to go with the name not directly tied to a ship from fiction, as it was pointed out that, while the second-place name was from a series of comedic novels, it was not out of the question (especially if the Heinlein theory of dimensional travel held true) that they could run into Zaphod, Ford and the rest.

"Hey, cuz - sorry we're late," Lynn called from across the hangar. "One of Tanya's friends tried to stow away in our luggage."

"Well, better late than never... You get your stuff on board - minus the stowaway, of course?"

"It went straight to the ship, after we turned Mika over to her parents. So, you brought us aboard to add a little maturity to the crew, you said. Just how young are the people you've dragged along for this mission?"

"Well, 80 percent of the fighter wings have never seen combat outside of simulators, but most of those are kids with special abilities; Daniel, for example. He's one of the oldest kids that have those 'secundi' abilities. The bridge crew is a bit older, but still young, compared to us."

"So, who else did you drag in from the family?"

"Shannon and Kayra are sitting this one out; considering that they just had their fifth kid in four years, they've got their hands full as it is. Janet, Roger, Steve and Dani are all well and truly retired, as is their right. However, Noel is using that shiny new degree of hers, and is my Science Officer, and her husband is head of the medical department. I've also got my sister-in-laws as part of the bridge crew."

"I bet Aurora's glad to be getting away from all the controversy."

"Yeah, but she's going to be without her family on the trip. It's gonna be her first time separated from them. It's a good thing she'll have both her big sisters here for her."

"Who else you have from the old crew?"

"The Bakers, Bowie and his wives, and the Bernards. Between those last two families, hopefully we can handle in Tyrolean or Invid issues we run into."

"And, other issues?"

"We'll have to take those as they come. Hopefully, they won't be too far out of our league."

********

"Captain, the SDF-3 sends its regards," Bowie called over from the communications station, where he sat between Musica and Allegra. Scott was settling into his command chair, the bridge being the former command bubble, now overlooking the park that was the original bridge. The large viewscreens still remained, now used to project navigation displays, and seeming incongruous except when projecting star fields.

"Thank you, Mr. Grant. Send them our complements, and advise them that we'll be leaving orbit immediately. Noel, how do you like the new sensor interpretation gear?"

"Louie outdid himself, Uncle;" Noel replied. "Though, I'm going to have to wing it a bit on exactly what some of this stuff does, until I can scan the system. And before you ask, Alex has similar accolades about the sickbay and labs, though he's for certain some of the tech installed there must be from one of Karen's care packages."

"Always thinking ahead, Noel. Weapons & Security?"

"Sensors are showing green," Dana replied. "Security reports that internal sensors, manned checkpoints and sweeps have confirmed no stowaways - I know that, after what happened with the SDF-3, that was a major concern of yours, Captain. Fire Control, how are the weapons?"

"All showing green," Angelo replied sharply. "I do have two questions, though, sir."

"Shoot."

"One, why do we have onboard capacitors for the weapons that are kept fully charged at all times? And, two: why are the sensor, security & weapons systems all in one department?"

"The capacitors are because we have the room for them, and we don't really know what kind of situation we might run into on emergence into normal space somewhere else. With the backup power, we can blow away an asteroid on collision course, activate shields in case of an attack, or even do an emergency reverse-course fold - in seconds, rather than having to build power for minutes. As we're REALLY folding off the navigation charts, this is a lot more important than with other vessels.

"As for the second question, security & weapons both use the sensors for targeting, and ship defense in the case we have to repel boarders. In fact, there are remote weapons recently added in all the empty sections for you to use in case there's a security breach, that you need to train on. You'll be expected to use them for suppressive fire, until the nearest security station can respond. Navigation, Science, Engineering and Damage Control also use the sensors, but each of you are expected to backstop each other, if you notice something urgent or interesting that the others miss. Dana's position over Security Ops is mainly to put her in charge of all weapons for offense & defense. Besides, it gives her own office in the brig, and that place has always been like a second home for her, hasn't it?"

"Grrrrr..." Dana was getting a little perturbed by that insinuation.

"That's it, sis, keep up the Worf act," Marie teased. "But won't make any difference. In fact, that's one of the reasons I got him to combine the positions."

"Now, now - that's enough. Navigation, can you show a little more composure than your older sisters, and take us out of orbit?"

"Yes, sir;" Aurora replied. "Course two-forty, declination zero. On course for our designated departure point 2 million kilometers out from Earth. Thank you for inviting me on this mission, Scott."

"If figure that you and Noel will be instrumental in trying to find Karen, later on - and you need to get in some of that mandatory service time that you roped yourself into. I'm sorry that it's going to take you away from your family, but I'm sure you don't mind being away from the politics. Plus, your special status with the planetary government means that we can draft you for diplomacy. It may be a few years before the infrastructure is built for the Outreach Service, and you'll need all the diplomatic and navigation experience you can get for that - and I don't envy you in that mission."

"I guess not; after all, the people I'll be searching for when I take that command will be prone to shoot at anyone that looks Tiresian first, without asking for credentials. We're now slowing into our deep orbit position; thrusters powering down."

"Thank you;" Scott triggered a button on his command chair, wondering who he had to blame for not one, but FIVE different captain's chairs, in storage, each based on different Star Trek designs - and he'd had to get the "classic Kirk" model pulled to get his personal design reinstalled an hour ago.

"Captain to Engineering. How did our sublight drives do, and are we ready for our dimensional jump trials?"

"I'm not sure..."

"Louie, say again?"

"The sublight drives performed perfectly. However, there's been some alterations of the fold engines while we were at the pre-launch ceremony, mostly in terms of software."

"Do you think we've been sabotaged?" Visions of another Edwards clone made him shiver.

"Actually, it looks as if some efficiency improvements were made, and that special memory module that Karen requested for fold coordinates only she could alter with those weird tech interface powers she has, has received data input."

"That's a relief. Are you ready to engage the Improbability Drive?"

"Truthfully, I'm not sure I'll ever be ready for it, but the system is showing green."

"What's the matter? Want to throw in the towel?"

A chorus of groans ran through the bridge bubble, followed by the sound of several people snapping towels - all of them located behind him, for plausible denial, of course. "Maybe we should have named her Heart of Gold, after all," Scott muttered.

"No, not really. But if you're willing to start, we can engage the drive any time you wish."

"Then, let's get this show on the road; use the first set of coordinates that Karen supplied. They'll probably be safer than just spinning the dials. Activate Fold Engines!"

As the ship disappeared from their home dimension, the adventures of the Dreamweaver crew were just beginning.

(Finis, for now)

Afterword:

Finally, after over 20 years, this story is complete. I thank all the fans that have stayed with the story, through thick and thin, over the 15 years it took me to revise and type it from over 1200 pages of chicken scratches that people tell me I'm crazy to call handwriting (and, scarily enough, it was all in "print", not script, and people STILL have trouble reading it.

With a little luck, I might eventually start typing some of the sequels; hopefully they'll see the light of day before 2029.

Stan