Jayme wouldn’t wait for Enor to come to the Academy; she insisted on going to Starfleet at the ungodly hour Enor was scheduled to return, having already been debriefed en route.
Bobbie Ray pretended to grumble about being routed out of bed, but it really didn’t take much to get him to the beam‑down point exactly on time. And as they waited for the transporter to materialize, he was hit with a pang of remorse when only Moll Enor and Nev Reoh appeared. He was glad to see them, but it was suddenly very real, when Titus didn’t appear with the others, that he would never see Titus again.
Moll Enor saw it in his eyes, and she patted his arm with a furrowed brow. With only one glance, he could tell she was taking it very hard. Jayme was hugging Enor like she never wanted to let go, laughing and crying at the same time.
“You were with him, weren’t you?” Bobbie Ray asked her, even as Jayme was trying to tell Moll Enor how happy she was to have her back.
Enor looked at Bobbie Ray. “We were at the hatch and he thought the docking latch was jammed. He just leaped through and the forcefield snapped on before I could follow. And then . . .”
Jayme was wiping her eyes, her face crumpled as she thought about Titus, but she comforted Enor. Bobbie Ray turned away, telling the transporter operator, “I want to go back to the Academy.”
“C‑can I come with you?” Nev Reoh asked.
Bobbie Ray put one arm around the Bajoran’s shoulders, giving the smaller man a solid shake. “You know I wouldn’t leave without you.”
They left Jayme and Enor at Starfleet Headquarters so Enor could get her orders. As they materialized back at the Academy, Reoh said, “I’ve transferred back to the Academy. I’ll teach in the geophysics department. I’ve had enough of starships for a while–”
“Aaahhh!”Starsa screamed she ran into the room and saw the two of them together. She didn’t stop until she ran straight into Nev Reoh, throwing her arms around him and kissing first one cheek, then the other, over and over again. “I’m so glad you’re alive!”
Everyone in the transporter room began to chuckle, then laugh at the awkward expression on the former Vedek’s face. Even Bobbie Ray began to smile, thinking Nev Reoh deserved to have such an exuberant welcome. He should have done it himself, but he couldn’t stop thinking about Titus.
* * *
Moll liked the way Jayme kept holding her hand or stroking her arm, as if she had to reassure herself that she was really there. Moll felt bad about how long it had taken for her to get a message through to Jayme, but she had been unconscious for nearly twenty‑four hours after the crash.
Now, as she hurried to get her orders–sick leave until she was recovered from her concussion, then two weeks R&R before she had to report to Starbase 153 to join an astrophysics team on Dytallix B.
“That’s not far,” Jayme said when she saw the orders. “Only a few hours away. How long will you be there?”
“Months,” Moll Enor assured her. “Maybe a year! There’s a neutrino migration taking place in the outer hydrogen‑reaction zone to the inner helium core of the star. It’s instantaneous as far as galactic events go–and incredibly complex.”
“You’re going to love that,” Jayme said. “And I’ll love it that we’ll get to see each other all the time. I was afraid I’d lost you when we just found each other.”
“You mean, just after I gave in and finally admitted that I loved you,” Moll said, only half teasing.
Jayme ducked her head. “I know it wasn’t until the Izad Revolution, when you saw that I could accomplish something, that you started to love me.”
“That’s not true!” Moll stopped her so she could look her right in the eyes. “Engineer, doctor, you know that doesn’t matter. I loved you long before the coup.”
Jayme furrowed her brow, shaking her head uncertainly. “You never said that before.”
“No.” She walked over to the railing overlooking Paris, twisting the disc with her orders. “It was Titus who convinced me that I was pushing your love away.”
“Titus!” Jayme exclaimed. “He did nothing but torment me. He kept saying I was ‘infatuated’ or ‘in puppy‑love.’ ”
“Well, before my . . . ourtrip to Rahm‑Izad, we somehow got to talking.” Moll’s smile was sad. “He brought youup, of course. He said that anyone who continued to love me for almost three years was worth giving a chance.”
“He said that?” Jayme’s mouth stayed open.
Moll nodded. “Actually, he said you were either completely ‘off‑your‑crock’ for being so persistent–or I was encouraging you. He was right. I did love you, I always have, and I’ve been telling you that in so many ways–except openly. I was unfair to you, but I’ve hardly known what I think since I got this symbiont.”
Jayme was still shaking her head. “You knew you loved me before Rahm‑Izad? Then why did you wait until after the coup to tell me?”
Moll Enor pursed her lips, knowing she was the image of her old, standoffish self. “You know why! You were chasing after me so hard that all I could do was run!”
Jayme looked sheepish, but she suddenly started blinking and Moll remembered, too–Titus. Moll felt her throat tighten again, as it always did, as it haunted her–Titus. Her only consolation was that his life wouldn’t be forgotten, not for a long, long time.
Jayme put her arms around Moll and leaned her forehead against hers. “I wish I could thank him.”
“So do I,” Moll agreed with a sigh.
* * *
Captain Picard faced the cadets in the grand assembly hall at the Academy. “We are gathered here together to remember our comrades who have fallen in the line of duty. Ensign Hammon Titus selflessly performed his duty on board the Enterprise, and for that he gave his life.”
Nev Reoh swallowed, bending his head. He was standing to one side of the stage, summoned there by an aide to Admiral Brand, who asked him if he would mind saying a few words about Titus. Reoh agreed, of course, but he really didn’t think much about it. There were dozens who would rise to speak about the spirited cadet who had been so full of life.
Reoh kept forgetting Titus wouldn’t stride into the room with a quip and a laughing jibe to send in his direction. Reoh had liked Titus because the cadet worked hard to make sure everyone liked him, especially those he teased the most. Look at Jayme–she was torn apart by his death, yet anyone at the Academy would have said the two squabbled like they couldn’t stand each other. Like they were brother and sister . . .
“Ensign Titus is in good company.” Picard’s measured tones were somehow soothing, a somber yet fitting closure for too short a life. “Captain James T. Kirk also gave his life to save the entire Veridian system, ensuring that 230 million people are alive and well today. They don’t know whom to thank for their survival, but we can remember the deeds of Captain Kirk and Ensign Titus, and we can look to their example. As . . . Jim told me, we must never stop trying to make a difference.”
On that ringing note, Reoh held his head higher, remembering how Titus wanted nothing more than to be the best Starfleet officer he could be.
“Now,” Picard added, “I would like to turn this over to one who is more spiritual than I, one who knew Ensign Titus and was a member of his first quad. He also went through the battle and crash of the Enterprise.”Picard somehow picked Reoh out of the crowd. “Ensign Nev Reoh.”