Star Trek: Terra Alpha

-- New Hawaii, Terra Alpha

The sun was bright over the ocean as the waves crashed ashore. The beach had that beautiful white sand, and aquamarine waters.

Rebecca was stretched out on a beach chair with a big floppy straw hat. She was wearing a tankini and oversized sunglasses. She was reading a simple paperback novel in one hand and had a glass of iced tea in the other.

Young Ethan sat in the sand using a pale to construct his castle walls. He was singing a song of his own composition about horses and cowboys. He actually had an ear for tune. Something she lacked completely.

"The Mongol Horde is going to walk right through your walls with those holes." She teased.

"What mama? What is Mana-gel Horde?" He asked confused.

"Oh, just some people on Earth. You have holes in your castle walls."

"It's not a castle. It's a fort! The cowboys are fighting the Com-mon-ichi!" Ethan said definitely and mispronouncing Comanche.

"Cowboys and Indians eh?" Rebecca asked with an amused expression.

"Yup!" He said proudly. "John Wayne, and Clint Eastwood are fighting off the dirty savages."

"The Indians weren't dirty or savages," Rebecca corrected. "I'm going to have to talk to your father about the movies he's showing you."

"Is daddy in trouble?"

"He's in big trouble," Rebecca replied.

"Is he going to get a spanking?"

"Uh... well," Rebecca hesitating trying not to laugh. "I'll have to think on his punishment."

"I dunno, I think entirely appropriate." Angel said as she walked over with a carafe of iced tea and a glass of her own. "I had a friend who was half Cherokee and Vulcan, T'Ani Whitehair... I think she's still on Earth, keeping what little bit of Cherokee land still exists from being entirely taken over." she sat on the chaise and pulled her cover up off and sighed heavily. "Glad you finally decided to come here. You needed color Aunt Becca." she glanced over to where Trinity was taking pictures with an old holocamera. "Kid's got quite an eye already, dad has a few of her pictures up in his new office. Nathan thinks she's the next Ansel Adams. Of course, he doesn't see the ones that I don't develop... she had a whole card of pictures of our cat's butt."

"Yeah, I don't think so," Rebecca said pulling down her sun glasses to look at Angel. "That's a rabbit hole best not to go down."

"I've taken a hand to Nathan a couple of times. Using my good fabric scissors for something other than fabric... " Angel shook her head. "Then he got all frisky. Men." she said with a laugh.

"We're divorced, " she held up her hand which conspicuously lacked her wedding band. "We finalized last week. Like I said; that's a rabbit hole I have no intention of going down. What do you want Ang?"

"Yeah I heard... sorry to hear that Becca." Angel said and put her hand on her mentor's. "You know I'm here for you, even if I've been working my ass off for months trying to find Trinity, first time in weeks that I've even been back here. Longer than that since I had time to put on a swimsuit and lay on the beach. I'm almost as pale as you." she said with a smile. "I love the new ship, but it feels good to be off of her for a little while. "

"It was a long time coming. Milo resented me not telling him, about dying, but not. He buried me, and wasn't ready to dig me up when I just showed up. Again, why are you here?"

"I live here, you're like ten minutes walk from my house." Angel reminded her. "You're the only really white lady with red hair out here." she said and sighed. "Kind of needed to get away from things for a little while. Dominus blew up a planet that was just on the verge of discovering warp drive in the Beta Quadrant. Second pre-warp civilization he's culled and destroyed. We've been too late by the time he makes himself known and acts on it. I was snapping at my crew all week on the way back, Nathan suggested I get some beach time in. I had ulterior motives, find a beach with my Aunt Becca on it."

"You are welcome to join me," she said with a grin. "As long as you ain't trying to get me to come back. I figured Nick sent you. I've been ignoring his calls for weeks."

"Dad's been calling to have you come to the Club, he misses you." Angel said and shrugged his shoulders. "I'll be honest, after everything that's happened... I think once we find Trinity, I'm taking some leave. I'm starting to lose my cool more than I like. Need to step back and reassess. I think... I think seeing my mother in her casket minus a head... it got to me. I worry about being too much like her and I worry that I'm not enough like her. Almost three years I've been going from crisis to crisis with a young child in my care and I worry... I'm not going to see her grow up or I'm going to be the mother that the older Trinity said I turn into. The harsh, bitchy, almost merciless commander."