5: On The Beach

Posted on Thu Aug 6th, 2020 @ 9:51am by Commander Rita Paris

Mission: The Bulikaya Particle
Location: Risa, western shore of the Sea of Caliphate
Timeline: 2270

Appearing on a beach, as her eyes once again adjusted, Rita Paris was confronted by a sunset that was almost too beautiful to be real. The smell of the sea and the temperature all came together to make her think of Risa. Of that sailing trip-

“Of that sailing trip you all took on the sloop John B, where you took the boys sailing and they didn’t really know how to act off a starship,” came the sound of her own voice, as she lay there in a comfortable chair with a tropical drink melting in her hand. In the background, people were falling in love to the rhythm of a steel drum band. A bright blue bikini was somewhat maintaining her modesty, and Rita Paris looked rather pleased with herself. “Yeah, I remember. They ruined that entire trip you were so excited about, and worked so hard to make perfect for them, and they couldn’t have cared less. Good times.”





“Have a seat, take a load off. Daiquiri?” her local counterpart asked, then suddenly Rita was sitting, holding a frozen banana daiquiri with a chunk of pineapple in the top, with whipped cream in a rather large Tiki mug that was just like-

“The one from that vacation, right, you’re catching on. There’s a barrier at the edge of the universe, remember the report? Gary Mitchell, that dick from the Academy?” Rita did in fact recall the report, as well as the follow-ups that the barrier needed analyzing to understand it “Yeah, Exeter got the order to investigate. Passed through the Barrier, and I became... more. Empowered, connected to the universe and the quantum field in ways that there literally are no words to describe, and believe it or not, dumbing it down doesn't work either.”

“Turns out the power only corrupts you if that’s who you are, and frankly, Mitchell was always a chauvinist swine,” vacation Rita inclined her head. “So I’ve got someone coming who’s going to explain it to me, and I’m going to try to figure out my place in the universe now. You want to do good, but you hand a baby a phaser for the lightshow, you can’t be surprised when he sets it on overload and destroys himself.” Catching the look from her visiting self, the newest member of the Continuum rolled her eyes. “No, I didn’t do that, it’s just an example. Don’t be so provincial, Rita.”

They spent the next five minutes in silence, watching the sunset, listening to the sea waves breaking on the sand, the wind of the surf, and enjoying the tranquility of a truly gorgeous Risan sunset. It was one of her favorite pastimes- often she would go down to the shore and watch the sunset over the Pacific, from San Francisco bay. Rita loved the ocean, and the beach in particular... where the ocean met the land. At this point in her life, the only thing about living on a starship that she truly missed were sunsets over the ocean.

“Everything that comes together in an improbable blend to create the perfect sunset. Remove one element, and it is lesser. Remove too many and it isn’t even a sunset anymore.” Eyes seeking those of her extradimensionally exploring counterpart, Rita Q’s eyes turned silver. “All this power... I want to do good, to help. But I need perspective, on a scale I’ve never known.”

“Time for you to go now,” said an annoyed male voice behind her, and without warning, Rita suddenly found herself consumed by the flare of the incandescent, flung out into the multiverse once more.

“HONestly, I don’t know why you entertain them with their little thoughts and problems and petty little ideas,” Q said as he settled into Rita’s abandoned chair, picking up her banana daiquiri to take a sip. “Mmmmm.”

“Call it self-care, Q,” Rita Paris replied with a dazzling smile. “Now, as I recall, you were going to explain life, the universe and everything...?”