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Taako stared down at his display, watching the numbers flicker in a way that should have been impossible. The dust cloud they were circling should not be giving off that kind of energy, and yet there it was, plain as day on the screen. Taako tapped it with his finger for good measure, but the readings were consistent.
“Hey, Captain, I recommend we put some distance between us and this dust cloud,” Barry said, and Davenport looked away from the viewscreen and across the bridge to where Barry sat.
“Care to explain why?” Davenport asked.
“I’m not sure I can. All I know is that whatever this is can’t be good for our engines—”
Their ship lurched aggressively, and Taako was thrown out of his chair and to the floor. He cursed.
“What the hell was that?” Davenport asked, clinging to his own chair.
“We really need to get out of here!” Barry replied, and Davenport started punching in commands into the navigation console. The pitch of their tiny science vessel changed as Davenport worked to get them out of orbit, and the ship tugged against whatever forces were throwing it around like a loose fork in a sonic dishwasher.
“We’re not gaining any ground!” Davenport hissed. “Lup, can you get any more power to our engines?”
“I’m trying, but there’s something draining us!”
The dark cloud on their viewscreen was growing in size as their little ship was pulled closer and closer to it. Something sparkled within its depths.
Like a rubber band pulled to its breaking point, their ship creaked with the effort of staying outside the dust cloud, but the magnetic pull on them was winning. With a strange twang, they were all thrown from their seats as their engines gave out quite suddenly. Taako hit the floor and his vision went immediately dark.
When Taako swam to consciousness, the light on his face was strange. He opened his eyes to a swath of grey, endless above him. He blinked a few times, but the greyness didn’t reform into something that made more sense.
Taako sat up and was surprised to feel that the floor underneath him had a strange give to it.
He was not on the ship.
His surroundings came into focus around him. As far as the eye could see was nothing but black sand, connecting in the distance with a grey sky that hung low overhead, its surface smooth and undisturbed by any weather patterns. There were no land features visible in the distance, and the air was still and heavy.
Taako tapped his comm badge. “Taako to Starblaster.” There was no response. He tapped it again. “Taako to Starblaster. Starblaster, come in.”
There was a small crack, and Taako scrambled backward on the sand as a figure materialized in front of him. The figure was cloaked and holding a wicked, curved blade. It was tall and its face was cast in the shadow of its hood. There were patterns swirling in its cloak, but when Taako tried to focus on them, they shifted away under his gaze. It was glowing a faint purple in the dim grey light.
“Trespasser. Identify yourself.” The voice was smooth and in careful Standard, coming from everywhere at once instead of from the figure that had presumably spoken the words.
Taako took a moment to break out of his startled trance, and when he spoke his voice was almost normal. “Lieutenant Taako of the Starfleet science vessel Starblaster at your service.” He gave a little mock salute, but the figure remained unmoved.
“You are trespassing in the Astral Plane.”
“Yeah, I really didn’t mean to end up here. We were just exploring a weird dust cloud and things got freaky. I woke up here.” Taako shot a gaze around him. “Speaking of which, have you seen my crew?”
“You’re the only mortal on the Astral Plane.”
“Dunk,” Taako replied and tried to shake some of the lingering fogginess from his mind. “What’s your name, thug? You got a face under that hood?”
The figure was silent for a long moment, and then it lifted a hand to push the fabric off its head. Handsome, Taako realized when his face was unobscured. Dark skin, high cheekbones, red eyes—he was potentially hostile, but Taako had always been a sucker for a pretty face.
“My name is Kravitz. I’m the enforcer of the cosmic laws.” His voice came from his mouth this time, and Taako relaxed slightly.
“Cosmic laws?”
“The laws of space/time, life and death. Physics. Etcetera.”
“Nifty.” Taako stood and brushed off his pants. Whoever had decided that officers on science vessels would wear pure white uniforms had been surfing a desk for too long, in Taako’s opinion. White? Who knew what kind of grime they’d be getting into out here? Taako liked the silver boots, but the white pants were not his thing.
Taako glanced down just in time to see the phaser on his hip disappear in a puff of smoke. “Hey!”
“I can’t allow you to remain armed.”
Taako sighed. “Listen, all I want is to return to my ship with my crew. You got any idea how I might be able to accomplish that?”
Kravitz tilted his head. “Can you describe what brought you here?”
“This dust cloud was putting off some wild levels of energy and it tugged us right inside. There was something sparkling in the middle of it. I was unconscious pretty soon after that.”
Their surroundings shifted suddenly, and they were standing in an opulent study. Taako stumbled and gripped the edge of the desk for support. “Hey! Warn a guy.”
Kravitz looked sheepish. “Sorry.” He propped his curved weapon on the side of the desk and sifted through the papers there until he found what he was looking for. He unfolded the thick parchment and revealed a huge star chart. Taako drank in the sight of it, heart beating wildly in his chest when he noticed how small the explored portion of their galaxy was on this map. He wondered if Kravitz would notice if he pilfered it.
That is, if he was able to get out of here at all.
“Can you show me where you were?” Kravitz asked.
Taako pointed to the place on the map where they had been exploring.
Kravitz hummed thoughtfully. “Sometimes, the universe will fold in on itself in certain locations and cause strange irregularities, but your patch of the universe is not a common location for such anomalies. The technology your societies use tends to stabilize the fabric of space.” He reached a hand towards Taako and hesitated. “Do you mind if I…?”
“Go ahead.”
Kravitz took his wrist and held it between them, eyes fluttering closed, and Taako felt a strange rush of something dancing over his skin. He resisted the urge to hold his breath. Kravitz’ fingers were cold, but they were soft.
Kravitz opened his eyes and dropped Taako’s wrist. “You encountered a fold in the universe that tugged you right through to the Astral Plane. I can feel its energy.”
“Why was I the only one who came through?”
“There are a number of reasons. The science surrounding these phenomena is shaky at best. But it’s unlikely your friends faced a similar fate.”
“That’s good because I was about to ask if they ended up in space hell or something equally horrifying.”
Kravitz’ mouth quirked up at one corner. “I can send you back, but the energy you absorbed during your trip is going to take a little while to wear off. My cosmic abilities do not get along with it.”
“Are we still on the Astral Plane?” he asked, finally allowing himself to be curious as he glanced around the study.
“We are. I have complete control over what exists here. It’s my home, for lack of a better descriptor.”
Taako considered the velvet drapes over the windows. “A bit stuffy.” He turned back to Kravitz. “How do you know when a cosmic law has been broken or whatever?”
“I can sense it. My being is attuned to the harmonies of the universe, and when they’re disrupted, well, it’s not pleasant.”
Taako tugged out the desk chair and settled in it, leaning back and staring up at Kravitz’ baffled expression.
“People are usually more intimidated by me,” Kravitz said with a twitch of his eyebrow.
“Taako’s seen a lot of weird shit in his time. You’re cute.”
Kravitz blinked. “Thank you?”
“I gotta admit, my man, as an explorer on a science vessel, your whole deal is like the jackpot for me. You’ve seen things I could only dream of.” He gestured to their surroundings. “Like, even now! Are we in another dimension? Another time?”
“This plane exists outside of time and space.”
Taako shook his head. “Fucking wild.”
“You mentioned you were from Starfleet. Is that an exploration organization?”
“Yep.” Taako touched the edge of his badge. “Our mission is to explore the reaches of the universe without disturbing anyone, or so it goes.”
“I was reading a book when you appeared here. You definitely disturbed me.”
Taako barked a laugh at that. “Yeah, well, it doesn’t always work out the way we want it to. Besides, the rule has to do with societies that aren’t technologically-advanced. You seem pretty well advanced to me.”
The expression on Kravitz’ face shifted. “Ugh. Not again.”
Taako raised an eyebrow.
“I’ve got to deal with something. I should be able to get you back to your crew now.”
Taako held out his arm. “Lead on.”
Kravitz took his arm with a smile, grabbed his bladed weapon, and reality shifted around them.
Six startled pairs of eyes landed on them, and Magnus pulled a phaser. “Let him go!”
“Easy there, Magnus,” Taako said, and Magnus eyed him doubtfully before lowering his phaser. “This is Kravitz. He was kind enough to bring me back.”
“Where the hell did you go?” Lup asked. “When we all woke up, you were gone.”
“Apparently, that dust cloud had some weird shit going on inside and it liked me specifically. But it led me straight to my new boyfriend, so I can’t complain too much.”
Kravitz tensed beside him. “Your what?”
There was a similar baffled response from the rest of the crew, excluding Lup, who just rolled her eyes. Taako stepped forward and plucked Barry’s badge off his uniform. He gave a weak protest as Taako handed the badge to Kravitz.
“I know you have to get going, but if you ever wanna talk to ol’ Taako here, just click this and say my name. You might have to leave the Astral Plane to do it, but this thing has a long range.”
Kravitz may not have had the ability to blush, but he was flustered as he took the comm badge. “It was nice to meet you, Taako.”
Taako kissed him on the cheek. “Thanks for bringing me home.”
Even more flustered, Kravitz gave him an awkward wave as reality bent around him and he disappeared.
“Taako, please tell me you didn’t just flirt with some all-powerful cosmic entity,” Davenport said, voice flat.
“I didn’t just flirt with one, I gave him my number,” Taako replied with a smile.
“You gave him my comm badge,” Barry corrected, voice resigned.
And a few days later, Kravitz used it.