Baffin and the
Nordic City
“Captain's
Log, Day 155, we have arrived at the third alternate Earth. According
to the astronomical measurements, it is in the early 1840s.”
Emerson looked out
of the ready room window at Earth. It looked rather peaceful. He knew
that belied the reality. He knew that European colonial powers were
subjugating indigenous peoples all over the planet. He was thankful
for the Prime Directive, otherwise he was sure he would give into the
temptation to interfere.
“Hernandez to
Emerson.”
“Emerson here.”
“Preliminary
scans have come back.”
“And you've found
some differences?”
“Yes. Mainly
centred in Scandinavia, on either side of the Baltic Straits.”
“Interesting. I'll
come to the bridge.”
He looked at the
map. It wasn't that different. “So, this area, around southern
Norway and Sweden?”
“And the Danish
Islands, yes,” Hernandez added.
“It's certainly
something to investigate,” Emerson said. He turned to Lu.
“Prepare an Away
Team to scout out an alternate Nordic settlement.”
“Aye, sir.”
“Why me, sir,”
Andersen asked Lu as they entered the shuttle bay.
“You do have a
Nordic background.”
“That's true. I
grew up in southern Norway.”
“Good. It is in
your file.”
Fifteen minutes
later, the Saskatoon approached the Baltic Straights. “Sensors
are picking up a sizeable town in a fjord on the northern side of
the straight,” Andersen reported. “We could land near there.”
Lu looked at the
sensors. “We can land near there.”
The Saskatoon
landed in a secluded area. “We're less than twenty kilometers
from the town,” Andersen reported..
“It will be a long
walk,” Lu said.
“The geography
wasn't conducive to landing the shuttlecraft either safely or
secretly,” Andersen said.
“I understand. But
it will take almost a day to walk there.”
“Still not sure
why we couldn't have beamed down,” Albert complained.
“Simple. It
wouldn't do to beam down in a populated area,” Lu said.
Albert sighed. The
Prime Directive was quite inconvenient most of the time.
Despite those
complaints, they managed the journey on foot well, with Andersen
telling them stories of her youth as the landscape reminded her of
places near her home. She certainly recognised the various types of
vegetation they saw.
They broke camp as
the sun rose the next day and approached the town while it was still
early morning.
“It reminds me of
Bergen, one of Norway's major cities,” Andersen said as she looked
at the sizeable town. There is a palace too. It's more like Oslo in
that.”
“We need to know
it's name,” Lu said.
“We'll know as we
get closer.”
“Arendelle,”
Andersen read. “The City of Arendelle.”
“And there is a
coronation today,” Albert said.
“We have to find
out more,” Lu said.
“And see if we can
attend,” Andersen added.
“Of course,” Lu
said. “It may not be, but we can check. But first we'll check in.”
“Lu to Baffin.
We have arrived at the city. It is the centre of a kingdom named
Arendelle.”
“Arendelle?”
Emerson considered. “That's interesting. What else can you tell
us?”
“There is a
coronation today.”
“Investigate it,
keep us informed, Baffin out.”
They approached the
palace. “Here we are!” Andersen said as she picked up a
newspaper. “Queen Elsa. It seems her parents died in a shipwreck
some years ago and she's just come of age.”
“That sounds sad,”
Albert said.
“It certainly is.”
“Where is the
coronation at?” Lu asked.
“Where, else?”
Andersen answered. “The Cathedral. It's right next to the palace.”
“Hopefully we will
be able to join in,” Lu said.
Meanwhile, Princess
Anna of Arendelle was down at the dock when she ran into someone.
Literally.
“I'm so sorry. Are
you hurt?” the man asked.
Anna tried to
reassure him that she was OK.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah,
I...I just wasn't looking where I was going. But I'm great,
actually.”
The man
jumped off his horse. “Oh, thank goodness. Oh. Uh...Prince Hans of
the Southern Isles.”
“Princess
Anna of Arendelle.”
“Princess?
My Lady,” he then bowed, causing his horse to stumble. She then
ended up in his arms as a result of the following commotion.
“This
is awkward,” Anna said.
“Uh...”
“Not
that you're awkward, but because I'm awkward,” Anna said. She then
got up.
“You're
gorgeous. Wait, what?”
“I'd
like to formally apologize for hitting the Princess of Arendelle with
my horse...and for every moment after.”
“No.
No, no. It's fine. I'm not that Princess. I mean, if you'd hit my
sister Elsa, it would be... yeash! Cause, you know... But, lucky you,
it's...it's just me. ”
“Just
you?”
The bells
started ringing and Anna ran off with a quick apology.
In the
mean time, the Away Team had asked around and found that they could
attend the coronation.
Elsa took
off her gloves at the Bishop's prompting and took the sceptre and
orb. She hands shook and the objects iced up. But it seemed that no
one noticed.
The
Bishop recited his blessing. “I present to you, Queen Elsa!”
As the
crowd repeated, she put the objects aside and put her gloves on.
“Andersen
to Baffin.”
“Report,” Emerson ordered.
“The Coronation is over, but there is a celebration of it tonight,”
Anderson reported.
“You're planning to attend?”
“Yes.”
“That's good.”
Later, that evening the celebration was in swing...
Anna and Hans came up to Elsa.
“Me again. Um, may I present Prince Hans of the Southern Isles,”
Anna said to Elsa.
“Your Majesty,” Hans said as he bowed.
“We would like...” Anna and Hans began.
“Uh, your blessing,” Hans continued.
“Of our marriage!” they concluded.
“Marriage?” Elsa asked, confused.
“Yes!” Anna said.
“I'm sorry, I'm confused,” Elsa stated. As far as she knew her
sister had only met Hans that day.
“Well,
We haven't worked out all the details ourselves. We'll need a few
days to plan the ceremony. Of course, we'll have soup, roast, and ice
cream. And then...“ Anna said quickly. She turned to Hans. “Wait.
Would we live here?”
“Here?”
Elsa asked.
“Absolutely!”
Hans answered.
“Anna...”
Elsa said, knowing that she had to pop her sister's 'bubble', as it
were.
“Oh, we
can invite all twelve of your brothers to stay with us.”
“What?
No. No, no, no, no,” Elsa said. Things were moving too fast.
“Of
course we have the room. I don't know, some of them must...” Anna
began.
“Just
wait. Slow down. No one's brothers are staying here. No one is
getting married,” Elsa got out.
“Wait,
what?” Anna asked.
“May I
talk to you, please?” Elsa asked. “Alone.”
“No.
Whatever you have to say, you...you can say to both of us.”
“Fine.
You can't marry a man you just met.”
“You
can if it's true love!” Anna said.
She was
deluded! “Anna, what do you know about true love?”
“More
than you. All you know is how to shut people out,” Anna shot back.
“You
asked for my blessing, but my answer is no. Now...excuse me,” Elsa
said as she walked away from the two of them. (Not a couple!)
“Your
Majesty, if I may ease your...” Hans said.
“No,
you may not. And I...I think you should go. The party is over.” She
turned to a gurad. “Close the gates.”
“Yes,
Your Majesty.”
“What?”
Anna asked. She went to her sister. “Elsa, no. No wait!” She
grabbed her sister's hand and pulled off her glove.
“Give
me my glove!”
“Elsa,
please! Please! I can't live like this anymore,” Anna pleaded.
“...Then
leave,” Elsa said.
Anna was
shocked. “What did I ever do to you?”
“Enough,
Anna.”
“No!
Why? Why do you shut me out? Why do you shut the world out? What
are you so afraid of?! “
“I said Enough!” Elsa
said. Spikes of Ice
appeared in front of
her, shocking everyone there.
“Something's happening,” Hernandez reported.
“I need a better description than that!” Emerson said.
“I'll put it on screen. Temperatures in Arendelle are dropping and
the fjord is freezing over,” Hernandez said.
She put it on screen. Emerson took it in. “Baffin to Away
Team. Report!”
