Just a little something I've been working on... by no means is it a complete story.
"Operation: Retrieve"
Lieutenant Commander Natasha Yar stood momentarily at the base of the transporter pad. She truly hated being “beamed”…
… especially across interstellar distances.
… especially when it meant going deep into the Romulan frontier.
She muttered a curse under her breath for the S.O.B. who had made “interstellar transport” possible. It wasn’t bad enough that the contraption turned the human body into pure energy for a short distance trip. Interstellar transport turned the body into pure energy then converted the energy into a data stream readable by sub-space relays. The data would be passed from relay to relay to relay, until the final relay (specially equipped) took the data stream and converted it back to energy and then finally she would become whole again. At least that was the theory. Thinking about it made her nauseous.
“Problem Commander?” Yar turned to see the Commander Data staring inquisitively at her. How long had she been standing there looking at the transporter? “No problem, Sir.” she replied as she began to climb the three steps to the transporter platform. Stepping onto the circular pad, she turned to take one last look… just in case. Though she had to admit there was no one else she’d rather have at the controls than Commander Data, a dark-skinned android from the world Exo III that had served in Starfleet for close too a century.
After taking a deep breath and making sure the case she carried was firmly in her grasp, Yar muttered a single command, “Energize”, with it the transporter room of the USS Enterprise dissolved from her vision.
***
Cold. Even before she was free from the transporter effect she was cold. Bitterly so. And wet… was that snow coming down? She made a mental note to talk to Mister Worf immediately upon her return. He definitely wouldn’t make a good travel agent.
Her instincts took over and she immediately pressed the arrowhead shaped badge on her uniform. Quickly she realized it was a fruitless gesture as the Enterprise was over one hundred light years away. Pulling her tri-corder from her belt, she realized she was going to need shelter before she froze to death. Scanning the area in all directions, she was becoming frustrated. These were the proper co-ordinates! She had triple-checked them herself before Data programmed them into the transporter.
Thirty minutes! Yar had almost forgotten she was working against the clock. In thirty minutes the transporters “automatic recall” would activate and return her to the Enterprise. “C’mon damnit!” she growled to herself. She had to find him! She had begun a search pattern, spiraling out from her beam-in point. Frustration began to set in when she realized she was losing a battle on two fronts: she was running out of time and beginning to lose feeling in her fingers when she thought she heard her name. She stopped cold. No one could be calling her name; she was getting no life signs from her tri-corder! She guessed the damn thing could be broken, but thought it unlikely.
“Natasha”
The sound reached her ears came from behind. There was no mistaking it… it wasn’t her imagination. Slowly she turned and there stood the man she had been seeking.
“You’re looking well. I’m proud to see you wearing the uniform. Red is definitely your color” the figures voice was cordial.
Immediately, Yar dropped her tri-corder and ran towards the figure standing there. It had been too many years since she had last seen him. Decorum gave way to love as she wrapped her arms around him. “Jean-Luc” she said “God how I have missed you!” She stepped back for a moment to take in Jean-Luc Picard, former captain of the USS Stargazer and her personal savior.
Picard looked to the rank pips on Yar’s collar, “So what’s a nice Starfleet Commander like you doing in a place like this?” Yar could feel suspicion creeping into Picard’s voice.
Yar, summoning all the courage she could, quickly pulled a small data padd from her belt and handed to Picard. “Jean-Luc Picard, per Starfleet regulation 168 paragraph C, you are being recalled to active duty. Your rank of Captain is restored and you are ordered to accompany me to the USS Enterprise as her new captain.” Picard was surprised that Yar hadn’t passed out while delivering the news. He also knew that she was aware that he hadn’t departed Starfleet on the best of terms after the Stargazer returned from her five-year mission.
“And if I refuse the order?” a smile tugging at his lips. He knew her too well.
“I believe you should take a look at what is inside the case before you make such a rash decision.” Yar stated flatly. She wasn’t the scared child that he had taken away from Tarkana IV.
“Can’t you just tell me what is inside of it?” Picard asked.
“If I open it… I face a full Court-Martial and my career is over.” She sure hoped her poker face was holding and that she had piqued his interest.
Picard took the case and studied momentarily. “Starfleet has a lot of trust in you. Sending you with classified materials in an unsecured case.” Picard then proceeded to open the case. In it were only three things: a Starfleet uniform complete with rank pips and communicator badge, a tri-corder and a small shard of what looked to be metal. He quickly flipped open and powered up the device and began scanning the metal. After a few moments a single word quietly escaped his lips “Merde”.
***
Once materialization was complete Jean-Luc Picard was on a starship for the first time in nearly a decade. The smell was the first thing that hit him. He had forgotten how anti-septic a starship smelled, almost like a hospital ward on some of the less advanced planets he had been to. He watched as Yar stepped quickly off the transporter pad and stood at attention next to a dark-skinned man who Picard thought looked vaguely familiar.
“Permission to come aboard?” Picard asked after exhaling a deep breath.
The dark-skinned man stepped forward, “Permission granted, Captain.” And offered his hand which Picard took firmly and shook. “I am Commander Data, your Executive Officer.”
Picard continued to study Data for a few moments and then it dawned on him, “Not quite human are you?” he asked.
“No sir.” Data said with a smile. “I am an android that was rescued from the planet Exo III nearly a century ago.” Then Data’s head rose slightly into the air, “Computer. Transfer all command protocols to Jean-Luc Picard this stardate. Authorization: Data-zero-two-alpha-two-eight-one.” The computer chirped and a female voice answered, “Confirmed”. Data then looked to Picard, “Captain Picard, I have a staff briefing scheduled for zero-eight hundred hours.”
“I’d like to have that meeting in one-hour” Picard replied briskly. “There is much to discuss. Commander Yar would you please escort me to my quarters.”
Picard and Yar quickly exited the transporter room. Data knew that Picard was going to be tough to win over or maybe not…
***
The quarters on a Galaxy-Class starship were nothing to sneeze at Picard soon discovered. The ships were still on the drawing board when he left Starfleet to pursue his interest in archeology. Originally designed for the purpose of having families accompany their Starfleet spouses and parents on deep-space voyages the idea was nixed when certain complications had arisen.
Picard came from the washroom in complete Starfleet approved attire: black polished boot, a pair of black trousers, a yellowish-gold undershirt, a black jacket with a yellowish-gold stripe on each sleeve and one over his left shoulder, his communicator pin attached to the should stripe and four silver pips on his left sleeve and right collar denoting his captain’s rank. His uniform identical to Yar’s except for the difference in color and Yar only had two solid pips and one hollow one. “Yellow is not my color!” he remarked to Yar. Then took on a more serious tone, “Why are you serving here on the Enterprise as just a helmsman? You’re not even in the chain of command!” He could tell the question surprised her. “I followed your career through Starfleet Academy… your grades were spectacular. You graduated near the top of your class! And now a machine out-ranks you!”
Yar took a moment to compose herself, “My career choices are my own, Sir” was all she could muster as an answer. She could never tell him about being under scrutiny all during her time at the academy and then at Starfleet. About how tough it was to live under the shadow of Jean-Luc Picard, “I believe we have a briefing to attend.”
***
"Operation: Retrieve"
Lieutenant Commander Natasha Yar stood momentarily at the base of the transporter pad. She truly hated being “beamed”…
… especially across interstellar distances.
… especially when it meant going deep into the Romulan frontier.
She muttered a curse under her breath for the S.O.B. who had made “interstellar transport” possible. It wasn’t bad enough that the contraption turned the human body into pure energy for a short distance trip. Interstellar transport turned the body into pure energy then converted the energy into a data stream readable by sub-space relays. The data would be passed from relay to relay to relay, until the final relay (specially equipped) took the data stream and converted it back to energy and then finally she would become whole again. At least that was the theory. Thinking about it made her nauseous.
“Problem Commander?” Yar turned to see the Commander Data staring inquisitively at her. How long had she been standing there looking at the transporter? “No problem, Sir.” she replied as she began to climb the three steps to the transporter platform. Stepping onto the circular pad, she turned to take one last look… just in case. Though she had to admit there was no one else she’d rather have at the controls than Commander Data, a dark-skinned android from the world Exo III that had served in Starfleet for close too a century.
After taking a deep breath and making sure the case she carried was firmly in her grasp, Yar muttered a single command, “Energize”, with it the transporter room of the USS Enterprise dissolved from her vision.
***
Cold. Even before she was free from the transporter effect she was cold. Bitterly so. And wet… was that snow coming down? She made a mental note to talk to Mister Worf immediately upon her return. He definitely wouldn’t make a good travel agent.
Her instincts took over and she immediately pressed the arrowhead shaped badge on her uniform. Quickly she realized it was a fruitless gesture as the Enterprise was over one hundred light years away. Pulling her tri-corder from her belt, she realized she was going to need shelter before she froze to death. Scanning the area in all directions, she was becoming frustrated. These were the proper co-ordinates! She had triple-checked them herself before Data programmed them into the transporter.
Thirty minutes! Yar had almost forgotten she was working against the clock. In thirty minutes the transporters “automatic recall” would activate and return her to the Enterprise. “C’mon damnit!” she growled to herself. She had to find him! She had begun a search pattern, spiraling out from her beam-in point. Frustration began to set in when she realized she was losing a battle on two fronts: she was running out of time and beginning to lose feeling in her fingers when she thought she heard her name. She stopped cold. No one could be calling her name; she was getting no life signs from her tri-corder! She guessed the damn thing could be broken, but thought it unlikely.
“Natasha”
The sound reached her ears came from behind. There was no mistaking it… it wasn’t her imagination. Slowly she turned and there stood the man she had been seeking.
“You’re looking well. I’m proud to see you wearing the uniform. Red is definitely your color” the figures voice was cordial.
Immediately, Yar dropped her tri-corder and ran towards the figure standing there. It had been too many years since she had last seen him. Decorum gave way to love as she wrapped her arms around him. “Jean-Luc” she said “God how I have missed you!” She stepped back for a moment to take in Jean-Luc Picard, former captain of the USS Stargazer and her personal savior.
Picard looked to the rank pips on Yar’s collar, “So what’s a nice Starfleet Commander like you doing in a place like this?” Yar could feel suspicion creeping into Picard’s voice.
Yar, summoning all the courage she could, quickly pulled a small data padd from her belt and handed to Picard. “Jean-Luc Picard, per Starfleet regulation 168 paragraph C, you are being recalled to active duty. Your rank of Captain is restored and you are ordered to accompany me to the USS Enterprise as her new captain.” Picard was surprised that Yar hadn’t passed out while delivering the news. He also knew that she was aware that he hadn’t departed Starfleet on the best of terms after the Stargazer returned from her five-year mission.
“And if I refuse the order?” a smile tugging at his lips. He knew her too well.
“I believe you should take a look at what is inside the case before you make such a rash decision.” Yar stated flatly. She wasn’t the scared child that he had taken away from Tarkana IV.
“Can’t you just tell me what is inside of it?” Picard asked.
“If I open it… I face a full Court-Martial and my career is over.” She sure hoped her poker face was holding and that she had piqued his interest.
Picard took the case and studied momentarily. “Starfleet has a lot of trust in you. Sending you with classified materials in an unsecured case.” Picard then proceeded to open the case. In it were only three things: a Starfleet uniform complete with rank pips and communicator badge, a tri-corder and a small shard of what looked to be metal. He quickly flipped open and powered up the device and began scanning the metal. After a few moments a single word quietly escaped his lips “Merde”.
***
Once materialization was complete Jean-Luc Picard was on a starship for the first time in nearly a decade. The smell was the first thing that hit him. He had forgotten how anti-septic a starship smelled, almost like a hospital ward on some of the less advanced planets he had been to. He watched as Yar stepped quickly off the transporter pad and stood at attention next to a dark-skinned man who Picard thought looked vaguely familiar.
“Permission to come aboard?” Picard asked after exhaling a deep breath.
The dark-skinned man stepped forward, “Permission granted, Captain.” And offered his hand which Picard took firmly and shook. “I am Commander Data, your Executive Officer.”
Picard continued to study Data for a few moments and then it dawned on him, “Not quite human are you?” he asked.
“No sir.” Data said with a smile. “I am an android that was rescued from the planet Exo III nearly a century ago.” Then Data’s head rose slightly into the air, “Computer. Transfer all command protocols to Jean-Luc Picard this stardate. Authorization: Data-zero-two-alpha-two-eight-one.” The computer chirped and a female voice answered, “Confirmed”. Data then looked to Picard, “Captain Picard, I have a staff briefing scheduled for zero-eight hundred hours.”
“I’d like to have that meeting in one-hour” Picard replied briskly. “There is much to discuss. Commander Yar would you please escort me to my quarters.”
Picard and Yar quickly exited the transporter room. Data knew that Picard was going to be tough to win over or maybe not…
***
The quarters on a Galaxy-Class starship were nothing to sneeze at Picard soon discovered. The ships were still on the drawing board when he left Starfleet to pursue his interest in archeology. Originally designed for the purpose of having families accompany their Starfleet spouses and parents on deep-space voyages the idea was nixed when certain complications had arisen.
Picard came from the washroom in complete Starfleet approved attire: black polished boot, a pair of black trousers, a yellowish-gold undershirt, a black jacket with a yellowish-gold stripe on each sleeve and one over his left shoulder, his communicator pin attached to the should stripe and four silver pips on his left sleeve and right collar denoting his captain’s rank. His uniform identical to Yar’s except for the difference in color and Yar only had two solid pips and one hollow one. “Yellow is not my color!” he remarked to Yar. Then took on a more serious tone, “Why are you serving here on the Enterprise as just a helmsman? You’re not even in the chain of command!” He could tell the question surprised her. “I followed your career through Starfleet Academy… your grades were spectacular. You graduated near the top of your class! And now a machine out-ranks you!”
Yar took a moment to compose herself, “My career choices are my own, Sir” was all she could muster as an answer. She could never tell him about being under scrutiny all during her time at the academy and then at Starfleet. About how tough it was to live under the shadow of Jean-Luc Picard, “I believe we have a briefing to attend.”
***
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