Star Trek; The Green Exploration

[RobertScorpio]

FOWARD

Hello there reader. You’ve probably just bought this book, or you are reading the online download version on your computer screen. No doubt you recall some news stories about the entire event that I’m about to recount for you. Its been a couple years now since the truth came out. I think its time that what really happen was told, to you, the buying public.

To really get the understanding of this story, one must accept a simple fact; money makes the world go around. Everything, and I mean everything, has a dollar value. Whether it’s a product, or service, whether it’s a pollution causing item, or a “green” product, makes no difference. Everything has a tangible worth, though that worth can fluctuate.

I was just an ordinary person when what I’m about to tell you began to happen. I lived in Rancho Bernardo California, a suburb of San Diego. I was a Political Science instructor at a local community college. I would go to work at 8am, and I would come home around 4pm. I would eat my dinner, do some bill paying, and then I would log on to World of Warcraft, and do raids until about 1am, then go to bed, to start the same routine the next day.

I was also a big fan of Star Trek. I didn’t care much for the old show, you know, the one with Kirk and Spock. I was more into TNG - DS9-Voyager-Enterprise. I didn’t know much about the technical aspects of the shows, but I did like the stories; the characters. So, when not WOWing, I would watch my Star Trek DVDS from time to time. I had just gotten the Bluray version of TOS’s first season, after finally deciding to give this show a chance. My Blueray accessed the internet, I filled out my profile, and soon I was watching the enhanced episodes with cool trivia. I didn’t know it at the time, but that’s when they nailed me.

That’s when they started to pay attention as to who I was, and the life I lived. That’s when I unwittingly became part of something much larger than my self. That is when my life was forever changed by…

STAR TREK
The Green Exploration.

 

[Alpha Romeo]

Robert: : not ;

 

[RobertScorpio]

STAR TREK
G R E E N #2



So, anyway, to continue my story.


I was just an ordinary person, living an ordinary. I was single, I was thirty-one years old, and best of all; I was single. Most of my school chums had gotten married over time, and when I saw them later on in life, I felt sorry for them. Not only were they married, with that whole ball and chain thing going on, some of them also had, gasp, children! I knew what that meant instantly; my former friends had no life.

How can I say that? I know what you’re thinking reader. You’re saying that those, like me, who are single all our lives have no life. But think about it. When you’re married, and have kids, your so called ‘time’ is actually their time with you. You have to do things with your wife, like watch movies she wants to watch. While you want to watch Terminator and Star Trek movies, she wants you to watch movies with Hugh Grant or Julia Roberts. What kind of existence is that?

Then you throw in what your kids want to watch, and let’s face it, they run the house. When those brats start whining because you’re watching “Spock’s Brain”, your wife pressures you to put on Hanna Montana to shut them up. Yes, I know, “Spock’s Brain” isn’t that good, but compared to The Suite Life of Zack and Cody it’s god-damn “Citizen Kane”.

So, thank God, I never got married. I worked at a programming company in San Diego, thanks to my Bachelor degree. I really had no idea what I was doing at my job. I just copied other people who knew more, and then did what they did faster. I mean, they had the Masters. I just had a BA. I was no better trained than a monkey, really. But I was a fast monkey, and could write programs for the software we sold or modified, or whatever.

On a regular day I would go to work at 9am, and come home at 5pm. I would come into my cozy little one bedroom apartment, and flip on the TV. Most of my TV viewing had to do with scifi, or gaming, I really had no idea what was happening in the world. I mean who cared? Imagine my shock when I found out that we had our first black President.

My apartment was no different than thousands upon thousands of others like me. I had my share of movie posters on the wall, a fair assortment of collectable superhero busts, every DVD of Star Trek, Star Wars, Firefly, oldBSG, nuBSG, Terminator, LOTR, Potter, and yes, hidden in my closet, some lesbian porn. I mean, don’t we all?

So, that was my life. I even smoked weed now and then. Not a lot, just a few times a month if work was stressed. Did I have any friends? I did; two exactly. And one of them lived in India, who I had never met, who was in my WOW guild. The other was my last remaining friend from high-school, a total sports/jock dude, his name was Ryan. Ryan lived in the same complex as I did, so that is how we had kept in touch.

Oh, what is my name you ask? I was hoping you would have read it on the front of the book, or maybe recognized it from the news headlines. Yeah, I know, its been a few years since this all came out. My name is Justin Tolbert. Yeah, I know, some of you think it’s pretty shitty that I lived, and that some of the others died, when it was all said and done. But when you’re trying your hardest to stay alive, not much else matters. We all want to be the hero. We all want to be Rocky, or Captain Kirk; but seldom does life work out that way.

It was on a regular night when it all began for me. It had been raining all day and I had just gotten home, and changed out of my work clothes. I was set to begin a WOW raid in two hours, so that gave me time to eat, and unwind. I was going to watch, the irony of it all, “Spock’s Brain”, when there was a knock at my door. Little did I know that in the next two minutes, I would be shot at in my own fucking apartment, and have my ass royally kicked!

I should have gotten married!

Continued…..

 

[RobertScorpio]

STAR TREK
G R E E N #3



When the knock came to my door, I had just slif my Bluray copy of “Spock’s Brain” into my DVD player. I had poured myself a large cup of Diet Pepsi, and was prepared to just watch some mindless TREK until my WOW raid was ready to start. (To be honest? This really meant that Spock’s Brain would no doubt put me to sleep until my alarm clock went off reminding me to play WOW.)

I was in my robe, U2 t-shirt, and boxers, when I ambled over to the door to my apartment. I looked into the peep whole on my door and saw some dude standing outside my door. Two other dudes, holding what looked like a tree-trunk, stood behind him.

“Hello?” I said to them, with out opening the door.

Then I looked back into the peep hole. The dude on the other side just smiled. He tells me to open the door and let him and his friends in, or, they’ll knock my door down and kick my ass. So, there I am, feeling like one of the pigs from the three little pigs. This dude wants me to open my door, to my apartment, or he is going to smash my door down? This is America! Things like that don’t happen like that here; unless your black and the cops come to your door for no reason, and bust in. Boy was I wrong!

The two dudes holding the tree trunk aimed it at my door; it was a battering ram. You know, the kind of thing you see in Monty Python Skits that they used to bust the door down. I stood back, in total disbelief. Suddenly there was a large smashing sound at my door, and my door started to crush in.

Well, what could I do? I fucking ran towards my room as the door smashed in again. I ran into my room and towards my phone. By the time I found the cordless phone, which was under a stack of comic books, (by the way I totally endorse DC’s Justice Society of America), it was too late. I turned, with the phone in my hand, and saw a man standing in my door way holding a gun; and it was aimed right at my head. The gunman says to me, with the voice of a tough-guy;

“Push one button on that phone and I’ll put a hole in your fucking head.”

Have you ever had that happen, dear reader? Have you ever had your life interrupted, your door kicked in, and then chased through your apartment, with a gun aimed at you the entire time. I didn’t believe him. I held the phone towards him and then I pressed the 0 button. Then he fired his gun, hitting my Bose speaker, that son of a bitch!!!

And then the two other goons rushed in and kicked my ass. I felt a blow to my stomach, my ribs, and oof...I was out. Down like a pile of legos. As I gazed at my bed spread, with R2D2 looking back at me, I fainted.

CONTINUED

 

[Alpha Romeo]

Hole....not whole.

 

[RobertScorpio]

STAR TREK
G R E E N #4
(the following characters are ALL based on real people I have known in my life. The names have all been changed; but its good to see some of them again, if only in my story as characters.)





I opened my eyes, after my beating, and found that I had been taken from my apartment. I was still in my robe, my U2 t-shirt, and my boxers. I remember falling to the ground in my room, and looking at R2D2’s image. I still have my Star Wars bed spread, and it’s the same print on the main blanket. R2D2 with C3PO next to him, then the Falcon flying over them, and the Chewie holding his crossbow, then above him, the same prints repeated. The same print, over and over and over. So, there I was, looking at R2D2, and I fainted from the pain of being beaten by those two goons.

So, opening my eyes, I began to focus my vision. As I said, I was no longer in my apartment. I was sitting in the comfort of a seat; an airplane seat in fact. I was on a leer jet. How did I know it was a Leer jet? The flight attendants were sexy looking, wore only tight skirts and black bras. I remembered seeing almost the same set-up in that Iron Man movie; minus the pole for pole-dancing. And, I wasn’t the only passenger. I could tell, just by looking at the other passengers, that they too had been abducted. The flight-attendants gave us some pretzels and soda. Where were we being taken to, and why? I was about to ask one of the flight-attendants what was going on when the door to the next cabin opened and a man walked into our cabin. I knew who he was. His name was Morton Gates. He was the cousin of another famous Gates. But Morton, as I remembered reading once in GQ, was considered the failure of the Gates clan.

He was worth money, but not nearly as much as the other Gates were. Too many failed casinos and amusement parks had taken their toll on his worth.

As he came into our cabin, we all noticed, right away, that he was wearing a Star Trek T-shirt. It was the one with the five starship captains on it. Kirk, Picard, Sisko, Janeway and, well, the other one I can’t remember. But there was Morton Gates, standing before the six of us, with a broad smile on his face.

“You know,” Morton told us, “Hitler was fond of saying that only by use of violence, on a regular basis, can you get the masses to like you. Do you like me?” He asked us.

That was when I first heard Jimmy speak. Jimmy, or James as he liked to be called, was a black dude.

“Where the hell are you taking us, you punk fool?” Jimmy asked Morton.

Jimmy was seventeen years old, and was the star running back on his high-school football team in Texas. But, what none of his friends knew, he was, like me, a big fan of Star Trek and he played WOW. In fact, that was what I not only had in common with Jimmy, but with the other four as well. We all liked Star Trek, and we played WOW.

Morton pointed at the five captains on his STAR TREK T –shirt.

“I love Star Trek,” Morton said with a broad, child like smile. “I love the stories, the characters, Shatner, even the new Uhura’s underwear. I also like money,” Morton continued. “Star Trek and money is what makes my world go round and round; and soon yours as well.”

That is when Nashiv first spoke. He was, like Jimmy and I; prisoners on the jet. He was twenty-five years old and had been abducted from his home in Seattle Washington. He had originally come from India when he was a teen, and still lived with his parents.

“Mister Gates,” Nashiv said with a heavy Indian accent, “I please ask you to return us to where we belong.”

“I’m sorry, Nashiv,” Morton said. “You, and your new friends here,” Morton said motioning to the rest of us, “are about to boldly go where no one has gone before. And while you go on this little Star Trek of yours,” he let the words hang for a moment, and then continued, “you are going to make me a lot of money. If you don’t make me a lot of money, I will not only kill you, I will also kill those who are important to you in your lives, and,” he said, again pausing for effect, “I will kill the rest of your team. These people are your team-mates, Nashiv, so try to get to know them. Your very lives will depend on it.”

“What do you mean we are going on a Star Trek?” A girl’s voice asked.

That question was asked by the only girl who would be on our six member team. Her name was Brandi, and the most incredible thing about her? She was a STAR TREK fan, a WOW fan and she was hot looking. I was in love with her the moment she asked that question.

“Good question, Brandi,” Morton Gates said to her.

And then Morton Gates explained why we had been taken from our normal worlds, populated by our family, jobs, and other aspects of our lives that were now very far from us.

And as he told us what we were about to do, I had the sickest feeling in my gut that I would never have a normal life again; I was right. And I also knew that the six of us who had been gathered? Not all of us would live through this; and again I was right.

Continued…

 

[RobertScorpio]

STAR TREK
G R E E N #5

(the following characters are ALL based on real people I have known in my life. The names have all been changed; but its good to see some of them again, if only in my story as characters.)


Morton began to tell us of his crazy plan to make zillions of dollars.

“Now,” Morton told the six of us, as we sat in our seats on his private Leer-Jet, “right now I am holding you against your will. But if you help me in this endeavor, I will pay you each vast sums of money.”

“What do we have to do?” came from a very young and childlike voice.

That question came from Zuo Quan. He was a very young Chinese boy, very young. He had to be, at best, nine years old. So not only was Morton kidnapping young adults and teenagers, he was also abducting young children; I hated that notion.

“Umm,” said the sixth and final voice of our team. His name was Gordon, and he was older than I was. And, by the look of him, he was a super-dork. Gordon continued by saying “If I don’t open the comic-book store tomorrow I work at tomorrow, I will be fired.”

Now, I actually had a friend who ran a comic-book store, so I know there can be normal people who do. But Gordon, who had to weigh in at over three-hundred pounds, and wore his hair so short is made his head look like a water-melon, was obviously a few marbles short of a set.

“I am sorry Gordon,” Morton replied, “but I’m afraid you’re going to be fired. In fact,” Morton said to all of us, “your lives, as they were, are over. You will be in my employee for the next year, maybe two. If all goes as planned, I will release you, give you each Three Million dollars, and it will be over. If all doesn’t go as planned?” He made the neck slit move with his index finger across his neck.

I wanted to impress the girl, Brandi, so I spoke next, you know, trying to be the hero.

“Umm sir,” I said, to Morton, “This little Chinese boy needs his mother and father. Can you at least take him back?”

Everyone looked at the little boy, and I could tell that Brandi thought I was being compassionate by suggesting Morton take the boy home.

“Well,” Morton said to me, and the others, “if I take him back I will have to kill all of you and find six others. You see; I have paid good money to track the six of you over the past year. I know everything about you. Your personalities will all mesh, or so I have been told by my assistants. So, if you don’t have a problem with jumping out the door of my jet, without parachutes, then yeah, we can take little Sulu here home.”

“Excuse me sir, but Sulu is Japanese,” Zuo said, “I am of Chinese descent.”

“I know,” Morton said to Zuo. “My friend, Zuo here,” Morton said to the rest of us, “is the best WOW player among you, and he probably knows more about Star Trek than any one in the world. He must be part of what we are about to do; or your lives, to me, are worthless.”

“Alright then,” Jimmy, the football player said, “what is it that you want us to do?”

A voice came over the jet’s PA system.

“Prepare for landing,” the voice said. “We will reach our destination in ten minutes.”

Morton smiled at all of us.

“Instead of telling you what you will be doing,” Morton said, “I will show you all in about twenty minutes. Take a long last look out the windows of this jet. It will be the last time you see the outside world for the next couple years. Your new lives are about to begin.”


Continued….

 

[RobertScorpio]

STAR TREK
G R E E N-6

We have all seen a crazy James Bond movie or two. The ones with Roger Moore usually ended up at some super lair that belonged to the ‘big boss’ bad guy. Well, that’s what I felt was going on when we landed at Morton Gates’ private island retreat.

The Leer-jet came to a stop, and we all exited the plane. There were goons in grey uniforms. I have played my fair share of POV games; they were mercenaries. They smelt bad too. Anyway, these goons, twenty or so, were lined up outside the plane with their guns aimed at us. I remember thinking how stupid it must have looked if anyone was looking in on this three ring circus.

There we were, all six of us, dorks more or less, and we’re being treated like we’re a squadron of Bruce Willis elites. Shit, I’ve never even shot a gun or held one. The closest I came to even going to jail was when I accidentally got chained to my bed by my Dolly Parton life sized blow-up doll. (More on that in book two.)

Anyway, there we were; six of the most whimpy people on the face of the Earth, and we were being treated like hostages; which I guess we were. But Morton was prepared to pay us as well? None of it made added it.

We followed Morton Gates inside a massive mansion that was near the runway. The goons dispersed, and returned to where ever goons disappear to. We found ourselves inside the mansion, and the largest den I have ever been inside of. It was so big, there were no less than five fireplaces at various points in the massive room.

“Please keep walking,” Morton called out to us. “I just had the carpet cleaned two days ago, so I don’t need any new smudge marks okay?”

We followed him through his massive home and came to another elevator.

“How big is this place?” Jimmy asked. “I bet this place is bigger than my entire street block.”

“Pretty much,” Morton said. “I bought it off of Marlon Brando’s estate when he died sometime back.”

I thought that was cool. Here I was, yeah a prisoner no less, but still, here I was walking through the same house in which Marlon Brando lived. The elevator stopped its descent and we came out into a massive domed room. It was real dark in the room, the only light coming from a most interesting setting at the center of the room.

Six beds, arranged in a circle so that the head rests were all close together, were connected together with various wires and other electronics. I had a sinking feeling that the beds were meant for us.

“What is this?” Brandi asked. “Are these beds meant for us?”

Morton nodded his head.

“Yes, my darling.” Morton said to her. “Consider these beds the bridge to your Star Trek. They are not only your beds,” Morton said motioning to tubes that ran down from IVs that were at the front of each bed, “but they will be your homes for the next few years.”

I was scared.

Continued…

 

[RobertScorpio]

STAR TREK
GREEN
7

Actually, looking back, I’m not even sure why I was picked for this whack excursion. I like WOW, but it’s not like I spend the entire day playing it. Yeah, sure, I stay up until 1am playing; but so what? I still get up at 5am to go to work and it doesn’t phase me at all only getting four hours asleep; I’m young! Sure, I may not brush my teeth everyday in those early morning hours before work, but who does. And, okay, maybe my laundry gets backed up and I only wear two pairs of pants the whole week; at least I change my underwear everyday!!! (well; sometimes)

Look, when you work fifty god-damn hours a week, and live a pretty menial existence, than yeah, I live my life the way I want to. And you’d be shocked, middle America, with all your soccer kids and all your aerobic classes and all your rat-race crap at the number of people out there, just like me, who have no intention of joining that type of life. Well maybe if I were married to Megan Fox, I might think about a normal life. But what chance do I have getting a girl like that? I’m not settling for Wilma Flinstone; I have my standards, and they are retooled each month a new Maxim comes in the mail.

Okay, so back to the story. Morton was showing us these beds and giving us all goo-goo eyes. He really thought we were impressed, and some of us were.

Jimmy picked the he wanted, they were all the same actually, and got on it, he was ready to go. Jimmy’s life wasn’t so hot it seemed. He grew up in the ‘hood’ and what ever Morton was going to pay for our services, Jimmy was all for it.

“You do realize,” I told Jimmy, looking down on him as he was on the bed, “that your body will be like a slave for whatever Mister Gates has planned for us. Do you really want that?”

And then Jimmy shocked me with his answer. He said it was no different than going into the military, which was where his life was headed, and getting shot at by Iraqis or Iranians whoever else our country pissed off; he was right.

“Jimmy,” Morton Gates said, having shown the others their perspective beds as well, “before you get relaxed, I need you, and the others, to come with me. I need to prepare you for what is to come. In the next room is movie I want to show you; a presentation if you will.”

“Okay,” Jimmy said as he got up. “Lets go see your movie.”

We made our ways through the dark domed room and into a smaller room which had six chairs facing a large white screen. After Morton came in and shut the door, we took all sat down, except for Morton, and the lights dimmed. Then, to our delight, three Klingon ships appeared on the screen and came right at us.

Any one on the TREKBBS could recognize the scene, of course. It was the fantastic opening of STAR TREK; THE MOTION PICTURE. It looked so cool in HI-DEF on the screen. Even that pounding Goldsmith score was blaring in the background. For a moment I had forgotten where I really was; a prisoner on some strange island. But I didn’t care, at all. At least, for brief time, I was disconnected from my reality and watching Star Trek.

Same old same old.


Continued…next time
THE MOVIE

 

[RobertScorpio]

STAR TREK
GREEN
8

So…

The six of us were brought into this private little room next to the creepy room with the six beds all arranged in a circle. We took our seats, and Mr. Gates sat behind us. The lights inside of the room started to fade, and then we saw the beginning sequence of TMO, and then, the room became dark and we were about to get a glimpse of our future. The deep voice of what seemed to be Avery Brooks started to speak once the room got pitch dark.

“Welcome, friends. The six of you have been chosen to help make a lot of money for Mister Morton Gates. You might know him as being the cousin of that other Gates fellow. You know; the guy who helped created the computers you use that seem to get clogged down with cookies and viruses each and ever day. He’s made billions doing this. Well, now Mister Morton Gates has his own plan to make billions; and the six of you will play the most important part.”

I was getting a bit antsy. There we were, in the pitch dark, listening to what appeared to be Captain Sisko, telling us the dirty laundry of these famous billionaires. It felt strange, but what else could we do.

The darkness of the room was interrupted by a bright scene on the screen. It showed the average fight sequence of a World of Warcraft game. Captain Deep Voice Nice continued his speech.

“The six of you play this game; and you play it a lot. Did you know that WOW generates nearly 2 billion dollars in profits already, with China and India only now coming on-line through-out their very populated society. It is estimated that WOW could see the day when it will generate nearly 10 billion a year in profits. And we’re jus talking about the subscription side of the business. With action figures, and clothing items, and even soundtracks, you can see that WOW is a cash cow from heaven.”

We were watching the WOW scene play out when it shifted to a view of the Starship Enterprise. The voice continued.

“Star Trek; it is one of the most successful TV/MOVIE franchises of all time. Mister Morton Gates is about to launch his own MMORPG. Yes, there have been attempts at this before, but not like this one. Mister Morton Gates has hired top talent to help him achieve this dream of his; whether they want help him or not...”

Suddenly the scene shifted. It showed a man being dragged along a cemented floor. He was shaking his head, trying to escape, and he was screaming for his life as if he knew what was about to happen. Two men, in fact the two men who had used the battering ram to smash open my door, were the ones dragging him. They dragged him to his feet and placed his head on a large wooden table. The camera zoomed in to show his petrified face. I didn’t want to watch, but something inside made me. Large groove marks could seen next to where his head was being forced down. And then the camera switched angles abruptly to show one of the muscle-brutes holding a large axe. I looked around at the other five, and just like mine, their eyes were transfixed on the screen.

“I must repeat,” the deep voice said, “that Mister Morton Gates has hired top talent to help him achieve this dream of his; whether they want help him…”

The axe came down very fast, and the cut was clean. The man, who was refusing for what ever reason, was dead. And it happened right there, on the screen, before our very eyes.


“…or not.”


Continued….