U.S.S. Seleya-The Fracture
- Thread starter Mistral
- Start date
I believe "Sliders" is a reference to a TV show that aired about ten or so years ago. A group of people on Earth were trying to return to their own universe/reality. Each week they had to deal with the slight or major differences they found as they "slid" from one universe to the next.
I do like your story-line. It may be similar to Sliders, but that doesn't really matter to me. You're developing some great characters and an interesting plot. I'm still curious as to what the ship hit to put a dent in the hull.
My only critique was the sergeant's encounter with the whiney science specialist. I enjoyed the sergeant's reaction, but I find it odd that a non-com would have such high authority on a starship, despite his experience. I have less qualms over the ensign serving as science officer. He's obviously gifted and focused. Still, it does seem to be at odds with the rank structure of Starfleet. That being said, it doesn't interfere with my enjoyment of this story in the least.
Well done!
I do like your story-line. It may be similar to Sliders, but that doesn't really matter to me. You're developing some great characters and an interesting plot. I'm still curious as to what the ship hit to put a dent in the hull.
My only critique was the sergeant's encounter with the whiney science specialist. I enjoyed the sergeant's reaction, but I find it odd that a non-com would have such high authority on a starship, despite his experience. I have less qualms over the ensign serving as science officer. He's obviously gifted and focused. Still, it does seem to be at odds with the rank structure of Starfleet. That being said, it doesn't interfere with my enjoyment of this story in the least.
Well done!
As Head of Security the Sgt. is a Dept Head-with a passing grade like Troi on Command procedures he's qualified to run the Bridge. I seem to remember a scientist Picard fell in love with who was a Commander but OUTSIDE OF THE COMMAND CHAIN-Geordi or Data were more important command-wise despite their lesser or equal rank. What I mean is that an Ensign in the command chain outweighs a scientist who is a commander due to his education rather than time in service. Its like doctors in MASH being Captains-but they were drafted a year b4, as opposed to "regular Army". What I am saying is Perling is in charge as Science Officer because he is an Academy grad but Fenier attended Univ of Paris and got rank due to his degree. You see? And the reference to the Golden Gate being painted blue is a DIRECT reference to a Sliders episode-I own first 3 seasons on DVD-almost half my book collection is alternate worlds stories-its a case of write what you know. Thank you and you won't BELIEVE what they hit! Answers coming soon.....
PART 5
Nog sat on the bed in his quarters holding his arms up to the light. The flesh was pink like a Hu-mon’s, not the naturally sallow color that Ferengis ran towards. The tightness was still there, although Dr. Ramirez had assured him it would fade with a little more time. He was suddenly gripped by memories of a flash and the burning pain. The room vanished for a moment and the arms he looked at were black and charred. The smell of burnt meat filled his nostrils and then it was gone. He was back in his room and his arms were pink like a Hu-mon’s. The tightness would go away. Nog wasn’t so sure about the memories.
Jerix looked at the holos of his wives. Kaelin, the quiet, unassuming presence that held his line marriage together. Mitra, the fiery she-devil. She broke crockery sometimes faster than he could replace it. Always introducing the family to something new. Barda, who raised babys like flowers in a garden. Jerix smiled at each in turn. He hoped he’d see them again. They needed him, to play referee if nothing else. He smiled again at the thought of something else. They needed him for…well, he just hoped he’d see them again.
Sgt. Damian Mitchell sat at his desk in the Security office. His feet were propped up and he was slowly and meticulously sharpening his trench knife on a whetstone. He did this to get prepared every time he knew combat was approaching. He thought about quiet nights on the Bridge. He thought about harmless, beautiful stars slowly passing in front of the ship. He tested the edge of the blade on his thumb and continued to stroke it along the whetstone.
Jesus Ramirez had finished directing the removal of non-essential equipment to the cargo bays. He looked at the trays of emergency kits waiting to be grabbed or handed out. There were scalpels and hyposprays sterilized and loaded. Everything was ready. He went into his office and pulled from his desk an old-fashioned photo, a glass and a bottle of Juarez tequila. He poured a shot and looked at the photo. He sighed heavily….”Maria….”
Carol M’Benga wandered around her cabin, her fingers tracing and touching objects and mementos. She paused in front of a glass-filled frame. It held a row of medals, some of Starfleet’s highest awards. Centered in the place of honor was a crude decoration, obviously hand made. The lettering had faded with time but was still legible. “Thank you for saving my friend. James T. Kirk Enterprise NCC-1701” Carol wondered if her great-grandfather had ever faced a moment like this. She wondered where they would end up. She hoped she would see his grave on Vulcan again. She finally stopped wondering and went to bed.
Niklesh Sanjay sat in his Ready Room. In his hands he twisted and turned a small figurine. It was an image of his first command. He’d brought the ship home intact. He looked up at the laser etching of the first Seleya. His eyes drifted down to his incense burner. He reached out a finger and rubbed Buddha’s belly. “For luck,” he whispered, “Let me bring this ship home, too.”
At 0600 the command crew was on the Auxilary Bridge. Nog was at Helm, with Mitchell manning Tactical. M’Benga was in her seat next to Sanjay. Louis sat in the Navigator’s seat, making last-minute adjustments to his programming. The crew had been evacuated to the areas of the ship with the heaviest shielding. Sanjay looked around at his people.
“Are we ready?” he asked. Heads nodded in affirmation. “Louis?”
“Yes, sir. I’ve got us set to cruise right through the middle of the fracture. I used the thrusters to bring us within 10 kilometers of the phenomenon. Whenever you’re ready.”
Sanjay tapped his communicator, “Chief, how are we doing down there?”
Jerix’s always cheerful voice replied, “I have people stacked, piled and dumped wherever there is room in here. Engines are hot, you can go to full impulse anytime you want. Power demands have been minimized throughout the ship. I have everyone tied down or laying down on pads. With luck we’ll come out of this without a scratch, but emergency teams are standing by just in case.”
Sanjay smiled. “Thank you, Chief. Well done. We’ll be heading into the fracture on my mark. Dr. Ramirez, are you ready?”
“Si, Captain. My office is packed but we have Sickbay cleared and ready. I hope we are not needed.”
“As do I, Jesus.” Sanjay took one, last look around. “Ok, Ensign, let’s go.”
Louis nodded and pressed a key at his station. The impulse engines surged to life.
“Activating Astrometrics monitoring sequence.” He pressed another key. “Engaging autopilot. Flight plan is active.” Seleya leaped forward.
The Aux Bridge rippled as though made of water and the ship was shaken by a noticeable jar. A ringing “THUMP” echoed in the air. Although bounced around, the command crew remained in their seats. The viewscreen had turned to hash and it flickered for a few moments and then cleared, showing Jupiter once again. Sanjay slapped his com badge. “Chief, status?”
There was a few moments of silence and then Jerix’s voice came online. “We have atmosphere venting in the shuttle bay. I have a team on the way. Conduits have ruptured on the Bridge. Overall, we seem to be in pretty good shape. And Captain?”
“Yes, Chief?”
“Exterior cameras show another dent on the saucer section. I don’t know what we keep hitting but the navigational deflectors apparently refuse to recognize it. If you want, I can send an EVA repair team to smooth out the wrinkles…”
Sanjay sighed. “No, Chief, we’ll worry about it when we get home. Sickbay, status?”
Jesus sounded relieved when he answered. “I have reports of a few sprains but nothing serious.”
“Thank God for that. Sanjay out.” He looked at Carol. “Commander, find out our circumstances as soon as you can.”
M’Benga waved at the viewscreen. “Not good, if that’s anything to go by.” Jupiter Station crossed in front of them. The melted sections blurred the station’s lines. Scorch marks from energy weapons were visible on the intact portions of the superstructure. There weren’t any ships docked but a drifting debris field suggested that there had been a ship or ships present when the station was attacked.
“Can we identify the weapons signature or the origin of that debris field?” Sanjay had turned in his seat to question Mitchell. Mitchell bent his head over his board.
“One moment, sir.” He activated a sensor suite.
Nog spoke up. “Captain, I think I can identify the debris in orbit.” His voice held both awe and sadness. Sanjay turned back to the screen. A piece of starship was visible near the station, about a fourth of the saucer section from a Galaxy-class. Clearly defined were the letters ENTE-. The Bridge was silent for a moment. Then Carol spoke up.
“Sergeant, scan Earth-wards for activity of any kind as soon as you’ve identified that weapons fire. Mr. Nog, check Starfleet channels for any sign of communications. Ensign Perling, return to Astrometrics and begin analyzing your data.”
As Louis headed for the turbolift Sanjay added, “Report as soon as you have anything, Ensign.”
“Aye, sir,” he said, exiting the Bridge.
Nog was the first to speak up. “Sir, I’m not getting anything on Starfleet channels in the Sol system. I’m expanding the search area.” Mitchell was the next to speak.
“Captain, the residual signatures indicate Cardassian disruptors. I am scanning Earth now.” There was a pause. “Captain, I have three vessels departing Earth orbit at one-half impulse. Whatever they are, they’re big. About the size of a Galaxy-class. They will arrive at our postion in one and a half hours at current velocity.”
“Thank you, Sergeant. Mr. Nog, anything further to report?”
“Yes, Captain. I’m getting an automated distress call from Vulcan.” There was a note of disbelief in his voice.
Sanjay looked at him as he swiveled in his chair to face the Captain. “Who on Vulcan is in distress, Mr. Nog?”
“It’s a planetary distress call. The whole planet needs help.” Nog looked as if he couldn’t believe his own words. Sanjay was obviously startled. He turned toM’Benga.
“What do you make of that?”
Carol opened her mouth but Mitchell interrupted before she could respond. “Captain,” the note of alarm in his voice was obvious, “I’ve identified those ships from their energy signature. They’re Galor-class!”
Sanjay had a determined look on his face. “Mr. Nog, get us the hell out of here. Set course for Vulcan, warp 8. Now!” The stars dopplered and turned to multi-colored streaks.
Control had been transferred back to the main Bridge and the Seleya’s crew had returned to their regular posts. Sanjay had ordered Nog to continue scanning for Starfleet broadcasts as they fled towards Vulcan. Sgt. Mitchell spent the time examining the solar systems they passed on their way. He found no trace of life at Alpha Centauri. Rigel emitted a saturated radioactive signature. Andor was glaciated, completely covered in the ice which, in their universe, had merely threatened it. Although he couldn’t prove it, Mitchell thought it was a side effect of a “nuclear winter” situation. About halfway to Vulcan Ensign Perling contacted the Bridge.
“Captain Sanjay. I have finished my analysis of the data we collected from the fracture. You may want to come to Astrometrics. It yielded interesting results.”
There was a curious note in Perling’s voice as he said this. Sanjay exchanged puzzled looks with M’Benga and said, “Commander, you have the con.” He headed off to see what Louis had found.
Down in Astrometrics Louis had a display queued to play on the massive screen. When Sanjay arrived, Louis smiled and said, “Captain, I figured out what dented the ship.”
“Ok, go ahead Ensign.” Sanjay looked up at the screen with interest.
Louis started the display. “This is the visual footage taken as we passed through the fracture.” As the sequence played out Louis continued his voiceover. “The fracture pierces the natural structure of space/time from what might be called a ‘perpendicular’ angle, along the ‘z’ axis, if you will. Anything traveling through it is outside of linear time.” As he spoke, whirling colors traversed the display. The view had come from recording devices located on the saucer section of the ship. “That being said, I’d like to apologize for not realizing what it was we impacted.” A large shape filled the screen and as it grew bigger it resolved into a Challenger-class starship. It slammed into Seleya and caromed off out of sight. As it disappeared Sanjay caught a glimpse of its service number. NCC-57247.
“That’s us!” he exclaimed.
Louis nodded. “Yes, it was. What’s even more interesting are the other images we captured.” He ran another sequence, which showed Seleya sliding past the onboard cameras on the port side. Then another view, this time to starboard. “It looks like we’re going to pass through the fracture at least two more times.”
“And that’s all of the images of us you got?” Sanjay asked. “So we’ll get home after two more trips through.”
“Well, Captain, that’s one viewpoint. The other is that after two more passages we try it a third time and get turned into cosmic jelly.” Louis looked more intrigued by the possibility than worried.
“Thank you, Ensign. Your words bring me everything except relief,” Sanjay said, sardonically. Perling looked properly abashed.
“Sorry, Captain. There’s just no way to know for sure.”
“You’ll be able to calculate our future traverses so we avoid a collision?” Sanjay asked.
“Oh, yes, Captain. Now that I realize what’s happening I can take it into account. I should have realized that every passage we made was occurring simultaneously.”
“Ensign, you told me when this started that it was a new situation. Don’t blame yourself. Now, how many more times will we need to pass through for you to finish your mapping?”
“Based on what I already have, I think one more should allow me to narrow down our angle of attack to something useful.”
“All right. Make your calculations for the next ‘dive’ into the fracture. We may have to do this on the fly if the Cardassians are hanging around the Sol system. I’m hoping what we find at Vulcan will give us a clearer picture of what’s going on. Anything to make your job easier.”
“Thank you, Captain.” Sanjay headed for the Bridge.
Seleya entered the Epsilon Eridani system. “Sgt. Mitchell, passive scan only. Nog, put us at one-quarter impulse, reduced emissions.” Sanjay stared at the viewscreen . Everything appeared normal.
“Captain, I’ve managed to narrow down the location of the distress signal,” Nog said. “It’s coming from Vulcan Space Central.” Space Central had orbited Vulcan for a thousand Earth years. Sanjay wondered why the signal wasn’t coming from the planet itself. Seleya crept closer.
“Captain, I have visual on Vulcan.” Mitchell put it on the main viewscreen. They were looking at the day side. Everything seemed normal. “The atmosphere is intact. No excessive radiation. No signs of bombardment.” He paused for a moment. “I can’t find any signals beyond the distress call.”
Sanjay frowned. “When we are close enough have Dr. Ramirez transport an atmospheric sample aboard for testing,” he told M’Benga. “I’ll be in my Ready Room.” Carol started giving orders as he left the Bridge.
Three hours later, as he was finishing up yet another “I am sorry to inform you…” letter Carol stuck her head in.
“Yes, Commander?” he inquired.
“Dr. Ramirez tried to transport that atmospheric sample you wanted. The transporter’s biosensors went beserk. Somebody used biogenic weapons on Vulcan. Same results when we tried for a sample of the air on Space Central.” Her face was drawn up in a haggard frown.
Sanjay waved her in to the room. “You know, there were rumors during the First Cardassian war that they were working on stuff like that. After seeing Galor-class vessels at Sol I can’t help but wonder if the war went very badly for the Federation in this universe. It was a closer thing than most people realized back ‘home’.” Carol took a seat across from him.
“Captain, if Vulcan is dead there’s a strong possibility Earth is too.” Carol didn’t look too happy about this.
“Hey, remember this isn’t our Earth, our universe. Try not to let it get to you. I guess we should head back to...” His words were interrupted by the red alert going off.
“Captain to the Bridge!” Nog’s voice sounded excited and tense. Sanjay and M’Benga were already heading for the door. When they arrived on the Bridge the viewscreen showed three Galor-class vessels hanging in space in front of Seleya.
“Shields!” Carol commanded. “Are they powering weapons?”
“No, sir!” Mitchell said from Tactical.
Nog turned and looked at Sanjay. “We’re being hailed, Captain.”
“Onscreen.”
The image of a Cardassian Gul filled the view. I am Gul Macet,” he said, “And I can’t help but wonder where you came from. Were you lost in time? On a deep space mission? Wandering the Gamma Quadrant for the last four years? I didn’t know there were any Starfleet ships left.” Macet had an amused, slightly condescending air about him.
Sanjay stroked his beard. He paused for a moment to collect his thoughts and then said, “We aren’t a part of your Starfleet. We’re from a parallel universe. We intend to depart as soon as we can. Whatever happened between the Cardassian Union and the Federation here has nothing to do with us.”
Gul Macet laughed. “Oh, my, what a splendid bit of prevarication!” He sobered. “It won’t save you, I’m afraid. It was nice meeting you, Captain. Good-bye.” The screen went back to a view of the three battle cruisers.
‘They’re powering weapons, Captain!” Mitchell exclaimed.
“Mr. Nog, get us back to Earth, maximum warp!” Sanjay was tugging on his beard now. The Seleya sped away as the three Cardassian ships began firing. The impacts made the ship shudder, but the shields held.
“Captain,” Mitchell said, “Their fire isn’t as effective or as powerful as we might expect.” He sounded puzzled.
Carol spoke up. “No Dominion enhancements. They’re probably years behind the Cardassians in our universe when it comes to weapons technology.”
“I have warp factor 9.1, Captain,” Nog declared. “The Cardassians are pursuing. Estimate their speed at warp 9.” There was an edge of confidence in his voice as he said, “I think they’re redlined.”
“Thank you, Mr. Nog.” He tapped his com badge. “Ensign Perling, how are your calculations coming?”
“I’m programming the navigational computer in Auxiliary Control now, Captain,” came the reply.
“We’re going to have to hit the fracture at a dead run, Ensign. There’s three Cardassian Warships on our tail. Will that affect your calculations?”
“No, sir. As long as we hit the fracture at full impulse on the right angle we should be fine.”
“Thank you, Ensign, Bridge out.”
The Seleya raced through the long dark, hotly pursued by Macet and his ships.
Nog sat on the bed in his quarters holding his arms up to the light. The flesh was pink like a Hu-mon’s, not the naturally sallow color that Ferengis ran towards. The tightness was still there, although Dr. Ramirez had assured him it would fade with a little more time. He was suddenly gripped by memories of a flash and the burning pain. The room vanished for a moment and the arms he looked at were black and charred. The smell of burnt meat filled his nostrils and then it was gone. He was back in his room and his arms were pink like a Hu-mon’s. The tightness would go away. Nog wasn’t so sure about the memories.
Jerix looked at the holos of his wives. Kaelin, the quiet, unassuming presence that held his line marriage together. Mitra, the fiery she-devil. She broke crockery sometimes faster than he could replace it. Always introducing the family to something new. Barda, who raised babys like flowers in a garden. Jerix smiled at each in turn. He hoped he’d see them again. They needed him, to play referee if nothing else. He smiled again at the thought of something else. They needed him for…well, he just hoped he’d see them again.
Sgt. Damian Mitchell sat at his desk in the Security office. His feet were propped up and he was slowly and meticulously sharpening his trench knife on a whetstone. He did this to get prepared every time he knew combat was approaching. He thought about quiet nights on the Bridge. He thought about harmless, beautiful stars slowly passing in front of the ship. He tested the edge of the blade on his thumb and continued to stroke it along the whetstone.
Jesus Ramirez had finished directing the removal of non-essential equipment to the cargo bays. He looked at the trays of emergency kits waiting to be grabbed or handed out. There were scalpels and hyposprays sterilized and loaded. Everything was ready. He went into his office and pulled from his desk an old-fashioned photo, a glass and a bottle of Juarez tequila. He poured a shot and looked at the photo. He sighed heavily….”Maria….”
Carol M’Benga wandered around her cabin, her fingers tracing and touching objects and mementos. She paused in front of a glass-filled frame. It held a row of medals, some of Starfleet’s highest awards. Centered in the place of honor was a crude decoration, obviously hand made. The lettering had faded with time but was still legible. “Thank you for saving my friend. James T. Kirk Enterprise NCC-1701” Carol wondered if her great-grandfather had ever faced a moment like this. She wondered where they would end up. She hoped she would see his grave on Vulcan again. She finally stopped wondering and went to bed.
Niklesh Sanjay sat in his Ready Room. In his hands he twisted and turned a small figurine. It was an image of his first command. He’d brought the ship home intact. He looked up at the laser etching of the first Seleya. His eyes drifted down to his incense burner. He reached out a finger and rubbed Buddha’s belly. “For luck,” he whispered, “Let me bring this ship home, too.”
At 0600 the command crew was on the Auxilary Bridge. Nog was at Helm, with Mitchell manning Tactical. M’Benga was in her seat next to Sanjay. Louis sat in the Navigator’s seat, making last-minute adjustments to his programming. The crew had been evacuated to the areas of the ship with the heaviest shielding. Sanjay looked around at his people.
“Are we ready?” he asked. Heads nodded in affirmation. “Louis?”
“Yes, sir. I’ve got us set to cruise right through the middle of the fracture. I used the thrusters to bring us within 10 kilometers of the phenomenon. Whenever you’re ready.”
Sanjay tapped his communicator, “Chief, how are we doing down there?”
Jerix’s always cheerful voice replied, “I have people stacked, piled and dumped wherever there is room in here. Engines are hot, you can go to full impulse anytime you want. Power demands have been minimized throughout the ship. I have everyone tied down or laying down on pads. With luck we’ll come out of this without a scratch, but emergency teams are standing by just in case.”
Sanjay smiled. “Thank you, Chief. Well done. We’ll be heading into the fracture on my mark. Dr. Ramirez, are you ready?”
“Si, Captain. My office is packed but we have Sickbay cleared and ready. I hope we are not needed.”
“As do I, Jesus.” Sanjay took one, last look around. “Ok, Ensign, let’s go.”
Louis nodded and pressed a key at his station. The impulse engines surged to life.
“Activating Astrometrics monitoring sequence.” He pressed another key. “Engaging autopilot. Flight plan is active.” Seleya leaped forward.
The Aux Bridge rippled as though made of water and the ship was shaken by a noticeable jar. A ringing “THUMP” echoed in the air. Although bounced around, the command crew remained in their seats. The viewscreen had turned to hash and it flickered for a few moments and then cleared, showing Jupiter once again. Sanjay slapped his com badge. “Chief, status?”
There was a few moments of silence and then Jerix’s voice came online. “We have atmosphere venting in the shuttle bay. I have a team on the way. Conduits have ruptured on the Bridge. Overall, we seem to be in pretty good shape. And Captain?”
“Yes, Chief?”
“Exterior cameras show another dent on the saucer section. I don’t know what we keep hitting but the navigational deflectors apparently refuse to recognize it. If you want, I can send an EVA repair team to smooth out the wrinkles…”
Sanjay sighed. “No, Chief, we’ll worry about it when we get home. Sickbay, status?”
Jesus sounded relieved when he answered. “I have reports of a few sprains but nothing serious.”
“Thank God for that. Sanjay out.” He looked at Carol. “Commander, find out our circumstances as soon as you can.”
M’Benga waved at the viewscreen. “Not good, if that’s anything to go by.” Jupiter Station crossed in front of them. The melted sections blurred the station’s lines. Scorch marks from energy weapons were visible on the intact portions of the superstructure. There weren’t any ships docked but a drifting debris field suggested that there had been a ship or ships present when the station was attacked.
“Can we identify the weapons signature or the origin of that debris field?” Sanjay had turned in his seat to question Mitchell. Mitchell bent his head over his board.
“One moment, sir.” He activated a sensor suite.
Nog spoke up. “Captain, I think I can identify the debris in orbit.” His voice held both awe and sadness. Sanjay turned back to the screen. A piece of starship was visible near the station, about a fourth of the saucer section from a Galaxy-class. Clearly defined were the letters ENTE-. The Bridge was silent for a moment. Then Carol spoke up.
“Sergeant, scan Earth-wards for activity of any kind as soon as you’ve identified that weapons fire. Mr. Nog, check Starfleet channels for any sign of communications. Ensign Perling, return to Astrometrics and begin analyzing your data.”
As Louis headed for the turbolift Sanjay added, “Report as soon as you have anything, Ensign.”
“Aye, sir,” he said, exiting the Bridge.
Nog was the first to speak up. “Sir, I’m not getting anything on Starfleet channels in the Sol system. I’m expanding the search area.” Mitchell was the next to speak.
“Captain, the residual signatures indicate Cardassian disruptors. I am scanning Earth now.” There was a pause. “Captain, I have three vessels departing Earth orbit at one-half impulse. Whatever they are, they’re big. About the size of a Galaxy-class. They will arrive at our postion in one and a half hours at current velocity.”
“Thank you, Sergeant. Mr. Nog, anything further to report?”
“Yes, Captain. I’m getting an automated distress call from Vulcan.” There was a note of disbelief in his voice.
Sanjay looked at him as he swiveled in his chair to face the Captain. “Who on Vulcan is in distress, Mr. Nog?”
“It’s a planetary distress call. The whole planet needs help.” Nog looked as if he couldn’t believe his own words. Sanjay was obviously startled. He turned toM’Benga.
“What do you make of that?”
Carol opened her mouth but Mitchell interrupted before she could respond. “Captain,” the note of alarm in his voice was obvious, “I’ve identified those ships from their energy signature. They’re Galor-class!”
Sanjay had a determined look on his face. “Mr. Nog, get us the hell out of here. Set course for Vulcan, warp 8. Now!” The stars dopplered and turned to multi-colored streaks.
Control had been transferred back to the main Bridge and the Seleya’s crew had returned to their regular posts. Sanjay had ordered Nog to continue scanning for Starfleet broadcasts as they fled towards Vulcan. Sgt. Mitchell spent the time examining the solar systems they passed on their way. He found no trace of life at Alpha Centauri. Rigel emitted a saturated radioactive signature. Andor was glaciated, completely covered in the ice which, in their universe, had merely threatened it. Although he couldn’t prove it, Mitchell thought it was a side effect of a “nuclear winter” situation. About halfway to Vulcan Ensign Perling contacted the Bridge.
“Captain Sanjay. I have finished my analysis of the data we collected from the fracture. You may want to come to Astrometrics. It yielded interesting results.”
There was a curious note in Perling’s voice as he said this. Sanjay exchanged puzzled looks with M’Benga and said, “Commander, you have the con.” He headed off to see what Louis had found.
Down in Astrometrics Louis had a display queued to play on the massive screen. When Sanjay arrived, Louis smiled and said, “Captain, I figured out what dented the ship.”
“Ok, go ahead Ensign.” Sanjay looked up at the screen with interest.
Louis started the display. “This is the visual footage taken as we passed through the fracture.” As the sequence played out Louis continued his voiceover. “The fracture pierces the natural structure of space/time from what might be called a ‘perpendicular’ angle, along the ‘z’ axis, if you will. Anything traveling through it is outside of linear time.” As he spoke, whirling colors traversed the display. The view had come from recording devices located on the saucer section of the ship. “That being said, I’d like to apologize for not realizing what it was we impacted.” A large shape filled the screen and as it grew bigger it resolved into a Challenger-class starship. It slammed into Seleya and caromed off out of sight. As it disappeared Sanjay caught a glimpse of its service number. NCC-57247.
“That’s us!” he exclaimed.
Louis nodded. “Yes, it was. What’s even more interesting are the other images we captured.” He ran another sequence, which showed Seleya sliding past the onboard cameras on the port side. Then another view, this time to starboard. “It looks like we’re going to pass through the fracture at least two more times.”
“And that’s all of the images of us you got?” Sanjay asked. “So we’ll get home after two more trips through.”
“Well, Captain, that’s one viewpoint. The other is that after two more passages we try it a third time and get turned into cosmic jelly.” Louis looked more intrigued by the possibility than worried.
“Thank you, Ensign. Your words bring me everything except relief,” Sanjay said, sardonically. Perling looked properly abashed.
“Sorry, Captain. There’s just no way to know for sure.”
“You’ll be able to calculate our future traverses so we avoid a collision?” Sanjay asked.
“Oh, yes, Captain. Now that I realize what’s happening I can take it into account. I should have realized that every passage we made was occurring simultaneously.”
“Ensign, you told me when this started that it was a new situation. Don’t blame yourself. Now, how many more times will we need to pass through for you to finish your mapping?”
“Based on what I already have, I think one more should allow me to narrow down our angle of attack to something useful.”
“All right. Make your calculations for the next ‘dive’ into the fracture. We may have to do this on the fly if the Cardassians are hanging around the Sol system. I’m hoping what we find at Vulcan will give us a clearer picture of what’s going on. Anything to make your job easier.”
“Thank you, Captain.” Sanjay headed for the Bridge.
Seleya entered the Epsilon Eridani system. “Sgt. Mitchell, passive scan only. Nog, put us at one-quarter impulse, reduced emissions.” Sanjay stared at the viewscreen . Everything appeared normal.
“Captain, I’ve managed to narrow down the location of the distress signal,” Nog said. “It’s coming from Vulcan Space Central.” Space Central had orbited Vulcan for a thousand Earth years. Sanjay wondered why the signal wasn’t coming from the planet itself. Seleya crept closer.
“Captain, I have visual on Vulcan.” Mitchell put it on the main viewscreen. They were looking at the day side. Everything seemed normal. “The atmosphere is intact. No excessive radiation. No signs of bombardment.” He paused for a moment. “I can’t find any signals beyond the distress call.”
Sanjay frowned. “When we are close enough have Dr. Ramirez transport an atmospheric sample aboard for testing,” he told M’Benga. “I’ll be in my Ready Room.” Carol started giving orders as he left the Bridge.
Three hours later, as he was finishing up yet another “I am sorry to inform you…” letter Carol stuck her head in.
“Yes, Commander?” he inquired.
“Dr. Ramirez tried to transport that atmospheric sample you wanted. The transporter’s biosensors went beserk. Somebody used biogenic weapons on Vulcan. Same results when we tried for a sample of the air on Space Central.” Her face was drawn up in a haggard frown.
Sanjay waved her in to the room. “You know, there were rumors during the First Cardassian war that they were working on stuff like that. After seeing Galor-class vessels at Sol I can’t help but wonder if the war went very badly for the Federation in this universe. It was a closer thing than most people realized back ‘home’.” Carol took a seat across from him.
“Captain, if Vulcan is dead there’s a strong possibility Earth is too.” Carol didn’t look too happy about this.
“Hey, remember this isn’t our Earth, our universe. Try not to let it get to you. I guess we should head back to...” His words were interrupted by the red alert going off.
“Captain to the Bridge!” Nog’s voice sounded excited and tense. Sanjay and M’Benga were already heading for the door. When they arrived on the Bridge the viewscreen showed three Galor-class vessels hanging in space in front of Seleya.
“Shields!” Carol commanded. “Are they powering weapons?”
“No, sir!” Mitchell said from Tactical.
Nog turned and looked at Sanjay. “We’re being hailed, Captain.”
“Onscreen.”
The image of a Cardassian Gul filled the view. I am Gul Macet,” he said, “And I can’t help but wonder where you came from. Were you lost in time? On a deep space mission? Wandering the Gamma Quadrant for the last four years? I didn’t know there were any Starfleet ships left.” Macet had an amused, slightly condescending air about him.
Sanjay stroked his beard. He paused for a moment to collect his thoughts and then said, “We aren’t a part of your Starfleet. We’re from a parallel universe. We intend to depart as soon as we can. Whatever happened between the Cardassian Union and the Federation here has nothing to do with us.”
Gul Macet laughed. “Oh, my, what a splendid bit of prevarication!” He sobered. “It won’t save you, I’m afraid. It was nice meeting you, Captain. Good-bye.” The screen went back to a view of the three battle cruisers.
‘They’re powering weapons, Captain!” Mitchell exclaimed.
“Mr. Nog, get us back to Earth, maximum warp!” Sanjay was tugging on his beard now. The Seleya sped away as the three Cardassian ships began firing. The impacts made the ship shudder, but the shields held.
“Captain,” Mitchell said, “Their fire isn’t as effective or as powerful as we might expect.” He sounded puzzled.
Carol spoke up. “No Dominion enhancements. They’re probably years behind the Cardassians in our universe when it comes to weapons technology.”
“I have warp factor 9.1, Captain,” Nog declared. “The Cardassians are pursuing. Estimate their speed at warp 9.” There was an edge of confidence in his voice as he said, “I think they’re redlined.”
“Thank you, Mr. Nog.” He tapped his com badge. “Ensign Perling, how are your calculations coming?”
“I’m programming the navigational computer in Auxiliary Control now, Captain,” came the reply.
“We’re going to have to hit the fracture at a dead run, Ensign. There’s three Cardassian Warships on our tail. Will that affect your calculations?”
“No, sir. As long as we hit the fracture at full impulse on the right angle we should be fine.”
“Thank you, Ensign, Bridge out.”
The Seleya raced through the long dark, hotly pursued by Macet and his ships.
Okay, running into themselves makes sense. A question remains - did they run into themselves or other Seleyas from parallel universes?
Good writing - I liked how the characters considered what they had left behind and the possibility of not seeing home again. And a universe where the Cardies won in the initial wars is certainly plausible.
Keep it coming!
Good writing - I liked how the characters considered what they had left behind and the possibility of not seeing home again. And a universe where the Cardies won in the initial wars is certainly plausible.
Keep it coming!
A terrific presentation of a crew caught unexpectedly in dire circumstances, cut off from the Federation by something a great deal more daunting than mere distance. Your characters shine through here, especially Perling and his obsessive-compulsive relationship with his beloved sciences.
Though I’m still not entirely sold on having a land-army sergeant at a senior officer’s post (and what branch is Mitchell, anyway?), the other characters are quickly growing on me. Sanjay seems part Picard and part Janeway, a dedicated explorer who’s able to keep his crew’s confidence up even when faced with a nearly unimaginable conundrum.
I really liked the reveal that it was Seleya or her doppelganger causing the repeated collisions.
I’ll be very interested to see where you take the crew from here.
Though I’m still not entirely sold on having a land-army sergeant at a senior officer’s post (and what branch is Mitchell, anyway?), the other characters are quickly growing on me. Sanjay seems part Picard and part Janeway, a dedicated explorer who’s able to keep his crew’s confidence up even when faced with a nearly unimaginable conundrum.
I really liked the reveal that it was Seleya or her doppelganger causing the repeated collisions.
I’ll be very interested to see where you take the crew from here.
Oh yes, I do remember watching Sliders. That was a fun show. And it lends itself to the Trek universe. I really like the premise of this story as well as the characters.
I do like like Mitchell but I agree that I find it a bit odd that he'd be a command officer. And if you have junior officer heading up a department you'll always have conflicts (probably why you usually won't find many).
Great stuff and I'm looking forward to more.
I do like like Mitchell but I agree that I find it a bit odd that he'd be a command officer. And if you have junior officer heading up a department you'll always have conflicts (probably why you usually won't find many).
Great stuff and I'm looking forward to more.
There may be a second post later today but here's Part 6 right now-and there'll be more to come regarding the good Sgt and his role in the scheme of things.
PART 6
It was a stern chase, both long and nerve-wracking. Several times Nog had reported the Cardassians matching speed with Seleya only to drop back again after a brief interval. The last time they tried to make up lost ground one ship fell out of warp completely, its drive burnt out. Now, an hour out of the Sol system, there were still two Galors in pursuit. Sanjay had only left the Bridge once to sleep and shower and as they reached the end of their long run the Alpha shift had staggered their duty hours so they were all present. Sanjay had overseen the transfer of operations to the Auxiliary Bridge while M’Benga dealt with the crew evacuation to the shielded parts of the ship. They were as ready as they could be for the next passage through the fracture.
“Ensign Perling, how’s the flight programming coming?” Sanjay said into his com badge.
“I’ll be finished in a few minutes, Captain,” came the reply.
“Sgt. Mitchell, I want torpedoes loaded and all weapons ‘hot’ as soon as we drop out of warp. There may still be Cardassian ships near Earth and even though they are weaker than our own Cardassians enough of them together…” his voice trailed off.
Mitchell nodded from his post at Tactical. “Understood, sir.”
“Mr. Nog, I would like you to raise shields right before we drop out of warp.”
“Aye, Captain.” The young Ferengi was all business. Sanjay had worried about him after his injury but he seemed the very image of professionalism, displaying no trace of trauma. Sanjay was glad for that. He needed every one of his officers right now at their peak. The tension mounted as Sol grew nearer. Everyone knew it was likely Macet had called ahead for help. They were probably heading into some kind of a trap, but they had no choice. They had to return to the fracture if they wanted any chance of getting home.
Five minutes out of Sol Sanjay said, “Mr. Nog, I want you to cut warp just outside of Saturn’s gravitational well. That will give us the least amount of travel time at impulse power and it may mess with the sensors of any Cardassian ships laying in wait for us.”
Carol turned to him, “Captain, if we stay at warp that deep into the solar system we run the risk of knocking planets out of alignment!”
Sanjay looked bleak. “I know, Commander, but you saw Vulcan and Rigel. Do you really think Earth got off any lighter?” Carol turned back to the viewscreen, a pensive look on her face.
At two minutes out Sanjay began unconsciously stroking his beard. Carol noticed but didn’t say anything. At one minute out she began drumming her fingers on the arm of her chair. Sanjay noticed but didn’t say anything. “Entering Sol system!” Nog announced. A few moments later he added, “Dropping out warp. Shields are up!”
“Status of our pursuers?” M’Benga asked him. Ensign Perling, at Navigation, answered in his place.
“Five minutes back if they drop out where we did. If they come in closer…” He didn’t sound too happy with the idea.
“Time to fracture?” M’Benga said.
“ETA twenty minutes,” Nog replied.
“Sgt. Mitchell, any sign of other ships?” Sanjay inquired.
“No, sir,” came the reply, “I’m not-Whoa! Hold on! Three power signatures moving out from behind Io! They’re Galor-class. I expect them to achieve firing range in twelve minutes. They’re only moving at one-half impulse. Captain?” Sanjay turned to look at him. “They will be between us and the fracture.” Sanjay looked grim at this.
“Ensign, how long before the computer takes over the Helm?”
Perling consulted his station a moment and answered, “Fourteen minutes from…Now! Mark!”
Sanjay shook his head. “I don’t suppose you programmed in any evasive maneuvers, did you?”
Ensign Perling looked chagrined. “Ah, no, sir. I was more concerned with hitting the correct angle, I’m afraid.”
Sanjay exchanged a look with M’Benga. “Well, I guess we bull our way through, then. Red Alert!”
As the klaxon sounded Carol leaned over and said in his ear, “We do have one advantage, sir.”
“What’s that?”
“The Cardassians will be targeting our Bridge-but we’re not there!” She gave him a tight little smile that he returned.
“Thank God for small favors!” he replied to her.
Nog chose that moment to announce, “Gul Macet’s ships are dropping out of warp! Captain! They are already in firing range!”
“Evasive! Sgt. Mitchell, fire a full spread of torpedoes! Stand-bye phasers!” The “Whump!” of torpedoes launching was as much felt as heard.
“Incoming!” Sgt. Mitchell called out. “Captain, they’re using some kind of plasma torpedo. It looks more like Romulan munitions. Here it comes!”
M’Benga yelled out, “Brace for impact!” a second before the ship shuddered deeply.
“Damage report!” Sanjay was tugging furiously at his beard. M’benga answered him.
“Whatever that was, it tore right through our shields. Upper nacelle is heavily damaged. Captain, our torpedoes scored a direct hit on one of those ships. He’s out of the fight.”
“On screen!” Sanjays voice was suddenly cool and calm. The image of a Cardassian cruiser adrift and on fire filled the viewscreen. “Target the other ship and fire phasers, Sgt. Mitchell.”
The whine of the phasers filled their ears. “Captain, our variable-frequency phasers are carving right through their shields. I don’t think they’ve encountered anything like what we’ve got before.” Sanjay thought Sgt. Mitchell sounded almost,…jubilant.
Sanjay said, “Take him out, Sergeant.” Disruptor fire lanced out from the enemy ship even as Sgt. Mitchell sliced away a portion of its main hull.
“Captain,” Nog said, “Our forward shields are down to sixty percent. And the other ships have accelerated to three-quarters impulse. They’ll be here any minute now!”
“Thank you, Mr. Nog. Ensign, how much longer until the autopilot engages?”
“About seven minutes, sir.” He looked worried. “If they take out our impulse engines…”
“Let me worry about that. Sgt. Mitchell, status?”
“Sir, they are somehow still firing but I don’t see how.” His voice held a puzzled tone.
“On screen, please.” The view shifted from the burning derelict to a second Galor-class in far worse shape. Sgt. Mitchell had carved off both warp nacelles and parts of the superstructure so that only the primary hull remained. That part of the ship showed gaping slashes up and down its length. A cloud of debris surrounded it but even as they stared at it in disbelief it somehow managed to fire again.
“Forward shields at thirty percent.” Now Nog sounded a bit worried.
“Sergeant, fire a tor-“ Sanjay was cut off as the dying ship detonated, temporarily whiting out the viewscreen. “Ok, I guess not,“ Sanjay finished. Then Seleya shook like a rat in a terrier’s mouth. “What the Hell?”
“It’s the other ships, Captain!” Nog changed the viewscreen to show the three ships peeling off of their attack run. Before Sanjay could say anything, Sgt. Mitchell began firing with everything he had available. Torpedos streaked after two of the ships while phaser fire began to dismember a third. M’Benga had been examining the read-outs on her screen.
“Dear God,” she breathed, “I don’t believe this! Captain, I’m getting damage readings from all over the ship! We’ve completely lost the lower nacelle, the shuttle bay is exposed to space and the main Bridge…If we’d been on it we’d all be dead right now. Deck one is literally gone!” On screen, torpedoes struck the two ships they’d been trailing, causing serious damage. Sgt. Mitchell continued to play phaser fire over the third ship’s hull.
“Captain, they must have hit us with those Romulan-style plasma torpedoes to cause all of that damage. I’ll try to keep them from doing it again.” Mitchell sounded grimly determined.
“Captain!” Nog sounded more than a bit wound-up. “The autopilot just engaged!”
Ensign Perling added his two cents worth. “Two of the cruisers are coming about. They’re firing disruptors!”
“Forward shields down to ten percent!” Nog had a desperate note in his voice. Even as he spoke one of the two ships detonated in front of them. The other had a phaser trace right down its belly, nearly bisecting it. It thrusted away, trailing plasma, debris and what looked like bodies. The third cruiser had swung around and an ominous green glow began building in its central torpedo bay.
M’Benga jumped up out of her seat, her right hand up and pointing at the screen. “Sergeant, nail that bastard now or we are all dead!” Phaser beams speared from the emitters and detonated the plasma torpedo as it was leaving its tube. The viewscreen overloaded for a moment and went black. The shockwave threw M’Benga back into her seat. When the screen came back on there was nothing to be seen except a fast-approaching Jupiter and a quickly expanding ball of gas. “Thank you, Sergeant,” M’Benga said quietly.
“Its what I’m here for, Ma’am.”
Sanjay hit his com badge. “Chief, damage report!”
Jerix came on, “Captain, its pretty bad. I had to take the core offline to avoid an overload-we apparently no longer have plasma nacelles to cool it with.” He sounded less sarcastic than amused. “We’re running straight off of the deuterium tanks at the moment. The shuttle bay has been sealed off. Until we hit a spacedock the entire bay is a write-off. Same thing goes for Deck One. Emergency forcefields are keeping Deck Two pressurized but just barely. We have massive failures in many of the secondary systems. Impulse engines and life support are about the only thing besides weapons still working. Could we try to avoid anymore fights for a while?”
“No promises, Chief.” Sanjay paused for a moment and sighed, then tapped the com again. “Sickbay, what’s the word?”
“One dead. Broken neck. Two people with crushed ribs.” Sanjay could hear controlled chaos in the background. “I’m going to be setting broken bones and taping sprains for the rest of the day. If there’s nothing else, Captain, I really need to get my rib cases into surgery.”
“Bridge out,” Sanjay said. He gave M’Benga a worried look. “Without a spacedock we’re stuck in the Sol system. I hope we don’t have to run again. We won’t get far.” She nodded in agreement.
“We’re entering the fracture, Captain.” Ensign Perling sounded excited. The viewscreen filled with static like the last time but there were no bumps noticeable. When the screen cleared Jupiter once again filled it. Floating in orbit was Jupiter Station. It looked intact and functioning. A Horace Greeley-class freighter was docked to it and several runabouts were in the area. “Are we home?” Ensign Perling asked in wonder. Suddenly, another Challenger-class starship hove into view. Sanjay heard M’Benga gasp next to him.
“Captain, that’s-“
“The Buran,” Sanjay cut her off, “I recognize her. Well, people, don’t get your hopes up. We aren’t home yet.”
“How do you know, sir?” Nog asked curiously.
“It was a little before your time, Mr. Nog,” replied Sanjay, “But the Buran was destroyed at Wolf 359.” The Bridge was silent.
PART 6
It was a stern chase, both long and nerve-wracking. Several times Nog had reported the Cardassians matching speed with Seleya only to drop back again after a brief interval. The last time they tried to make up lost ground one ship fell out of warp completely, its drive burnt out. Now, an hour out of the Sol system, there were still two Galors in pursuit. Sanjay had only left the Bridge once to sleep and shower and as they reached the end of their long run the Alpha shift had staggered their duty hours so they were all present. Sanjay had overseen the transfer of operations to the Auxiliary Bridge while M’Benga dealt with the crew evacuation to the shielded parts of the ship. They were as ready as they could be for the next passage through the fracture.
“Ensign Perling, how’s the flight programming coming?” Sanjay said into his com badge.
“I’ll be finished in a few minutes, Captain,” came the reply.
“Sgt. Mitchell, I want torpedoes loaded and all weapons ‘hot’ as soon as we drop out of warp. There may still be Cardassian ships near Earth and even though they are weaker than our own Cardassians enough of them together…” his voice trailed off.
Mitchell nodded from his post at Tactical. “Understood, sir.”
“Mr. Nog, I would like you to raise shields right before we drop out of warp.”
“Aye, Captain.” The young Ferengi was all business. Sanjay had worried about him after his injury but he seemed the very image of professionalism, displaying no trace of trauma. Sanjay was glad for that. He needed every one of his officers right now at their peak. The tension mounted as Sol grew nearer. Everyone knew it was likely Macet had called ahead for help. They were probably heading into some kind of a trap, but they had no choice. They had to return to the fracture if they wanted any chance of getting home.
Five minutes out of Sol Sanjay said, “Mr. Nog, I want you to cut warp just outside of Saturn’s gravitational well. That will give us the least amount of travel time at impulse power and it may mess with the sensors of any Cardassian ships laying in wait for us.”
Carol turned to him, “Captain, if we stay at warp that deep into the solar system we run the risk of knocking planets out of alignment!”
Sanjay looked bleak. “I know, Commander, but you saw Vulcan and Rigel. Do you really think Earth got off any lighter?” Carol turned back to the viewscreen, a pensive look on her face.
At two minutes out Sanjay began unconsciously stroking his beard. Carol noticed but didn’t say anything. At one minute out she began drumming her fingers on the arm of her chair. Sanjay noticed but didn’t say anything. “Entering Sol system!” Nog announced. A few moments later he added, “Dropping out warp. Shields are up!”
“Status of our pursuers?” M’Benga asked him. Ensign Perling, at Navigation, answered in his place.
“Five minutes back if they drop out where we did. If they come in closer…” He didn’t sound too happy with the idea.
“Time to fracture?” M’Benga said.
“ETA twenty minutes,” Nog replied.
“Sgt. Mitchell, any sign of other ships?” Sanjay inquired.
“No, sir,” came the reply, “I’m not-Whoa! Hold on! Three power signatures moving out from behind Io! They’re Galor-class. I expect them to achieve firing range in twelve minutes. They’re only moving at one-half impulse. Captain?” Sanjay turned to look at him. “They will be between us and the fracture.” Sanjay looked grim at this.
“Ensign, how long before the computer takes over the Helm?”
Perling consulted his station a moment and answered, “Fourteen minutes from…Now! Mark!”
Sanjay shook his head. “I don’t suppose you programmed in any evasive maneuvers, did you?”
Ensign Perling looked chagrined. “Ah, no, sir. I was more concerned with hitting the correct angle, I’m afraid.”
Sanjay exchanged a look with M’Benga. “Well, I guess we bull our way through, then. Red Alert!”
As the klaxon sounded Carol leaned over and said in his ear, “We do have one advantage, sir.”
“What’s that?”
“The Cardassians will be targeting our Bridge-but we’re not there!” She gave him a tight little smile that he returned.
“Thank God for small favors!” he replied to her.
Nog chose that moment to announce, “Gul Macet’s ships are dropping out of warp! Captain! They are already in firing range!”
“Evasive! Sgt. Mitchell, fire a full spread of torpedoes! Stand-bye phasers!” The “Whump!” of torpedoes launching was as much felt as heard.
“Incoming!” Sgt. Mitchell called out. “Captain, they’re using some kind of plasma torpedo. It looks more like Romulan munitions. Here it comes!”
M’Benga yelled out, “Brace for impact!” a second before the ship shuddered deeply.
“Damage report!” Sanjay was tugging furiously at his beard. M’benga answered him.
“Whatever that was, it tore right through our shields. Upper nacelle is heavily damaged. Captain, our torpedoes scored a direct hit on one of those ships. He’s out of the fight.”
“On screen!” Sanjays voice was suddenly cool and calm. The image of a Cardassian cruiser adrift and on fire filled the viewscreen. “Target the other ship and fire phasers, Sgt. Mitchell.”
The whine of the phasers filled their ears. “Captain, our variable-frequency phasers are carving right through their shields. I don’t think they’ve encountered anything like what we’ve got before.” Sanjay thought Sgt. Mitchell sounded almost,…jubilant.
Sanjay said, “Take him out, Sergeant.” Disruptor fire lanced out from the enemy ship even as Sgt. Mitchell sliced away a portion of its main hull.
“Captain,” Nog said, “Our forward shields are down to sixty percent. And the other ships have accelerated to three-quarters impulse. They’ll be here any minute now!”
“Thank you, Mr. Nog. Ensign, how much longer until the autopilot engages?”
“About seven minutes, sir.” He looked worried. “If they take out our impulse engines…”
“Let me worry about that. Sgt. Mitchell, status?”
“Sir, they are somehow still firing but I don’t see how.” His voice held a puzzled tone.
“On screen, please.” The view shifted from the burning derelict to a second Galor-class in far worse shape. Sgt. Mitchell had carved off both warp nacelles and parts of the superstructure so that only the primary hull remained. That part of the ship showed gaping slashes up and down its length. A cloud of debris surrounded it but even as they stared at it in disbelief it somehow managed to fire again.
“Forward shields at thirty percent.” Now Nog sounded a bit worried.
“Sergeant, fire a tor-“ Sanjay was cut off as the dying ship detonated, temporarily whiting out the viewscreen. “Ok, I guess not,“ Sanjay finished. Then Seleya shook like a rat in a terrier’s mouth. “What the Hell?”
“It’s the other ships, Captain!” Nog changed the viewscreen to show the three ships peeling off of their attack run. Before Sanjay could say anything, Sgt. Mitchell began firing with everything he had available. Torpedos streaked after two of the ships while phaser fire began to dismember a third. M’Benga had been examining the read-outs on her screen.
“Dear God,” she breathed, “I don’t believe this! Captain, I’m getting damage readings from all over the ship! We’ve completely lost the lower nacelle, the shuttle bay is exposed to space and the main Bridge…If we’d been on it we’d all be dead right now. Deck one is literally gone!” On screen, torpedoes struck the two ships they’d been trailing, causing serious damage. Sgt. Mitchell continued to play phaser fire over the third ship’s hull.
“Captain, they must have hit us with those Romulan-style plasma torpedoes to cause all of that damage. I’ll try to keep them from doing it again.” Mitchell sounded grimly determined.
“Captain!” Nog sounded more than a bit wound-up. “The autopilot just engaged!”
Ensign Perling added his two cents worth. “Two of the cruisers are coming about. They’re firing disruptors!”
“Forward shields down to ten percent!” Nog had a desperate note in his voice. Even as he spoke one of the two ships detonated in front of them. The other had a phaser trace right down its belly, nearly bisecting it. It thrusted away, trailing plasma, debris and what looked like bodies. The third cruiser had swung around and an ominous green glow began building in its central torpedo bay.
M’Benga jumped up out of her seat, her right hand up and pointing at the screen. “Sergeant, nail that bastard now or we are all dead!” Phaser beams speared from the emitters and detonated the plasma torpedo as it was leaving its tube. The viewscreen overloaded for a moment and went black. The shockwave threw M’Benga back into her seat. When the screen came back on there was nothing to be seen except a fast-approaching Jupiter and a quickly expanding ball of gas. “Thank you, Sergeant,” M’Benga said quietly.
“Its what I’m here for, Ma’am.”
Sanjay hit his com badge. “Chief, damage report!”
Jerix came on, “Captain, its pretty bad. I had to take the core offline to avoid an overload-we apparently no longer have plasma nacelles to cool it with.” He sounded less sarcastic than amused. “We’re running straight off of the deuterium tanks at the moment. The shuttle bay has been sealed off. Until we hit a spacedock the entire bay is a write-off. Same thing goes for Deck One. Emergency forcefields are keeping Deck Two pressurized but just barely. We have massive failures in many of the secondary systems. Impulse engines and life support are about the only thing besides weapons still working. Could we try to avoid anymore fights for a while?”
“No promises, Chief.” Sanjay paused for a moment and sighed, then tapped the com again. “Sickbay, what’s the word?”
“One dead. Broken neck. Two people with crushed ribs.” Sanjay could hear controlled chaos in the background. “I’m going to be setting broken bones and taping sprains for the rest of the day. If there’s nothing else, Captain, I really need to get my rib cases into surgery.”
“Bridge out,” Sanjay said. He gave M’Benga a worried look. “Without a spacedock we’re stuck in the Sol system. I hope we don’t have to run again. We won’t get far.” She nodded in agreement.
“We’re entering the fracture, Captain.” Ensign Perling sounded excited. The viewscreen filled with static like the last time but there were no bumps noticeable. When the screen cleared Jupiter once again filled it. Floating in orbit was Jupiter Station. It looked intact and functioning. A Horace Greeley-class freighter was docked to it and several runabouts were in the area. “Are we home?” Ensign Perling asked in wonder. Suddenly, another Challenger-class starship hove into view. Sanjay heard M’Benga gasp next to him.
“Captain, that’s-“
“The Buran,” Sanjay cut her off, “I recognize her. Well, people, don’t get your hopes up. We aren’t home yet.”
“How do you know, sir?” Nog asked curiously.
“It was a little before your time, Mr. Nog,” replied Sanjay, “But the Buran was destroyed at Wolf 359.” The Bridge was silent.
Along with the others, I do have some questions as to why a sergeant would be made department head on a ship of this nature. That being said, you've got a good feel for the battle sequences. The 'Sliders' idea gives you a lot of room to play around in alternate realities and I'm looking forward to seeing some of the curves you're going to throw at us.
Hopefully, they've entered a universe where Starfleet is friendly and not part of a Terran Empire, a la the "mirror" universe.
Very good battle sequence. And a reminder to the Seleya's crew - they can't take for granted the capabilities of any adversary they may face. Just like the Cardies with the plasma torpedoes, they might come up against something even more unexpected and deadly.
You're doing a great job with this!
Very good battle sequence. And a reminder to the Seleya's crew - they can't take for granted the capabilities of any adversary they may face. Just like the Cardies with the plasma torpedoes, they might come up against something even more unexpected and deadly.
You're doing a great job with this!
Thank you, everyone. Soon, I promise, some explanation of Mitchell's peculiar position-and the highly far-fetched chain of logic y'all forced me to formulate to explain my naive gaffe! Jesus, maybe I ought to just kill him off in a fatal egg scrambling accident or something!
PART 7-Old Friends Made New
Commander M’Benga interrupted the quiet. “Captain, we’re being hailed. Its Federation Standard but the coding is archaic. Looks like pre-War stuff.”
“Put it on screen.”
The image of Jupiter changed to show a bridge almost identical to the Seleya’s main Bridge. There was an Andorian at Helm and a young Vulcan at Navigation. A scowling Klingon with full head ridges manned Tactical. A dignified-looking Klingon/Human woman sat in the First Officer’s seat. The Captain was a middle-aged Human of Mediterranean descent. All of them wore the previous iteration of uniforms, with red or gold tops and black pants.
“Attention damaged starship,” the other Captain said, “We’re not sure who you are, actually. Your saucer section is too mangled to read your name and your IFF transponder does not seem to be compatible with our systems. What the Hell happened to you people, anyway?”
Sanjay smiled. “And a very good day to you, too, Frank.” The other Captain’s mouth dropped open in shock while the rest of his Bridge crew expressed various degrees of surprise.
“Nick! Is that really you?” The other Captain, Frank, looked like his eyes were going to roll back in his head.
“Its me, Frank. More or less. Just not the me you knew. “At this comment Frank’s eyes narrowed.
“You’re from the Empire!” he exclaimed. “Red Alert! All hands to battlestations! Mr. Kurn, prepare to fire!”
“FRANK!” Sanjay practically screamed, “I’m not from the Empire! I’m from a different Federation! Don’t shoot, we’ve got wounded over here! FRANK!”
Some of what Sanjay was yelling seemed to penetrate. “Mr. Kurn, hold your fire a moment. Let’s hear him out.” The big Klingon scowled but no phaser fire leaped out at them. “Ok, Nick, if you aren’t from the Empire what did you mean by that? And you’d better not be up to any trickery. I’d as soon shoot as talk when it comes to Empire scum!”
“Frank, I am and am not the Nick Sanjay you know.”
“Knew.” Sanjay seemed momentarily startled by this.
“Ok, there’s probably an interesting story there. We’ll save it for later. My crew and I accidentally rammed into a sort of fracture in space/time while passing Jupiter. I lost a lot of good people and took some damage. When we managed to pull ourselves together we discovered we were in a parallel universe. We figured out how to traverse the fracture in order to map it and try to find our way home. This is actually the third separate reality we’ve encountered. The last one, well, things didn’t go so good. As you can tell by the damage.”
Frank looked skeptical but he asked, “Who did that to you?”
“Cardassians,” came the reply.
Frank seemed startled by the answer. “All right, Nick, maybe you’re telling the truth. We know about the fracture, as you call it. We thought it was a gate to the Empire’s reality. That’s why the Buran is on station keeping duty out here. Yours is the first ship to come through since the Empire tried to hit us two weeks ago.” His First Officer leaned over and whispered in his ear. “Good idea, K’Ehleyr. Nick, why don’t you and, say, one or two of your people beam over here and we’ll talk.”
Sanjay grinned. “Gee, Nick, I’d love to but the Cardassians sort of trashed my ship. Our transporters are down and you probably have a bird’s eye view of my shuttle bay deckplates.”
Frank grinned back. “You have a point there. I’ll have Mr. Kurn come and collect you. See you soon, Nick. Buran out.” A few moments later the tallest Klingon Sanjay had ever seen materialized on the Auxiliary Bridge.
“Come,” he said, waving at Sanjay. Sanjay got up and walked over to him.
“Mr. Nog, Ensign, you’re with me. Commander you have the con. I’ll check in after one hour.” When the two junior officers joined him by the big Klingon, Kurn tapped his com badge.
“Buran, four to transport.” They disappeared from the Bridge.
When they re-appeared in the Buran’s transporter room Frank was waiting for them.
“Francisco el’Sabra, I’d like you to meet my Second Officer, Lieutenant Nog and my Science Officer, Ensign Perling.” Frank nodded greetings at both of them.
“Why don’t we go to the briefing room,” Frank said. As they headed out into the hall Frank kept glancing at Sanjay. After they had walked for a few moments Sanjay stopped and faced him.
“Frank, why do you keep doing that?”
“Well, it just seems a bit odd, seeing you here. I went to your funeral a few days ago.” He continued walking.
“Sorry I asked,” muttered Sanjay, following along.
When they got to the briefing room there were armed security guards posted in the corners. Sanjay chose to ignore them. Nog waved cheerfully at them and Louis just looked nervous. Frank’s First Officer, the attractive Klingon/Human lady, was already seated at the table. Frank gestured to some seats opposite her and said,
“This is K’Ehlyra, my Number One. You’ve already met Kurn.” Sanjay and his officers took their seats. Frank continued, “From what we’ve said to each other so far, and assuming I believe your story, in your reality we know each other.”
Sanjay looked uncomfortable. “Actually, Frank, we were best friends. You died during the First Borg Incursion. I attended your funeral. Understand, things are far more different than that. In my ‘world’, your First was a Tellarite named Ceval.”
The Buran officers exchanged curious looks. K’Ehlyra spoke up. “Who are the Borg?”
For a moment Sanjay and his people just gaped at the Buran’s officers. Nog found his voice first. “You’ve never met the Borg?”
“Apparently not. What are they, some kind of pirates or something?” K’Ehlyra looked completely sincere with her question. Sanjay shook his head.
“No, they’re a bit worse than pirates. One ship devastated a forty-ship fleet about five or six years ago in our home dimension. We almost lost the war against the Dominion because our Fleet was so short of ships in the early days. If the Romulans hadn’t helped out the whole Alpha Quadrant would have fallen. As it was, I lost a lot of friends that day.” Sanjay gave Frank a pensive look.
The Buran officers just looked more confused. “The Dominion,” asked Frank, “Is that what you call the Empire in your reality? And what do the Romulans have to do with anything? They haven’t crossed the Neutral Zone in seventy-nine years.”
Sanjay grimaced. “I can see that we need a common ground before we can continue these discussions. My history and yours are very different. Before we start trading notes, though, I’d like Ensign Perling to explain what we’ve learned about the fracture so you can verify our story. I don’t know what this Empire is but it is obviously your enemy. I’d like to clear up any lingering doubts as to our origin.” He nodded at Louis and the young man began to explain about Planck’s Constant and vibrational frequencies. K’Ehlyra looked interested, Frank at least paid attention but Kurn looked out and out bored. As Louis concluded K’Ehlyra asked,
“I can perform a simple scan to verify the truth of what you are telling us?”
Louis nodded enthusiastically. “Oh, yes. And if you have anything from this “Empire” that we can scan you’ll see that the frequency is different from our own.” The Buran’s officers exchanged smug looks.
“I think we can come up with a few bits of Empire wreckage to scan,” K’Ehlyra declared. “When they popped out of the fracture a few weeks ago they made a horrible mistake. Starfleet had assembled an exploration fleet to go through the wormhole to the Gamma Quadrant. We had about twenty different ships around Jupiter Station when the Empire stuck its head out of the fracture. We chopped it off.” Kurn bared his teeth in something resembling a smile.
Frank spoke up. “K’Ehlyra, why don’t you and Ensign Perling go conduct the necessary scans while the rest of us continue our discussions.” K’Ehlyra acknowledged him and, with a wave towards Louis to follow, headed for the door. “You know, Sanjay, that little bit of adventurism on the part of the Empire is how you died in the here and now. The Fleet we set up to go through the wormhole was mainly composed of science vessels with an escort of Galaxy-class ships for protection. When the Empire’s attack manifested, we lost some of the smaller ships. The Cochrane was one of them.”
“Who or what is this Empire you keep referring to?” Sanjay asked.
Frank gave him a bleak look while Kurn merely growled. “The Terran Empire was first discovered by James T. Kirk almost a hundred years ago. There was an accident and Kirk slipped into an alternate universe where humanity was a galaxy-wide oppressor. He and his people managed to escape but not before the Empire became aware that we existed. Since then there have been a number of attacks in our universe by Empire forces. They are determined to invade and exploit our ‘side’ of things. About two weeks ago they launched a strike through that fracture out there,” Frank gestured towards the briefing room window, “And we got lucky. None of them survived to return home. Sanjay, they’ve been a real pain in our butts for a long time now. If you have the information to track them back to their plane of reality Starfleet Command would be extremely interested in what you have to say.”
“Frank,” Sanjay said, “Maybe we can work out some kind of deal. I could use a few repairs,” Kurn snorted at the understatement,” And I would be more than willing to trade help for help.” Frank smiled at him.
“Assuming K’Ehlyra says your story checks out I’m sure we can work something out. Now, don’t you have to check in with your First Officer or something like that?”
Sanjay was momentarily startled, then his expression turned rueful. “You know me better than I know myself.”
Frank grinned. “We have-sorry- had been friends for years. What did you expect? Besides, its what I would have done and I taught you everything I know. Well, not you but-“
Sanjay smiled back. “You know what, Frank?” he said, “We were friends before. The beauty of this situation is we have a chance to be friends again. Not too many people get a second chance.” He took a moment to assure M’Benga everything was going smoothly.
“You know, Nick, you’re right. We do have an opportunity here. Maybe we can start with a little filling in on the differences between our universes. For instance, you mentioned the Dominion. Who are they?” Frank waited expectantly.
“If you keep poking around in the Gamma Quadrant you’ll find out soon enough!” Nog declared.
“They rule a major portion of the Gamma Quadrant,” Sanjay added, “Not long after we first jumped through the Bajoran wormhole-“
“The Bajoran wormhole?” Frank interrupted, “Don’t you mean the Simean wormhole?”
“There’s a stable wormhole near Simea?” Nog asked. For a moment they all sat there in confused silence.
Kurn finally broke it. “It would seem we have a lot to learn from each other.” The talks continued, pausing only to include the returning K’Ehlyra and Perling. It was very late when Frank finally said,
“I think we should table this until I can make a full report to Starfleet Command. In the meantime, why don’t you prepare an after action report Nick. I suspect that Admiral Hanson will want to help you out with the Seleya in return for the information you can provide us. That will give you a head start at least.” After agreeing to meet again in the morning at Jupiter Station the two captains shook hands.
“Its good to see you again, Frank,” Sanjay said.
“You, too, Nick. We’ll talk some more in the morning.” The Seleya officers beamed back to their ship for the night.
PART 7-Old Friends Made New
Commander M’Benga interrupted the quiet. “Captain, we’re being hailed. Its Federation Standard but the coding is archaic. Looks like pre-War stuff.”
“Put it on screen.”
The image of Jupiter changed to show a bridge almost identical to the Seleya’s main Bridge. There was an Andorian at Helm and a young Vulcan at Navigation. A scowling Klingon with full head ridges manned Tactical. A dignified-looking Klingon/Human woman sat in the First Officer’s seat. The Captain was a middle-aged Human of Mediterranean descent. All of them wore the previous iteration of uniforms, with red or gold tops and black pants.
“Attention damaged starship,” the other Captain said, “We’re not sure who you are, actually. Your saucer section is too mangled to read your name and your IFF transponder does not seem to be compatible with our systems. What the Hell happened to you people, anyway?”
Sanjay smiled. “And a very good day to you, too, Frank.” The other Captain’s mouth dropped open in shock while the rest of his Bridge crew expressed various degrees of surprise.
“Nick! Is that really you?” The other Captain, Frank, looked like his eyes were going to roll back in his head.
“Its me, Frank. More or less. Just not the me you knew. “At this comment Frank’s eyes narrowed.
“You’re from the Empire!” he exclaimed. “Red Alert! All hands to battlestations! Mr. Kurn, prepare to fire!”
“FRANK!” Sanjay practically screamed, “I’m not from the Empire! I’m from a different Federation! Don’t shoot, we’ve got wounded over here! FRANK!”
Some of what Sanjay was yelling seemed to penetrate. “Mr. Kurn, hold your fire a moment. Let’s hear him out.” The big Klingon scowled but no phaser fire leaped out at them. “Ok, Nick, if you aren’t from the Empire what did you mean by that? And you’d better not be up to any trickery. I’d as soon shoot as talk when it comes to Empire scum!”
“Frank, I am and am not the Nick Sanjay you know.”
“Knew.” Sanjay seemed momentarily startled by this.
“Ok, there’s probably an interesting story there. We’ll save it for later. My crew and I accidentally rammed into a sort of fracture in space/time while passing Jupiter. I lost a lot of good people and took some damage. When we managed to pull ourselves together we discovered we were in a parallel universe. We figured out how to traverse the fracture in order to map it and try to find our way home. This is actually the third separate reality we’ve encountered. The last one, well, things didn’t go so good. As you can tell by the damage.”
Frank looked skeptical but he asked, “Who did that to you?”
“Cardassians,” came the reply.
Frank seemed startled by the answer. “All right, Nick, maybe you’re telling the truth. We know about the fracture, as you call it. We thought it was a gate to the Empire’s reality. That’s why the Buran is on station keeping duty out here. Yours is the first ship to come through since the Empire tried to hit us two weeks ago.” His First Officer leaned over and whispered in his ear. “Good idea, K’Ehleyr. Nick, why don’t you and, say, one or two of your people beam over here and we’ll talk.”
Sanjay grinned. “Gee, Nick, I’d love to but the Cardassians sort of trashed my ship. Our transporters are down and you probably have a bird’s eye view of my shuttle bay deckplates.”
Frank grinned back. “You have a point there. I’ll have Mr. Kurn come and collect you. See you soon, Nick. Buran out.” A few moments later the tallest Klingon Sanjay had ever seen materialized on the Auxiliary Bridge.
“Come,” he said, waving at Sanjay. Sanjay got up and walked over to him.
“Mr. Nog, Ensign, you’re with me. Commander you have the con. I’ll check in after one hour.” When the two junior officers joined him by the big Klingon, Kurn tapped his com badge.
“Buran, four to transport.” They disappeared from the Bridge.
When they re-appeared in the Buran’s transporter room Frank was waiting for them.
“Francisco el’Sabra, I’d like you to meet my Second Officer, Lieutenant Nog and my Science Officer, Ensign Perling.” Frank nodded greetings at both of them.
“Why don’t we go to the briefing room,” Frank said. As they headed out into the hall Frank kept glancing at Sanjay. After they had walked for a few moments Sanjay stopped and faced him.
“Frank, why do you keep doing that?”
“Well, it just seems a bit odd, seeing you here. I went to your funeral a few days ago.” He continued walking.
“Sorry I asked,” muttered Sanjay, following along.
When they got to the briefing room there were armed security guards posted in the corners. Sanjay chose to ignore them. Nog waved cheerfully at them and Louis just looked nervous. Frank’s First Officer, the attractive Klingon/Human lady, was already seated at the table. Frank gestured to some seats opposite her and said,
“This is K’Ehlyra, my Number One. You’ve already met Kurn.” Sanjay and his officers took their seats. Frank continued, “From what we’ve said to each other so far, and assuming I believe your story, in your reality we know each other.”
Sanjay looked uncomfortable. “Actually, Frank, we were best friends. You died during the First Borg Incursion. I attended your funeral. Understand, things are far more different than that. In my ‘world’, your First was a Tellarite named Ceval.”
The Buran officers exchanged curious looks. K’Ehlyra spoke up. “Who are the Borg?”
For a moment Sanjay and his people just gaped at the Buran’s officers. Nog found his voice first. “You’ve never met the Borg?”
“Apparently not. What are they, some kind of pirates or something?” K’Ehlyra looked completely sincere with her question. Sanjay shook his head.
“No, they’re a bit worse than pirates. One ship devastated a forty-ship fleet about five or six years ago in our home dimension. We almost lost the war against the Dominion because our Fleet was so short of ships in the early days. If the Romulans hadn’t helped out the whole Alpha Quadrant would have fallen. As it was, I lost a lot of friends that day.” Sanjay gave Frank a pensive look.
The Buran officers just looked more confused. “The Dominion,” asked Frank, “Is that what you call the Empire in your reality? And what do the Romulans have to do with anything? They haven’t crossed the Neutral Zone in seventy-nine years.”
Sanjay grimaced. “I can see that we need a common ground before we can continue these discussions. My history and yours are very different. Before we start trading notes, though, I’d like Ensign Perling to explain what we’ve learned about the fracture so you can verify our story. I don’t know what this Empire is but it is obviously your enemy. I’d like to clear up any lingering doubts as to our origin.” He nodded at Louis and the young man began to explain about Planck’s Constant and vibrational frequencies. K’Ehlyra looked interested, Frank at least paid attention but Kurn looked out and out bored. As Louis concluded K’Ehlyra asked,
“I can perform a simple scan to verify the truth of what you are telling us?”
Louis nodded enthusiastically. “Oh, yes. And if you have anything from this “Empire” that we can scan you’ll see that the frequency is different from our own.” The Buran’s officers exchanged smug looks.
“I think we can come up with a few bits of Empire wreckage to scan,” K’Ehlyra declared. “When they popped out of the fracture a few weeks ago they made a horrible mistake. Starfleet had assembled an exploration fleet to go through the wormhole to the Gamma Quadrant. We had about twenty different ships around Jupiter Station when the Empire stuck its head out of the fracture. We chopped it off.” Kurn bared his teeth in something resembling a smile.
Frank spoke up. “K’Ehlyra, why don’t you and Ensign Perling go conduct the necessary scans while the rest of us continue our discussions.” K’Ehlyra acknowledged him and, with a wave towards Louis to follow, headed for the door. “You know, Sanjay, that little bit of adventurism on the part of the Empire is how you died in the here and now. The Fleet we set up to go through the wormhole was mainly composed of science vessels with an escort of Galaxy-class ships for protection. When the Empire’s attack manifested, we lost some of the smaller ships. The Cochrane was one of them.”
“Who or what is this Empire you keep referring to?” Sanjay asked.
Frank gave him a bleak look while Kurn merely growled. “The Terran Empire was first discovered by James T. Kirk almost a hundred years ago. There was an accident and Kirk slipped into an alternate universe where humanity was a galaxy-wide oppressor. He and his people managed to escape but not before the Empire became aware that we existed. Since then there have been a number of attacks in our universe by Empire forces. They are determined to invade and exploit our ‘side’ of things. About two weeks ago they launched a strike through that fracture out there,” Frank gestured towards the briefing room window, “And we got lucky. None of them survived to return home. Sanjay, they’ve been a real pain in our butts for a long time now. If you have the information to track them back to their plane of reality Starfleet Command would be extremely interested in what you have to say.”
“Frank,” Sanjay said, “Maybe we can work out some kind of deal. I could use a few repairs,” Kurn snorted at the understatement,” And I would be more than willing to trade help for help.” Frank smiled at him.
“Assuming K’Ehlyra says your story checks out I’m sure we can work something out. Now, don’t you have to check in with your First Officer or something like that?”
Sanjay was momentarily startled, then his expression turned rueful. “You know me better than I know myself.”
Frank grinned. “We have-sorry- had been friends for years. What did you expect? Besides, its what I would have done and I taught you everything I know. Well, not you but-“
Sanjay smiled back. “You know what, Frank?” he said, “We were friends before. The beauty of this situation is we have a chance to be friends again. Not too many people get a second chance.” He took a moment to assure M’Benga everything was going smoothly.
“You know, Nick, you’re right. We do have an opportunity here. Maybe we can start with a little filling in on the differences between our universes. For instance, you mentioned the Dominion. Who are they?” Frank waited expectantly.
“If you keep poking around in the Gamma Quadrant you’ll find out soon enough!” Nog declared.
“They rule a major portion of the Gamma Quadrant,” Sanjay added, “Not long after we first jumped through the Bajoran wormhole-“
“The Bajoran wormhole?” Frank interrupted, “Don’t you mean the Simean wormhole?”
“There’s a stable wormhole near Simea?” Nog asked. For a moment they all sat there in confused silence.
Kurn finally broke it. “It would seem we have a lot to learn from each other.” The talks continued, pausing only to include the returning K’Ehlyra and Perling. It was very late when Frank finally said,
“I think we should table this until I can make a full report to Starfleet Command. In the meantime, why don’t you prepare an after action report Nick. I suspect that Admiral Hanson will want to help you out with the Seleya in return for the information you can provide us. That will give you a head start at least.” After agreeing to meet again in the morning at Jupiter Station the two captains shook hands.
“Its good to see you again, Frank,” Sanjay said.
“You, too, Nick. We’ll talk some more in the morning.” The Seleya officers beamed back to their ship for the night.
PART 8-Return To The Grave
It had been a long, strange five months for the crew of the Seleya. With the agreement and aid of Admiral Hanson the ship had limped into McKinley Station, where it had undergone a refit that bordered on a complete re-building. There had been extensive de-briefings of all of the crew by Starfleet Intelligence in an attempt to get pre-emptive information about possible future threats. Much of the technology developed to fight the Borg and the Dominion was more advanced than anything Starfleet ‘here’ had and Jerix and his engineers were kept very busy meeting with designers. Others of the crew took shore leave and sought out people they ‘knew’, leading to some interesting interactions along the way. Louis spent almost the entire five months of the refit in huddled discussions with the top astrophysicists of the Federation. As time passed more than a few friendships were formed. To Sanjay’s way of thinking, the strangest was the bond between Sgt. Damian Mitchell and Kurn, Son of Moag.
***Interlude-One month into re-fit***
Damian was packing a rucksack when the door chime to his quarters sounded. “Come,” he said. The door opened to reveal Kurn, the Buran’s Tactical Officer, standing in the hall with a similar bag slung over his left shoulder. His bat’leth stuck up over his right shoulder and a gleaming mek’leth hung from his hip.
“Are you ready to depart, Damian?” Kurn looked impatient but as a Klingon that was a typical appearance for him. Damian shoved a rather wicked-looking blade into his bag and shut it. He grabbed a bow and a quiver of arrows that rested against his closet wall and took one last look around to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything.
“Let’s go,” he replied. They headed for the shuttle bay. When they arrived Captain Sanjay was waiting outside the entrance to see them off. He tipped his head in Kurn’s direction and turned towards Damian.
“Sgt. Mitchell, I’ve authorized the shuttle Pug for your use while on leave. Try to bring it back in one piece, please.”
Damian gave a brief grin, “Certainly, Captain. And thank you for letting us use it.”
“You are more than welcome, Sergeant. Gentlemen, good hunting! Qapla’!”
“Qapla’!” they responded and went to prepare their shuttle for flight.
Aboard the Pug, Kurn stowed their gear while Damian prepped the shuttle. After receiving clearance for departure they left the Seleya and entered McKinley Station’s flight control pattern. While they were waiting for authorization to descend Kurn spoke up.
“Damian, I was quite surprised when you asked me to go hunting with you on Earth. I was under the impression that there was no hunting allowed.”
Damian replied, “Ordinarily, you’d be right. This is a special situation, though. I heard about it on FleetNet and jumped all over it because I knew it would interest you. I remembered the story you told me when we were drinking bloodwine of you and your brother hunting the sun-fevered s’ehlat on Vulcan. This is, in some ways, a similar hunt.”
Kurn was very interested. “So what is it we hunt?”
“Well,” Damian answered, “We’re going to an area called the Yukon. It’s located very close to one of Earth’s polar regions. It seems that they’re having a problem with a mad bear.”
“A bear,” Kurn remarked, “Isn’t that a type of domestic animal?”
“No,” laughed Damian, “You’re thinking of a dog but at least you got the right genus. A bear is a lot larger than a dog. Most are about two to four meters tall on their hind legs and they can reach speeds of forty kilometers an hour for brief stretches. They have large claws and a mouthful of sharp teeth. Their reflexes are very quick and they are one of the smartest land animals on the planet. A Betazoid I knew told me he touched a bear’s mind once. He said it had a definite series of thoughts, not just the instincts of a dumb animal.”
“If they have intelligence then why are we hunting it?” Kurn’s curiosity was peaked now.
“Oh, I don’t know if they actually qualify as intelligent on the Sokal scale but they are crafty. Usually they leave humans alone and we try to respect their habitats. However, one thing they have in common with humans is that in extreme old age they sometimes suffer from senility. The difference is that a senile human tends to drool on himself while a senile bear, particularly a male like the one we’ll be hunting, tends to turn irrationally violent. This guy has attacked several groups of campers over the last few weeks, killing at least two people. Usual policy is for the government to send in a Forestry Service team armed with phasers to put the beast down but I had Admiral Hanson pull some strings and give us the job.” Damian seemed quite satisfied with himself.
Kurn roared his approval. “You have the instincts of a true warrior, my friend! We will hunt and then we will feast on our quarry’s flesh!” He paused for a moment and then asked, “They are edible, are they not?” When Damian nodded Kurn flashed a fierce grin.
“Excellent! How big did you say this bear was?”
Now it was Damian’s turn to grin. “Well, Kurn, as I said the typical bear can reach up to four meters. This one isn’t so typical, it’s from a sub-species known as ‘Kodiak’ that are renowned for their size and strength. The reports say he’s about five meters tall and probably weighs in at half of a ton.” He tapped in a command on the control panel. “If you look on the screen, here, I’ve brought up a picture of a Kodiak bear.”
Kurn seemed suitably impressed by the image. “A beast worthy of the hunt, indeed! Will Traffic Control never clear us for landing?” The question was purely rhetorical and soon enough they were allowed to land at a field in Juneau. There they took on cold weather gear and spoke with the local rangers to narrow down the bear’s location. The rangers seemed to think they were a little crazy to go out hunting a mad bear with primitive weapons in the middle of the Alaskan Nature Preserve but they gave them the information they had requested. After a quick lunch they re-boarded the Pug and took off for the Yukon.
Damian set the shuttle down in a snow-brushed meadow less than a kilometer from where the last attack had occurred. After calling up a local map he and Kurn plotted the locations of the attacks and narrowed down the search area to a two square kilometer section of forest. They donned thermal jackets and hats. Damian drew on a pair of leather gloves with the fingers cut off of the right one. Lashing his Bowie knife around his waist, he slung his quiver and bow on his shoulder. He looked up at Kurn, who had his mek’leth once again hanging by his side. His d’k tahg was sheathed on his forearm and he held his bat’leth ready. They nodded in silent agreement and headed out into the wild.
They cast about for spoor for over an hour without success. Then Kurn caught Damian’s attention and waved him over to the tree he stood next to. Without speaking, he pointed at a series of claw-marks about three meters off of the ground. He then looked at Damian questioningly. Damian confirmed they were from a bear with a bob of his head. Kurn immediately dropped into a combat stance and Damian followed suit, stringing his bow but not yet drawing it. They both saw the next clawed tree at the same time about ten meters north and began cautiously moving forward. While Damian examined the ground at the base of the second tree Kurn lifted his head and sniffed at the light breeze that blew from the east. He tapped Damian on the shoulder and pointed north by northeast. They began to move forward once more.
After walking a few hundred meters deeper into the woods they came across the corpse of a hightail deer. It looked half-eaten. Kurn bent over and touched the body. He looked back over his shoulder at Damian.
“Still warm,” he hissed. Then his eyes grew wide and he jumped up, stumbling over the dead deer. As a loud roar sounded behind him Damian leaped without hesitation over the deer and landed in a roll, coming back to his feet facing the other way. His arrow was already flying before he came to a stop. Kurn was belted to the side as the bear screamed in pain from the arrow in its chest and Damian knew he didn’t have time to shoot again. He dropped his bow and drew his Bowie knife in one smooth motion. Then the bear was upon him. It clawed across his chest as he slashed at its gut. The impact threw him to the ground, his ribs burning with pain. The bear reared up, raging, and Damian realized it was even bigger than the five meters credited to it. The arrow still sprouted from its chest and Damian’s knife had left a half-meter slash in its belly but it hadn’t even been slowed down. As it lunged at him Damian considered where he would like to be buried. “The old cemetery at Arlington” flitted idly through his mind and then, with a Klingon war cry on his lips, Kurn flung himself onto the bear’s back. Distracted, the beast took a hesitant step backwards as Kurn lodged his bat’leth into its shoulder. It shook itself like a wet dog trying to get rid of him but he hung on and even managed to draw his mek’leth. Damian took this opportunity to roll out from under the bear and pick his Bowie knife back up. Now Kurn was trying to cut the bear’s neck with the mek’leth. The maddened creature lunged backwards, smashing Kurn between itself and a large tree. Damian danced forward quickly and opened the beast from groin to mid-chest. It screamed and fell to all fours, bits of its innards spilling out. Damian jumped back several steps. The wounded Kodiak focused on him and tried to charge. Kurn, looking a bit worse for wear, cut its hind legs out from under it with his mek’leth. When it stumbled Damian slashed at its already bleeding neck and it toppled to its side. Lungs heaving, unable to get back up, it nevertheless tried to claw and snap at Kurn when he staggered over to deliver the death blow with his d’k tahg. The ceremonial dagger sticking out of its skull, the bear gave a last shudder and then the light in its mad eyes faded. Kurn lifted his head and screamed, warning those in Sto-Vol-Kor that a warrior was coming to join them. Both of them collapsed where they were, panting hard.
They sat that evening by a campfire next to the shuttle eating bear steaks and drinking bloodwine that Kurn had brought along. Damian’s ribs no longer hurt thanks the field dressing and painkillers Kurn had applied. Kurn himself had been bruised all over but nothing seemed to be broken. The meat was good, if a little tough. It had been a pretty old bear. Kurn had been a bit surprised that Damian had known how to dress and skin the beast. As they ate he asked him where he’d learned to prepare fresh game. Damian looked thoughtful for a moment and then answered.
“During that Dominion War we’ve told you guys about I was the leader of a Fleet Marine LRRP team. That’s Long Range Reconnaissance and Patrol. Basically, me and three other guys would sneak to a strategic planet deep behind enemy lines and get dropped off. We’d spend a few weeks raising all kinds of Hell, blowing things up and taking out critical enemy personnel and positions. The lousy rations they sent with us convinced us to hunt our own food whenever possible. I like to eat so I got pretty good at it.”
Kurn took another bite of meat and chewed thoughtfully. Then he said, “You were a Sergeant in the Fleet Marines. Now you are Head of Security and, basically, Tactical Officer on a starship. How did that happen?” He sipped his bloodwine and waited for an answer.
Damian replied, “The war was long and vicious. I did a lot of things I’m not proud of. I also learned a lot of things I never expected to along the way. I did a lot of reading out in the bush, waiting for nightfall so we could strike. I managed to take and pass the Bridge Officer’s test based on some of what I learned. When the war ended, I was sick of the combat, sick of the constant killing. Starfleet was short of qualified people all over the fleet. I put in for a line transfer and a Captain I’d worked with on several missions, Captain McGowan, told Command he’d take me on. He needed someone to replace his Head of Security, who’d been killed in the last days of the war. They wanted to make me an officer but I told them I’d only do it if I could keep my noncom status, just in case I decided to return to the ground pounders. They were so short of experienced help they agreed. Later, when my boss got promoted I inherited Captain Sanjay. He never questioned my status. He just let me keep doing my job.”
Kurn took this in. “I understand. I suppose if you do a good job it really doesn’t matter. I envy you, though, Damian. We have no Borg, no Dominion, no Cardassians to fight. The Romulans stay hidden behind the Neutral Zone.” He sighed theatrically. “It is very hard for a warrior to prove his worth in this universe!”
Damian gave him a grin and said, “Oh, I don’t know about that. From what I saw today, I’d say you manage just fine.” He lifted his glass. “Qapla’!” Kurn echoed him and they drained their drinks.
“More bloodwine!” he roared out into the night, “Warriors feast tonight!”
***End Interlude***
It had been a long, strange five months for the crew of the Seleya. With the agreement and aid of Admiral Hanson the ship had limped into McKinley Station, where it had undergone a refit that bordered on a complete re-building. There had been extensive de-briefings of all of the crew by Starfleet Intelligence in an attempt to get pre-emptive information about possible future threats. Much of the technology developed to fight the Borg and the Dominion was more advanced than anything Starfleet ‘here’ had and Jerix and his engineers were kept very busy meeting with designers. Others of the crew took shore leave and sought out people they ‘knew’, leading to some interesting interactions along the way. Louis spent almost the entire five months of the refit in huddled discussions with the top astrophysicists of the Federation. As time passed more than a few friendships were formed. To Sanjay’s way of thinking, the strangest was the bond between Sgt. Damian Mitchell and Kurn, Son of Moag.
***Interlude-One month into re-fit***
Damian was packing a rucksack when the door chime to his quarters sounded. “Come,” he said. The door opened to reveal Kurn, the Buran’s Tactical Officer, standing in the hall with a similar bag slung over his left shoulder. His bat’leth stuck up over his right shoulder and a gleaming mek’leth hung from his hip.
“Are you ready to depart, Damian?” Kurn looked impatient but as a Klingon that was a typical appearance for him. Damian shoved a rather wicked-looking blade into his bag and shut it. He grabbed a bow and a quiver of arrows that rested against his closet wall and took one last look around to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything.
“Let’s go,” he replied. They headed for the shuttle bay. When they arrived Captain Sanjay was waiting outside the entrance to see them off. He tipped his head in Kurn’s direction and turned towards Damian.
“Sgt. Mitchell, I’ve authorized the shuttle Pug for your use while on leave. Try to bring it back in one piece, please.”
Damian gave a brief grin, “Certainly, Captain. And thank you for letting us use it.”
“You are more than welcome, Sergeant. Gentlemen, good hunting! Qapla’!”
“Qapla’!” they responded and went to prepare their shuttle for flight.
Aboard the Pug, Kurn stowed their gear while Damian prepped the shuttle. After receiving clearance for departure they left the Seleya and entered McKinley Station’s flight control pattern. While they were waiting for authorization to descend Kurn spoke up.
“Damian, I was quite surprised when you asked me to go hunting with you on Earth. I was under the impression that there was no hunting allowed.”
Damian replied, “Ordinarily, you’d be right. This is a special situation, though. I heard about it on FleetNet and jumped all over it because I knew it would interest you. I remembered the story you told me when we were drinking bloodwine of you and your brother hunting the sun-fevered s’ehlat on Vulcan. This is, in some ways, a similar hunt.”
Kurn was very interested. “So what is it we hunt?”
“Well,” Damian answered, “We’re going to an area called the Yukon. It’s located very close to one of Earth’s polar regions. It seems that they’re having a problem with a mad bear.”
“A bear,” Kurn remarked, “Isn’t that a type of domestic animal?”
“No,” laughed Damian, “You’re thinking of a dog but at least you got the right genus. A bear is a lot larger than a dog. Most are about two to four meters tall on their hind legs and they can reach speeds of forty kilometers an hour for brief stretches. They have large claws and a mouthful of sharp teeth. Their reflexes are very quick and they are one of the smartest land animals on the planet. A Betazoid I knew told me he touched a bear’s mind once. He said it had a definite series of thoughts, not just the instincts of a dumb animal.”
“If they have intelligence then why are we hunting it?” Kurn’s curiosity was peaked now.
“Oh, I don’t know if they actually qualify as intelligent on the Sokal scale but they are crafty. Usually they leave humans alone and we try to respect their habitats. However, one thing they have in common with humans is that in extreme old age they sometimes suffer from senility. The difference is that a senile human tends to drool on himself while a senile bear, particularly a male like the one we’ll be hunting, tends to turn irrationally violent. This guy has attacked several groups of campers over the last few weeks, killing at least two people. Usual policy is for the government to send in a Forestry Service team armed with phasers to put the beast down but I had Admiral Hanson pull some strings and give us the job.” Damian seemed quite satisfied with himself.
Kurn roared his approval. “You have the instincts of a true warrior, my friend! We will hunt and then we will feast on our quarry’s flesh!” He paused for a moment and then asked, “They are edible, are they not?” When Damian nodded Kurn flashed a fierce grin.
“Excellent! How big did you say this bear was?”
Now it was Damian’s turn to grin. “Well, Kurn, as I said the typical bear can reach up to four meters. This one isn’t so typical, it’s from a sub-species known as ‘Kodiak’ that are renowned for their size and strength. The reports say he’s about five meters tall and probably weighs in at half of a ton.” He tapped in a command on the control panel. “If you look on the screen, here, I’ve brought up a picture of a Kodiak bear.”
Kurn seemed suitably impressed by the image. “A beast worthy of the hunt, indeed! Will Traffic Control never clear us for landing?” The question was purely rhetorical and soon enough they were allowed to land at a field in Juneau. There they took on cold weather gear and spoke with the local rangers to narrow down the bear’s location. The rangers seemed to think they were a little crazy to go out hunting a mad bear with primitive weapons in the middle of the Alaskan Nature Preserve but they gave them the information they had requested. After a quick lunch they re-boarded the Pug and took off for the Yukon.
Damian set the shuttle down in a snow-brushed meadow less than a kilometer from where the last attack had occurred. After calling up a local map he and Kurn plotted the locations of the attacks and narrowed down the search area to a two square kilometer section of forest. They donned thermal jackets and hats. Damian drew on a pair of leather gloves with the fingers cut off of the right one. Lashing his Bowie knife around his waist, he slung his quiver and bow on his shoulder. He looked up at Kurn, who had his mek’leth once again hanging by his side. His d’k tahg was sheathed on his forearm and he held his bat’leth ready. They nodded in silent agreement and headed out into the wild.
They cast about for spoor for over an hour without success. Then Kurn caught Damian’s attention and waved him over to the tree he stood next to. Without speaking, he pointed at a series of claw-marks about three meters off of the ground. He then looked at Damian questioningly. Damian confirmed they were from a bear with a bob of his head. Kurn immediately dropped into a combat stance and Damian followed suit, stringing his bow but not yet drawing it. They both saw the next clawed tree at the same time about ten meters north and began cautiously moving forward. While Damian examined the ground at the base of the second tree Kurn lifted his head and sniffed at the light breeze that blew from the east. He tapped Damian on the shoulder and pointed north by northeast. They began to move forward once more.
After walking a few hundred meters deeper into the woods they came across the corpse of a hightail deer. It looked half-eaten. Kurn bent over and touched the body. He looked back over his shoulder at Damian.
“Still warm,” he hissed. Then his eyes grew wide and he jumped up, stumbling over the dead deer. As a loud roar sounded behind him Damian leaped without hesitation over the deer and landed in a roll, coming back to his feet facing the other way. His arrow was already flying before he came to a stop. Kurn was belted to the side as the bear screamed in pain from the arrow in its chest and Damian knew he didn’t have time to shoot again. He dropped his bow and drew his Bowie knife in one smooth motion. Then the bear was upon him. It clawed across his chest as he slashed at its gut. The impact threw him to the ground, his ribs burning with pain. The bear reared up, raging, and Damian realized it was even bigger than the five meters credited to it. The arrow still sprouted from its chest and Damian’s knife had left a half-meter slash in its belly but it hadn’t even been slowed down. As it lunged at him Damian considered where he would like to be buried. “The old cemetery at Arlington” flitted idly through his mind and then, with a Klingon war cry on his lips, Kurn flung himself onto the bear’s back. Distracted, the beast took a hesitant step backwards as Kurn lodged his bat’leth into its shoulder. It shook itself like a wet dog trying to get rid of him but he hung on and even managed to draw his mek’leth. Damian took this opportunity to roll out from under the bear and pick his Bowie knife back up. Now Kurn was trying to cut the bear’s neck with the mek’leth. The maddened creature lunged backwards, smashing Kurn between itself and a large tree. Damian danced forward quickly and opened the beast from groin to mid-chest. It screamed and fell to all fours, bits of its innards spilling out. Damian jumped back several steps. The wounded Kodiak focused on him and tried to charge. Kurn, looking a bit worse for wear, cut its hind legs out from under it with his mek’leth. When it stumbled Damian slashed at its already bleeding neck and it toppled to its side. Lungs heaving, unable to get back up, it nevertheless tried to claw and snap at Kurn when he staggered over to deliver the death blow with his d’k tahg. The ceremonial dagger sticking out of its skull, the bear gave a last shudder and then the light in its mad eyes faded. Kurn lifted his head and screamed, warning those in Sto-Vol-Kor that a warrior was coming to join them. Both of them collapsed where they were, panting hard.
They sat that evening by a campfire next to the shuttle eating bear steaks and drinking bloodwine that Kurn had brought along. Damian’s ribs no longer hurt thanks the field dressing and painkillers Kurn had applied. Kurn himself had been bruised all over but nothing seemed to be broken. The meat was good, if a little tough. It had been a pretty old bear. Kurn had been a bit surprised that Damian had known how to dress and skin the beast. As they ate he asked him where he’d learned to prepare fresh game. Damian looked thoughtful for a moment and then answered.
“During that Dominion War we’ve told you guys about I was the leader of a Fleet Marine LRRP team. That’s Long Range Reconnaissance and Patrol. Basically, me and three other guys would sneak to a strategic planet deep behind enemy lines and get dropped off. We’d spend a few weeks raising all kinds of Hell, blowing things up and taking out critical enemy personnel and positions. The lousy rations they sent with us convinced us to hunt our own food whenever possible. I like to eat so I got pretty good at it.”
Kurn took another bite of meat and chewed thoughtfully. Then he said, “You were a Sergeant in the Fleet Marines. Now you are Head of Security and, basically, Tactical Officer on a starship. How did that happen?” He sipped his bloodwine and waited for an answer.
Damian replied, “The war was long and vicious. I did a lot of things I’m not proud of. I also learned a lot of things I never expected to along the way. I did a lot of reading out in the bush, waiting for nightfall so we could strike. I managed to take and pass the Bridge Officer’s test based on some of what I learned. When the war ended, I was sick of the combat, sick of the constant killing. Starfleet was short of qualified people all over the fleet. I put in for a line transfer and a Captain I’d worked with on several missions, Captain McGowan, told Command he’d take me on. He needed someone to replace his Head of Security, who’d been killed in the last days of the war. They wanted to make me an officer but I told them I’d only do it if I could keep my noncom status, just in case I decided to return to the ground pounders. They were so short of experienced help they agreed. Later, when my boss got promoted I inherited Captain Sanjay. He never questioned my status. He just let me keep doing my job.”
Kurn took this in. “I understand. I suppose if you do a good job it really doesn’t matter. I envy you, though, Damian. We have no Borg, no Dominion, no Cardassians to fight. The Romulans stay hidden behind the Neutral Zone.” He sighed theatrically. “It is very hard for a warrior to prove his worth in this universe!”
Damian gave him a grin and said, “Oh, I don’t know about that. From what I saw today, I’d say you manage just fine.” He lifted his glass. “Qapla’!” Kurn echoed him and they drained their drinks.
“More bloodwine!” he roared out into the night, “Warriors feast tonight!”
***End Interlude***
PART 8 (cont.)
Sanjay was in his quarters, struggling with the collar button on his dress uniform. It hadn’t been so difficult to fasten when they’d arrived here five months ago. Numerous cocktail parties and dinners hosted by Federation brass had taken their toll. He sighed to himself.
“I’m going to have to put in some serious gym time,” he thought. Tonight was the final reception, a going away party. Tomorrow the Seleya was scheduled to depart for home. Every system had been checked and re-checked and she looked as good as she had when they’d first left on this unusual voyage. Assuming they got home ok, they would be returning with terabytes of valuable data on races and cultures this Federation had met that their own had yet to encounter. It almost made all of the losses they had suffered worthwhile. Still, while they were eager to get home, tomorrow’s parting would leave many with mixed feelings at best. Friendships had been formed in the time they had spent here, some of the crew having even met “themselves” and developed bonds on surprisingly deep levels. Sanjay was almost glad his counterpart had not been alive in the here and now. He wasn’t sure how he felt about the idea of meeting “himself”. He looked in the mirror and tried unsuccessfully to suck in his gut. With a sigh, he headed for the door.
Kurn had stopped at Damian’s quarters on the way to the reception aboard McKinley Station. He was dressed in full Klingon regalia instead of his usual duty uniform. He was snickering quietly as he watched Damian fumbling with his many medals and citations.
“Oh, you think this is funny?” Damian asked him. “At least you get to wear something comfortable!”
“I am allowed to wear my race’s dress uniform under Starfleet cultural protocols. Why don’t you just leave those on your formal whites? It would be a lot easier.” Kurn seemed genuinely curious. It was one of the things that had contributed to their friendship. He was honest about what he thought. No whitewash to sooth feelings, no hiding behind false smiles, he just said what was on his mind. Damian was going to miss him.
“I tried that once. I have so many of these damn hershey bars that it made my jacket sag out of shape,” he said, pointing a thumb at his numerous citations.
“I have heard that phrase before,” Kurn commented, “I have always wondered what it meant.”
“Hershey bars? I don’t really know. Its very old slang for military decorations. Must date back four hundred years or more. C’mon, let’s get to the reception.”
They were almost out the door when Damian looked down at himself and said, “Oops, wait a second. I forgot one.” He went back to his dresser as Kurn rolled his eyes. After placing the ribbon with the missing medal around his neck he said, “Ok, let’s roll.”
Kurn looked at the latest addition to Damian’s fruit salad. “The Pike Medal of Valor? I would like to hear that tale!” He actually seemed a bit impressed and Kurn didn’t impress easily.
“Oh, it was just a case of not dying while others did. Nothing special.” Kurn lifted an eyebrow but remained silent. “C’mon, buddy, let’s go find some bloodwine.” They headed off to the transporter room together.
The reception was in the duplicate of the lounge where Sanjay had first seen Seleya. Like then, the ship hung suspended in front of the observation windows, bathed in the soft glow of spotlights. Unlike then, the lounge was crowded with dignitaries from all over this Federation. Nevertheless, there was a definite “party” feel to the occasion. Carol M’Benga, her chocolate skin off-setting her dress whites in a stunning fashion, was surrounded by a gaggle of Fleet Captains and a couple of the younger Admirals. Drink in hand, she was regaling them with a tale from the Dominion War. Judging by the looks many of them had on their faces, she could have been reciting planetary survey statistics and they still would have been enthralled. Jerix, also with a drink in his hand, was entertaining a group of Andorian women, attaches from their embassy in San Francisco. Mitchell and Kurn had commandeered a table in the center of the room, which they shared with Kurn’s par’mach, K’Ehlyra, and Kurn’s brother, Worf, the Klingon ambassador to the Federation. In the center of their table was an open cask of bloodwine and the speech was loud and rowdy. A few onlookers from the Vulcan delegation eyed them primly from a distance. Jesus Ramirez was at a table in the corner, speaking quietly with the beautiful Latino woman who had accompanied him to the affair. Nog was no where to be seen. Sanjay took all of this in from the doorway before he entered. He finally spotted Admiral Hanson at one of the bars and strode over to join him.
“Good evening, Admiral. Looks like a good party, wouldn’t you say?”
“Nick! Here, have a drink!” the Admiral had evidently had one or two already himself. He pressed a glass of scotch on Sanjay. “Yes, it looks like a real good party. Kind of sad, though. Your people have made a lot of friends in the short time they’ve been here. Hate to see you all go. ‘Course, parting doesn’t have to be forever,” he said wolfishly, a sly look on his face.
“What do you mean, Admiral?” Sanjay asked.
“Oops, almost let the cat out of the bag.” Hanson looked down at the drink in his hand suspiciously. “I think I’d better switch to synthehol. Nick, we’ll talk again after my little speech.” He walked away, leaving Sanjay to wonder what ‘cat’ he’d been talking about. Sanjay knew he’d have to wait to find out. You just didn’t go prying into the affairs of Starfleet Admirals, no matter what universe you where in. They had a habit of taking such behavior badly.
The door to the lounge opened, revealing Ensign Perling. He looked awkward and uncomfortable in his dress whites. Sanjay had only seen him a few times since Seleya had entered spacedock for her re-fit so he wandered over to him now.
“Ensign, were you coming or going?” he asked with an amused smile on his face.
Flushing, Louis stepped into the lounge. “Sorry, Captain. I just feel a little out of place here with all of these Admirals and diplomats.”
Sanjay nodded at him and said, “I know what you mean. My first formal reception, I just wanted to find a closet to hide in. You’ll get used to it with time. C’mon, Ensign, I’ll buy you a drink.” He guided the younger man towards the bar. When they got there he waved at the man behind the bar.
“Th-thank you, Captain,” Louis stammered, taking the proffered glass in hand.
“So, Ensign, is everything ready for our flight tomorrow?” Sanjay sipped his drink. A burst of raucous laughter came from Mitchell’s table.
“Oh, yes, Captain! I actually had the information we needed a few days after we arrived here. I just had to wait for the ship to be repaired so I could program in the proper course headings. I finished that earlier today.” He took a sip of his own drink, a blue concoction, and coughed discreetly.
“So what have you been doing with yourself since then? I know you been working with some of the physicists in Geneva but I haven’t really been following your work too closely.” As Louis opened his mouth to answer a ship’s bell rang out three times. The room began to quiet down as people found themselves seats. “Nevermind,” Sanjay said, “Let’s be seated. Its time for the Admiral’s speech.” They took a couple of chairs at their assigned table in the front by the podium. The other senior officers and Mitchell soon joined them. Nog was still nowhere to be found and Sanjay made a mental note to speak to him later. Three more bells rang out and the room became quiet. Just as Admiral Hanson took his place behind the podium, Nog slipped into his seat.
“Sorry, Captain,” he murmured. Sanjay tipped his head at him and then focused on the Admiral.
“Good evening, gentlebeings. About five months ago a strange ship passed through a fracture in space and appeared in our universe. For once, it wasn’t a prelude to an Empire raid. Instead, friends from a Federation much like our own arrived. Tomorrow they leave us to return home but their visit here has been beneficial to all involved from both universes. They have warned us of possible future dangers and improved some of our technology to better face those dangers. They have told us of races we have yet to encounter and of miraculous sights in the heavens we have yet to see.
We, in turn, have aided them with their repairs and given them supplies and equipment lost in their travels. We have shared information their Federation had yet to acquire about races and such that we found in our own explorations. Both parties have benefited, so much so that early on in their visit I set to task some of our brightest minds, for it seemed to me that these mutual benefits might continue. Tonight is a parting of ways with the crew of the good ship Seleya but it is not the end, we hope, of our mutual contact. With the help of one of their brightest minds, Ensign Louis Perling,” the young man blushed in embarrassment as a roomful of eyes turned his way, “Our scientists have developed a theory that may well allow us to establish permanent communication with our brothers from the other universe! Tonight we may say our ‘Good-byes!’ but on another day in the not too distant future we hope to say ‘Hello!’ once again!”
There was a brief pause at the end of the Admiral’s speech and then the room erupted in applause, much of it directed at Louis and the rest of Seleya’s officers. Sanjay narrowed his eyes and peered at Admiral Hanson. The Admiral beamed a broad smile back at him and gave him a ‘thumbs up’. The twinkle in his eye told Sanjay what he was thinking: “Gotcha!” Sanjay grinned back. The cat was indeed out of the bag.
The next morning, just prior to departure, Kurn requested permission to beam over to Seleya for a few moments. Sanjay agreed and a couple of minutes later Kurn strode on to the Bridge. Nodding at the other crewmembers present, he approached Damian at the Tactical station.
“Damian,” he growled, “We have shared good times together. I wish to give you a token of remembrance.” With this he drew his d’k tagh and presented it, hilt first, to Mitchell. Damian, knowing the importance of a d’k tagh in many Klingon rituals and aware of what was being offered him, bowed stiffly and formally as he accepted it. Kurn saluted, fist to chest, and then wheeled about and left the Bridge without another word. Damian watched him exit with a thoughtful look on his face. Sanjay cleared his throat.
“Commander M’Benga, has the crew been evacuated to the shielded parts of the ship?’
“Yes, sir.”
“Mr. Nog, transfer control to the Auxiliary Bridge!”
“Aye, Captain.”
“Ladies and gentlemen, let us move to the alternate command. Mr. Nog, join us when you have finished.”
“Aye, Captain.”
When the command crew was reassembled Sanjay gave the order to cast off.
“Mr. Nog, please clear us for departure.”
“Yes, Captain. McKinley Control, this is the Seleya. Requesting permission to exit spacedock, “ Nog said crisply.
An answering voice echoed throughout the Bridge. “Permission granted, Seleya. All umbilicals are clear. Exit on zero beam, full thrusters are authorized. Good luck, Seleya.”
Nog grinned, “Thank you, McKinley. Seleya is on departure.”
After leaving spacedock they made their way towards Jupiter, escorted by an honor guard composed of the Buran, the Saratoga and the Yamamato. The trip out was uneventful and, after a final round of farewells with the Buran’s officers, Sanjay gave the order to jump through the fracture.
Sanjay was in his quarters, struggling with the collar button on his dress uniform. It hadn’t been so difficult to fasten when they’d arrived here five months ago. Numerous cocktail parties and dinners hosted by Federation brass had taken their toll. He sighed to himself.
“I’m going to have to put in some serious gym time,” he thought. Tonight was the final reception, a going away party. Tomorrow the Seleya was scheduled to depart for home. Every system had been checked and re-checked and she looked as good as she had when they’d first left on this unusual voyage. Assuming they got home ok, they would be returning with terabytes of valuable data on races and cultures this Federation had met that their own had yet to encounter. It almost made all of the losses they had suffered worthwhile. Still, while they were eager to get home, tomorrow’s parting would leave many with mixed feelings at best. Friendships had been formed in the time they had spent here, some of the crew having even met “themselves” and developed bonds on surprisingly deep levels. Sanjay was almost glad his counterpart had not been alive in the here and now. He wasn’t sure how he felt about the idea of meeting “himself”. He looked in the mirror and tried unsuccessfully to suck in his gut. With a sigh, he headed for the door.
Kurn had stopped at Damian’s quarters on the way to the reception aboard McKinley Station. He was dressed in full Klingon regalia instead of his usual duty uniform. He was snickering quietly as he watched Damian fumbling with his many medals and citations.
“Oh, you think this is funny?” Damian asked him. “At least you get to wear something comfortable!”
“I am allowed to wear my race’s dress uniform under Starfleet cultural protocols. Why don’t you just leave those on your formal whites? It would be a lot easier.” Kurn seemed genuinely curious. It was one of the things that had contributed to their friendship. He was honest about what he thought. No whitewash to sooth feelings, no hiding behind false smiles, he just said what was on his mind. Damian was going to miss him.
“I tried that once. I have so many of these damn hershey bars that it made my jacket sag out of shape,” he said, pointing a thumb at his numerous citations.
“I have heard that phrase before,” Kurn commented, “I have always wondered what it meant.”
“Hershey bars? I don’t really know. Its very old slang for military decorations. Must date back four hundred years or more. C’mon, let’s get to the reception.”
They were almost out the door when Damian looked down at himself and said, “Oops, wait a second. I forgot one.” He went back to his dresser as Kurn rolled his eyes. After placing the ribbon with the missing medal around his neck he said, “Ok, let’s roll.”
Kurn looked at the latest addition to Damian’s fruit salad. “The Pike Medal of Valor? I would like to hear that tale!” He actually seemed a bit impressed and Kurn didn’t impress easily.
“Oh, it was just a case of not dying while others did. Nothing special.” Kurn lifted an eyebrow but remained silent. “C’mon, buddy, let’s go find some bloodwine.” They headed off to the transporter room together.
The reception was in the duplicate of the lounge where Sanjay had first seen Seleya. Like then, the ship hung suspended in front of the observation windows, bathed in the soft glow of spotlights. Unlike then, the lounge was crowded with dignitaries from all over this Federation. Nevertheless, there was a definite “party” feel to the occasion. Carol M’Benga, her chocolate skin off-setting her dress whites in a stunning fashion, was surrounded by a gaggle of Fleet Captains and a couple of the younger Admirals. Drink in hand, she was regaling them with a tale from the Dominion War. Judging by the looks many of them had on their faces, she could have been reciting planetary survey statistics and they still would have been enthralled. Jerix, also with a drink in his hand, was entertaining a group of Andorian women, attaches from their embassy in San Francisco. Mitchell and Kurn had commandeered a table in the center of the room, which they shared with Kurn’s par’mach, K’Ehlyra, and Kurn’s brother, Worf, the Klingon ambassador to the Federation. In the center of their table was an open cask of bloodwine and the speech was loud and rowdy. A few onlookers from the Vulcan delegation eyed them primly from a distance. Jesus Ramirez was at a table in the corner, speaking quietly with the beautiful Latino woman who had accompanied him to the affair. Nog was no where to be seen. Sanjay took all of this in from the doorway before he entered. He finally spotted Admiral Hanson at one of the bars and strode over to join him.
“Good evening, Admiral. Looks like a good party, wouldn’t you say?”
“Nick! Here, have a drink!” the Admiral had evidently had one or two already himself. He pressed a glass of scotch on Sanjay. “Yes, it looks like a real good party. Kind of sad, though. Your people have made a lot of friends in the short time they’ve been here. Hate to see you all go. ‘Course, parting doesn’t have to be forever,” he said wolfishly, a sly look on his face.
“What do you mean, Admiral?” Sanjay asked.
“Oops, almost let the cat out of the bag.” Hanson looked down at the drink in his hand suspiciously. “I think I’d better switch to synthehol. Nick, we’ll talk again after my little speech.” He walked away, leaving Sanjay to wonder what ‘cat’ he’d been talking about. Sanjay knew he’d have to wait to find out. You just didn’t go prying into the affairs of Starfleet Admirals, no matter what universe you where in. They had a habit of taking such behavior badly.
The door to the lounge opened, revealing Ensign Perling. He looked awkward and uncomfortable in his dress whites. Sanjay had only seen him a few times since Seleya had entered spacedock for her re-fit so he wandered over to him now.
“Ensign, were you coming or going?” he asked with an amused smile on his face.
Flushing, Louis stepped into the lounge. “Sorry, Captain. I just feel a little out of place here with all of these Admirals and diplomats.”
Sanjay nodded at him and said, “I know what you mean. My first formal reception, I just wanted to find a closet to hide in. You’ll get used to it with time. C’mon, Ensign, I’ll buy you a drink.” He guided the younger man towards the bar. When they got there he waved at the man behind the bar.
“Th-thank you, Captain,” Louis stammered, taking the proffered glass in hand.
“So, Ensign, is everything ready for our flight tomorrow?” Sanjay sipped his drink. A burst of raucous laughter came from Mitchell’s table.
“Oh, yes, Captain! I actually had the information we needed a few days after we arrived here. I just had to wait for the ship to be repaired so I could program in the proper course headings. I finished that earlier today.” He took a sip of his own drink, a blue concoction, and coughed discreetly.
“So what have you been doing with yourself since then? I know you been working with some of the physicists in Geneva but I haven’t really been following your work too closely.” As Louis opened his mouth to answer a ship’s bell rang out three times. The room began to quiet down as people found themselves seats. “Nevermind,” Sanjay said, “Let’s be seated. Its time for the Admiral’s speech.” They took a couple of chairs at their assigned table in the front by the podium. The other senior officers and Mitchell soon joined them. Nog was still nowhere to be found and Sanjay made a mental note to speak to him later. Three more bells rang out and the room became quiet. Just as Admiral Hanson took his place behind the podium, Nog slipped into his seat.
“Sorry, Captain,” he murmured. Sanjay tipped his head at him and then focused on the Admiral.
“Good evening, gentlebeings. About five months ago a strange ship passed through a fracture in space and appeared in our universe. For once, it wasn’t a prelude to an Empire raid. Instead, friends from a Federation much like our own arrived. Tomorrow they leave us to return home but their visit here has been beneficial to all involved from both universes. They have warned us of possible future dangers and improved some of our technology to better face those dangers. They have told us of races we have yet to encounter and of miraculous sights in the heavens we have yet to see.
We, in turn, have aided them with their repairs and given them supplies and equipment lost in their travels. We have shared information their Federation had yet to acquire about races and such that we found in our own explorations. Both parties have benefited, so much so that early on in their visit I set to task some of our brightest minds, for it seemed to me that these mutual benefits might continue. Tonight is a parting of ways with the crew of the good ship Seleya but it is not the end, we hope, of our mutual contact. With the help of one of their brightest minds, Ensign Louis Perling,” the young man blushed in embarrassment as a roomful of eyes turned his way, “Our scientists have developed a theory that may well allow us to establish permanent communication with our brothers from the other universe! Tonight we may say our ‘Good-byes!’ but on another day in the not too distant future we hope to say ‘Hello!’ once again!”
There was a brief pause at the end of the Admiral’s speech and then the room erupted in applause, much of it directed at Louis and the rest of Seleya’s officers. Sanjay narrowed his eyes and peered at Admiral Hanson. The Admiral beamed a broad smile back at him and gave him a ‘thumbs up’. The twinkle in his eye told Sanjay what he was thinking: “Gotcha!” Sanjay grinned back. The cat was indeed out of the bag.
The next morning, just prior to departure, Kurn requested permission to beam over to Seleya for a few moments. Sanjay agreed and a couple of minutes later Kurn strode on to the Bridge. Nodding at the other crewmembers present, he approached Damian at the Tactical station.
“Damian,” he growled, “We have shared good times together. I wish to give you a token of remembrance.” With this he drew his d’k tagh and presented it, hilt first, to Mitchell. Damian, knowing the importance of a d’k tagh in many Klingon rituals and aware of what was being offered him, bowed stiffly and formally as he accepted it. Kurn saluted, fist to chest, and then wheeled about and left the Bridge without another word. Damian watched him exit with a thoughtful look on his face. Sanjay cleared his throat.
“Commander M’Benga, has the crew been evacuated to the shielded parts of the ship?’
“Yes, sir.”
“Mr. Nog, transfer control to the Auxiliary Bridge!”
“Aye, Captain.”
“Ladies and gentlemen, let us move to the alternate command. Mr. Nog, join us when you have finished.”
“Aye, Captain.”
When the command crew was reassembled Sanjay gave the order to cast off.
“Mr. Nog, please clear us for departure.”
“Yes, Captain. McKinley Control, this is the Seleya. Requesting permission to exit spacedock, “ Nog said crisply.
An answering voice echoed throughout the Bridge. “Permission granted, Seleya. All umbilicals are clear. Exit on zero beam, full thrusters are authorized. Good luck, Seleya.”
Nog grinned, “Thank you, McKinley. Seleya is on departure.”
After leaving spacedock they made their way towards Jupiter, escorted by an honor guard composed of the Buran, the Saratoga and the Yamamato. The trip out was uneventful and, after a final round of farewells with the Buran’s officers, Sanjay gave the order to jump through the fracture.
I'm a bit behind in reading people's work at the moment.
But I'm still following this and enjoying it too. I'm glad that our heroes have found a seemingly save haven in the parrallel Federation. They deserved a breather.
Also I wouldn't worry to much about your security officer. It may not make perfect sense but it's your story and if that what you want to go for it, that's perfectly alright.
But I'm still following this and enjoying it too. I'm glad that our heroes have found a seemingly save haven in the parrallel Federation. They deserved a breather.
Also I wouldn't worry to much about your security officer. It may not make perfect sense but it's your story and if that what you want to go for it, that's perfectly alright.
PART 9-HOMECOMING
Lt. Karl Vinson had pulled the night shift in this week’s rotation. He currently had his feet propped up on his station, reading an actual paper copy of The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress. Jupiter Station Flight Control was usually quiet these days so he was the only one on duty. Since the Seleya Incident the bulk of traffic in the Sol system was being routed through Titan Flight Control. Ships tended to give the Jupiter region a pass altogether so Vinson was quite startled when the station’s proximity alarm went off. He dropped his feet back to the deck and began examining his scanners. Commander Burel, the station second-in-command, came over the speaker, cutting through the alarm’s racket.
“Flight Control, what the hell is going on up there?” Burel was notoriously short-tempered, even for a Tellarite.
Vinson took a moment more to verify his scanner readings. “Sir, you are not going to believe this! It’s the Seleya!”
One Week Later-Starfleet Command San Francisco, Briefing Room One
“…and then we exited the fracture the final time off of Jupiter Station and reported in.” Sanjay sat back down in his seat, weary after the long recitation. The three admirals who were debriefing him, Janeway, Paris, and Sonal, exchanged looks.
“Thank you, Captain,” Janeway said. “It sounds like you had quite the adventure. Not the mission of exploration we had intended for you and your crew but that’s what makes a career in Starfleet so interesting. You never know what you will find out there.” She smiled at him as she said this.
Admiral Sonal spoke, his voice emotionless like any Vulcan but somehow conveying the depth of his interest. “Captain, as I understand your report, this Empire that has been raiding the other Federation you encountered was the root cause of the fracture, as its being called?”
“Oh, yes sir,” Sanjay replied. “Ensign Perling worked closely with some of the brightest astrophysicists in the other Federation for weeks and they verified that the Empire opened it. Although they couldn’t prove it, our counterparts believe that the Empire didn’t fully comprehend what they had done. Probes were sent in to track Empire movement within the fracture and the only ship telemetries detected showed the Empire had attacked the other Federation. There was no evidence they had penetrated any other universes.”
“Thank God for that,” Paris declared, “At least they won’t be showing up on our doorstep anytime soon!”
Sonal shook his head thoughtfully. “It would be illogical to assume they will not come to our universe. We have no way of knowing what progress they are making in their understanding of the phenomenon.” Paris looked chagrined at this.
Janeway nodded her agreement. “We will have to bring this to the Federation Council. The possibilities are quite literally endless and could have deep political ramifications. According to Reg Barclay’s report, we can seal the fracture in our universe but it wouldn’t actually close the fracture. It would be akin to placing a patch over it. Anyone could force their way through the other side. The only way to shut it down would be at the source. The problems there would be twofold. If this Terran Empire is as powerful as our counterparts would lead us to believe we might need their help. Everyone here knows Starfleet still hasn’t recovered completely from the Dominion War. We might not be strong enough to do it ourselves. We would have to open some kind of negotiations with the other Federation. The flip side of this coin is even more problematic. If we sent an expedition in to seal the fracture how do they get back?”
All three of the admirals wore concerned looks now. “Well, Captain Sanjay, thank you. You’ve given us a lot to think about.” Admiral Paris gave him a wan smile. “Oh, and that commendation for Ensign Perling has been approved, you’ll be happy to know. From what you told us that boy earned it and then some. Your crew is pretty much finished with their de-briefings at this point so we are authorizing two weeks shore leave for all of them. Tell them all to go get re-acquainted with their friends and family. Dismissed.”
Sanjay said, “Thank you, sirs,” and left the admirals to their deliberations.
Well, voyage one is done-hoped y'all liked it. I'll be starting the next adventure after New Years. I wonder what its going to be about? There is no plan, no clue to be found. Happy New Years!
Lt. Karl Vinson had pulled the night shift in this week’s rotation. He currently had his feet propped up on his station, reading an actual paper copy of The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress. Jupiter Station Flight Control was usually quiet these days so he was the only one on duty. Since the Seleya Incident the bulk of traffic in the Sol system was being routed through Titan Flight Control. Ships tended to give the Jupiter region a pass altogether so Vinson was quite startled when the station’s proximity alarm went off. He dropped his feet back to the deck and began examining his scanners. Commander Burel, the station second-in-command, came over the speaker, cutting through the alarm’s racket.
“Flight Control, what the hell is going on up there?” Burel was notoriously short-tempered, even for a Tellarite.
Vinson took a moment more to verify his scanner readings. “Sir, you are not going to believe this! It’s the Seleya!”
One Week Later-Starfleet Command San Francisco, Briefing Room One
“…and then we exited the fracture the final time off of Jupiter Station and reported in.” Sanjay sat back down in his seat, weary after the long recitation. The three admirals who were debriefing him, Janeway, Paris, and Sonal, exchanged looks.
“Thank you, Captain,” Janeway said. “It sounds like you had quite the adventure. Not the mission of exploration we had intended for you and your crew but that’s what makes a career in Starfleet so interesting. You never know what you will find out there.” She smiled at him as she said this.
Admiral Sonal spoke, his voice emotionless like any Vulcan but somehow conveying the depth of his interest. “Captain, as I understand your report, this Empire that has been raiding the other Federation you encountered was the root cause of the fracture, as its being called?”
“Oh, yes sir,” Sanjay replied. “Ensign Perling worked closely with some of the brightest astrophysicists in the other Federation for weeks and they verified that the Empire opened it. Although they couldn’t prove it, our counterparts believe that the Empire didn’t fully comprehend what they had done. Probes were sent in to track Empire movement within the fracture and the only ship telemetries detected showed the Empire had attacked the other Federation. There was no evidence they had penetrated any other universes.”
“Thank God for that,” Paris declared, “At least they won’t be showing up on our doorstep anytime soon!”
Sonal shook his head thoughtfully. “It would be illogical to assume they will not come to our universe. We have no way of knowing what progress they are making in their understanding of the phenomenon.” Paris looked chagrined at this.
Janeway nodded her agreement. “We will have to bring this to the Federation Council. The possibilities are quite literally endless and could have deep political ramifications. According to Reg Barclay’s report, we can seal the fracture in our universe but it wouldn’t actually close the fracture. It would be akin to placing a patch over it. Anyone could force their way through the other side. The only way to shut it down would be at the source. The problems there would be twofold. If this Terran Empire is as powerful as our counterparts would lead us to believe we might need their help. Everyone here knows Starfleet still hasn’t recovered completely from the Dominion War. We might not be strong enough to do it ourselves. We would have to open some kind of negotiations with the other Federation. The flip side of this coin is even more problematic. If we sent an expedition in to seal the fracture how do they get back?”
All three of the admirals wore concerned looks now. “Well, Captain Sanjay, thank you. You’ve given us a lot to think about.” Admiral Paris gave him a wan smile. “Oh, and that commendation for Ensign Perling has been approved, you’ll be happy to know. From what you told us that boy earned it and then some. Your crew is pretty much finished with their de-briefings at this point so we are authorizing two weeks shore leave for all of them. Tell them all to go get re-acquainted with their friends and family. Dismissed.”
Sanjay said, “Thank you, sirs,” and left the admirals to their deliberations.
Well, voyage one is done-hoped y'all liked it. I'll be starting the next adventure after New Years. I wonder what its going to be about? There is no plan, no clue to be found. Happy New Years!
Sorry Mistral, I've been busier writing than reading lately.
I enjoyed your first episode. I particularly liked the relationship developed between Damian and Kurn. You did a nice job of explaining how a sergeant ended up in a senior officer's billet. While an unusual explanation, it worked for me. I found myself liking the character more. Good to see Worf's brother in a story, too.
I guess I was expecting a few more forays into other universes, but that doesn't take away from my enjoyment of the overall story. You write well and your character development is quite good. You threw in some subtle things (like Nog showing up late for the banquet) that added to the character development. I look forward to the next Seleya installment!
Well done! :thumbsup:
I enjoyed your first episode. I particularly liked the relationship developed between Damian and Kurn. You did a nice job of explaining how a sergeant ended up in a senior officer's billet. While an unusual explanation, it worked for me. I found myself liking the character more. Good to see Worf's brother in a story, too.
I guess I was expecting a few more forays into other universes, but that doesn't take away from my enjoyment of the overall story. You write well and your character development is quite good. You threw in some subtle things (like Nog showing up late for the banquet) that added to the character development. I look forward to the next Seleya installment!
Well done! :thumbsup:
Same here. You did a good job. You have a good handle for your characters and your explanation for Damian's position worked.
You've made a promising start here and I hope to see more of your work in the coming days and weeks.
You've made a promising start here and I hope to see more of your work in the coming days and weeks.
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