Danny Amor's Online Library/Danny Amor's Online Library - Volume 1.iso/html/startrek/old-incomplete/differentstartrek.ch1-p1-4

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Subject: A different kind of Trek story....
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Date: Fri, 5 Nov 1993 00:47:13 GMT

    I am currently involved in writing a different type of Star Trek story.
It involves Next Generation characters, original series artifacts and
situations, and the kidnapped members of a Star Trek fan club. Here's a sample.
                CHAPTER 1


    I awoke with a start, sitting bolt upright in a chair. An unfamiliar
chair. It was almost pithc black, that much I could make out, through my
swimming head. My eyes refused to focus, as I strained to make out where I was.
Not the frat house, that was for sure. No smell of sweatsocks and beer.There
was however the smell of burned electrical wiring. The air itself seemed acrid
and stale, unused. A room. High ceilings, round. Bi-level.

    "Where the hell's the lights?" I muttered, groping beside me for a
lamp. At my words, there was a low, breathy humming and the darkness
brightened. My heart leapt in my throat, for I recognized my surroundings. But
it was impossible.

    "The Enterprise....." I whispered.

    Standing, I looked around at the carnage on the bridge. Most of the
stations were destroyed. The navigation console was standing, but looked like
someone had been using it as a gas range. The command chair I awakened in was
listing sadly to the left. I had to admit to myself, things didn't look
anywhere near as bad as I had assumed they would, after a full-blown self
destruct sequence. The emergency lights were low, casting shadows that played
tricks with my still hazy vision. I was alone, I could see, as I circled the
destroyed area. I walked over to one of the stations, and squinted as I looked
at the broken and burnt terminal. Hesitantly, I sat at the station and poked at
the controls without much hope. Almost immediately, a light blinked, there was
a weak beep and what was left of damage control began to fitfully operate.

    "Working." the computer grated, without any of its characteristic
female inflection.

    "Ship's operating status?" I asked hopefully.

    "Working." the voice continued.

    "What's working?"

    "Working on the question." it growled.

    I waited several minutes for the diagnostic, and wasn't far off in my
own initial assesment of the situation.

    "Warp drive;nonfunctional. Impulse drive;nonfunctional.Weapons systems;
nonfunctional. Shields; functional at 5% normal. Life support; functional at
23% normal. Hull breaches detected on deck 7, 9 12 and 19. Artifical
gravity;normal."

    I chewed thoughtfully at my lower lip.

    "Essentially we're dead in the water." I mumbled to myself.

    "Stating the painfully obvious, as your race is so apt to do." another
said. I recognized the voice, and in this situation, it made my blood run cold.
I turned to face my tormentor.

    "Q." I said quietly, trying not to let the fear make my voice stutter.

    "Ah! So we're in your pathetic dreamings. How nice."

    "This isn't real. I'm drunk. I'm dreaming. I'll wake up soon and I'll
be home. Hung over, but home."

    "No, no. This is real. You are here. Courtesy of the power of Q."

    I was quiet for a moment, trying to formulaet an intelligent thought.
Any intelligent thought. Thankfully, Q provided one for me.

    "Why, you may ask?"

    I nodded mutely.

    "A test. An exam, if you will."

    "But the other Q said...."

    "We said that I may not interfere with the developement of any humans
native to this universe. You, are not."

    "I'm from Earth!"

    "Of course, but not this dimension's Earth. You are familiar with the
concept of alternate realities? Of course you are, you "Trekkie" you. I am
native to this continuum. You are not. You did not originate here. In fact, it
is debatable whether or not you even existed before I called you here. So, the
restrictions handed down to me do not apply to you, or the others."

    "I think, therefore...." I began.

    "Nonsense!" Q roared, spinning away from me, "Your whole species
concept of self is based on that phrase and it's nothing but the rhetoric of a
drunken playwrite. In reality, it probably wasn't even written by himeither,
like so many other of his so-called works." He stopped at the open turbo lift
shaft and turned to me again.

    "So, you're telling me I'm not a real person. That I have no existence
outside of your mind?"

    The alien smiled slightly.

    "Well now, there's an insightful observation. But I'm not going to
confirm or deny it."

    "Because your answer could affect the outcome of the test."

    "Bright! Very bright." Q laughed gleefully, sitting in the command
chair. The ancient seat promptly snapped off at the base and sent the godlike
being sprawling on the floor. I was careful not to laugh. He glared at me as he
appeared at my side. It didn't suprise me that he didn't expend the physical
effort to stand.

    "So, I'm living in a TV show." I ventured.

    "In a manner, yes. With a few minor differences. In your "serieses,"
Kirk and Picard cannot die. They have to live for the next episode." at this
point, he leaned towards me and leared, "You are not on TV. If you die, you
die. If, of course, you were ever even alive."

    My head was swimming by this time, worse than when I had first
awakened.

    "I...ah....uh...."

    "Come, come, mon ami. Spit it out. Or shall I read your meager mind?"

    I let my irritation barely flourish before squelching it. He could
indeed read my mind. Living through this was going to take a cool head.

    "Do I have companions, for my test? Surely you can't expect me to run
this wreck by myself."

    Of course! Minimum complement to run this vessel is ten crew members in
an ideal situation. I'll give you an even dozen, just because I'm a magnanimous
soul. Your first choices are final, so choose well." Q grinned, folding his
arms and leaning against the deck railing. It shuddered and fell to the floor
with him. He was not amused.

    "Uh, can I have some time to make my choices?" I asked, playing for
time.

    "One day. Twenty-four hours.Fourteen hundred and forty minutes. Then,
the test commences." and then, Q vanished, and I was alone again, on the bridge
of a dead ship..........









    Please feel free to Email any comments or suggestions you might have. I
would love to submit this to Pocketback books, if I can get it up to snuff. If
I get enough good responses, I'll keep posting more of it. Thanks in advance!!




                    -Lou-
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Subject: Different Stark Trek Pt.2
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Date: Sun, 7 Nov 1993 23:43:35 GMT

    Hello people! Thanks for all of your helpful suggestions and hints. I
will make the corrections to the first part of my story, and hopefully
everything will be fixed there. Okay, here's part two, Chapter 1.




    At the same second that Q vanished from the bridge of one Enterprise,
far across the system, the Enterprise NCC 1701-D sped through space. At her
helm, sat Captain Jean-Luc Picard. This man being the one human in the universe
who detested Q almost as much as Q detested humanity. To say the least, the
former would not have been hurt if he never encountered the later again.
But....

    "Ah, mon Capitan! How good to see you again."

    "Intruder on the bridge!" Worf roared, rushing to vault the railing
from the upper deck.

    Picard closed his eyes and inwardly sighed.

    "At ease, Lieutenant. What do you want, Q?"

    Q smiled at the glowing Klingon security officer.

    "Now, now Mr. Worf, is that any way to treat an old an honored friend?"

    The warroir growled, but spoke not a word. Picard stood and moved
between the two alpha personalities. Now he glared at the alien troublemaker.

    "What are you doing here?"

    "I request the pleasure of your stimulating company for a while." the
man grinned and moved to sit in the captains chair. He looked at Riker amiably
and nodded. "I would ask you along also, Will, but, oh well. Somebody's got to
stay and mind the store, eh?"

    The captain clasped his hands behind his back and began to lecture the
omnipotent alien, like a naughty child.

    "You know very well we no longer have to stand for your interference in
our lives. Your own people censured you for your meddlesome games. Would you
have them do it again?"

    Q continued smiling as he stood and met the captains hard gaze.

    "Ah, but you must see how I've circumvented the problem. I'm so bright
sometimes I even amaze myself!" So saying, the two men vanished. Riker, silent
through this exchange, now sighed and lowered his head.

    "Data, I don't suppose there's any chance we can get a fix on where
they've gone?"

    "Q's power gives off no known trace that our sensors can detect,
Commander."

    "That's what I thought you were going to say."





    "Damnit Q! Take me back to my ship. I don't have time for another of
your inane games." Picard snarled, whirling on the tall figure beside him. The
human tried not to feel queasy, as he looked out upon space flying by at
incredible speed, augmented by the illusion that there was absolutely nothing
between them and the phenomenon of warp space. Q raised and eyebrow, the half
smirk on his face making the situation all the more annoying to the human.

    "Temper, temper mon Capitan. I have a rich situation to show you. One
that I think will amuse even your limited sense of humor."

    The human looked sourly at his captor. "I doubt it."

    Q nodded sagely. "I also doubt your sense of humor more and more each
time our paths cross."

    "Which is entirely too often for my taste." Picard's teeth grated
involuntarily.

    "Here is the situation. You are aware of the existence of alternate
timelines, and dimensions?"

    "Yes." the captains mind leapt to Tasha Yar, and her Romulan daughter.

    "Very well. I have plucked a group of people from the past, in one of
these 'alternate timelines. To them, our universe, our timeline is nothing more
than an adventure series they watch every week on a .....`TV'."

    "UmHum."

    "So, I've given them a ship, and a mission. It's up to them to succeed
or fail."

    "Q, you've taken these people from their homes, and put them into an
alien situation they have no hope of coping with. Of course they're going to
fail. I cannot see thevalidity of such a test. This is just more of your inane
meddling in human affairs."

    "Ah, but the beauty of the situation is, these `people' are debatably
not human. They are humanoid, but they did not originate in this universe.
Therefore, are they actually human?" Q asked, leaning up against nothingness.

    "Of course!" Picard spluttered,"Alternate dimension, timeline, the
distinction is inconsequential! Their genetic makeup is the same as mine. They
are as human as me!"

    Q nodded thoughtfully.

    "Ican see your point. But it is a matter for debate. And by the time my
people debate it, the test will be over. Whatever censure they might decide to
deal out, if, and only if they find me at fault, I will be more than willing to
deal with."

    "You are willing to lose your power again?"

    "Oh, come on captain! That was a drastic situation.A once in a lifetime
punishment, if you will.

    "Whose lifetime?"

    It was Q's turn to look sour. But the mood and facial expression passed
quickly.

    "In any event, back to the situation at hand. Their position is not
impossible. They will simply have to reply on their accumulated knowledge
gleaned from entertainment series." the alien laughed.

    The human shook his head.

    "You split hairs over whether or not these people are human, you lord
over beings you do not understand, cannot understand. And you laugh at them. Is
that truly a wiser, more knowledgeable race?"

    Q's smile faded.

    "Careful, captain. My patience extends only so far."

    Picard snorted in disgust and turned away.

    "Ah, and here we are at our destination. I think you should be familiar
with the ship I've supplied them with."

    The human turned and stopped, dumbfounded at the sight before him. The
Enterprise NCC 1701 sat magestically in orbit around a dark moon. Her once
white hull pitted and scarred by the self destruct command issued over a
century ago. Huge chunks of the primary hull were missing, and one engine
nacelle was bent down at a forty five degree angle. Picard could see several
manuvering lights still blinking , half heartedly, as the hulk revolved slowly
in its orbit.

    "Impossible. A trick......."

    "Nothing is impossible to me, Picard. That ship is exactly what it
appears to be. Your forerunner by five generations."

    "The original Enterprise was destroyed by self destruct command. The
ship plunged into the atmosphere of a world that no longer exists, called
Genesis. It impacted on the surface and was destroyed. I've seen the Klingon
tapes of the incident."

    "What if I told you, you are partially correct? Yes, James Kirk did
order the destruction of his own ship. Yes, the device did detonate, sending
the Enterprise hurling into the atmosphere of the Genesis world. But it never
impacted on the surface. As it entered the atmosphere, the fluctuating gravity
wells, coupled with the planet's rotation, served as a giant slingshot. The
ship entered, traveled across the event horizon, and was thrown back out into
the coldness of space. The anitmatter fire was arrested, due to elements in the
palnet's upper atmosphere. Probably having something to do with the
proto-matter David Marcus used to create the world. The Enterprise survived her
destruction. Much worse for the wear, but in large part, intact." Q smiled
again, and folded his arms, insufferably pleased with himself.

    Picard leaned back against the nothingness of space, digesting the
ridiculous story the being had told. Not that it was impossible, just
incredibly doubtful Q would have gone to all of the trouble of finding the ship
and bringing it to this place. It would have been much easier for the alien to
simply create a facimile. Which, he decided, was probably what this ship was. Q
shook his head.

    "On your own sainted mothers grave, Picard. This is the original
Enterprise."

    "Leave my mother out of this!"










    And so, write and tell me what you think. I believe I could use a
little more detail on the survival of the Enterprise, but hey, and Enterprise
surviving is better than none at all, eh?


                    -Lou Hall-

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From: [e-mail]
Subject: Different Star Trek Pt.3
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Date: Tue, 9 Nov 1993 00:32:39 GMT

    PART THREE!!!!!




    On board the mostly non-functioning hulk, of the starship that
shouldn't, exist, I sat at the navigation console and stared out at the stars.
I needed crew. People as much into the mythos of Trek as myself. My only hope,
as <i saw it, was the club. We were called the Starbase 191 Fleet Irregulars.
Fifteen men and women living a fantasy game 90% of their lives. Well, this was
going to be the end of the fantasy. Welcome to reality. A reality in which we
might not have any right to exist. I hoped we did have it. I hope we could
exist.

    "I've made my decision." I said, with a calmness that I didn't feel.

    "Lovely! Lovely. And they are?" Q smirked, appearing beside me at the
console.

    Looking at him in mild irritation, I replied.

    "You know who they are. You knew who I was going to choose before I
ever made the decision."

    The alien nodded agreeably.

    "True. But wasn't it good of me to allow you the illusion of self
determination in the matter?"

    "Oh, for sure. You're all heart."

    "Thank you. Well, say hello to your new crew."

    A haze built before the navigation console, between the main
viewscreen. My friends slowly faded into view, sitting around the club meeting
table. All were dressed in their favorite character costumes. ...sort of.
    Mike Kelly leapt up and clapped his hands to the sides of his head.
Those silly vulcan ears he wore to every meeting and convention event, were now
a part of him. The others stood, looking around, bewildered. Lauren Maurrow saw
me first and moved towards the nav console.

    "James, what the hell's going on? We're having a meeting about building
a float for the Philicann and the next thing I know I'm here?" she paused to
take a breath, and for the first time, actually looked at her surroundings.
"Where is here? It almost looks like....."

    "It is. The bridge of the Enterprise." I sighed.

    "Uhhh, what?" Mike asked, still pulling at his now flesh and blood,
pointed ears.

    "Nice touch, don't you think?" Q Murmured, leaning towards me.

    "You're on board the Enterprise, NCC 1701."

    "No bloody A,B,C, or D!" Dave McCallister whooped, his best scottish
brogue in full effect.

    "I leave you to your new crew's tender mercies." Qgrinned like a troll
and started to fade into insubstantiality.

    "Wait! You still haven't told us what the test is!"

    "Oh, don't worry. Part of the test is figuring that out." and with
that, the alien was gone. My friends stared at the spot where he had been
sitting for several seconds, before simultaneously breaking out into
uncontrolled babbling.

    "Okay, okay. Hold it down. Questions? One at a time please."

    "I know. I'm home in bed. I've had a bad flareup of Lyme disease and
I'm hallucinating." Med student Sonya Brava moaned.

    "Not. This is unfortunately, real."

    "Unfortunately?!" Rich Roselle shouted, his usual bubbly enthusiasm
spilling over, lightening the glowering countenances of the rest of the club.
"Unfortunately my butt! Look at us! We're on the bridge of the Enterprise! The
real Enterprise! Not a studio set, not a museum diorama! We're here!"

    The club members looked at me. I hated  being the leader.

    "Q brought me here, dumped me and told me to pick a crew. We're guinea
pigs for something and I'm not going to be overly happy til I know what that
is. Probably not then, either." I grumbled.

    Sonya wandered up and put her long, tan arms about my neck. I never had
been able to understand why a woman as beautiful as she chose to hang with a
group of infantile fantasizers like the 191 club. I looked into her green eyes
and shuddered. Dealing with women was another suit that certainly wasn't my
strongest. Nope, no shade of Captain Kirk there.

    "Um, yes?"

    "Any,....... orders, Captain Caine?"

    "WHOA now...." I broke away, starting to protest.

    "Nope." Mike Kelly growled, sitting back at the table. "No arguments.
You got us into it, you're getting us out."

    "Uh, Jim?" Martin Boccacella asked, in his usual calm quiet tones.

    "Yeah Marty?"

    "Are we in any danger, just sitting here like this? I mean, this ship
is definitely post-Genesis. Shouldn't we try affecting some repairs?"

    I shrugged.

    "Marty, you tell me how to make repairs on twenty-third century
technology, and I'll be glad to pitch in and do something. But I'm not sure if
we'd be doing more help, or harm to try fixing anything, without any knowledge
of what we're doing."

    "What about the main computer?" Kelly piped up, still tugging at the
tip of one pointed ear.

    "Computer..." David McCallister intoned, the brogue rolling thick and
hearty from his tongue.

    "Working." the harsh, flat voice responded.

    "What is your operational status?"

    "This unit is functioning at forty percent capacity. Total system
failure expected in thirty-six hours."


    "Oh shit."

    "Computer, pinpoint source of immanent systems failture." Mike Kelly
ordered.

    "Working."

    "What the hell good will that do? We still don't know how to repair
it." I sighed.

    "Computer damage located."

    "Report." Kelly said.

    "Hull breach on K deck, level 11."

    "Uh,....lessee. That'd be......" Dave mumbled.

    "Docking area. Base of the saucer section. Also contains an airlock for
EV activities." I said absently.

    "Computer, can you specify the exact nature of the problem?" Mike
asked, getting comfortable at the science station.

    "A major portion of the core system on Level K was vaporized."

    "And this tub has been functioning for the last century or so since the
destruct code was given?" Art Devey asked, moving into the conversation.

    "Good question. Computer, what has this ship's status been for the last
century?" I asked.

    "..........."

    We looked at each other as the burst static came from the speakers.

    "Q." I sighed.

    "Computer, do you have the capacity to fabricate the parts needed to
repair the malfunctioning core?" Dave asked.

    There was another short silence as the computer mulled over the
question.

        "Affirmative."

    "Great. Then I'll take a few people and get started. Maybe you can coax
a list of what else needs doing from it." Dave grunted, gesturing at the half
destroyed computer console.

    "Dave, you get the parts, great. What are you going to do with them?" I
asked.

    "Computer, can you guide us through a step by step repair procedure?"
the quasi engineer asked, his fake broke never cracking.

    "Affirmative."

    "Thank you very much!" he yelled, throwing up his hands in triumph.





    And, so end part three. Write, write write! Tell me what you like and
what you don't. (Not too much don't, though. I'm a sensitive soul and injure
easily.)



                    -Lou Hall-

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From: [e-mail]
Subject: Different Star Trek Pt.4
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Date: Thu, 11 Nov 1993 20:31:19 GMT

            HERE IT IS!!! PART 4!!!


    (Oh, by the by, in the course of this epic, if any of you happen to
think of a suitable title for this thing, please let me know. The person who
submits the name I decide to use will get an autographed hardcopy of the book,
beautifully bound in a genuine plastic covered, three ring binder! OOOOOOOOOOO!)





    "To what end, Q? These people have no more chance of getting this wreck
moving than I have. Considerably less, in fact." Picard snarled at the entity.

    "Really captain, you should be more careful of your blood pressure. We
don't want anymore heart stoppages, hmmmm?" the alien replied with obvious
amusement.

    "You'd enjoy that, wouldn't you?" the human said in disgust.

    "Enjoy isn't quite the word."

    There was a silence of several seconds, as the captain puzzled over
what to do next. He had yet to even ascertain what Q's plans were for the
timelost ship and her misfit crew. Knowing the alien's propensity for causing
hell, whatever the plan, Picard was sure it wouldn't be nice.

    "What have you brought them here for, Q? What amusement can these
`primitives' afford you?"

    "Strange you should ask that Picard. I just happen to have an answer."
space around them grew hazy and faded out. Picard experienced a sensation not
unlike the nausea created by an old style transporter ride. He was sure it was
curtesy of Q. The two beings appeared on board a vessel. One the captain
recognized all too well.

    "Q! Are you mad? Get us out of here!" he whispered, ducking behind a
piling which offered quick and convenient cover.

    "Relax, Picard. As long as you stay near me, the Borg will take no
notice of you." Q grinned and cut a caper in front of a marching Borg warrior,
barely avoiding a collision.

    The human slowly moved from his place of cover and stood next to the
wildly jigging alien.

    "Nyah Nyah, Nyah Nyah! Can't even see me!"

    The captain shook his head and wearily watched the Borg soldiers.

    "Q, a bit of decorum, if you please."

    "Killjoy."

    "Why are we here?"

    "Well, this is part of my little test. You defeated the Borg so handily
in your last confrontation, that it made me think; Do your technological
advances give you an unfair advantage over these emotionally and psycologically
stunted waifs?"

    Picard's jaw worked in disbelief as he listened.

    "These beings have slaughtered and destoryed countless civilizations
and you try to cast an aura of pity upon them? Q, you are more truly ludicrist
than I had ever imagined."

    "No, really!" the alien argued, "That is one of their handi-caps. The
Borg are not original thinkers. They don't invent anything on their own.
Whatever technologies they have, they have acquired over the centuries from the
races they have assimilated. Wouldn't you consider the lack of a creative drive
a handicap in your own people?"

    "In my own, yes. But they, made quite a convincing go of their
existence, handicap or not!"

        "It's the technology thing. It's an intimate part of them."

    "Again, what does any of this have to do with the old Enterprise?"

    "They are emotionally inferior to your twenty-fourth century psyches,
and they have an inferior grasp of the twenty-third century technology. I
intend to discover if this is one of the advantages or disadvantages of being
human. Sort of like, a think-on-your-feet problem."

    Picard's eyes narrowed.

    "How?"

    "By pitting them against the Borg."

    "You cannot be serious!" the captain exploded, "My ship was nearly
destroyed in each encounter with the Borg. That reprobate you've saddled them
with,and their own inexperience will get them killed. There can be no other
outcome."

    Q shook his head.

    "Come come Picard, give me some credit. Whatever else I may be, I'm not
a butcher. They have a fair chance. Opportunity will be provided, but they must
make their own way."

    "How? How are they supposed to do that? No knowledge of the equipment,
no tactical battle skills, and no knowledge of the Borg. This isn't a test.
It's simply another game for you. An excuse to meddle. Nothing more."

    Q shrugged. "Take it as you will, captain. I want you here merely to
observe these people before the test begins. You may offer some interesting
insights into both human and Borg nature."

    Coldly the human stared at the Borg, which marched around him. He was
hard pressed to stifle a shudder.

    "I offer you nothing."





    End of chapter 1! Stay turned for the start of chapter 2!

        Write , write, write!



                -Lou Hall-

    "Screw the Force! I'm getting the hell out of here!" - L. Skywalker