home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
Danny Amor's Online Library
/
Danny Amor's Online Library - Volume 1.iso
/
html
/
startrek
/
old-incomplete
/
longandwindingroad.p1
< prev
next >
Wrap
Internet Message Format
|
1995-08-20
|
5KB
Path: msuinfo!agate!howland.reston.ans.net!pipex!uunet!world!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!noc.near.net!news.delphi.com!usenet
From: Eric Phillips <ERIC8440@delphi.com>
Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative
Subject: TNG: Long and Winding Road Pt. 1
Date: Wed, 15 DEC 93 00:51:17 EST
Organization: Delphi Internet
Lines: 113
Message-ID: <931215.03077.ERIC8440@delphi.com>
NNTP-Posting-Host: delphi.com
"The Long and Winding Road," by N. Eric Phillips.
An original story based on Paramount's Star Trek: the Next
Generation.
Part 1: The End of the Road
The alert klaxons sounded throughout the Enterprise's
corridors. The crew, though weary from their last encounter,
began to move throughout the ship to man their stations as
they had countless times before. An outside observer might
note that the action resembled the workings of the honeybees
within their hive: drones rushing from place to place in
order to accomplish the tasks necessary for the goal.
Thomas Engle felt more like a drone than a human in the
past few weeks. For reasons he did not know, they (he hasn't
dared to utter their name even within his own mind since his
wife died by their hands) were more relentless now. More
unstoppable, if such a thing were possible.
The constant fear and anxiety was eating away at him.
The sorrow he felt for Jayne now a constant part of his
being. All together, it had numbed him. The rising death
toll since Jayne was killed seemed less important to him.
Death no longer scared him; living itself seemed worse.
But his duty was still with him, it had transformed him
into the drone, and this drone knew what had to be done, its
purpose spelled out. Its life as an individual was over, yet
purpose would keep him alive. A cog in the machinery of the
Enterprise.
Engle paused as he rounded the corner on the approach
to the turbolift, stopped in his tracks by the thoughts
careening though his neural pathways. I, he thought, have
become almost like...like them.
He regained his grip on the tasks at hand and entered
the turbolift. "Bridge," he said, and with his command the
turbolift began its descent into the depths of the secondary
hull.
*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*
The doors before Engle opened to reveal the battle
bridge. It was the only bridge that he and most of his
crewmates had ever known, having been born years after the
battle that destroyed the primary hull. His eyes scanned the
surroundings, the familiar faces were there, all charged by
the same purpose as him.
He walked down the steps and walked to his familiar
spot, the chair beside his commanding officer. He took a
moment to read the face of the Captain. Though projecting
the aura of calm as usual, his eyes betrayed the worry
beneath. Long before, a wise man once said that the eyes
were the window to the soul. Captain Data's were no
exception.
"Situation, Captain?" said Engle in his soft but
authoritative voice.
Data turned to look at his first officer, and with a
pause Data said, "they have once again found us, Commander,
and we can't outrun them this time, at least not yet.
Commander Supal reports that warp drive is still unavailable
and won't be on-line for at least another two to three
hours." Data paused to look at the display at his right
hand. "I don't understand how in hell they managed to find
us again."
Engle shook his head twice and replied, "its seems
constant now, this is the third time in three weeks they
have managed to locate us. Were they able to get a sensor
fix on us before we activated the cloaking device?"
Lieutenant Calder, the young, muscular tactical officer
responded, "no, sir. We activated it before they entered
sensor range." Calder was barely 18, a thin beard adorning
his face. It was his attempt to look older, a frivolous
exercise that he hoped would garner him more respect. Not
that he needed it, having distinguished himself on numerous
occasions in past battles. He was another example of the
desperate situation, where people must sacrifice even their
youth in the quest for survival.
Thank god for Dr. Bok, thought Engle, remembering the
new sensor enhancement installed within their systems that
nearly doubled the range of their scans. It was based on
ancient technologies discovered in the ruins of Murittar II;
more advanced technologies, according to Dr. Bok, were to
come. Anything discovered could be the difference between
life and death. "If we lay low they may not detect us.
What's their ETA to this quadrant, Rohzenko?"
"They are approaching at warp 9.6. ETA in five
minutes," came the response from the Ensign.
"Are we within visual range?" asked Captain Data. The
ensign responded in the affirmative. "On screen, maximum
magnification."
The screen, previously displaying phaser and photon
torpedo effectiveness ratings, was instantly replaced by a
small dot on a black background. Over a series of seconds
the dot grew larger until its shape became unmistakable: it
was the cube shape of the Borg.
To be continued...
(Send comments to ERIC8440@delphi.com)
.