Danny Amor's Online Library/Danny Amor's Online Library - Volume 1.iso/html/startrek/old-incomplete/tomorrowisyesterday.p2

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From: [e-mail] (Bonnie Holmyard)
Subject: Crossover Part Deux
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Date: Mon, 2 May 1994 06:10:59 GMT
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CONTINUING IS...

            Tomorrow is Yesterday

    "Captain!"
    Something in Uhura's voice made Kirk twirl his chair to
face her.
    "Normal Starfleet channel has nothing on it but static,"
she continued, her puzzlement now undeniable. "I'm getting
something on another frequency but it's not Starfleet."
    "Put it on audio."
    As reported there was no static on the channel in question,
nor was there anything that made any sense.
    "THIS IS THE 5:30 NEWS SUMMARY," a male voice was
reporting. "Cape Kennedy: the first manned moon shot is scheduled
for Wednesday, six PM eastern standard time. All three astronauts
who are to make this historic..."
    "Manned moon shot!" Kirk exclaimed as he sprang from his
chair, simultaneously signalling a halt to the transmission.
"That was in the late 1960s!"
    Spock voiced the logical conclusion. "Apparently, Captainm
so are we."
    "WHAT?!"
    "Whiplast propelled us into a time warp, Captain, backwards.
Exact chronometer readings in a few moments." Spock said before
turning back to his station to ensure his statement would be
collaborated.
    "Captain," Uhura again. "I'm getting ground-to-air
transmissions."
    "Verified," Spock confirmed. "Scanners report some type of
craft approaching from below us... under cloud cover and closing."

    The one man jet sliced through the ambient cloud cover...
    "Blue Jay Four, this is Black Jack. We're tracking both
     you and the UFO."
    "I have him on my screen," the pilot replied. "Following."
    Those on the bridge of the starship Enterprise heard
every word.
    "Mister Sulu," Kirk once again called upon his helmsman,
"can you gain altitude faster? I want to out distance him."
    "Picking up, sir. She's just slow in responding."
    The transmitted chatter went on...

    "Black Jack, this is Blue Jay Four. UFO is picking up
     speed and climbing. I'm going in closer."
    Nothing for one l...o...n...g agonizing moment, then,
    "I can see it now!" The incredibility in the pilot's
voice was not to be denied. "Whatever this thing is, it's BIG!
Two cylinder projections on top, one below, purpose undetermined."
    Ground control was quick to respond. "We have two flights
scrambled and on the way. They should rendezvous in your sector
in two minutes."
    "Won't be here!" the pilot answered. "The UFO is climbing
away fast!"
    "Blue Jay Four, you are ordered to close on the UFO and
attempt to force him to land. We want it brought down, or at
least disabled until the other planes arrive."
    "Acknowledged. Closing on target."

    "Positive identificaion, Captain," Spock reported, his
eyes never leaving the science station monitors. "Aircraft is an
interceptor," pause, "equipped with missiles," pause, "possibly
armed with nuclear warheads." Another pause, in which he
straightened and faced his commanding officer. "If he hits us
with one he might damage us severely, perhaps beyond our
capacity to repair under current circumstances."
    Kirk didn't need to hear more. He pushed the intercom
button on the arm of his command chair and said, "Scotty,
activate tractor beam. Lock onto that aircraft and hold it out
there."
    "Captain," Spock interrupted, "this type of aircracft
might be too fragile to take our tractor beam."
    Too late, Kirk thought just as the chief engineer's
voice confirmed, "Tractor beam on, sir. We have the target."
    Spock turned back to his console, then, "Aircraft is
breaking up, Captain."
    Kirk hit the intercom switch again. "Transporter room!
Can you lock onto the cockpit of that aircraft?"
    "Scanning area, sir."
    "Try and beam that pilot aboard," Kirk ordered as he
once again sprang from his command chair and this time headed
for the turbolift. "Take over, Mister Spock," he said just
before the lift doors closed behind him.
    Spock moved to the bridge's command chair and sat.

            W H O O S H !

    Sam took one look around and said, "Oh boy!"

THEORIZING THAT ONE COULD TIME TRAVEL WITHIN HIS OWN LIFETIME,
DOCTOR SAM BECKETT STEPPED INTO THE QUANTUM LEAP ACCELERATOR
AND VANISHED. HE AWOKE TO FIND HIMSELF TRAPPED IN THE PAST,
FACING MIRROR IMAGES THAT WERE NOT HIS OWN, AND DRIVEN BY AN
UNKNOWN FORCE TO CHANGE HISTORY FOR THE BETTER. HIS ONLY GUIDE
ON HIS JOURNEY IS AL, AN OBSERVER FROM HIS OWN TIME, WHO
APPEARS IN THE FORM OF A HOLOGRAM THAT ONLY SAM CAN SEE AND
HEAR. AND SO DOCTOR BECKETT FINDS HIMSELF LEAPING FROM LIFE TO
LIFE, STRIVING TO PUT RIGHT WHAT ONCE WENT WRONG, AND HOPING
EACH TIME THAT HIS NEXT LEAP WOULD BE THE LEAP HOME.

            Transposition
            July 18, 1969

    "We are exiting Earth's atmosphere, Mister Spock."
    Sam looked at the speaker in utter bewilderment. Mister
Spock, he thought. I must be Mister Spock. What to say? What to
do? The man was obviously awaiting some kind of reply, but what?
Was it good or bad that they were exiting Earth's atmosphere?
THEY WERE EXITING EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE!!!
    His eyes shot beyond the man in question to the forward
wall, if 'wall' was the right term, which Sam highly doubted.
This wall appeared to be a window, through which a globe -
unmistakeably Earth - was shown in vivid detail, and he'd just
been told they were exiting Earth's atmosphere!
    Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy!!!!!
    "Mister Spock."
    Sam swung round to face a female speaker.
    "Scotty reports our deflectors are now operative and that
we shouldn't be picked up again as a UFO. He'd also like to speak
with the captain about the engines," she concluded with a smile.
    Somehow Sam summoned a smile of his own only to see
instant disbelief was her features. What?! Had he done something
wrong? What had she said? This was all too much! Not that he
wasn't used to leaping from person to person but something was
definitely wrong here! He'd never leaped beyond the day he'd
first stepped into the quantum leap accelerator in 1995, and 1995
had no such spacecraft as he was in now. Yet, there was no
denying he was in one very advanced spacecraft, one that could
exit Earth's atmosphere without a tremor, probably thanks to the
operative deflectors, whatever they were, which meant... somehow
he'd leaped forward in time!
    Despite that bombshell of a disclosure, or maybe because
of it, Sam turned sedately from the female's scrutinizing gaze and
did some scrutinizing of his own. Around him everyone was doing
something... what, he had no idea and could only hope that they
did. The quiet murmurs of the crew blended with the beeps, squawks
and whines of the ship's machinery.
    Oh yes, he thought, this was a spaceship all right, and
'they' were most definitely a crew, and a very efficient crew by
the looks of things. So, what was his role?
    His gaze shifted to the arms of the chair he sat upon and
the row upon row of buttons each arm contained. Each button was
explicitly marked, the one prevalent word being 'over-ride'...
which meant... was he in command around here?! OH BOY! He sure
hoped not or they were in big trouble. Yet, the prominence of the
chair, centred in the middle of the room, the control at his
fingertips, all shouted command! OH BOY! OH BOY! OH BOY!
    If there was ever a time to panic this was it! But wait a
minute...! Hadn't she - whoever 'she' was -- hadn't she said
something about a captain? Yes! She had! Someone wanted to talk
to the captain about the engines! That meant... I'm not the
captain! WHEW! Which means I'm just filling in, in more ways than
one!
    "Don't say a word, Sam," the voice he'd been most
anxiously awaiting finally sounded from just behind him, and
despite the warning Sam almost shouted... 'AL!'
    Al, or rather the holographic image of Al, stepped up
next to the chair, all the while talking. "You, Sam, are now
Lieutenant Commander Spock, first officer of the Federation
starship Enterprise, and the science officer, right up your
alley, huh? And," he stabbed at the computer link he held, "and,
an alien... Vulcan, ha! ...so don't show any emotion."
    Sam immediately disobedyed. His mouth fell open in
absolute astonishment. An alien! Instinctively he looked down at
himself. Hands looked Human, body looked...
    "Close your mouth, Sam!" Al warned, "and act in control.
You are, in fact, in control of this ship while the captain is
off the bridge. Goes without saying 'this' is the bridge.
Impressive, huh?" He paused just long enough to take in their
surroundings, then, "By the way, Commander Spock is of no help
to us at all. Wouldn't even give me his rank and serial number.
Quite stubborn for someone who isn't suppose to have any
emotions."
    Sam shot Al a pained look.
    "We've got to find a place where we can talk in private,"
Al said the words which were smothering Sam's senses, "but you
can't leave the bridge until the captain returns. Oh yeah, his
name is James Tiberius Kirk, and no, Sam, we are not in the
future, but this ship and its crew does belong there. Somehow
they've been shot back in time. Present date is July 18, 1969."
    Sam could only stare in utter amazement. This 'was' all
too much! How he kept from speaking he didn't know, but then
again, he was quite simply beyond speech.
    "Ziggy's very temperatmental on this one, Sam," Al
advised, palm-swipping his computer link in frustration. "We're
definitely were we should and shouldn't be. How's that for
confusing?" He continued with a grin, which grew wider and
wider as he went on, "But apparently everyone on board is in
the same boat!" He started to laugh and Sam's expression became
one of absolute intolerance. Al took the hint. "Okay, okay!" he
said. "I just couldn't resist, but you got to watch out for
those displays of emotion." He glanced round. "You don't know
who could be watching."
    Sam also glanced round. No one was watching, still, he
suddenly felt like screaming.
    "Now pay close attention, Sam," Al instructed. "This is
important."
    Sam almost whined aloud. What wasn't important?!
    Al went obliviously on. "When Kirk returns he'll expect
a report from you, so listen up. The helmsmanLieutenant Sulu,"
he pointed  his smouldering cigar at the man who had previously
spoken to the absent Mister Spock, "has already told you that
the ship has exited Earth's atmosphere. Remember that, and
Lieutenant Uhura, that's the cute communications officer behind
you, has told you that Mister Scott, the chief engineer, reports
the deflectors are operative and that he wants to speak with the
captain about the engines. Nod if you've got all that."
    Sam hesitated. Got all that! How could he forget?! They
were out of Earth's atmosphere... the deflectors were operative...
Scott wanted to speak with Kirk about the engines! Somehow he
found the where-for-all to nod.
    "Okay," Al went on. "Now here's the tricky part. Like I
said, this ship is not in its correct time period, still I
believe..." he took another swipe at his computer link, "I
believe it's the pilot this ship has just taken on board that
we're here to help. He, the pilot that is, belongs in this time
period and must stay here, while this ship and crew do not
belong and must leave. Ziggy says you are to..." he shook his
head in confusion, "Ziggy says you are to point out to Kirk the
reasons why the pilot SHOULD stay. You still with me here 'coz
I'm sure having a hard time keepin' up!"
    Sam closed in eyes and shook his head, up or down he
didn't know. This was definitely WAY too much!
    "Can't be helped," Al said, shot a glance behind him
and hurriedly continued. "Kirk and the pilot are on their way.
Remember, Spock is Vulcan so it's crucial you do NOT show any
emotion. Be and speak logical, without becoming too complicated
when you speak to Kirk. He'll expect it our you... er... Spock...
whatever! You must stress that the pilot has seen the future
and could possibly change it, which would be devastating! I
mean Sam, all that you see now may not get a chance to exist.
Got it?"
    Once again Sam forced himself to nod.
    "Okay," Al said as his portal opened behind him. "I've
got to go. Ziggy is interfacing with this ship's computer and
needs me.
That's how we got the information I've given you."

TO BE CONTINUED...
--
[e-mail] (Bonnie Holmyard aka K'Tsao Qugh)
Terminally time-warped, totally terrific, Q'd-to-the-MAX,
Guns 'n Roses addicted, multi-faceted Trekker, who believes
the stars are ours! Gotta love me, huh?