This is a great fanfic so far; eagerly awaiting next chapter. I myself am writing one but it is not nearly as good. Also, after reading a few good fanfics, its hard not to subconciously copy them, for me anyway. Quite the effort. Luckily, I do have my own (sub standard) writing style ... man I haven't practiced in ages.
Question Stravo, why not use the Sovereign or Eclipse as the superlaser SD?
Star Crossed Fanfic
Moderator: LadyTevar
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Good one Cpt Frank! Remembering the details of the story, that touches a writer's heart.Cpt_Frank wrote:Cause this one was the test superlaser. It was a prototype mounted on an Executor to test it.
And Vympel, give it a shot, I thought after reading Mike's Fanfic "Conquest" That there was no way I would be able to even come close to being as good as entertaining as his, but as you can see people respond positively to good work, so I encourage you as I was encouraged to share your story with everyone here.
Wherever you go, there you are.
Ripped Shirt Monkey - BOTMWriter's Guild Cybertron's Finest Justice League
This updated sig brought to you by JME2
Ripped Shirt Monkey - BOTMWriter's Guild Cybertron's Finest Justice League
This updated sig brought to you by JME2
Stravo...I think that I speak for everyone here when I say...Stop posting and star writting the next chapter!!!!
Yes I know I am neady, but hey, this is the best fan-fic that I have come across in a while, and I am totally hooked!
Two thumbs up!
Yes I know I am neady, but hey, this is the best fan-fic that I have come across in a while, and I am totally hooked!
Two thumbs up!
Η ζωή, η ζωή εδω τελειώνει!
"Science is one cold-hearted bitch with a 14" strap-on" - Masuka 'Dexter'
"Angela is not the woman you think she is Gabriel, she's done terrible things"
"So have I, and I'm going to do them all to you." - Sylar to Arthur 'Heroes'
<snip>
I want more... at a moderate pace, of course.
Seriously, keep up the good work. Your story, so far, is up there with the best. Not quite up to the likes of Shadows of the Night, but that'll come with time.
I want more... at a moderate pace, of course.
Seriously, keep up the good work. Your story, so far, is up there with the best. Not quite up to the likes of Shadows of the Night, but that'll come with time.Björn Paulsen
"Travelers with closed minds can tell us little except about themselves."
--Chinua Achebe
"Travelers with closed minds can tell us little except about themselves."
--Chinua Achebe
Just thought I'd sneak this one in without warning.....
Chapter 7: Message in a Bottle
Ochoa groaned. He remembered something. What was it? It was hovering just on the edge of his consciousness. There was a flash of something else. A child’s laughter…his daughter. Rachel. He smiled. His sweet little girl who always watched the skies to find the star where daddy was.
There was a shadow on his face. His daughter’s smile faded as a shadow loomed over them, blocking out the sun on his immaculate green lawn. Somewhere to his side, his wife rose from lounging on the small swing set up on the side of the house.
“Ricardo?” She called out in worry. His daughter’s smile turned to a frown.
“Daddy?”
He reached out to touch her, comfort her.
The cold steel of the restraints bolted to his wrist snapped him back into focus. He was strapped to a platform. Numerous small devices hung off to the side, including needles and small saws. The restraints were strapped tightly around his wrists, waist, neck, thighs and his feet were slapped into tight stirrups that cupped them in a cold metallic embrace. He wore his Starfleet uniform, damp with his sweat.
He remembered what it was he trying to focus on.
“Ricardo Ernesto Ochoa, Captain, USS Thunderchild, United Federation of Planets, Service Number 44AA9885.”
“Yes, Captain Ochoa, I’ve heard this tale before.” the cold voice drifted in the darkness of the room. His bed was bathed in a sharp white light, the rest of the room was dark. At best, he could make out some shapes moving in the darkness but otherwise it was as if he were alone, save for the voice.
The speaker stepped into view again. He looked so young, sandy blonde hair kept in a short crew cut and a nose that looked as if he may have been in a brawl in his youth, slightly pushed to the side, otherwise a young handsome face. His intense blue eyes regarded Ochoa with sympathy.
“I am trying to save you, Captain. This troublesome tendency of yours to repeat information that I can discern by reading your identity chit is hardly what I am looking for.”
“Ricardo Ernesto Ochoa, Captain, USS Thunderchild, United Federation of Planets, Service Number 44AA9885.” He replied more forcefully now, putting more emphasis on each word. He stared hard at the young man dressed in black.
“Perhaps we did not make ourselves clear earlier, hmmm?” the young man gestured with a finger and one of the small attachments suddenly came to life, it buzzed like a drill and slowly swung over to his arm. Ochoa’s eyes widened and he stared at it.
“Pain is such a terrible thing to have to endure.” The drill bit into his flesh and he threw back his head against the metal frame of the bed and screamed. There was no blood, only pain. He could feel it, tearing through his flesh but his uniform remained untouched.
“The phase needle is just one of the many implements I have at my disposal. There are more…invasive methods I could apply. Perhaps you would like to have a look at your insides, Captain? There are drugs I can give you that would keep you awake and completely lucid even as I slowly extracted your intestines and handed them to you.”
Ochoa’s screams stopped as the needle buzzed back away from his arm. The young man leaned in closer.
“You do want to talk don’t you?” He touched his forehead. His skin was dry and cool, Ochoa’s hot and damp with perspiration. Ochoa began to nod and stopped himself suddenly. Something within him wanted to respond to the young man, wanted to tell him everything but he grit his teeth and centered himself.
“Why endure this?” He asked seriously.
“Ricardo.. Ernesto.. Ochoa,.. Captain.., USS Thunderchild.., United.. Federation.. of.. Planets, Service… Number.. 44AA9885.” Ochoa replied, ignoring the dimming of his sight.
“I can take so much from you, Captain. Not just your sight.”
Ochoa found himself plunged in darkness. He struggled vainly. He could not see and it panicked him. He had never liked darkness, ever since his father lost his sight in an engineering accident he had been afraid of blindness. To live in a world of darkness was greater than any pain.
“I know about your father.” The young man whispered in his ear. “I can give you back your sight with but a thought.” Suddenly Ochoa could see again. The young man hovered over him, face impassive like that of a surgeon. “There is nothing to gain from suffering any more Captain. I am trying to spare you the agony that will undoubtedly come if you continue to deny me.”
The young man pursed his lips for a moment and nodded to himself.
“I can imagine that you are trying to be strong for the sake of your crew. But I must tell you that they have all spoken, they were all quite malleable to our will. Why remain strong if they have refused to be as resolute as you?”
“Liar.” Ochoa spat through dry cracked lips.
The young man smiled. It was as if Ochoa’s response was precisely what he had been waiting for.
“Captain, allow me to adjust this table slightly.” The young man moved his hand gently along the top of the table, he did not touch any controls but the table suddenly slipped down and pivoted, putting Ochoa in a semi-standing position. A hologram fluttered into being. He recognized the face. Security chief Hanson was hesitantly looking up at the imager.
“You killed my men.” he accused, eyes locked on the unseen observer in impotent anger. He was in a similar table, strapped down.
“They resisted the empire, their fate was sealed the moment they took up arms against us.” The voice was not the young man’s it was a woman’s voice and Ochoa recognized it as the voice of the woman who had stormed onto his bridge.
“They surrendered to you in engineering and you gunned them down in cold blood you heartless bitch!” Hanson shouted.
“Let us begin.” She said emotionlessly.
The hologram fluttered, obviously an edit and then Hanson seemed to be unconscious on the table. A woman’s hand drifted into view and touched a control on the table. A small needle jabbed Hanson in the thigh and he awoke suddenly as if he had been slapped, his eyes wide with fear and breathing hard like a jackhammer.
“Stop!” he shouted.
“I haven’t begun, yet, Mr. Hanson. I was just awakening you for the next step in the interrogation. You remember these, don’t you?” Two large saw like devices sprung out at chest level and hovered menacingly over Hanson. His eyes betrayed absolute terror.
“Our medical droids had trouble keeping you alive last time because of the amount of adrenaline you already had in your system, but with the new drugs we’ve administered that should not be a problem….would you like me to begin now? Perhaps this time we will simply explore the nerve endings before plunging right in, hmmm?”
“Stop it! Stop! This is inhuman!”
“No, Mr. Hanson. Inhuman is the next stage of the interrogation. This is simply the preliminaries.” The voice replied coolly. Hanson’s eyes widened as far as they could, nearly bulging as the soft whine began and the blades slowly descended towards him.
“Stop please, I’ll tell you what you want to know but stop it!” He screamed with an agonizing mix of utter despair and shame.
The blades stopped an inch form his flesh.
“That wasn’t so hard, now was it, Mr. Hanson? Let us discuss the tactical layout of your starship’s security grids. Leave no detail out because I will know.”
Hanson nodded and tears of shame welled in his eyes and his head fell back against the metal frame of the bed in utter defeat.
“Turn it off.” Ochoa asked.
Hanson started to sob softly and the camera focused on his tormented face.
“Turn it off!” Ochoa shouted.
“As you wish.” the hologram shimmered and disappeared. The young man turned to regard Ochoa neutrally.
“You broke him down, tortured him. What are you people, animals? Humans don’t do this to each other.”
The young man looked genuinely surprised for a moment.
“Your crew all clung to that notion until we started being inhuman as you put it. We are very much human and we will get what we want, Captain. This is my last plea to you, save yourself. The agony that I have in store for you will make your security chief’s pain insignificant. There is no hope, there is no way you can stand against us. Your communications officer was a member of a race you know as Beta Zeds. He tried to shut his mind away using psionic trickery.” The young man smiled coldly. “I disabused him of the notion that his psionic talents were any match for the dark side of the Force. Unfortunately his mind could not stand the stress of my probes and he is no longer…sentient, I believe the term is.”
“You took Lieutenant Jerjor’s mind?” Ochoa gasped in shock and revulsion.
“Took is a difficult word, I prefer the term tear. I tore it out from him. He has been executed as a mercy. I do not think your crew would want to see the twitching, drooling mess that remained of that young man.”
“Monster.” Ochoa spat.
“Why this loyalty, Captain? You are defending an institution that routinely discards its citizens as if they were nothing more than spare parts, In believe that you had a war with a race known as Cardasians. To seal the peace, your government sacrificed hundreds of thousands of colonists and the worlds they called home. The colonists that refused to leave their homes were summarily expelled from your peace loving empire and left to the mercies of your enemies.” The young man leaned in closer, anger in his eyes. “Then when the colonists, no longer your citizens actually started winning their insurrection against your former enemy, your government cravenly began to assist the Cardasians in hunting them down, opposing their bid for life and freedom, despite the fact that you knew they were supplying their own colonists with weapons….shameful really. To give up territory for peace is unthinkable in the New Order. You see, Captain, in my galaxy, the Empire actually PROTECTS its citizens. We do not barter away their worlds and their lives because we fear any more bloodshed in battle. We do battle and die for the citizens of the Empire because it is expected of us.”
Ochoa stared in shock, where had he gotten such detailed information in such a short time?
“I would have very much liked to have met these Maquis, they must have had such steel, passion, but then again, they conveniently all died in the war against the Dominion. I do believe that they requested assistance from your government and again were ignored. Is there no shame?” the young man asked pointedly.
“I don’t have to explain myself or the Federation to the likes of you!” Ochoa replied bitterly.
The young man looked down at him and his smile was one of ice.
“Won’t or can’t, Captain. I wonder which one it is.” The young man paused and sighed softly.
“Tell me what I wish to know.” His voice had a strange quality to it, and again Ochoa nearly responded, as if he wanted to reply to please him, but again he reigned himself in and grit his teeth.
He locked eyes with the young man.
“Ricardo Ernesto Ochoa, Captain, USS Thunderchild, United Federation of Planets, Service Number 44AA9885.” he stated stonily.
The young man remained frozen in place for a moment, blinked, then nodded. He turned away and suddenly a strange floating globe drifted into view. It was spehreical, black and a single red eye regarded everything with a detached calm. He also noted the gruesome attachments along the body of the sphere - Sharp, wicked attachments.
“Break him. Break his body, do with it what you will, but break him physically. Once he is broken I will come for his mind…spare him no pain, the only authorized drugs are the ones to keep him awake and lucid.” He ordered. The droid slowly floated towards Ochoa.
“Oh, and one more thing Captain.” The young man raised his hand and made a cutting motion. A curtain of darkness dropped across his vision. Ochoa struggled then he heard the buzzing of the vibroblades.
He stopped and let his mind flash back to his yard. Rachel stood, hands clutching his wife who knelt by his daughter. A storm broke overhead and big fat drops of rain cascaded down on top of them, staining Rachel’s immaculate white dress. She reached out for him.
“Daddy?”
He tried to reach out to her.
“I love you, honey.”
The buzz became a hiss as it touched flesh and then there was only the pain and the darkness.
Nemesis strode out of the interrogation chamber, his face clouded by anger. Kittaine hesitantly stepped up to him.
“My Lord?”
“What is it, Admiral?” Nemesis asked voice tight.
“Admiral T’Vor of the Romulan defense fleet. He has been appointed by the Praetor of the Romulan star empire to be our liaison with the government.” Kittaine introduced the tall gaunt Romulan commander with eyes like steel. There was still anger in his eyes as he grimly sized up the young man in the black tunic and cape. T’Vor thought it had been a trick of the holograms that this young boy could be leading such a mighty armada. If he were from the Federation, T’Vor guessed he would just be entering Starfleet academy at this point.
“I consider it a sign of ability and power more than age, Admiral.” Nemesis replied with a ghost of a smile on his lips. T’Vor was taken aback but his face betrayed nothing.
“Lord Nemesis. I have come at your fleet’s request. I understand that you had a question for me?” T’Vor replied coolly.
“Indeed I do Admiral.”
Suddenly they heard the sound of running feet and Branna rounded the corner. He stopped short and snapped to attention as he saw Kittaine and Nemesis standing before him.
“Captain, what is the meaning of this? Officers do not run on Imperial warships, certainly not Captains!” Kittaine snapped.
“My apologies, Admiral, Lord Nemesis. But I have news.”
He sounded out of breath. Had he run all the decks from the bridge to here? Kittaine wondered.
“Well, what is it, Captain?” Nemesis asked testily.
“We have just received a transmission from the emperor.”
Kittaine stiffened and Nemesis’ eyes widened slightly.
“The emperor?”
“It has been verified.”
“I will take the message in my chambers, immediately!” Nemesis ordered and stalked away. T’Vor watched the exchange with interest.
Kittaine turned to the admiral.
“Wait here, Lord Nemesis will want to speak to you as soon as he is done.”
Nemesis strode into his chamber. Mara Jade smiled as he entered and bowed slightly.
“My Lord I’m ready to give you my after action report on the boardi-“
“Leave me now.” He snapped and stalked over to his holonet receiver.
“My lord?” Mara asked, confused.
“I am about to receive a transmission from the emperor, leave me.” He said the last part with a dangerous gleam in his eyes.
Mara nodded and quickly left, torn by the fact that she would not be able to see the emperor. As the doors slid shut behind her the holonet transmitter sprang to life and a very distorted and faint image wavered on.
Nemesis knelt and bowed his head.
“What is thy bidding, my master?”
“Lord Nemesis, this message has been dispatched in the hopes that you will receive it wherever it is that you have found yourself. Your fleet disappeared from our sensor nets more than two weeks ago.” Two weeks ago? They had only been gone four days? The image wavered and almost broke up, lines of static snow constantly flashed across the image. “Despite attempts by probe droids and our fastest ships, we have been unable to find you within the confines of Imperial space. The time grows near when the Empire will embark on its greatest mission, the destruction of the Alliance. I am loathe to do so without my newest Sith Lord at my side, my young apprentice, but it is obvious that you have stumbled upon something we have never encountered before. Bevel and some of my scientific advisors have analyzed the data our ships returned from your last location and theororizes that you may have fallen into a wormhole. You may be on the other side of the universe.” The emperor paused, anger clear on his desiccated face. “The fates have conspired to take you from our side, Lord Vader and I are anxious that you find a way to return, until that happens trust in what I have taught you, use your aggressive feelings and hold on to your anger, let it feed you, let the dark side grow within you and it will bring you back to me.”
Nemesis nodded, feeling the soothing touch of the shadows. But the message had stirred more in him than he had hoped. How could it be possible that they were receiving a message from two weeks into their future?
“I am departing for Endor tomorrow. Lord Vader will meet me there. If you are on your way back, meet us at Endor, there we will crush the insignificant rebellion and you will be raised as an equal at my side. Together, we will restore order and crush the pitiful lying light side once and for all.” With that, the Emperor’s image faded.
Nemesis remained kneeling for a long moment. How was this possible? He slowly rose and activated a comlink.
“Admiral?”
“My Lord?”
“The quality of the transmission was abominable. Either have your communications officer disciplined or give me an explanation.”
“Actually, My lord, I was waiting for you to finish hearing the message. Our Communications station was running an analysis on the message, in the hopes of discovering the source so we could at least have a general idea in which direction our galaxy lies, the analysis of the transmission has provided some very disturbing information.”
“I have no time for games, Admiral.”
“The message is date tagged two weeks after our disappearance, however, the signal decay and other factors peg the age of the transmission as being…over three thousand years old.”
Nemesis blinked.
“And considering the speed at which holonet transmissions travel…the distance must be nearly impossible to comprehend…at least three thousand years at our fastest hyperspace rate.”
Nemesis shook his head. The words were refusing to sink in.
“In other words my lord, it seems that this transmission originated a long time ago in a galaxy far far away.”
“And that is my report.” Kirk finished. He was standing in the office of Commodore William Chang. Chang was staring at Kirk for a moment too long. Kirk leaned in a little.
“Commodore, I would really appreciate it, if you didn’t do that.” He stage whispered, exchanging a glance with McCoy who was grinning wryly. Spock stood impassively between them.
“I’m sorry, Captain. It’s just..well…you’re Captain James T. Kirk.” Chang replied and kicked himself. He sounded like some teenager gawking at a sports star.
“I am well aware of that Commodore. But I think that my report is far more important than who I am. We are looking at a possible invasion of the Federation by warships the likes of which I have never seen and from what I gather neither have you.” Kirk responded, finding it hard to get used to the reactions from the people and crew of the starbase. He eyed the Commodore’s uniform with some curiosity, how could those things be comfortable? He adjusted his gold shirt slightly.
“Captain, we have our tactical people analyzing your sensor logs as well as the Sagan’s. But from what I could see they pose a definite threat to the Federation not to mention they captured a Starfleet vessel. This is a undoubtably a crisis, but we don’t have much more to go on until we have the data completely analyzed. Then command can send us some reinforcements.”
“Reinforcements? What about the ships on station in this sector? Just pull them off and we can form a small task force, go hunt these ships down and see if we can’t give them a bloody nose.” Kirk replied.
“They will undoubtedly grow bolder if we don’t respond to this attack quickly. There is also the concern that the longer the crew of the Thunderchild is in enemy hands the more information they can extract.” Spock added.
“I’ve known Captain Ochoa for 12 years. He will not tell the enemy anything!” Chang protested.
“Commodore, no man can resist torture for very long, it’s only a matter of time until you break. It is our duty to make sure that Ochoa is not in enemy hands for very long.” Kirk warned.
“Despite the illogic of your contention, Commodore, there is also the fact the enemy has recovered an intact Federation starship’s computer core. It will only be a matter of time until they can download the data.” Spock said.
“Who said anything about torture? Captain Kirk, I know that in your time, things were a little more…rough. But there hasn’t been that kind of treatment of prisoners in this sector for a long time.” Chang said condescendingly. Kirk frowned.
“So you’re answer is to sit on our hands and wait? I’m willing to take the Enterprise out again, we’re on the outskirts of the neutral zone, we recall some of the ships on patrol and we should have enough for a task force.”
“Captain, with all due respect, your Enterprise is over 100 years old and doesn’t have the speed, weapons or power generation to keep up with our ships. It’s best if you stay here at the Starbase until we can come to a decision from command. Besides, there just aren’t enough ships to form a task force available. We need reinforcements from other sectors.”
“Not enough ships?! We’re right by the neutral zone?!” McCoy exclaimed.
“Bones.” Kirk interjected, covering up his own shock at the revelation.
“Doctor McCoy, we just had a war against the Dominion, a power you are not familiar with, the Romulans were our allies in that battle and the Federation counsel has decided that to foster better relations with the Romulans we would pull back the majority of our fleet from neutral zone patrol…besides, the losses Starfleet suffered in the war were near catastrophic, it will take years to replace the men and ships we lost.” Chang replied coolly.
“Commodore, I’ll abide by your decision but I cannot stress further the danger we are in. The power readings Spock took from those ships indicate a weapons power level we have never seen before, they could even take this starbase if they wanted to and we only saw two ships. If they have a fleet tucked away somewhere…I don’t want to think about what could happen. I strongly urge you to do something and soon, or the only one that’s going to have any future in the Federation is my crew, since we’re from the past.” Kirk replied hotly.
“I will take it under advisement, Captain. I cannot stress more that you crew much remain onboard the Enterprise. We cannot risk further contamination of the timeline.”
“I understand, Commodore.” Kirk nodded brusquely and walked away, Spock and McCoy following closely behind. As they walked out of the office, Kirk ignored the gawks and stares from some of the staff and strode out towards the transporter room. As he walked McCoy started talking.
“Jim, we’re not just going to sit on our hands, are we?” McCoy pressed.
“Doctor, the Captain is well aware of his duties to the Federation.” Spock replied wanly.
Kirk began to respond when the entire corridor seemed to flash and there was a slow thumping sound, like the beating of a massive heart. Kirk paused, looking around quickly for signs of an attack. The corridor seemed paler, almost as if he were seeing them through a yellowed lens. Spock and McCoy were standing calmly by his side.
“Did you see that?” Kirk asked.
“I’m sorry Captain Kirk, it took me awhile to get used to it myself.” A voice replied. Kirk whirled around and saw a tall slim dark skinned human. His face was proud and strong, light shone off his shaved head and he had a gleam in his eyes. This person was obviously used to command.
“Who are you?”
“My name is Benjamin Sisko, Captain. I used to be a Federation officer and Captain of a space station called Deep Space Nine.”
“The Sisko spends too much time indulging the Kirk.” McCoy interjected in a flat voice, his eyes vacant and staring at both of them. Kirk stared at McCoy and looked back at Sisko.
“What the hell is going on here?” He demanded.
“Typically, the Kirk grows angry and belligerent.” Spock said in the same flat monotone. His eyes were more intense, they regarded Kirk with an almost distasteful expression.
“The Kirk is like the Sisko, unwilling to listen.”
“Give me a moment to explain. James Kirk is linear as I once was.” Sisko replied calmly. He smiled kindly to Kirk.
“I don’t have much time to explain this to you. Projecting our thoughts this far from the wormhole is never easy and I had to use all my influence to even get them to try.”
“Who are they, Captain?” Kirk asked.
“Prophets, gods, aliens of such advanced state of being that they no longer have an understanding of linear space time. Take your pick” Sisko shrugged. His Starfleet uniform would occasionally melt into a pure white robe, hood draped down. Kirk ignored this and focused on the man’s words.
“I am here to tell you that you must come to Bajor.”
“Bajor?”
“The Sisko is of Bajor.” McCoy/Alien thing said.
“We are of Bajor.” Spock/Alien thing said.
“Where is Bajor? What’s that, a star system?”
“At Bajor you will find the temple of the ancients, in our parlance a wormhole. In this wormhole you must enter and there you will find assistance against your current crisis. The enemy you face is not of this galaxy.”
“The Sisko speaks too much.”
“The Sisko has been told the rules of the game.”
“This isn’t a game! All of reality is at stake, not just the lives of the Federation!” Sisko protested.
“The Sisko WILL comply with the rules.” McCoy spoke.
“Or we will not aid the Kirk.” Spock added.
“You said the Kirk was the key.” Sisko replied softly.
Spock and McCoy glanced at each other with knowing expressions.
“The Kirk is the key, hope rests in him as it rested in you.” Spock rpelied.
“So help me and him. WE can save Bajor and everything else.”
“Your message has been relayed. We will go now.”
Sisko turned to Kirk and gripped his arm tightly, jerking his face close to Kirk’s
“You must come to Bajor or all will be lost, help is already on the way but nothing can be done until you come.”
“I will, I promise.” Kirk replied sternly and returned the captain’s grip.
“You promise what Jim?” McCoy asked curiously.
“Huh? What?”
“You seem in a daze, Captain. Are you well?” Spock asked eying Kirk.
“I’m fine, but we have a mission.”
McCoy and Spock exchanged puzzled expressions.
“Spock do you know of a starsystem named Bajor?” Kirk asked as he stepped into the transporter room. Another man was standing there in one of those odd modern Starfleet uniforms. He was not gawking, but instead was smiling warmly as he saw them enter. His rank seemed to indicate Captain, but Kirk was not up on the latest insignias yet.
“Relatively little, Captain. We have some out of date long range probe data that proved inconclusive. We were planning on dispatching a long range mission into that sector of space but it has been on the drawing board for months.”
“Something tells me we eventually made it to Bajor.” Kirk replied with a mysterious smile.
“Perhaps I can be of assistance, Captain.” The officer replied stepping in beside Kirk.
“Who are you?”
“I’m Captain Entebbe, you saved my ship back there against those alien vessels.”
Kirk brightened.
“Captain of the Sagan?”
“That’s right sir. I’ve been waiting here in the hopes of seeing you, thanking you personally and hell, I juts wanted to meet James Kirk,” he glanced over Kirk’s shoulder to Spock and beamed. “And Mr. Spock, the reason why I went into Starfleet, there’s no better place to sharpen your science skills than here.”
Spock nodded.
“Aren’t we polluting the timeline just by talking to you?” McCoy deadpanned.
Entebbe smiled jovially.
“Seriously, sir. I know where Bajor is and I may know what you want to see. The wormhole, right?”
“How did you know?” Kirk replied.
“That wormhole has been the source of a lot of the Federation’s troubles of late, with the Dominion and all, but it would be an honor to escort you to the system.”
“Aren’t you ordered to stay here?” Kirk asked with a smile.
Entebbe frowned.
“Frankly sir, they’ve forgotten all about us with you being here and all and they’re too busy trying to figure out what to do than worry about a science vessel. If it’s all the same to you, I want to join you on your mission.” Entebbe replied with a emphatic nod.
“Captain, it would be an honor, I just hope you know what you’re doing.” Kirk replied.
“Jim, what in the hell is at Bajor?” McCoy asked in exasperation.
Kirk smiled for a moment.
“Hope.”
The silver eyed player frowned and sat back letting out a small sigh of exasperation. Q smirked as he lounged in the chair opposite the player.
“Didn’t expect them, did you?”
“Who in the hell let the Bajorans in on this?” the player exclaimed.
“Don’t look at me, I’m strictly playing by the rules of the continuum. You’re the one who decided to play holy hell with space time, you know that the Bajorans are masters of non linear thinking and the current crisis this universe is going through is making them more powerful because they understand what is happening. All the twists and turns space/time is making right now is like music to them.” Q made a face as if he had tasted something sour. “They were always an odd bunch.”
“Nevertheless, the game continues, and even the Bajorans know that there are certain rules to be followed.”
“Indeed.” Q replied neutrally and examined the board. More pieces had appeared, some were in motion across the board, the Emperor’s Will had taken the pawn representing the Romulans and was now threatening the center of the board.
“They are going to be hell to defeat you know. I wonder if the Federation has it in them?” Q wondered aloud.
“Doubtful, they’re woefully over matched.”
“I’ve heard that before.”
“Where is he going and what are the Bajorans planning?” the player wondered, rubbing his chin, his silver eyes flashed as they focused on the piece shaped like a Constitution class cruiser.
“He’ll prove to be more difficult than you think.” Q added innocently.
The silver eyes flashed up and stared at Q.
“He’s resourceful and already a living legend.” Q continued and toyed with an edge of the 3-D chessboard.
“I don’t care what you think about Jim, he’s –”the silver eyed player paused for a second as if he had said something he was not supposed to. “Kirk is just human, in the end he is as mortal-“
“As you once were?” Q interjected.
“That is irrelevant.” The silver eyed player responded.
Q was about to reply when they both stopped and seemed to be listening to something, cocking their heads as if listening to a far away explosion.
“Did you feel that?” The player asked. Q nodded slowly. “Two galaxies just like that.” The player snapped his fingers.
“The universe is definitely contracting faster than we anticipated.” Q replied warily.
“The game is going to have to be accelerated soon, or we could just be gone from one breath to the next…the world will end not in a bang but in silence. Absolute oblivion.” The player stated and rested his chin on one hand and stared at the board contemplating his next move.
So did Q.
Chapter 7: Message in a Bottle
Ochoa groaned. He remembered something. What was it? It was hovering just on the edge of his consciousness. There was a flash of something else. A child’s laughter…his daughter. Rachel. He smiled. His sweet little girl who always watched the skies to find the star where daddy was.
There was a shadow on his face. His daughter’s smile faded as a shadow loomed over them, blocking out the sun on his immaculate green lawn. Somewhere to his side, his wife rose from lounging on the small swing set up on the side of the house.
“Ricardo?” She called out in worry. His daughter’s smile turned to a frown.
“Daddy?”
He reached out to touch her, comfort her.
The cold steel of the restraints bolted to his wrist snapped him back into focus. He was strapped to a platform. Numerous small devices hung off to the side, including needles and small saws. The restraints were strapped tightly around his wrists, waist, neck, thighs and his feet were slapped into tight stirrups that cupped them in a cold metallic embrace. He wore his Starfleet uniform, damp with his sweat.
He remembered what it was he trying to focus on.
“Ricardo Ernesto Ochoa, Captain, USS Thunderchild, United Federation of Planets, Service Number 44AA9885.”
“Yes, Captain Ochoa, I’ve heard this tale before.” the cold voice drifted in the darkness of the room. His bed was bathed in a sharp white light, the rest of the room was dark. At best, he could make out some shapes moving in the darkness but otherwise it was as if he were alone, save for the voice.
The speaker stepped into view again. He looked so young, sandy blonde hair kept in a short crew cut and a nose that looked as if he may have been in a brawl in his youth, slightly pushed to the side, otherwise a young handsome face. His intense blue eyes regarded Ochoa with sympathy.
“I am trying to save you, Captain. This troublesome tendency of yours to repeat information that I can discern by reading your identity chit is hardly what I am looking for.”
“Ricardo Ernesto Ochoa, Captain, USS Thunderchild, United Federation of Planets, Service Number 44AA9885.” He replied more forcefully now, putting more emphasis on each word. He stared hard at the young man dressed in black.
“Perhaps we did not make ourselves clear earlier, hmmm?” the young man gestured with a finger and one of the small attachments suddenly came to life, it buzzed like a drill and slowly swung over to his arm. Ochoa’s eyes widened and he stared at it.
“Pain is such a terrible thing to have to endure.” The drill bit into his flesh and he threw back his head against the metal frame of the bed and screamed. There was no blood, only pain. He could feel it, tearing through his flesh but his uniform remained untouched.
“The phase needle is just one of the many implements I have at my disposal. There are more…invasive methods I could apply. Perhaps you would like to have a look at your insides, Captain? There are drugs I can give you that would keep you awake and completely lucid even as I slowly extracted your intestines and handed them to you.”
Ochoa’s screams stopped as the needle buzzed back away from his arm. The young man leaned in closer.
“You do want to talk don’t you?” He touched his forehead. His skin was dry and cool, Ochoa’s hot and damp with perspiration. Ochoa began to nod and stopped himself suddenly. Something within him wanted to respond to the young man, wanted to tell him everything but he grit his teeth and centered himself.
“Why endure this?” He asked seriously.
“Ricardo.. Ernesto.. Ochoa,.. Captain.., USS Thunderchild.., United.. Federation.. of.. Planets, Service… Number.. 44AA9885.” Ochoa replied, ignoring the dimming of his sight.
“I can take so much from you, Captain. Not just your sight.”
Ochoa found himself plunged in darkness. He struggled vainly. He could not see and it panicked him. He had never liked darkness, ever since his father lost his sight in an engineering accident he had been afraid of blindness. To live in a world of darkness was greater than any pain.
“I know about your father.” The young man whispered in his ear. “I can give you back your sight with but a thought.” Suddenly Ochoa could see again. The young man hovered over him, face impassive like that of a surgeon. “There is nothing to gain from suffering any more Captain. I am trying to spare you the agony that will undoubtedly come if you continue to deny me.”
The young man pursed his lips for a moment and nodded to himself.
“I can imagine that you are trying to be strong for the sake of your crew. But I must tell you that they have all spoken, they were all quite malleable to our will. Why remain strong if they have refused to be as resolute as you?”
“Liar.” Ochoa spat through dry cracked lips.
The young man smiled. It was as if Ochoa’s response was precisely what he had been waiting for.
“Captain, allow me to adjust this table slightly.” The young man moved his hand gently along the top of the table, he did not touch any controls but the table suddenly slipped down and pivoted, putting Ochoa in a semi-standing position. A hologram fluttered into being. He recognized the face. Security chief Hanson was hesitantly looking up at the imager.
“You killed my men.” he accused, eyes locked on the unseen observer in impotent anger. He was in a similar table, strapped down.
“They resisted the empire, their fate was sealed the moment they took up arms against us.” The voice was not the young man’s it was a woman’s voice and Ochoa recognized it as the voice of the woman who had stormed onto his bridge.
“They surrendered to you in engineering and you gunned them down in cold blood you heartless bitch!” Hanson shouted.
“Let us begin.” She said emotionlessly.
The hologram fluttered, obviously an edit and then Hanson seemed to be unconscious on the table. A woman’s hand drifted into view and touched a control on the table. A small needle jabbed Hanson in the thigh and he awoke suddenly as if he had been slapped, his eyes wide with fear and breathing hard like a jackhammer.
“Stop!” he shouted.
“I haven’t begun, yet, Mr. Hanson. I was just awakening you for the next step in the interrogation. You remember these, don’t you?” Two large saw like devices sprung out at chest level and hovered menacingly over Hanson. His eyes betrayed absolute terror.
“Our medical droids had trouble keeping you alive last time because of the amount of adrenaline you already had in your system, but with the new drugs we’ve administered that should not be a problem….would you like me to begin now? Perhaps this time we will simply explore the nerve endings before plunging right in, hmmm?”
“Stop it! Stop! This is inhuman!”
“No, Mr. Hanson. Inhuman is the next stage of the interrogation. This is simply the preliminaries.” The voice replied coolly. Hanson’s eyes widened as far as they could, nearly bulging as the soft whine began and the blades slowly descended towards him.
“Stop please, I’ll tell you what you want to know but stop it!” He screamed with an agonizing mix of utter despair and shame.
The blades stopped an inch form his flesh.
“That wasn’t so hard, now was it, Mr. Hanson? Let us discuss the tactical layout of your starship’s security grids. Leave no detail out because I will know.”
Hanson nodded and tears of shame welled in his eyes and his head fell back against the metal frame of the bed in utter defeat.
“Turn it off.” Ochoa asked.
Hanson started to sob softly and the camera focused on his tormented face.
“Turn it off!” Ochoa shouted.
“As you wish.” the hologram shimmered and disappeared. The young man turned to regard Ochoa neutrally.
“You broke him down, tortured him. What are you people, animals? Humans don’t do this to each other.”
The young man looked genuinely surprised for a moment.
“Your crew all clung to that notion until we started being inhuman as you put it. We are very much human and we will get what we want, Captain. This is my last plea to you, save yourself. The agony that I have in store for you will make your security chief’s pain insignificant. There is no hope, there is no way you can stand against us. Your communications officer was a member of a race you know as Beta Zeds. He tried to shut his mind away using psionic trickery.” The young man smiled coldly. “I disabused him of the notion that his psionic talents were any match for the dark side of the Force. Unfortunately his mind could not stand the stress of my probes and he is no longer…sentient, I believe the term is.”
“You took Lieutenant Jerjor’s mind?” Ochoa gasped in shock and revulsion.
“Took is a difficult word, I prefer the term tear. I tore it out from him. He has been executed as a mercy. I do not think your crew would want to see the twitching, drooling mess that remained of that young man.”
“Monster.” Ochoa spat.
“Why this loyalty, Captain? You are defending an institution that routinely discards its citizens as if they were nothing more than spare parts, In believe that you had a war with a race known as Cardasians. To seal the peace, your government sacrificed hundreds of thousands of colonists and the worlds they called home. The colonists that refused to leave their homes were summarily expelled from your peace loving empire and left to the mercies of your enemies.” The young man leaned in closer, anger in his eyes. “Then when the colonists, no longer your citizens actually started winning their insurrection against your former enemy, your government cravenly began to assist the Cardasians in hunting them down, opposing their bid for life and freedom, despite the fact that you knew they were supplying their own colonists with weapons….shameful really. To give up territory for peace is unthinkable in the New Order. You see, Captain, in my galaxy, the Empire actually PROTECTS its citizens. We do not barter away their worlds and their lives because we fear any more bloodshed in battle. We do battle and die for the citizens of the Empire because it is expected of us.”
Ochoa stared in shock, where had he gotten such detailed information in such a short time?
“I would have very much liked to have met these Maquis, they must have had such steel, passion, but then again, they conveniently all died in the war against the Dominion. I do believe that they requested assistance from your government and again were ignored. Is there no shame?” the young man asked pointedly.
“I don’t have to explain myself or the Federation to the likes of you!” Ochoa replied bitterly.
The young man looked down at him and his smile was one of ice.
“Won’t or can’t, Captain. I wonder which one it is.” The young man paused and sighed softly.
“Tell me what I wish to know.” His voice had a strange quality to it, and again Ochoa nearly responded, as if he wanted to reply to please him, but again he reigned himself in and grit his teeth.
He locked eyes with the young man.
“Ricardo Ernesto Ochoa, Captain, USS Thunderchild, United Federation of Planets, Service Number 44AA9885.” he stated stonily.
The young man remained frozen in place for a moment, blinked, then nodded. He turned away and suddenly a strange floating globe drifted into view. It was spehreical, black and a single red eye regarded everything with a detached calm. He also noted the gruesome attachments along the body of the sphere - Sharp, wicked attachments.
“Break him. Break his body, do with it what you will, but break him physically. Once he is broken I will come for his mind…spare him no pain, the only authorized drugs are the ones to keep him awake and lucid.” He ordered. The droid slowly floated towards Ochoa.
“Oh, and one more thing Captain.” The young man raised his hand and made a cutting motion. A curtain of darkness dropped across his vision. Ochoa struggled then he heard the buzzing of the vibroblades.
He stopped and let his mind flash back to his yard. Rachel stood, hands clutching his wife who knelt by his daughter. A storm broke overhead and big fat drops of rain cascaded down on top of them, staining Rachel’s immaculate white dress. She reached out for him.
“Daddy?”
He tried to reach out to her.
“I love you, honey.”
The buzz became a hiss as it touched flesh and then there was only the pain and the darkness.
Nemesis strode out of the interrogation chamber, his face clouded by anger. Kittaine hesitantly stepped up to him.
“My Lord?”
“What is it, Admiral?” Nemesis asked voice tight.
“Admiral T’Vor of the Romulan defense fleet. He has been appointed by the Praetor of the Romulan star empire to be our liaison with the government.” Kittaine introduced the tall gaunt Romulan commander with eyes like steel. There was still anger in his eyes as he grimly sized up the young man in the black tunic and cape. T’Vor thought it had been a trick of the holograms that this young boy could be leading such a mighty armada. If he were from the Federation, T’Vor guessed he would just be entering Starfleet academy at this point.
“I consider it a sign of ability and power more than age, Admiral.” Nemesis replied with a ghost of a smile on his lips. T’Vor was taken aback but his face betrayed nothing.
“Lord Nemesis. I have come at your fleet’s request. I understand that you had a question for me?” T’Vor replied coolly.
“Indeed I do Admiral.”
Suddenly they heard the sound of running feet and Branna rounded the corner. He stopped short and snapped to attention as he saw Kittaine and Nemesis standing before him.
“Captain, what is the meaning of this? Officers do not run on Imperial warships, certainly not Captains!” Kittaine snapped.
“My apologies, Admiral, Lord Nemesis. But I have news.”
He sounded out of breath. Had he run all the decks from the bridge to here? Kittaine wondered.
“Well, what is it, Captain?” Nemesis asked testily.
“We have just received a transmission from the emperor.”
Kittaine stiffened and Nemesis’ eyes widened slightly.
“The emperor?”
“It has been verified.”
“I will take the message in my chambers, immediately!” Nemesis ordered and stalked away. T’Vor watched the exchange with interest.
Kittaine turned to the admiral.
“Wait here, Lord Nemesis will want to speak to you as soon as he is done.”
Nemesis strode into his chamber. Mara Jade smiled as he entered and bowed slightly.
“My Lord I’m ready to give you my after action report on the boardi-“
“Leave me now.” He snapped and stalked over to his holonet receiver.
“My lord?” Mara asked, confused.
“I am about to receive a transmission from the emperor, leave me.” He said the last part with a dangerous gleam in his eyes.
Mara nodded and quickly left, torn by the fact that she would not be able to see the emperor. As the doors slid shut behind her the holonet transmitter sprang to life and a very distorted and faint image wavered on.
Nemesis knelt and bowed his head.
“What is thy bidding, my master?”
“Lord Nemesis, this message has been dispatched in the hopes that you will receive it wherever it is that you have found yourself. Your fleet disappeared from our sensor nets more than two weeks ago.” Two weeks ago? They had only been gone four days? The image wavered and almost broke up, lines of static snow constantly flashed across the image. “Despite attempts by probe droids and our fastest ships, we have been unable to find you within the confines of Imperial space. The time grows near when the Empire will embark on its greatest mission, the destruction of the Alliance. I am loathe to do so without my newest Sith Lord at my side, my young apprentice, but it is obvious that you have stumbled upon something we have never encountered before. Bevel and some of my scientific advisors have analyzed the data our ships returned from your last location and theororizes that you may have fallen into a wormhole. You may be on the other side of the universe.” The emperor paused, anger clear on his desiccated face. “The fates have conspired to take you from our side, Lord Vader and I are anxious that you find a way to return, until that happens trust in what I have taught you, use your aggressive feelings and hold on to your anger, let it feed you, let the dark side grow within you and it will bring you back to me.”
Nemesis nodded, feeling the soothing touch of the shadows. But the message had stirred more in him than he had hoped. How could it be possible that they were receiving a message from two weeks into their future?
“I am departing for Endor tomorrow. Lord Vader will meet me there. If you are on your way back, meet us at Endor, there we will crush the insignificant rebellion and you will be raised as an equal at my side. Together, we will restore order and crush the pitiful lying light side once and for all.” With that, the Emperor’s image faded.
Nemesis remained kneeling for a long moment. How was this possible? He slowly rose and activated a comlink.
“Admiral?”
“My Lord?”
“The quality of the transmission was abominable. Either have your communications officer disciplined or give me an explanation.”
“Actually, My lord, I was waiting for you to finish hearing the message. Our Communications station was running an analysis on the message, in the hopes of discovering the source so we could at least have a general idea in which direction our galaxy lies, the analysis of the transmission has provided some very disturbing information.”
“I have no time for games, Admiral.”
“The message is date tagged two weeks after our disappearance, however, the signal decay and other factors peg the age of the transmission as being…over three thousand years old.”
Nemesis blinked.
“And considering the speed at which holonet transmissions travel…the distance must be nearly impossible to comprehend…at least three thousand years at our fastest hyperspace rate.”
Nemesis shook his head. The words were refusing to sink in.
“In other words my lord, it seems that this transmission originated a long time ago in a galaxy far far away.”
“And that is my report.” Kirk finished. He was standing in the office of Commodore William Chang. Chang was staring at Kirk for a moment too long. Kirk leaned in a little.
“Commodore, I would really appreciate it, if you didn’t do that.” He stage whispered, exchanging a glance with McCoy who was grinning wryly. Spock stood impassively between them.
“I’m sorry, Captain. It’s just..well…you’re Captain James T. Kirk.” Chang replied and kicked himself. He sounded like some teenager gawking at a sports star.
“I am well aware of that Commodore. But I think that my report is far more important than who I am. We are looking at a possible invasion of the Federation by warships the likes of which I have never seen and from what I gather neither have you.” Kirk responded, finding it hard to get used to the reactions from the people and crew of the starbase. He eyed the Commodore’s uniform with some curiosity, how could those things be comfortable? He adjusted his gold shirt slightly.
“Captain, we have our tactical people analyzing your sensor logs as well as the Sagan’s. But from what I could see they pose a definite threat to the Federation not to mention they captured a Starfleet vessel. This is a undoubtably a crisis, but we don’t have much more to go on until we have the data completely analyzed. Then command can send us some reinforcements.”
“Reinforcements? What about the ships on station in this sector? Just pull them off and we can form a small task force, go hunt these ships down and see if we can’t give them a bloody nose.” Kirk replied.
“They will undoubtedly grow bolder if we don’t respond to this attack quickly. There is also the concern that the longer the crew of the Thunderchild is in enemy hands the more information they can extract.” Spock added.
“I’ve known Captain Ochoa for 12 years. He will not tell the enemy anything!” Chang protested.
“Commodore, no man can resist torture for very long, it’s only a matter of time until you break. It is our duty to make sure that Ochoa is not in enemy hands for very long.” Kirk warned.
“Despite the illogic of your contention, Commodore, there is also the fact the enemy has recovered an intact Federation starship’s computer core. It will only be a matter of time until they can download the data.” Spock said.
“Who said anything about torture? Captain Kirk, I know that in your time, things were a little more…rough. But there hasn’t been that kind of treatment of prisoners in this sector for a long time.” Chang said condescendingly. Kirk frowned.
“So you’re answer is to sit on our hands and wait? I’m willing to take the Enterprise out again, we’re on the outskirts of the neutral zone, we recall some of the ships on patrol and we should have enough for a task force.”
“Captain, with all due respect, your Enterprise is over 100 years old and doesn’t have the speed, weapons or power generation to keep up with our ships. It’s best if you stay here at the Starbase until we can come to a decision from command. Besides, there just aren’t enough ships to form a task force available. We need reinforcements from other sectors.”
“Not enough ships?! We’re right by the neutral zone?!” McCoy exclaimed.
“Bones.” Kirk interjected, covering up his own shock at the revelation.
“Doctor McCoy, we just had a war against the Dominion, a power you are not familiar with, the Romulans were our allies in that battle and the Federation counsel has decided that to foster better relations with the Romulans we would pull back the majority of our fleet from neutral zone patrol…besides, the losses Starfleet suffered in the war were near catastrophic, it will take years to replace the men and ships we lost.” Chang replied coolly.
“Commodore, I’ll abide by your decision but I cannot stress further the danger we are in. The power readings Spock took from those ships indicate a weapons power level we have never seen before, they could even take this starbase if they wanted to and we only saw two ships. If they have a fleet tucked away somewhere…I don’t want to think about what could happen. I strongly urge you to do something and soon, or the only one that’s going to have any future in the Federation is my crew, since we’re from the past.” Kirk replied hotly.
“I will take it under advisement, Captain. I cannot stress more that you crew much remain onboard the Enterprise. We cannot risk further contamination of the timeline.”
“I understand, Commodore.” Kirk nodded brusquely and walked away, Spock and McCoy following closely behind. As they walked out of the office, Kirk ignored the gawks and stares from some of the staff and strode out towards the transporter room. As he walked McCoy started talking.
“Jim, we’re not just going to sit on our hands, are we?” McCoy pressed.
“Doctor, the Captain is well aware of his duties to the Federation.” Spock replied wanly.
Kirk began to respond when the entire corridor seemed to flash and there was a slow thumping sound, like the beating of a massive heart. Kirk paused, looking around quickly for signs of an attack. The corridor seemed paler, almost as if he were seeing them through a yellowed lens. Spock and McCoy were standing calmly by his side.
“Did you see that?” Kirk asked.
“I’m sorry Captain Kirk, it took me awhile to get used to it myself.” A voice replied. Kirk whirled around and saw a tall slim dark skinned human. His face was proud and strong, light shone off his shaved head and he had a gleam in his eyes. This person was obviously used to command.
“Who are you?”
“My name is Benjamin Sisko, Captain. I used to be a Federation officer and Captain of a space station called Deep Space Nine.”
“The Sisko spends too much time indulging the Kirk.” McCoy interjected in a flat voice, his eyes vacant and staring at both of them. Kirk stared at McCoy and looked back at Sisko.
“What the hell is going on here?” He demanded.
“Typically, the Kirk grows angry and belligerent.” Spock said in the same flat monotone. His eyes were more intense, they regarded Kirk with an almost distasteful expression.
“The Kirk is like the Sisko, unwilling to listen.”
“Give me a moment to explain. James Kirk is linear as I once was.” Sisko replied calmly. He smiled kindly to Kirk.
“I don’t have much time to explain this to you. Projecting our thoughts this far from the wormhole is never easy and I had to use all my influence to even get them to try.”
“Who are they, Captain?” Kirk asked.
“Prophets, gods, aliens of such advanced state of being that they no longer have an understanding of linear space time. Take your pick” Sisko shrugged. His Starfleet uniform would occasionally melt into a pure white robe, hood draped down. Kirk ignored this and focused on the man’s words.
“I am here to tell you that you must come to Bajor.”
“Bajor?”
“The Sisko is of Bajor.” McCoy/Alien thing said.
“We are of Bajor.” Spock/Alien thing said.
“Where is Bajor? What’s that, a star system?”
“At Bajor you will find the temple of the ancients, in our parlance a wormhole. In this wormhole you must enter and there you will find assistance against your current crisis. The enemy you face is not of this galaxy.”
“The Sisko speaks too much.”
“The Sisko has been told the rules of the game.”
“This isn’t a game! All of reality is at stake, not just the lives of the Federation!” Sisko protested.
“The Sisko WILL comply with the rules.” McCoy spoke.
“Or we will not aid the Kirk.” Spock added.
“You said the Kirk was the key.” Sisko replied softly.
Spock and McCoy glanced at each other with knowing expressions.
“The Kirk is the key, hope rests in him as it rested in you.” Spock rpelied.
“So help me and him. WE can save Bajor and everything else.”
“Your message has been relayed. We will go now.”
Sisko turned to Kirk and gripped his arm tightly, jerking his face close to Kirk’s
“You must come to Bajor or all will be lost, help is already on the way but nothing can be done until you come.”
“I will, I promise.” Kirk replied sternly and returned the captain’s grip.
“You promise what Jim?” McCoy asked curiously.
“Huh? What?”
“You seem in a daze, Captain. Are you well?” Spock asked eying Kirk.
“I’m fine, but we have a mission.”
McCoy and Spock exchanged puzzled expressions.
“Spock do you know of a starsystem named Bajor?” Kirk asked as he stepped into the transporter room. Another man was standing there in one of those odd modern Starfleet uniforms. He was not gawking, but instead was smiling warmly as he saw them enter. His rank seemed to indicate Captain, but Kirk was not up on the latest insignias yet.
“Relatively little, Captain. We have some out of date long range probe data that proved inconclusive. We were planning on dispatching a long range mission into that sector of space but it has been on the drawing board for months.”
“Something tells me we eventually made it to Bajor.” Kirk replied with a mysterious smile.
“Perhaps I can be of assistance, Captain.” The officer replied stepping in beside Kirk.
“Who are you?”
“I’m Captain Entebbe, you saved my ship back there against those alien vessels.”
Kirk brightened.
“Captain of the Sagan?”
“That’s right sir. I’ve been waiting here in the hopes of seeing you, thanking you personally and hell, I juts wanted to meet James Kirk,” he glanced over Kirk’s shoulder to Spock and beamed. “And Mr. Spock, the reason why I went into Starfleet, there’s no better place to sharpen your science skills than here.”
Spock nodded.
“Aren’t we polluting the timeline just by talking to you?” McCoy deadpanned.
Entebbe smiled jovially.
“Seriously, sir. I know where Bajor is and I may know what you want to see. The wormhole, right?”
“How did you know?” Kirk replied.
“That wormhole has been the source of a lot of the Federation’s troubles of late, with the Dominion and all, but it would be an honor to escort you to the system.”
“Aren’t you ordered to stay here?” Kirk asked with a smile.
Entebbe frowned.
“Frankly sir, they’ve forgotten all about us with you being here and all and they’re too busy trying to figure out what to do than worry about a science vessel. If it’s all the same to you, I want to join you on your mission.” Entebbe replied with a emphatic nod.
“Captain, it would be an honor, I just hope you know what you’re doing.” Kirk replied.
“Jim, what in the hell is at Bajor?” McCoy asked in exasperation.
Kirk smiled for a moment.
“Hope.”
The silver eyed player frowned and sat back letting out a small sigh of exasperation. Q smirked as he lounged in the chair opposite the player.
“Didn’t expect them, did you?”
“Who in the hell let the Bajorans in on this?” the player exclaimed.
“Don’t look at me, I’m strictly playing by the rules of the continuum. You’re the one who decided to play holy hell with space time, you know that the Bajorans are masters of non linear thinking and the current crisis this universe is going through is making them more powerful because they understand what is happening. All the twists and turns space/time is making right now is like music to them.” Q made a face as if he had tasted something sour. “They were always an odd bunch.”
“Nevertheless, the game continues, and even the Bajorans know that there are certain rules to be followed.”
“Indeed.” Q replied neutrally and examined the board. More pieces had appeared, some were in motion across the board, the Emperor’s Will had taken the pawn representing the Romulans and was now threatening the center of the board.
“They are going to be hell to defeat you know. I wonder if the Federation has it in them?” Q wondered aloud.
“Doubtful, they’re woefully over matched.”
“I’ve heard that before.”
“Where is he going and what are the Bajorans planning?” the player wondered, rubbing his chin, his silver eyes flashed as they focused on the piece shaped like a Constitution class cruiser.
“He’ll prove to be more difficult than you think.” Q added innocently.
The silver eyes flashed up and stared at Q.
“He’s resourceful and already a living legend.” Q continued and toyed with an edge of the 3-D chessboard.
“I don’t care what you think about Jim, he’s –”the silver eyed player paused for a second as if he had said something he was not supposed to. “Kirk is just human, in the end he is as mortal-“
“As you once were?” Q interjected.
“That is irrelevant.” The silver eyed player responded.
Q was about to reply when they both stopped and seemed to be listening to something, cocking their heads as if listening to a far away explosion.
“Did you feel that?” The player asked. Q nodded slowly. “Two galaxies just like that.” The player snapped his fingers.
“The universe is definitely contracting faster than we anticipated.” Q replied warily.
“The game is going to have to be accelerated soon, or we could just be gone from one breath to the next…the world will end not in a bang but in silence. Absolute oblivion.” The player stated and rested his chin on one hand and stared at the board contemplating his next move.
So did Q.
Wherever you go, there you are.
Ripped Shirt Monkey - BOTMWriter's Guild Cybertron's Finest Justice League
This updated sig brought to you by JME2
Ripped Shirt Monkey - BOTMWriter's Guild Cybertron's Finest Justice League
This updated sig brought to you by JME2
Captian! No Warning!
Damin it Jim I'm to tired to read it use the quantum sigulatiorty manfold inducing device to save it for tommrow's reading!
Damin it Jim I'm to tired to read it use the quantum sigulatiorty manfold inducing device to save it for tommrow's reading!
"A cult is a religion with no political power." -Tom Wolfe
Pardon me for sounding like a dick, but I'm playing the tiniest violin in the world right now-Dalton
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Master of Ossus
- Darkest Knight
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- Joined: 2002-07-11 01:35am
- Location: California
Thanks, again, for the great read, Stravo. A real pleasure to find a writer of your caliber online. This story is shaping out beautifully. Feel the texture in the last few chapters and try to preserve that. I really can't explain what I'm trying to tell you any better than that, but keep up whatever it is you're doing. This one's going to be awesome.
"Sometimes I think you WANT us to fail." "Shut up, just shut up!" -Two Guys from Kabul
Latinum Star Recipient; Hacker's Cross Award Winner
"one soler flar can vapririze the planit or malt the nickl in lass than millasacit" -Bagara1000
"Happiness is just a Flaming Moe away."
Latinum Star Recipient; Hacker's Cross Award Winner
"one soler flar can vapririze the planit or malt the nickl in lass than millasacit" -Bagara1000
"Happiness is just a Flaming Moe away."
I'm usually content to sit back and read an entire fiction before I offer my feeble opinion and heap accolades upon the writer, but after Chapter 7, I could not contain myself.
Stravo, pardon me, Master Stravo, you are The Man. While the whole of Chapter 7 is perfect (in my opinon), I offer my favorite passages for reflection:
The Big Plot you have working in the background (Q and his opponent player, whomever he may be) is truly a magnificen stroke. It takes what could be a darn good fiction and turns it into a damn good fiction.
Master Strovo, thank you for sharing with us mortals.
NOW GET BACK TO WORK!
Stravo, pardon me, Master Stravo, you are The Man. While the whole of Chapter 7 is perfect (in my opinon), I offer my favorite passages for reflection:
Here I am, merrily reading along when this gem gets dropped into my lap. I got the heebie jeebies after reading this (especially the chopping of the air and darkness descending upon foolish Captain Ochoa). I was scared and invigorated!He stopped and let his mind flash back to his yard. Rachel stood, hands clutching his wife who knelt by his daughter. A storm broke overhead and big fat drops of rain cascaded down on top of them, staining Rachel’s immaculate white dress. She reached out for him.
“Daddy?”
He tried to reach out to her.
“I love you, honey.”
The buzz became a hiss as it touched flesh and then there was only the pain and the darkness.
Very nicely done. Though I could quibble about signal strength over time, I won't as it's a nitpick, and I hate nitpickers. One more Star Wars cliche and the circle will be compete."In other words my lord, it seems that this transmission originated a long time ago in a galaxy far far away.”
One of the best intrachapter seguays I have ever seen. Beautifully done, Master Stravo! (Dare I say it? Bravo, Stravo!)"And that is my report.” Kirk finished. He was standing in the office of Commodore William Chang. Chang was staring at Kirk for a moment too long. Kirk leaned in a little.
You are doing a bang up job of capturing the essence of these characters. I just thought I'd toss that in.“Jim, what in the hell is at Bajor?” McCoy asked in exasperation.
Kirk smiled for a moment.
“Hope.”
The Big Plot you have working in the background (Q and his opponent player, whomever he may be) is truly a magnificen stroke. It takes what could be a darn good fiction and turns it into a damn good fiction.
Master Strovo, thank you for sharing with us mortals.
NOW GET BACK TO WORK!
PLease, please....I am just your humble storyteller and as long as you're entertained I am most definately happy. A hint for all you readers...the mysterious chess player is someone from either ST or SW canon, so the biggest hint is right in front of your "eyes"Master Strovo, thank you for sharing with us mortals.
NOW GET BACK TO WORK!
Thanks again for all your support, and THANK YOU CorSec for quoting some of your favorite lines, because its hard work writing and its cool to see that some of the lines you wanted people to like were indeed enjoyed.
Wherever you go, there you are.
Ripped Shirt Monkey - BOTMWriter's Guild Cybertron's Finest Justice League
This updated sig brought to you by JME2
Ripped Shirt Monkey - BOTMWriter's Guild Cybertron's Finest Justice League
This updated sig brought to you by JME2
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Master of Ossus
- Darkest Knight
- Posts: 18213
- Joined: 2002-07-11 01:35am
- Location: California
Believe us, Stravo. We are VERY happy with what your work is looking like. I also am looking forward to when the identity of Q's friend is revealed.
This is a triumph, thusfar, Stravo. Keep it up, and remember what you have learned. Listen to the characters, and keep the words flowing. Don't force them when they don't want to come. Good luck, and thanks again.
This is a triumph, thusfar, Stravo. Keep it up, and remember what you have learned. Listen to the characters, and keep the words flowing. Don't force them when they don't want to come. Good luck, and thanks again.
"Sometimes I think you WANT us to fail." "Shut up, just shut up!" -Two Guys from Kabul
Latinum Star Recipient; Hacker's Cross Award Winner
"one soler flar can vapririze the planit or malt the nickl in lass than millasacit" -Bagara1000
"Happiness is just a Flaming Moe away."
Latinum Star Recipient; Hacker's Cross Award Winner
"one soler flar can vapririze the planit or malt the nickl in lass than millasacit" -Bagara1000
"Happiness is just a Flaming Moe away."
It continues to be very good. But I think you could improve the way Picard acts. IMHO it doesnt feel like him.
"I got so high last night I figured out how clouds work." - the miracle of marijuana
Legalize It!
Proud Member of the local 404 Professional Cynics Union.
"Every Revolution carries within it the seeds of its own destruction."-Dune
Legalize It!
Proud Member of the local 404 Professional Cynics Union.
"Every Revolution carries within it the seeds of its own destruction."-Dune
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Asdeed
- Padawan Learner
- Posts: 175
- Joined: 2002-07-05 01:41pm
- Location: Well if I knew, I wouldn't be lost, now would I!
- Contact:
What a story!
I'm lovin this story so far, and much thanks for the clue on the identity of the mystery player. I hope you have some entertaining plans on how to reveal his identity?
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Typhonis 1
- Rabid Monkey Scientist
- Posts: 5791
- Joined: 2002-07-06 12:07am
- Location: deep within a secret cloning lab hidden in the brotherhood of the monkey thread
Q`s friend
I know who he is. I know who he is. But I`m not telling
Brotherhood of the Bear Monkey Clonemaster , Anti Care Bears League,
Bureaucrat and BOFH of the HAB,
Skunk Works director of the Mecha Maniacs,
Black Mage,
I AM BACK! let the SCIENCE commence!
Bureaucrat and BOFH of the HAB,
Skunk Works director of the Mecha Maniacs,
Black Mage,
I AM BACK! let the SCIENCE commence!
If it's someone from ST I have no idea! Who in SW has silver eyes?
Η ζωή, η ζωή εδω τελειώνει!
"Science is one cold-hearted bitch with a 14" strap-on" - Masuka 'Dexter'
"Angela is not the woman you think she is Gabriel, she's done terrible things"
"So have I, and I'm going to do them all to you." - Sylar to Arthur 'Heroes'
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Dark Primus
- Jedi Master
- Posts: 1279
- Joined: 2002-07-04 02:48am
Congratulations on your ascention to the rank of Jedi knight, at my post rate I'll have to cut me a Sith lord in half and shove him down a reactor core (What is it about the Sith and Reactor cores?!) before I get the rank. Thats neither here nor there. I am so glad you're enjoying this story as I am writing it...BTW I am also enjoying the fact that the identity of the player has you intrigued, certainly not a "I am your father" moment but it will be a nice touch.Cpt_Frank wrote:Now with my 500. post which will be my promotion to the rank of a Jedi KnightI thought I do something useful and praise again Stravo for this awesome piece of fiction. I'm anticipating the next chapter.
Eleas: I think you're right. IIRC his eyes were silver (gotta check on that).
Wherever you go, there you are.
Ripped Shirt Monkey - BOTMWriter's Guild Cybertron's Finest Justice League
This updated sig brought to you by JME2
Ripped Shirt Monkey - BOTMWriter's Guild Cybertron's Finest Justice League
This updated sig brought to you by JME2
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Crazy_Vasey
- Jedi Council Member
- Posts: 1571
- Joined: 2002-07-13 12:56pm