..From the Theater Creator.. Oh gentle thespian who loves a good Trek read once in a while. You've hit a mecca of canon (True to Television series facts and characters) fan fiction. This is the third showing of a Voyagerliveaction adventure in our third writing season.. Voyagerliveaction is a live ongoing Star Trek Theater made just for sharing the joy of creative writing in year long television episodes of fan co-written fiction . http://www.voyagerliveaction.com United States Showcase Site http://www.geocities.com/voyagerliveaction Mirror Site. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/voyagerliveaction Distribution Writer's Hub Site. Voyagerliveaction--A Live Theater Star Trek Story co-written by fan members on an email driven Yahoogroups site and seen in four countries by an audience of thousands. Nothing is preplanned, nothing rehearsed, This is true live theater with words. The storylines which developed in the first two years took many honors in fan fiction realms abroad. This is a collected work of fanfic'ers like you who've banded together on a Yahoogroups list to write a story true to all four Star Trek TV Series from a live action theater site. They spruced up the fiction with sounds, images and animated movies of their own. Starring whichever character individually cast they wished from the four TV shows. If the role was seen on TV, it is here, in our cast as well. The setting is now, in current time Star Trek on Earth, at the little shown Starfleet Academy/Headquarters/Medical complex itself, with crew who are a mystery until they mysteriously appear as their authors bring them in. The Site is called Voyagerliveaction, and NOTHING you'll read was preplanned. It was simply write as you go. Each author had the creative floor whenever they submitted a page within their roles. The style of each character is reflected in their author "animator". Those lurkers present on the list were treated with eye and ear candy whenever an author sent pictures and sounds with their story pages. It's intriguing watching each author's flavor evolve over time within the adventure. This story's premise starts with a bang that isn't what it seems and settles into a mystery far larger than anything any one author could have come up with on their own. It shows the joy of role playing in the discipline of creative writing in a round robin setting. We've been graced with honors from Yahoogroups Site of the Week (Oct 2000 ) and have attracted actors to write with us. One from Star Trek is here now in two very surprising writer roles. She joined us in Nov, 2000, during week 48 or so and is still acting in her fiction roles for Year 2002. Rated PG-13 for all audiences. This adventure is year THREE, now just completing its last few weeks of "web" time as of 31 December 2002. If you like what you see here when you are done,years ONE and TWO are also completed in yet another set of year long episodes for a satisfying read. You can find them here. http://www.voyagerliveaction/completestory.html Best of all, you can help shape our fourth adventure, now ongoing, live, in 2003, with us after your visit reading. We've a sizable fan following to read what you have to offer as a new writer to our ranks. How does 18,543 strike you? They tune in every day in "Now showing" windows in Nepal, Australia and Germany and the United States. And 70 actual site members who get to see the show in all its graphics glory. Huge for a PBEM. Come, let us entertain you. Stay and read this adventure and leave with a smile on your face, or come to the Site to lurk as it happens..or,... be one of us. Be your character from TV. Write what you've always wanted him or her to do. And control what happens next. :) We are Located at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/voyagerliveaction Writer's Distribution Hub The graphic site is here. http://www.voyagerliveaction Showcase Site Please, grab a cold drink and some nibbles and join us by the fanfic fireplace. You're in for a treat. That's only a short scroll down below. Total read time can be from one to four hours depending on your fic devouring skills :) Welcome to Year THREE... See you Shipside. =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =^= Let the "Play" begin.. :) =^= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= Year Three Voyagerliveaction Theater 2002. ************************************** WEEK ONE RECAP 01-08-02 http://www.geocities.com/voyagerliveaction Graphic Site http://groups.yahoo.com/group/voyagerliveaction Writing Site ******************************** From : "patti keiper" Subject : [voyagerliveaction] The Wrong Side of the Bed.. Date : Tue, 08 Jan 2002 03:05:45 +0000 #The Time is 0700.# came a soft peeling, computerized voice in a sultry alto. #The Time is 0700.# it repeated. The form sprawled under the silver sheets grunted. "Hmmph?" and flipped over, upsetting a stack of datapadds over a low table to one side of the bed awash in brilliant sunlight. Leonard Bones McCoy wasn't even awake when he said. "Computer! Dim the d@mned lights!! For crying out l--" #San Francisco is experiencing direct ten degree azimuth. It is full daybreak. Cannot comply. No illumination was initiated upon nightfall.# McCoy's groan punctuated the computer's programmed logic and he attempted to snuff it out with a copious pillow over his own face along with the sunlight. But the wakening tones kept sounding, dragging him the rest of the way out of sleep. ::It's been a full decade since I've had to obey Academy wakeup calls. I've enough rank for FIVE cadets.:: he thought. "My quarters should be IMMUNE to you. Why don't you just go blow an isolinear chip somewhere and hush up?" he mumbled to the overhead speaker. "I don't have to teach any class until 0900 today." and his voice softened into a snore from the muffled mumble."Let a tired old country doctor sleep. It's Monday for Pete's sake...." #Correction. Today is Tuesday.# Bones McCoy sat bolt upright. "What?!! Ohmygod.." and he shot out of bed, knocking the rest of his lecture padds off the veranda to cascade colorfully onto the floor. The sun's glare through his officer's special guest quarters blinded him just enough that he didn't see the one that got underneath him and skidded both his feet out from under him. The momentum from his aborted dash for the sonic shower suddenly made him aerodynamically airborne..... Bones remembered two seconds of Starfleet gray walls followed by steel blue carpetting as he did a backflip and landed on his jaw and stomach. His left arm wasn't so lucky and took the brunt of his weight across the wrist. SNAP!! he felt and a white hot world of pain greeted him when he hit the floor the rest of the way. "Oooohhhhh... shi----" and then his air forced out of his chest, and the wind was knocked out soundly from his lungs. He lay there, stunned and breathless. Stars greeted his eyes and so did an awful buzzing in his ears from the collision with the floor. ::Don't Starfleet designers believe in creature comfort?! That must be concrete under there...:: His chin complained with a stinging of sudden deep rug burn. #Do you require medical assistance?# the automated Academy computer bot asked... The tiniest of wheezes escaped him as Bones fought his autonomic reflexes in an attempt to breathe in. But another part of his mind was all doctor. ::I'll bet fifty credits on the length of T'Pau's ears I broke four metacarpals in that one..:: He decided to lay still, belly down, and think about something more pleasant. The computer, not getting a reply from its cabin occupant, carried on into a further step of protocol. #Lifesigns indicate injury. Summoning personnel. Please remain calm.# ::In a pig's eye!!:: McCoy sputtered, still trying to gasp in around his jolted wind. ::Just how in the world am I going to conduct my seminar on the facets of human/non-human hybridation with a fractured arm?? I'm late already! Oh,,... Jim's gonna rake me over the coals for this little stunt. He's always onto me about my messy quarters like an old mother hen.:: An electronic shimmer and hum met his ears while he lay there staring at his burning, ballooning wrist He felt himself gasping without a sound like a Kanapesian Fish on land. "....Please state the nature of the m-- " Then a new-ish Mach One EMH turned, obeying its sensors and it turned toward the distressed lifesign registering in the room. It said, "Ah,.. Doctor. Looks like you've fallen and can't get up." he quipped, smiling mildly.. Then his grin faded and he got to work. He quickly noticed Bones's lack of noises airwise and remedied the situation with a fortuitous hypospray from his away medkit. The missing wind in Bones's chest promptly returned and McCoy took in great gasping breaths while he allowed the Academy EMH to sit him up and steady him against the side of the bed. Admiral McCoy was hurt but he wasn't beneath venting a little. "...*GaSSSpppp.* " he breathed, a second after the delivering medication relaxed his diaphram muscles, allowing him to breathe again. "Gee, how ob- observant of you ther-- *gasp..* Did that annoying sentient computer alarm clock tell you that or did your logic chips emulate a Vulcan to accomplish the same diagnosis??" he snapped. He instantly regretted his sharp retort when the movement made his broken wrist bones grate together. The EMH kneeling before him hardly blinked, in fact, he replied with a little acid wit himself. "Did that fall damage your cranium or are you always this overwhelmingly charming to someone you've just met?" McCoy sputtered on.. still sarcastic. (SEE SOUND BITE ATTACHED AT TOP OF THIS POST) Bones blinked his watering eyes long enough to really peer at his benefactor..He noted a balding pate instead of the usual sandy fullness on his head. "Wait a minute. I thought Starfleet Medical upgraded the bioflag emergency system with Mach V model EMH's last year ever since the Prometheus came back behind Voyager through that d@mned Borg slipstream node." "They did.. I'm your next door neighbor who was scheduled to attend your supposed seminar.. I heard you fall and noted the computer's query into your state of health through my autonomous emitter.." the EMH said, getting a baseline reading of McCoy's fracture. Bones harrumphed in his throat. "You've got..to be kidding.. Starfleet doesn't send holograms to the Academy to ..to ..to take classes like some first year cadet.. They just program whatever they feel like it into the computational matrices..." "Not mine." the EMH said pleasantly. He supported McCoy's arm with one hand as he ran an ossicular stazer beam over the site, mending the shattered bones under it. "You did quite a little number here. How many backflips did you do befor--" "Never you mind... that little tricorder's got all the data you need for any treatment here." "I can always ask the computer to give me a playback." the EMH dangled.. McCoy wrenched his now healed wrist out of the holodoc's grip. "Oh no.. I can believe a wakeup call personality in the Academy's comm system. I can believe that somebody told you to visit Starfleet Medical with that 'going solo' thingy on your arm to record some high brow medical topics from old fogies like me.. But no way in Hades am I going to believe that every cabin here is rigged with Big Brother!" "It's not.. I'm just checking on how well you respond to subtle verbal stimuli like every good emergency medical rescuer does in a trauma related case. Congratulations, doctor. You passed. You may now get to your feet to pace in indignation and rant at me all you like." he added blandly. "I've just certified you as fully recovered." the EMH replied. That shut Bones up. He rose, but sat on the edge of his bed while the holodoc calmly picked up every one of his floor scattered datapadds and handed them to McCoy. "Thankyou,...doctor....?" he prompted for a name. "I don't yet have one... Captain Janeway and Chakotay have been at me for years since we all got back for my answer, but I haven't had time to think of one just yet." Bones was curious. "You know the Voyager Captain and Commander? " The holodoc nodded as he put his treating equipment away back into his field medkit. "I was pressed into more than overtime duty on their starship for seven years when their living physician was killed by Caretaker actions." "I haven't gotten a chance to meet them yet." McCoy said seriously, but a little awed. "Heard they were here at Headquarters to lecture some. Just read yesterday that they were going to speak in my class as guest speakers on my topic of study. Said they knew of a hybridized human themselves.. Like I know Spock." "You're referring to B'Elanna Torres, lately gone off world. She's half human and half Klingon. Unfortunately, she won't be around this semester to lecture on the subject herself so Kathryn and Chakotay are doing it for her..." the doc said mildly. That reminded McCoy of his very late tardiness. "Ohmygod, we've got to get going... If you are telling me the truth about being on Earth to learn a few things. Just tag along with me and help me carry these things to class!!" Bones said handing the stack of data padds hastily at the EMH. He rushed toward the door. A clearing of a throat stopped him in his tracks. McCoy turned around and regarded the hologram giving him a head to toe appraising stare. Bones looked down and saw he was still in his Starfleet issue gray T- Shirt and shorts.. "oh... heh. heh." he said sheepishly.. "I forgot.." "Just make sure it's just natural aging doing that and not the results of your fall...." the EMH said. "Oh ha. ha." Bones said dryly. "I'll comm the lecturn ahead and tell him to show your documentary to your class first to buy us time to arrive there. Go change.." McCoy grinned toothily and headed for the sonic shower.. but he turned back immediately. "Hey doc.." he called out. "Yeah?" the EMH answered. "Toss me your medkit. I gotta evap these rugburns on my chin, or someone will think I lost the barfight last night..." "Barfight?" "Yeah. Me and my buddies stopped some offworld lackies from tribble racing in NewChinaTown.." "Tribble racing..?" "Yeah. I bet on the winning tribble and got to keep him. Its trainers got a little sore over the conditions of the bet and wanted their champion back. I told them no and called down security on them. We had to delay the undergrounders until the musclemen came to haul them away." "Where is it now?" "Where is what?" "The tribble..." McCoy's eyes finally dawned comprehension. "Oh. Him. Don't know. He got out of our skimmer somehow and the last I saw of him, he was rolling across the shuttle lot." "Oh. Boothby isn't going to like a tribble running loose in his gardens.." "It's good for him. After all, he's been weeding those beds out there for almost fifty years now. He was out there when Jim was just a wet behind the ears lieutenant..." "He was there when Captain Janeway was one, too." the EMH added. "Tell you what doctor.." "What?" McCoy said from the sonic shower he just turned on. "Get dressed and we'll visit the Academy Sickbay. Then we can get a tracer on your truant tribble and properly regrow your torn chin all at the same time.." the EMH quipped. "I'm not too keen on weathering Boothby's wrath when he finds tribble toothmarks in his petunias. I want to cage him long before then." "I don't think any technology's good enough to track tribbles. " McCoy said ruefully. "I heard of one fellow me and Jim sidelined to a Space Station to round up a tribble outbreak. What was his name again? Oh, yeah.. Cyrano Jones.. Took him 24.5 years to do it with every sensor and scanner and probe on the entire base. But why worry? What's one little tribble gonna do here? We're a hundred kilometers away from the nearest quatrotriticale field." "That's what I'm afraid of..." the holodoc emitted. "Huh.." Bones said frankly, not understanding that answer from his newfound medical friend at all. "Let's get to sickbay.." and he looked at his wrist chronometer. "I've only got a half an hour before my film is over in class. We've gotta rush a bit to cover here." "Fine. Let's go.. I know the best route to dodge Boothby's location on the grounds. Being attached to the computer, I always know where he is." "I'll trust your judgement.." Bones said grudgingly. ---------------------------------------------------- McCoy and the EMH arrived at the huge sickbay complex in Starfleet Headquarters on the water side of San Francisco Bay.. It was almost as large as Starfleet Headquarters and the Academy combined. All three buildings faced each other in a triad across sculpted elegant grounds and glowed like bright, white snow in the morning sunlight. They soon were inside. Bones plopped his butt on the nearest biobed and brought his hands together with a resounding clap. "Let's get that photostatic rear in gear. We've both got a full day ahead of us.." The EMH rolled his brown unreal eyes. "I'm not the one who's teaching today, am I?" "No, but you're gonna be a solid notetaker, and believe me. I can make the best of transcribers sweat bullets with one of my rapid fire power lectures." Bones grinned. "You're forgetting something." "Oh?" Bones asked, waving at a cute young nurse passing curiously by as the EMH healed his scuffed and hastily protopatched chin. "I'm not human. I've got holographic capability. I can keep up with anything that speaks." and the EMH smiled a little smugly. "Don't be so sure, doc." McCoy winked. "I always lecture with a Vulcan computer, tandemly linked." The smile wiped off the EMH's face a second later. ----------------------------------------- (attachments) Image: Starfleet Academy grounds in bright sun. Audio: McCoy- I've got sickbay ready. Image: McCoy in a grey T-shirt. *animated gif* A medical tricorder spinning. Image: The EMH- Voyager's holodoc giving a shocked look in a close up. ***************************************** From : "Roxy Dee" Subject : [voyagerliveaction] Here's to Coffee and....Donuts~~ Date : Tue, 08 Jan 2002 18:23:43 +0000 On the far side of the main Headquarters building, a fair haired, hazel eyed captain in old style uniform hurried with his equipment across the gardens of the Academy grounds. He was reviewing notes on a tricorder equally old style and somehow, his feet stayed on the ornate stone path weaving in between the evergreen bushes and flowerbeds adorning it on either side. He was at a good clip, moving along with a coffee cup in his other hand when a voice called out, "Watch your course captain!" Kirk looked up in time to narrowly avoid falling over a wheel barrel full of red and white petunias right in the middle of the sidewalk. He pinwheeled his arms, losing his coffee but recovering his balance quickly as his shins snugged up against the handles of the wheelbarrel. "Whoaaa.." Boothby rose from his flower bed and caught the sailing coffee cup without spilling a drop. He waited patiently for Kirk to notice then handed it back to him. "Don't tell me Academy fashions are returning to those tacky gold pj's with the balloon pants again. Seems like the younger generation these days likes to copy the old." James T Kirk regarded the gardener before him. "Boothby?.. Aren't you.. aren't you dead... or something? You were weeding this very same flower bed thirty years ago when I was a cadet." The wrinkled old man in the straw hat laughed and replied in a stern voice. "They haven't been able to replace me nor find someone with instincts as good as mine for finding the really good ones. And I'm not talking about flowers here, son." Kirk looked sharply at Boothby. "So it's true. You wander the grounds using gardening as your cover while you check out and find cadets who show command potential from the sidelines." Boothby chuckled and scratched his sweaty head. "Took you that long to figure that out Mr. Kirk? I'm surprised at you." Kirk grinned ruefully in amusement when the older man ignored rank and called him by his old cadet title. "Spock was the one who put two and two together over breakfast. He saw you out here earlier." Kirk replied. "So..You see everything.. Who else is here on the grounds besides me? If you tell me, I'll explain why I'm wearing my old Enterprise uniform." and he snatched off Boothby's sun hat quickly in jest. That bait caught Boothby hook, line and sinker. "Hey.. Give that back...! Do you want to give me heat stroke or something?" But he saw the sharp tone leave the gardener's voice and his eyes shifted to the ground. ::Got you. :: Kirk thought. ::Thanks Spock. For giving me a rundown on Boothby's psyche. I'll get what I want to hear now.:: "I shouldn't be telling you this, Mr. Kirk. But, since you lived up to the potential I told them you would on Enterprise. I think I will." And he leaned on his hoe sliding his handerchief off his neck to let the morning breeze dry it. "A lot of your old crewmates from your first captaincy are here. I saw McCoy and that old Mach I EMH from Voyager slinking around avoiding me for some reason. I've also seen crew from Mr. Picard's ship from the Enterprise four times your ship's descendent." the wizened caretaker squinted sharply at Kirk. "Certain captains I know standing before me right now wouldn't want to tell ol Boothby how he managed to blow up two starships under his command? No?? All right. " he said when he saw Kirk properly looked pained at the memory. "I heard why you did it for both of them, anyway. Just wanted to see you show the proper respect for those fine ships passing, Mr. Kirk. Rare blooms they were." Kirk smoothed down the material of his old gold uniform in reminder. "My this shirt is comfortable.. I've got it on again for very good reason..." Boothby held up a gnarled hand. "Wait..! I'll tell you what you want to know. Just don't go yet.." Kirk smiled and put his hand on his hip, sipping his steaming coffee lightly. "Do tell, Mr. Boothby.." Boothby winced and mumbled. "I hate it when my chosen cadets finally get to be captains. They learn how to push all my buttons in a way I hate the most. Baiting for information. I've seen one young gal from that far flung Deep Space Nine by that wormhole here too. You know the one. She's got a worm in her stomach." "Jadzia Dax?" Kirk said. He remembered her. She was a pretty face he saw in a time loop a long time ago, operating a bridge science station covered in tribbles. He shook his head at the memory. And added.. "Don't become a captain, Boothby. Time paradoxes have a tendency to stick in your brain when they really didn't happen." "Huh?" Boothby said. "Never mind. Do continue.." Kik encouraged, "I've got to get going in a minute or so..." and he stepped away pointing down the stone path. "Wait..! I saw another captain here. The one with the steel bun and her indian sidekick.. Yeah, I remember now. Miss Janeway. Another cadet I marked as special. She's here and they were headed the same way I saw your Bones McCoy was heading. Towards Starfleet Medical's main symposium building." Kirk handed Boothby his hat back. "Thankyou.. You know how deep the red tape is around here for learning just who's in Headquarters on Earth at any one time. It's like pulling teeth." "Why do you think I'm out here in the fresh air instead of doing my work in some dark dank stuffy highbrow office??" Boothby retorted. "Oh yeah... you'll be running into Scotty around here somewhere. I can smell him." "Smell him?" Kirk asked. "You'll find out.." Boothby nodded. "Now about the uniform?" he said, smacking Kirk in the chest with a dirty hand. "Oh yes.." Kirk said smiling. "I'm heading a very special secret project in Building Five over there..." Boothby grunted. "Oh you mean the one with the big donut in it...." "How did you learn that?" Kirk said in surprise. "Transporting the Guardian of Forever from its ancestral home to Earth was kept under tight wraps." "Flowers always know Mr. Kirk." Boothby said. "The wistera vines are blooming in daylight around those windows. They only do that if a moon is showing somewhere. And with that glowing donut's flashing multiple histories at you project people, those vines get to see a lot of moonlight now don't they? Doesn't take a captain to figure out how that kind of thing can happen. The only answer is a time door." "hmmm," Kirk mumbled. "The flowers are tattling on us.." "Your secret's safe with me Mr. Kirk. Only another gardener would notice those blooms blooming oddly like that around Building Five. Like your Sulu perhaps. But I haven't seen him around here yet.." Kirk smiled. "Hmm.. Enterprise, Enterprise D, and Voyager personnel all on Earth. Interesting.. I wonder why we're all here...." he said. "Hey, we had a deal." Boothby snapped. "Info for why you're back in your yellow pajamas..." "So we did, Mr. Boothby." Kirk said a little uncomfortable. He mumbled out. "The Guardian didn't recognize me until I put on this uniform. It only answers my questions if I wear this outfit.." he said from the corner of his mouth. "aaaahhhhhhh.." Boothby said. And it was his turn to smile. Kirk silenced him by smacking a hand holding his empty coffee cup against Boothby's apron." Hooo!.. Would you look at that?? Look right over there, by that tree..." "Where..?" Boothby said. "Right over there. I might be seeing things but I think I see .... a tribble sitting on the lawn??" Boothby didn't even turn around. "Right.. and there's Romulans in the cafeteria..." "No really. Boothby. It's small and brown and it just rolled that way.." "Not going to fall for it captain." "Ah, well, You'll soon find out. If you know everything happening at Starfleet Academy and at Headquarters. You'll soon know this too. Better listen to your long line of captains candidates, Mr. Boothby. Sometimes we are just a little bit better than their old teacher appraiser hiding in the flower beds..Carry on sir.." And he stepped on his way to Building Five. Boothby tossed Kirk's coffee cup into his wheel barrel. "Hmmphh. smart aleck captains. Thinking they can tease me into thinking that... huh..Tribbles indeed." he grunted sarcastically. --------------------------------------------------------------- Kirk arrived at his work station deep in the bowels of Building Five and told security about the betraying vines clinging around the windows. They promptly adjusted the security fields in all the windows to block out light as well as sounds. ::No doubt the vines won't be blooming tommorrow in daylight. Now will they?:: He saw the dark and silent Guardian of Forever sitting below him in a huge hanger in the very dirt from its planet. Starfleet was very careful to have transported the time portal with a large bit of rigoloth underneath it and most of the rock strata it sat upon as well. Even the atmosphere around it was climate controlled and identical to its home planet's. ::It's fussy about that. Couldn't believe it when the Guardian told me to move a rock two centimeters more to the left down there.:: he grinned. He nodded to officers as he descended the stairwell and popped through the containment field into the guardian's envelope. The air was spicy and the same howling wind, simulated though it may be, filled his ears. The same feeling of awe filled him as many memories surfaced. ::Edith Keeler.. Bone's face white with overdose. :: Then he approached the Guardian and it spoke, it's huge stony arch filling with bluish milky light. #A QUESTION. LONG HAVE I AWAITED A QUESTION. LET ME BE YOUR GATEWAY...# Kirk stepped forward. "It is time. We are prepared to fulfill your request, Guardian. We will allow your traveler to visit among us. It is agreed by my superiors.." #THEN I WILL BRING HER FORTH.# Kirk waved both medical and security personnel into the Guardian's enclosure and nodded to Guardian. "We are ready...." The timeless fog filled the stony circle gate and multiple times flashed before their eyes. One scene came into being. A short haired blond woman with a phaser challenging an oil slick being guarding a crashed shuttlecraft by a cliff. The evil being Armus flung an energy bolt at the woman and she went flying backward. Equally fast, Kirk saw the Guardian deflect a part of that attack, so only a fraction of Armus's power reached the woman. Then it caught her before she struck the ground and angled her fall towards the watching Starfleet officers. Kirk braced himself as the woman fell through the portal into his arms. He lowered her to the dirt ground and felt her neck for a pulse. It was there.. "..what...?" the woman moaned. Kirk held her still. "Easy. Just relax. You're hurt. Let my medical officers have a look at you. What's your name?" He nodded to the Guardian and the gateway went dark and silent. The billowing fog went away. Kirk dragged the woman in mustard yellow backwards away from the Guardian to his waiting team. Then he supported her head in his lap, holding his hand over a gash in her forehead to control bleeding and checked how she was breathing. The woman coughed and said, "It's Tasha.. Tasha Yar.. and I'm on a rescue mission to save my friend Deanna Troi.." ------------------------- (attachments) Image: Kirk leaning on his elbow. Image: Yar promo Paramount shot. *animated gif* Kirk beams home from the Guardian of Forever planet. ************************* From : "Katherine Bird" Subject : Temporal Hide and Seek. Date : Tue, 08 Jan 2002 20:46:17 +0000 Lt. Uhura was in the main reception area of Starfleet Medical. Nurse Christine Chapel had just had breakfast with her and her shipmate was now checking in with the Main Sickbay to see if any new patients were arrived during the night. "Psstt..." a voice came from a doorway. Uhura looked up and saw Christine motioning her into the main ward of Starfleet medical. "Christine? Wha-" "Shh.. It's the only way we'll get you inside.. Now play along." and Nurse Chapel took Uhura's arm and announced to the staff milling about as the two of them made their way to Chapel's temporary office. "You said you were feeling light headed lieutenant?" she said loudly.. Uhura caught on fast to the act and said, "Uh, yeah.. right after I had some of Spock's Plohmek Soup...ohhh.." she groaned. Some quick med techs helped Uhura onto a biobed and hurried back to their duties when Christine waved them away.. "It's ok, boys.. I got her." Christine waited until they were well away from earshot while she scanned Uhura with a tricorder she barely knew how to operate... "Man .. these new fangled things.. I'd give anything to have my old tricorder back." Uhura giggled, then stifled it and continued to play her feigned role of sick outpatient. "Against the rules according to the Guardian of Forever. Did you find out why Captain Kirk pulled us from the past into the present yet?" Christine gave Uhura an amused glance and said, "Here, uh Mrs. Uhura? This should fix you right off. Looks like I'm reading just a mild reaction to the Minhk bean broth from the soup you had.." she said loudly. She injected Uhura with a vitamin shot as cover. Then she added softly. "Have you ever known Captain Kirk to tell us the nitty gritty on any mission of his?" "No..." Uhura admitted and the two women laughed, and immediately hid it again. "Feels odd being in the future like this. I mean who knows if we'll run into Scotty or any one else from the ship here." Christine scoffed, "As if Starfleet didn't already know about mingling Starfleet crew from different times. You can't tell me they don't know about Building Five..." "Shhhh.." Uhura said. "The walls have ears...." and she pointed up. "There's a personality program in the comm system. It's in every cabin serving as a personal medical sentry and wake up call application. It's probably in here too. Watching us.." Christine and Uhura fell silent until Nurse Chapel whispered. "Our computer is much better on Enterprise. Only activates when you hit a switch or verbally order it on.." Uhura grabbed her arm. "I've even heard they have holographic doctors in this time.." "Yuck. What ever happened to the healing power of the human touch. I can just imagine what Dr. McCoy in this time thought when that particular medical advancement came along. Anyway I found out where Bones is right now. He's on his way here. Apparently, the elderly admiral took a fall and was treated in his quarters. The computer told me one of these EMH holos is accompanying him here even as we speak." Chapel admitted. "Is he all right?" "Oh yes,, a simple wrist break, now fully healed. But he'll be here any second for some quick cosmetic repair.." "Oh. In that case." and Uhura jumped down from the bed, smoothing her short red skirt. Chapel herded her into her temporary office. "Captain Kirk says we can interact with anyone from this time without causing problems. The Guardian is protecting us all from paradox only so long as we remain on Earth. We're walking a tightrope keeping the Building Five mission quiet to those directly involved only. But I think all the secrecy is warranted. The woman Captain Kirk is bringing back is very important to ending the risk to Captain Picard's ex- ships counselor." "Is this Deanna Troi very integral to this time period?" Uhura said, "I haven't seen much of her on the newsvids or documentaries in my quarters last night. I did see a wonderful holodocu on the Return of the USS Voyager. Now that... was exciting. It seems this starship was missing for seven years and she actually ...got HOME.." Christine looked at her friend. "Voyager? Now that's familiar. Oh yes.. I saw that ship's coding on the medalert screen when I was looking up Dr. McCoy's whereabouts. That's the ident code on the EMH bringing him in." "Really?" "Yeah.. and that ship's captain and first officer's medical files are here, too. They are here as guest speakers for one of Dr. McCoy's classes this week." "Must be some command crew in those two to have saved a starship like that." Uhura said. "I'd like to meet them.." Both women peeked around the edge of the office door until they saw Dr. McCoy leading a strange balding man into the ward. McCoy's chin was scuffed badly and he held a hand over it. The two Enterprise women watched their conversation unfold. >Bones plopped his butt on the nearest biobed >and brought his hands together with a resounding >clap. "Let's get that photostatic rear in gear. We've >both got a full day ahead of us.." >The EMH rolled his brown unreal eyes. "I'm not >the one who's teaching today, am I?" >"No, but you're gonna be a solid notetaker, and >believe me. I can make the best of transcribers >sweat bullets with one of my rapid fire power >lectures." Bones grinned. >"You're forgetting something." >"Oh?" Bones asked, waving at a cute young nurse >passing curiously by as the EMH healed his scuffed >and hastily protopatched chin. >"I'm not human. I've got holographic capability. >I can keep up with anything that speaks." >and the EMH smiled a little smugly. >"Don't be so sure, doc." McCoy winked. "I always >lecture with a Vulcan computer, tandemly linked." >The smile wiped off the EMH's face a second later. Nurse Chapel and Lt. Uhura giggled again. "Look how old Bones looks. My.. I hope I can get the gray out of my hair when I'm his age." Christine said. "We may be still young and beautiful. But it's the spirit that counts Chris..." Uhura said. "Tell me. Does McCoy know about Building number Five?" "No. Not yet. Captain Kirk said to get him through his lecturing day first before we crack the news about OUR being here... We've got to make sure that Tasha Yar is treated for her injuries adequately before we do that. We've got to get from Tasha the reason why she came forward in time to save Deanna Troi.. The Guardian must have told her something while bringing her here." Said Chapel. "All right.. We'll wait hidden until this Tasha arrives in sickbay to be sure she's going to be all right." Uhura agreed. "Won't be long. There's a new system in place in the communications grid in this time. It's called the emergency bioflag network. It reads on the EMH channels and links to every crewman's combadge on the Grounds. If any medical emergency occurs. Sickbay knows about it.." Christine said. "Wow.. I've got to look at that communications board setup. Sounds ingenius.." Uhura smiled in amazement. "We can do that from here.. Keep an eye out for Kirk's arrival with Tasha Yar into the ward. Shouldn't be long.." Christine said hitting a few buttons on her terminal in her office. "Whose office is this anyway?" Uhura asked. "The Head of Starfleet Medical. Chief Physician Dr. Beverly Crusher.. She's off for the day." "Lucky us..." "Again. We've nothing to worry about, the Guardian will prevent any time paradox with all of us mingling together from so many ships and times like I said before.." A summons on the overhead comm attracted the two Enterprise women.. #Incoming patient. Emergency transport..Biobed Two..# Uhura and Nurse Chapel watched as their older, current times captain appeared boldly still in his gold command uniform leaning over an injured woman who was beamed in stretched out on the bed.. He was keeping a cut from oozing blood on her head with his bare hands. Nurse Chapel started to stride forward instinctively to help but Uhura pulled her back into the darkened office. "No, Christine.. McCoy will see you.. Let them handle Tasha.." Sure enough the bald holodoctor came forward and said, "Please state the nature of the medical emergency..." and he left Bones McCoy's side to go to Kirk and Yar. McCoy wasn't beyond going there either. He quickly went to the distressed woman's side, looking into her pupils as she blacked out. He didn't even blink at Captain Kirk as the man was the same older age as he was. "D@mmit Jim, now what? Move aside and let me take a look at her...." Kirk said to the EMH, "She was struck by an energy beam from an alien creature of some kind.." The EMH nodded and his reopened his field medical kit to scan Tasha with his med tricorder. Kirk stepped back and let the two doctors, one real and one holo, work. He just happened to glance over towards Beverly's office and he noticed Christine and Uhura peeking from the darkness over there. He pointed at his chronometer and waved them to hide again.. "..Not yet.." he mouthed the words without making a sound and pointed to McCoy's back. "...We..know..." Uhura mouthed back.. and Nurse and Communications officer ducked back into the safety of the office's depths. They only heard the activity going on in the main ward as EMH and McCoy treated Tasha Yar's injuries as quickly as they could. Uhura looked at Christine while they pored over the interesting schematics of the bioflag medical system. "Say,, I wonder what incarnation of Spock is here with us. I wonder if he's just as handsome as you still think he is...I could look up his quarters at Starfleet for you." Christine smacked Uhura on the arm.."Mind your own business." ----------------------------- (attachments) Image: Uhura at her comm board. Gif: A lcars computer screen of EMH interfaces. Image: Nurse Chapel surrounded by pink walls. Promo. ********************** From : "Cory Anda" Subject : [voyagerliveaction] Out of the Loop No Longer Date : Wed, 09 Jan 2002 00:45:54 +0000 Captain Janeway, a little silver in her hair sat with her old friend Chakotay in the massive cafeteria of Starfleet Medical. She had two lap tops and many datapadds arranged about the table as she rehearsed the talk she'd give for Admiral McCoy's seminar on human hybridization. The task almost seemed over her head and her body english must have communicated that fact because Chakotay started chuckling as he took a bite of his salad. "I haven't seen you this nervous since you took on the Borg Queen head to head Kathryn. Why be nervous for this presentation? You've been asked to speak at Starfleet Headquarters on a lot of topics like this countless times before..." Chakotay said to his old captain. His own hair was flecked with silver, like it used to be a long time ago when he was a Maquis captain and when Starfleet had been some obscure nemesis to be avoided in the Badlands. Janeway set her coffee mug down on the table with a clunk and waved over a server to fill it yet again. "I know, Chakotay. I know. But I've never had Mr. Spock in the audience while doing it. He's a personal friend of Admiral McCoy's and he's also a human hybridized being who's also half Vulcan. Just imagine how he'll analyze my delivering some dry study and observations about people like himself." she said throwing up her hand in exasperation before she rubbed her forehead in fatigue. "I can see it now. The Famous Voyager Captain gets Tongue Tied at Symposium. Ohh.. all the holovids will make me look like a fool..." she sighed. She nodded thanks and then blinked when the server craftily left three full coffee pots on the table next to her and retreated. "Thanks a lot.." she said to his back sarcastically. "Sorry ma'am.. Standing orders from commissary.." he said not turning around. "Is my reputation that exaggerated around here?" she asked Chakotay. He nodded. "I'm afraid it is, Kathryn..Sort of makes me glad I was only your commander when we got home five years ago. The heat's off me.." and he sipped his own cool tea. Kathryn leaned backwards in her cafeteria chair and pushed away her computers and padds and took a long look around her. ::So many beings here. :: she thought to herself. ::So many races that I don't know coming and going from Starfleet Headquarters in so many ships that I can hardly count them all. :: and her face fell outwardly as well as inwardly. "Penny for your thoughts, Kathryn. You look light years away.." Chakotay said lightly with a gentle smile as he noticed her daydreaming. Janeway regarded Chakotay and patted her hand on his with affection. "Ever feel like you're seriously out of the loop my old friend? Here I am. Still supposedly a captain and yet, I get the undeniable feeling that there are things going on around here that are purposely being kept from me." Chakotay had sympathy and he squeezed her hand back in support. "Frequently. Then again, I don't think there's anyone here at Starfleet Headquarters of any rank that "knows it all"." Janeway laughed morosely.. "Except for perhaps Spock. He knows everything...Ohhh,," she groaned setting her head on the table. "Why did I drink so much coffee this morning..??" "Because it's real.. Because you developed coffee deprivation syndrome being lost on Voyager like we were, from not having access to the real thing. Don't worry about it. It's a minor problem. Sooner or later. Your reflex of grabbing a cup of it every meal and quiet moment will fade back to normal levels." "You aren't the one who had a new disorder named after you. The Janeway Caffeine Syndrome. What a way to get written up in a book for your claim to immortality... Oh, no. What if Spock's READ that book. D@mn.." she said raising her head and tipping all three coffee pots over until they fell over with a clunk, each rocking quietly where they lay in a subtle protest of her body's annoying weakness.. Chakotay's face went serious but a smile still filled his eyes. "Stop worrying about the Vulcan, Kathryn. He still puts on his uniform like we do, one leg at a time so he's far from being the ultrasuperVulcan critic you're making him out to be. Trust the human part in him to be tactful about any opinion he may gather about your speech.." Kathryn sighed. "Can I get a note from the doctor to not go to the Symposium? I feel my Syndrome acting up again..." Chakotay just rolled his eyes.. "Take a look around you Kathryn. You see all those cadets and guest visitors all around us? They all have multiple coffee pots at their tables too. I'm afraid the Janeway Caffeine Syndrome's an accepted epidemic round here at the Academy. Too many students burning the midnight oil I guess..Don't think anyone will even listen to you in Sickbay even if I were to carry you in there myself.." "Coward. You won't even back me." she laughed. "Who's the chicken here, Kathryn? One Vulcan and you fold like a stack of cards." She studied her still empty coffee mug ruefully. "Back to square one..." she admitted. It was Chakotay's turn to lean back in his chair, but he regarded her and her alone to the exclusion of all else. "Have faith in yourself. One tiny symposium appearance isn't going to kill you.." "I wish the coffee would.." she quipped. "I won't allow anything to harm you Kathryn..not even your own quirks.." he admitted. "My own d@mned fault.. " she laughed. "My old crew's loyal to the point of insanity.." "I'm not insane Kathryn... I'm just your date for this trip to San Francisco..You're the one who asked me to be your personal body guard so you'd have time to work on this speech of yours for McCoy.." "Some cover.. I think we had every cadet this side of Earth's moon stop and ask us for our autograph or holopic every since we arrived last night." Kathryn said, shrinking in her seat as one pair of students recognized her from afar and waved enthusiastically and held up their books on Voyager's exploits. Chakotay threw up his hands. "Yeah well my suggestion of your studying in the main cafeteria is working.. They're all too busy eating in here to come bug you..." "There's that...." she agreed and started to relax for the first time since Chakotay forced her to take a break for food. His hair just about curled when he saw who entered the far portal into the cafeteria. "Uh oh..." he trickled. "What?" she said. and followed his gaze.. Spock was across the room gathering a tray and talking with those cadets and guest speakers who approached him for a few words with the icon personality himself. Janeway immediately flicked off her computers and buried her notes into her flight bag. She would have eaten her dress uniform too if she could but the tall Vulcan spotted her and headed their way. ::Boy he looks young. But then again, Vulcans age far better than humans do..:: "Ah,, Captain Janeway, Commander Chakotay.. May I join you?" he said. A simple soup and glass of Altarian water sat on his tray. "I noticed your dress uniforms and surmised you had Starfleet business here on campus today. So do I. May I inquire..?" "Please..have a seat.." Chakotay said, rising, when Kathryn froze in her seat, a false smile of greeting plastered across her face. "I'm....giving a little.....speech today.." Kathryn mumbled. Chakotay raised his hand. "Greetings, Spock. Live long and prosper.." Janeway immediately parroted her ex first officer. They all sat and Kathryn bit into her tuna salad sandwich for cover. She then remembered that it was meat she was sinking her teeth into and immediately spat it out into her napkin, afraid of the insult she might have given Spock by doing so. Chakotay thumped her on the back thinking she had started choking. "I'm fine.." she hissed.. "Sit down.." she told Chakotay. "Oh sorry..." he said. he sat quickly and grabbed another bunch of his salad onto his fork. Spock was unplussed and continued to sip his soup quietly seemingly without noticing the tiny exchange between the humans. Finally, after carefully folding his napkin, he spoke. "You needn't be uncomfortable around me with your consumption of animal flesh. I've long been accustomed to Captain Kirk's lunches of Chicken Salad Sandwiches every since my Enterprise days. Do not be concerned about offending me in any way with your meal selection, Captain Janeway." "Oh. Right. Fine... fine.." Kathryn blurted out then mentally kicked herself for overreacting. Chakotay changed the subject rescuing his old captain. "We were just discussing how Starfleet seems to hold a lot of its citizens and officers in the dark concerning its activities.. Especially here, on campus and at Starfleet Medical.." Spock appraised the Indian Commander and said politely, "That seems always the case with any planetary governmental agency in my experience. Even on Vulcan. My father Sarek, was a high diplomat and ambassador to Earth. Even his rank did not give him broad disclosure on convert operations here in San Francisco." Janeway caught his hint and recognized it for what it was a kilometer away. "Should we compare notes Mr. Spock?" "Only if it is in regards to your upcoming speech. I eagerly await its outcome this morning.." He rose lifting his now empty tray. "If you'll excuse me. I've some errands to attend." The three officers were interrupted by a new person barging into the cafeteria calling out Spock's name. "Mr. Spock.. Mr. Spock!! I need to speak to you right away..!!" It was Reginald Barclay. The harried man in Starfleet Engineering gold rushed to their table and leaned into it, making the tipped over coffee pots shift and rock again in place. He hastily set them upright, thinking he'd been the one to knock them over. He took a breath to share his news when he took in Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay sitting there. "Permission to speak freely, Ambassador Spock." "Granted. We can trust these two. They are... Starfleet officers, Mr. Barclay.." Spock said blandly. vaguely reprimanding the excited man. "Oh sorry sir,, . All right..." Barclay leaned in and lowered his voice so only they and Spock could hear. "We've got problems sir. The go ahead with Building Five's retrieval went as planned but there's been a complication. Tasha Yar's been recovered but she's gravely injured. Kirk's with her now with McCoy in the main medical ward." Spock rose. "Take me to her.. Lt.." he said. "If you'll excuse me, Captain.. Commander.." the Vulcan said, inclining his head slightly in farewell. "I must deal with this matter at once." And he left with Reginald. Chakotay and Janeway looked at each other in puzzlement. "Building number Five?" "A crewman's recovery?" they both echoed. Then Chakotay grabbed one of the coffee pots himself and poured them both cups filled to the brim. "Remember what you said about feeling out of a loop?" Kathryn's eyes glinted. "I think I just found my excuse to miss the Symposium. Captain's discretionary investigational powers..Commander. And I'm allowed to recruit any other fellow officers I'd like to join me in investigating too. Coming?" She slammed her coffee cup back in several huge gulps and he did the same. She snatched up her sandwich, biting and swallowing the rest of it down quickly. Chakotay took her laden flight bag and added her second lap top computer to it. "Yes, ma'am.." "It's captain, Chakotay. Use ma'am only in a crunch. How many times do I have to tell you...." her voice said as they exited the cafeteria... ------------------------------------------ Soon, with a pocket tricorder set to track Vulcan human hybrid, they entered the Main Sickbay after flashing their credentials. They saw Barclay and Kirk and a strangely injured earth woman on one biobed. McCoy was there hastily giving his patient a hypospray while Janeway's very own EMH sealed up a hideous wound in her forehead. ::Now we'll get some answers..:: she thought. ::The holodoc's one of my old crewmates.:: The two doctors, Barclay and Spock, Kirk, Christine and Uhura noticed the two Voyager officers arrival from where they all were. But Uhura and Nurse Chapel's hiding place in Bev's office remained undiscovered. Chakotay and Janeway didn't let anyone they saw stop them and moved to the edge of the unconscious woman's bed. Kathryn glanced up at the life support board long enough to see weak lifesigns there and fading signs of temporal displacement. Janeway put her hands on her hips. "All right. Just what the h*ll is going on around here?" Silence greeted her. "Don't all speak at once.." she said waggling a finger encouraging replies, using her best command tone. ::My,... coffee really gets your heart pumping...:: she thought. ::Almost as much as a good mystery can.. And this certainly fits that bill to a T..:: Reginald Barclay caught a nod from Spock, his direct superior. Kirk, as was his manner, let his lesser officer act for him. "uh,, Captain Janeway. Commander Chakotay. Funny meeting you here. I...We ..didn't expect you to follow us here.." Reg stammered. "Captain's perogative, Lieutenant." Chakotay said. "This is now investigatory circumstance under article Nine subsection one twelve of the Starfleet officer's code....' When covert activity is suspected in any Starfleet officer, a full investigation is hereby authorized by Starfleet Command until such a threat is discovered and thwarted.' Care to explain things, Mr. Barclay? You seem to be the chosen spokesperson.." he said sharply. Reg laughed nervously..."My dear commander. This operation you see here IS Starfleet authorized. I just can't tell you how or why just yet. Suffice it to say we've gathered all the people we're going to need for leading an investigation of our own.. Meet... Tasha Yar. We need her to find a possible threat here at Starfleet Headquarters." and he pointed to the bed in front of them all. Janeway noticed her vital signs were growing stronger by the minute but the puzzled frown still filled her face. "Doctor??" she prompted the EMH. "What he's saying is new to me too, Captain.. As to the woman's initial condition. I'm bound by patient doctor confidentiality and can't say more.." "I'm your captain.. doctor." Janeway snapped. "You were... my captain. Voyager's long since been disbanded.." the holodoc said. "And I'm a free citizen now. The same distinction that Commander Data of the Starship Enterprise has." Janeway twisted her jaw sideways while she thought out loud... "All right.." she finally decided. "Do go on Mr. Barclay.. Spock if you've any words to add to this, I'm all ears.. sir.." Spock folded his hands into his robe's sleeves and angled his head thoughtfully. "This woman here is integral to uncovering an unsubstantiated threat we've received against another Federation Citizen on Earth. A one Counselor Deanna Troi." "I've heard that name before.. Deanna Troi.. Isn't she Picard's aide..." Janeway said... then she pointed to Barclay.. "And YOUR personal psychologist?" Reg blushed up to his hairline. "I ...know that captain. I...I ..I was there when the last attempt on Deanna's life was made.. I was the one who summoned Starfleet and they referred me to Ambassador Spock and eventually to Captain Kirk here to get to the bottom of this. You see, the whole matter would have been relegated to lower authority agencies if it wasn't for one factual clue found at the last crime scene in Deanna's home." "What was that Lt.?" Chakotay asked. "We found traces of Federation android materials on the carpet." "Couldn't have that been Deanna's friend, Mr. Data paying a visit?" Janeway suggested. Spock spoke quietly. "Impossible. For at the very time that Chemical Analysis says an android embedded his material in the counselor's carpetting, Commander Data was on Vulcan, visiting me.." -------------------------------------- (attachments) Image: Janeway with a ponytail, Chakotay and the holodoc in a sickbay. *animated gif* Spock's face with lifting eyebrow. Image : Barclay with a datapadd looking intent. ***************************** From : "Cassidy Meyers" Subject : [voyagerliveaction] Deja Troi Date : Wed, 09 Jan 2002 07:53:22 +0400 In another part of Starfleet Headquarters Medical. Beverly Crusher and Deanna Troi were working out in the recreational center. Both were in leotards with their hair bound up and they held hands and linked their feet together while they pulled each other into a complicated series of stretches. "So,... you going to ask him out on a date?" Beverly asked of her long time dark eyed friend. "Who? Barclay?? Not on your life. He's my patient Beverly. You of all people should know about doctor and patient etiquette. Never mix the office with your real life." "I did." "When?" Troi challenged.. "With Odon.." Dr. Crusher reminded her. Troi made a clucking sound and shifted the way her muscles stretched using Beverly's pulling grasp to loosen them. "That was different. You two were in love... and Odon was never your patient initially. He only became one after Will agreed to become his host and problems cropped up." "How was that different?" Bev said, releasing Troi's arms and rising to a ballet bar attached to a long mirror in the studio. She set one leg onto it and continued her stretches. "We were doctor and patient. And still we slept together in the same bed while all of that was going on. In a way.. I thought you might be jealous when Odon had to host in Wil's body and we still ...." "That wasn't Wil, Beverly. Not then. Besides. This is an old incident so let's just forget it." A few minutes passed as counselor and doctor danced to a routine by computer piano and violin with the rest of the class. The song ended and Troi turned to Bev before the next movement. "Besides.. I know what you're thinking. Reg and I HAVE been spending a lot of time together out of the office too. But those times weren't.. dates..." she smiled.. "exactly...." "Oh?" Bev sighed, towelling off her sweat. "What do you call Neelix the white Persian he gave you? A business transaction? He loves that cat.." Troi laughed and ignored any more comments from her friend. A second dance routine began. This one a little more challenging. Beverly, being the pro dancer, stayed with her class. But the active routine very quickly made Deanna short of breath starting slow but then building. Near the end of the dance the feeling of suffocation was almost overwhelming and it frightened Troi. She tried coughing but her throat seemed to tighten even more until her air was entirely sealed off. She barely remembered staggering back to the balance bar and then sagging with her back to the wall, down to the floor, struggling desperately. Her head was spinning and she didn't even realize the music playback had been halted and that Beverly was by her side, holding her arms. "Deanna?? Deanna!! Can you hear me..??" A ringing in her ears began to block out Dr. Crusher's voice until Troi couldn't hear anything. Then her body began to grow numb from lack of air. Troi vaguely remembered the faces of their entire class around her before Beverly shooed them away, dismissing her dance students. A blackness descended, coming nearer. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ......Deanna snapped out of it when she felt a sudden hypospray of triox to her throat. The frightening airlessness she was feeling went away and her vision cleared. She coughed experimentally. Things started making sense to her again. Troi saw the room was empty except for Beverly and herself and that several minutes had gone by without her being aware of it.. She saw that the automatic computer bioflag system on her combadge had been overridden and set on pause. She suspected Beverly did that because she herself was already present for her medical situation. "Don't tell me that was another psychosomatic reaction.." Deanna gasped, and she grunted in pain, the instant she found her voice again. "It wasn't.." Beverly said smiling for a moment, but then she grew serious. She had out her open medkit beside her as she drew out a tricorder and scanned Deanna's chest. "Just take slow breaths. It'll pass. I'm sorry. This is my fault. I thought your new windpipe graph was fully healed. Exercising this hard triggered a reaction and it tried to clamp shut involuntarily. That usually only happens in superheated air or in a toxic atmosphere...I've paralyzed those muscles responsible. You'll be fine ..They'll be back to normal when the triox wears off. If you want to lie down. You can." Deanna shook her head slightly saying that she didn't. Troi didn't let go of Dr. Crusher's hand. "It's only been two weeks; you almost died back then. Expecting to be back to normal overnight is a little far fetched. If it weren't for Barclay hearing you scream, you may not have survived. He kept you going until we could beam you to the Main Surgical Bay." Deanna smiled. "I don't remember that.." Beverly grinned and said, "No. But he sure does. He's been calling Starfleet Medical three times a day asking for progress reports on you." Deanna gave a small laugh and was surprised she could even do so. "What have........you been telling him?" "Nothing past the fact that you are resting and that the surgery to rebuild your trachea went well. He knows nothing about your amnesia nor any of your bad dreams.." Troi watched as Beverly sat against the mirror beside her. The doctor closed her tricorder with a sigh. The two friends sat there just thinking for a long time of the horrific events surrounding Deanna. Then Troi spoke. "I....don't remember much about the attack. Usually, my psi ability can give me some clues but it's as if who or whatever attacked me had no impressions for me to pick up. All I remember is a terrible vise like grip across my neck on the patio." "We found you with your throat ripped out. Barclay improvised an airway to keep you breathing." "Huh.." the counselor said with detachment..She went on, "And then I was waking up in recovery here at Starfleet Medical... " She regarded Dr. Crusher carefully. "Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock came to see me the first day but I was really out of it." "I shouldn't wonder. They're still heading your investigation." Dr. Crusher said. She got to her feet and offered her hand to Deanna. "Feel like you got your feet back? I'd like to check your grafting in sickbay in a little more detail using the holographic imager." Troi nodded and rose.. There was only a little weakness. "This is so stupid. I feel like an invalid." "Nonsense. I took these days off to help get you back into your old routine. That's all. We just now know that physical stressing will have to go a little bit more slowly than we first thought. Come on. Let's walk to the medical ward. I don't think you need to be stretchered. I'll help you change.." --------------------------------- By the time the two women got to that side of the courtyard, Deanna felt pretty much like herself. They both entered the lobby chatting as they once had about dating prospects for both of themselves. "Barclay's still out of the question, Beverly." Deanna said laughing. "So how about you? I know how much you care for Jean Luc. You can't hide it from me.." "Oh really? What about counselor crewman confidentialities? Using your Betazed empathy should only be when called upon by your superiors, not for everyday use.." Beverly teased. "It's a natural reflex, I can't just curb it on command." "Well try. It might just save you a few embarrassing eavesdrops in the long run.. Like my supposed feelings for the captain...." she warned without heat. "Whatever you think you feel about us.. You don't.." Bev teased dangerously. "I stand corrected. What feelings?" Troi deadpanned. "Good girl. Now let's get that exam run on you....I know, we'll run the holoscan itself upstairs in my department." Dr. Crusher said. "Shouldn't be many people there now. They all think I still have the day off." Deanna was tired and was leaning on Beverly heavily when they arrived. Then a wall of impressions struck her emotional shielding and she sensed Spock, Kirk, Barclay, and five others whom she did not know in the ward. Dr. Crusher noticed the crowd of people over one of her biobeds. Her anger rose. "Why wasn't I informed of any medical emergencies to my department. I AM chief medical officer..." she demanded of them all. Kirk and McCoy and the EMH stepped back in surprise and Deanna got a good look at the patient lying on the biobed beneath the silver sheets. In horror, Deanna felt a tickling familiar warmth and feel she hadn't felt in over a decade. "Oh my god.." she moaned. Her eyes failed to tell her brain whom she was really seeing. Her face went pale and Dr. Crusher and the EMH grabbed her before she could fall in her shock. "What is going on here?" she cried softly.. The EMH became no nonsense.. "Now listen here young lady. The first thing we need to do is get you lying down. We'll answer your questions concerning that woman later on once you've been thoroughly examined." he looked at Dr. Crusher. "I take it she had a tracheal spasm recently.." Beverly nodded. Deanna broke out of both of their arms and her face suddenly flushed red in anger and she trembled, glaring at Kirk and Spock and pointing to the still figure she could see lying on the bed. "What kind of cruel joke are you all playing?? Just who is this woman!! It can't be her. It can't be!! Tasha's dead! She died eleven years ago..trying to get to my shuttle. Armus killed h--" her face screwed up in sadness. She went over to the woman and saw that it was truly Tasha Yar, lying there, now fully healed but sleeping, and she lightly laid her fingers on her face and lips. She could feel Tasha's strong individual signature, like daylight in her mind. "How can this be??" she demanded of those around her. Her voice was a tight whisper. Beverly Crusher broke a confidence when she got a nod from both Spock and Kirk to tell her what she had been hiding. "We know this is difficult Deanna. When we found you on the patio, Barclay's traces weren't the only ones in that house. Starfleet security also found evidence of artificially created life. Artificial, like Data's." "No.." Troi cried. "Hear me out.. Now Tasha's your best friend. If anyone can jar your memory and bring it back to us it will be her. And she's also Data's best friend. If he does indeed have any alterior motive concerning you now, she would know upon seeing him, for she knows how he should be normally better than any of us ever could. So we brought her back...." Dr. Crusher told her. "Stop it.." Deanna shouted. "This is sacrilege! A hideous abuse of the time laws. The dead should remain dead." she said frantically. "Who's responsible for this travesty...?" "Calm yourself counselor.." the EMH told her moving behind her to restrain the counselor if necessary. Beverly added. "Deanna, Yar's return was fully authorized by Starfleet Command and Vulcan both." "I don't believe it.." But then Deanna saw Spock standing there and the truth was in his subtle emotional presence as it was in Beverly's spoken words. Strong and calm. And telling the truth beyond all doubt. "Why?" she said finally, she sank down on a stool offered to her not daring to let go of Tasha's arm for fear of losing her again to the past and death itself. "Why use Tasha this way..? If you need some justification or way to jar my lost memory, surely Commander Riker could help me too! He knows me better than my own mother." "Yes, but the commander is still away from Earth. He has yet to hear of this attack on you." Kirk said. "Has a message been sent to him Beverly?" "Not yet. We can do that now if you wish..." she said. "Yes...Please." she sobbed. "Bring my Imzadi to me..." Deanna said and she passed out into the EMH's grip. She did not know that her grip never loosened on Tasha's uniform in the slightest even in her faint. The medical team decided to keep them in contact with each other, keeping both biobeds side by side as close as they could. ---------------------- Starfleet authorized the call to be sent to Commander Riker to report to Earth immediately on a priority hail. =^=Starfleet Command to the USS Enterprise, Come in. Code One Five One Alpha. Priority Two.=^= ---------------------------- (attachments) Image: Doctor Crusher standing in front of colored dots. Image: A screen grab of Barclay seducing Counselor Troi on the holodeck. ******************************* Date: Tue, 8 Jan 2002 23:38:56 -0800 (PST) From: "Jeff Seltun" Subject: The New Seven Seven of Nine checked her messages on her terminal before leaving her Academy Quarters. It had been a long three years since Commander Chakotay and she had given up on their relationship. But Seven couldn't exactly say that she felt any remorse about it. ::He seems a lot happier with Captain Janeway. :: she concluded as if her analysis solved all of her problems in that regard. ::And I, still have the doctor.:: She clearly recalled their "date" at the opera house earlier that week viewing a Klingon extravaganza.. ::I should thank Ambassador K'Ehleyr for the suggestion. It was most....invigorating..:: she thought. It was fun going on their weekly trips to the opera houses around the world. ::And we still have 14,747 of them to go before we're through. Perhaps we should see three a week to get in most of them. I already know I'll live around 250 years. I've my cybernetic Borg implants to thank for that.:: Seven of Nine donned her blue uniform, the one she knew most humans liked on her personage, and headed out into the morning sunlight. She walked purposely down the stony cobblestones towards the eating area of the Academy holding her books for her class that day. She regarded them with very real regret. "I should be teaching that class on the Borg. Not taking it. Starfleet couldn't have had a better authority on the subject than I." "Ah, yes...." came a voice behind her. "But then again. You are not yet a Starfleet officer..Seven of Nine, tertiary adjunct of Unimatrix zero, zero one. And only officers can teach here." Seven turned on her blue shoes, surprised that someone had approached her without her knowledge. She saw an old human who was apparently the Academy's groundskeeper kneeling in the petunias. "How did you know my old Borg designation? That information is classified for security reasons. Only officers of lieutenant's rank or higher would be able to access it." "Ah, but then again, I just may be another officer... Don't let my muddy appearance fool you." Boothby said of this new prospect. He had long awaited her arrival to his garden grounds. Now he had a job to do. The one Kirk already knew about. "Perhaps I should report you for vandalizing the grounds." Seven lifted her silver implanted brow at the pockets of missing flowers she saw around her in many of the flower beds surrounding the exBorg and gardener. "Don't get sassy with me young lady..! Don't you recognize predation when you see it? And I thought Mr. Kirk was kidding me about seeing one of those tiny fuzzy things." "To what are you referring,..Mr......" Seven asked. "Boothby!! Just plain Boothby.. And Tribbles..missy. I thought Kirk was kidding too. Now look at them..." he said flinging a hand at the chewed on gardens all around them. "One tribble did all that?" Seven said skeptically. "You bet your sweet blue biffy, it did! And when I catch it....." he warned.. rubbing his dirty hands together.. "You'll what?" Seven inquired mildly. "Kill it? Tribbles are an endangered species now. Ever since the war. Klingons devastated the Tribble Home System.." "Says who?" Seven broke off into a Borg access file. "Species number 84. Tribble. Known for a vast appetite consuming biomatter. No technological distinctiveness ever found on that world." and her eyes came back into focus. "Oh. I see." Boothby said. "I see Miss Janeway never bothered to detach useless information from your memory. Doesn't it pain you? Still holding the data and life memories of those you killed by assimilation?" His pry didn't get Seven's heart at all. For that was long healed. "Captain Janeway said retaining those accounts would help me shape my individual personality since reforming Annika Hansen's proved to be futile. I believe it has.." she added softly. "I am my own person now." "Hmm." grunted Boothby appraisingly. His opinion of the first Borg victim he had ever met swept up many notches. ::She may be just another Starfleet cadet. But she's all human now...:: "Carry on, cadet.." he said and then ignored her for his new task of replanting those flowers that had been tribble tipped. ::Janeway did a nice job salvaging her. Now it'll be up to me to see if this Woman with a Number for a Name will ever make officer's grade material. :: Seven of Nine turned as Boothby did, not seeing his abrupt termination of their conversation as the gruff rebuttal Boothby intended her to see. She made her way into class and saw that the course had been cancelled due to extenuating circumstances developing in Building Five. "I wonder what's so important there?" Seven wondered, leveling a hand over her eyes so she could see that building. "That edifice doesn't have a dedication plague on its cornerstone like all the other structures at Starfleet. And I've never seen anyone actually ambulate to its interior, so,.. it is a site of covert operations where its personnel can enter by beaming only." Satisfied with her analysis, Seven continued back the way she had come to her quarters. Boothby, still working a short distance away had heard her verbalized thinking. ::Bravo Lucky Number Seven. Bravo. I've a feeling you'll learn very fast as a cadet. I'm going to watch you very very carefully. I've just marked you as this year's special. Just like I did for Kirk, Janeway and Picard during their cadet academy days.:: --------------------------------------- Seven of Nine hit the special toggle on her computer that usually summoned the EMH to her visual screen but she got a flashing note from the campus computer instead. #EMH responding to a medical emergency. Please stand by..# the overhead speaker announced to Seven. "Computer. His location." #Starfleet Medical. Ward One. Biobed Two.# ::How strange. The doctor is not Starfleet's EMH any longer. He is just....the doctor.:: But Seven did not inquire into his situation. If it mattered someone biological would report it to her soon enough. After all, she was Captain Janeway's personal aide to Starfleet. She asked the computer another question instead, remembering how her old shipmates used to locate her on Voyager. She tapped her combadge. =^= Computer. Locate Captain Janeway. =^= #Captain Janeway is in Starfleet Medical. Ward One. Near biobed two.# "So, the doctor's medical emergency is also hers. Interesting." Her new found human curiosity getting the best of her, Seven of Nine decided to try a skill Naomi Wildman used to try to teach her years ago. The art, of snooping. Chakotay said that she had actually mastered it one night during one of their arguments prior to their breakup.::Let's see if the commander proved correct.:: And Seven left for Starfleet Medical. Along the way, she used every Borg enhanced sense to watch Building Five closely on the route across campus. --------------------------------- Data was still sitting in Jean Luc Picard's family library when he got the call to report to Starfleet Headquarters. He excused himself gracefully from the Picard's vineyard family and got there in 4.7 minutes to the Main Starfleet Headquarters building, just outside its main entrance. It was almost full noon here where it had been late night before. The sudden effect of transplanetary beaming on Earth was still a marvel to him. He was met by four security guards and a Starfleet Captain he had only heard about from the newsvids of five years ago. "Captain Janeway. What a pleasant surprise.." he said warmly. "Not so pleasant I'm afraid, lieutenant commander. We're taking you into custody for the attempted murder of counselor Deanna Troi." she said evenly. "Captain? There must be some mistake. I was at the Picard winery all this week and before that, I was on Vulcan visiting Ambassador Spock at his main office to learn Vulcan Interplanetary Governmental Duties. I am completely innocent of these charges." Janeway looked pained but she didn't come within five meters of the android. Then she held out her hand. "I'm sorry, Mr. Data. But I'm going to have to ask you to turn over your Starfleet combadge immediately." "Of course captain. May I see the counselor?" he said, tossing the badge to his nearest guard. "No. Come with us." A security guard said quickly when Janeway hesitated in her reply. Data saw the red headed captain nod her next order, very reluctantly. "Take him away ensigns.." ____________________________ Data soon found himself in an altered brig, one that would even contain his android abilities strangely inside Starfleet Medical. ::I seem to be adjacent to Ward One. How curious.:: he thought and he sat down patiently to await the next outcome of his new experience. It didn't take long. Janeway soon returned with Chakotay in tow. They didn't share niceties. And asked a whole battery of inflammatory questions of Data about his past whereabouts, future intentions and other personal matters. Data did not take offense. He answered each and everyone of their queries in turn until they had run out of them. Then he asked. "I am very concerned about Counselor Troi. She is an old shipmate. Is she all right? No one has volunteered anything about her state of health to me since I've been incarcerated." Captain Janeway and Chakotay glanced at each other in reluctance and Janeway sighed. "She's fine, Mr. Data. Now. She was near death when they found her but Reginald Barclay's fast action saved her." "How was she harmed?" "You tell us android." Chakotay said with a little heat. "Easy commander.." Janeway said, putting a calm hand on his shoulder. "Can't you see Mr. Data's upset by this?" Data lifted both his eyebrows and tilted his head in a gentle reprimand, "Ah,, the good cop-bad cop rountine. Shall I react with the amount of fear I've seen in the holomovies showing this technique? I can be very convincing with my new emotion chip.." Again Janeway and Chakotay fell into silence. Then finally, Janeway ordered the guards in the room to lower a holographic wall to one side. Data started forward in reflex when he saw Deanna Troi lying on a biobed next to Tasha Yar. "Tasha!!" Data shouted. His voice was far from sterile. "It's Data!! Answer me!! Counselor!!" It was filled with anguish. He bounced off the invisible containment field keeping him inside the cell and outside of the sickbay ward chamber. When his old friends failed to stir, Data turned off his emotion chip and looked at Spock, McCoy,Bev Crusher, Reg Barclay and Kirk and said three words. "I don't understand.." At that point Seven of Nine entered the room. Janeway saw her and snapped, "Seven! You don't have authorization to be in this room! Report back to class." "Classes have been cancelled due to events today I believe have been linked to this Medical Bay. And I do have the proper authority to report to you as your personal aide. Starfleet Command's summons has reached the Enterprise. Commander Riker's people has said he heard the message from Starfleet Command ordering him back to Earth." "You delivered your message, now go..." At first she thought Janeway was upset with her for seeing Chakotay again, however vague the association. But then her better instincts told her that Captain Janeway was trying to protect her from something. Despite all that, Seven felt her mouth working, "No.." she said. "I.... wish to speak to the doctor.." she said flickering her eyes to the EMH. Janeway flashed an impatient frown. "You've got one minute. Then leave.." "Understood, captain...." she eyed Chakotay looking at her with multiple emotions. He had not known Seven had applied and had been accepted into Starfleet academy. "Commander..." she said as a way of greeting and farewell. Seven did not wish to lose either friendship with her old Voyager commanders, so she did the quickest thing. She did as she was told for the moment. She went to the EMH's side, glancing up at both medical displays on Deanna and Yar. They were both stable and out of crisis. Seven blinked at the holodoc. "Why are you still here? Their emergencies are over. You should be attending your symposium." "I can't Seven.." the holodoc said gently. "Why not?" "Because the man I'm to be listening to is right here. Seven of Nine, meet Dr. Leonard H. McCoy, lately, an admiral. And his former Captain, James T. Kirk." "Admiral. Captain." The EMH went on, "You already know Ambassador Spock. He officiated at Voyager's homecoming ceremonies." Seven was oblivious to the Vulcan greeting. "Spock." she said. Spock inclined his head slightly. "Seven." The EMH drew on Seven's arm until she was out of earshot of the three... "Now I want you to turn right around and go back home, Seven. It's dangerous for you to be here. There's a possible murderer on campus." "You mean, he's a suspect?" she asked of Data, still looking stunned in his cell. "Yes, well. No, that's a ruse to bring.. Well Yes.. I suppose so.." "Be precise doctor. Isn't that something I taught you?" Seven said with a slight smile. The EMH rolled his eyes sheepishly. "All right. Yes and no." Seven grabbed the bull by the horns and turned to face Janeway. "I see no reason to leave. I already have "seen" too much. I believe that's the colloquial expression for having learned too much of a forbidden subject." "Oh? How so?" Janeway said. Seven launched into her logic. "From the medical scans of the woman on the right. She's from out of time. There's enough temporal residue still in her tissues for my occular implant to see. The counselor's semi conscious condition is most likely due to post operative and post traumatic stress syndrome. She is clinging to that clothing tightly. Hence she knows the woman well. For anyone who doesn't love someone else would never have the power to keep such a grasp while unconscious. Judging from the color of the hypospray in Dr. McCoy's hand, she's most likely just been injected with Iniprovaline. Iniprovaline is well known to be a memory regenerator over time. So, it's logical to assume that her companion next to her has been brought out of time to jar her memory of what ever incident this android, " Seven said pointing to Data in his nearby brig space, "now stands accused of committing." Seven turned to Janeway. "Am I close? Or need I rephrase a few things." The EMH voiced his feelings. "Oh, my. Are we in trouble now." he mumbled. "Seven, you should have just stuck with your message and have been done with it." he said, taking her hand in sympathy. Seven turned and saw Kirk scowling at her. And strangely, she didn't care. For it had come to pass in the five years since she became a full resident of Earth that Seven disliked being kept in the dark very much.. ::The deceptions stop now..:: her eyes flashed back at them all. Janeway said, "I think I need some coffee right about now." "I'll go get some.." "I'll go get some.." Chakotay and Seven said at exactly the same time.. Janeway's mind groaned inwardly, ::Oh how well I know them both.:: ---------------------------------- (attachments) *animated gif* Seven in many guises, from naked(tastefully done) to righteous. Gif: The Starfleet Academy Logo. Image: Data promo face shot on a black background. ***************************** From :"Clairissa Fox" Subject :The Bush Monster Date : Wed, 09 Jan 2002 17:41:50 +0000 I woke up in my bed like always and remembered that I was on Earth. I had to be brave because father said I had to be. I wasn't even when I was supposed to be. He was way back in time. But I wasn't. Captain Kirk had brought me and my mother through the big donut that glowed so mother could help with some dumb human investigation about Deana Troy. Somebody hurt her but the one who did it wasn't around anywhere. I heard the tall man with the points for ears, Spock, say that the perpetrater might still be around the Academy somewhere. But I knew better than to get security mad. They were on to me every day anyway. It seemed like I could turn a corner and there they were, asking to see my Starfleet Id, so I got to wearing it around my neck like an honor sash. That way they only looked and didn't stop me from playing. "Are you two humans satisfied that I belong here now? Captain Kirk himself brought me and my mother who's ambassador Keylerr to you so back off! I got the backing of a real captain and her behind me. I'm not just any child. I'm important! But I know the rules around this weak human school so you don't have to watch me like a whipped P'tak all the time, ok?" It felt good being mad. And I saw the guards smile because they were afraid of me and were hiding it. I growled at them one more time and walked away down the sidewalk. ::Hey! I could go hunting! It seemed the man working like a woman in the gardens was hunting something. Maybe I could help him.:: So I went over to him and stood there until he saw me. "What can I do for you young man?" said Bootby. "I saw you out here and I also saw that an animal wrecked the human pretty plants all over. I'm part Klingon. But my father's all Klingon. Maybe you could use me to hunt the V'dmerr that did all that. I can smell anything that moves." I told him. "Oh really. You must be Alexander Rashenko. Heard about you. Captain Kirk told me he'd grab you and your mother through the Guardian of Forever so she could help Ambassador Spock with his investigation of Counselor Troi's attack." the man said. I looked at him and saw something that looked like a weapon in a cart. "Wow! Is this a human Bateleth?" I said lifting a curving metal sword. I didn't know humans were mean enough to make swords. "That, my son, is a sickle. I use it to cut away the rhododendrens on the paths by Building Five. Go ahead and swing it around. See that tall bush next to that tree? That's a vine that needs killing. Go ahead. I'll watch you." I couldn't believe a human was letting me use a weapon! Even father only let me use one on a holodeck. Mum punished me by sending me to bed without my supper when I found her phaser in her drawer in the sleeping room yesterday. So I was still hungry. And I hadn't found the food room yet. I couldn't find it because I didn't know what human foods smelled like to track them. But I wasn't about to tell this Bootby digger that. I was mad that I was hungry so I went right up to that bush and imagined it was a Borg! I swung that curvy weapon and it sliced through it. I pretended it screamed and squirted out its guts all gory and orange and red. Then I fell down and fought it breaking it into little pieces and chewing on them. I was too little for a blood rage mum said but I could pretend it, couldn't I? Then I rose and brushed off the enemy and turned back to Bootby and bowed, handing him his sword back. "Thank you. You have shone great honor in letting me use this sword in battle in your name. I declare the enemy,...vanquished!!" Boothby didn't laugh, he accepted the gardening sickle back from Alexander and said solemnly, "I shall forever remember the day a son of the House of Mogh did battle in my homeland." "I shall be on the look out for the V'dmerr that you are currently trying to track. I know these creatures. They hate Klingons." That done. I showed the weakling human that I could bury my kills too. I lugged the heavy branches of the bush monster back to the old human's cart and made sure it was piled high so it could be burned like all monsters should. Then I left without a backward look. Boothby started chuckling when he heard the tiny Klingon boy's stomach growl so he called out. "The cafeteria's right down that path you're on. Just walk straight until you see another bush monster and then turn right. It's the tall white building smelling like human coffee!!" I knew I should of turned and been human polite to the digger but I was pretending to be a big Klingon Warrior. So I didn't. Boothby regarded the young Klingon child with amusement and scratched his head. ::Maybe the boy can find that annoying tribble for me. I haven't been able to find it yet.:: ----------------------------------------------------- I got into the eating room the digger advised me how to locate and I got a tray that was purple, the color of Klingon blood. I walked up to the replicator and said. "You there! Give me some Gaahhhg!!" #Cannot comply. No living annelids allowed on campus. By order of the gardener Boothby.# ::Figures:: I thought.:: He's so human he doesn't know how to keep dinner from crawling into the gardens..:: So I scrolled down the menufax and found something that looked like Gaahhhg. It was orange and it was called spaghetti.. "Close enough.." I said. I got some grape juice so no one knew I didn't have blood wine with my meal. I sat down by a big window so I could keep my eye out for the furry V'dmerr and any more bush monsters that I might be able to slay for the digger after lunch. Then I looked at my watch. It was one and the sun was high in the human sky. My mother would be doing her important ambassador stuff in the Main Headquarters building right now. But my instincts were telling me that she wasn't there. My skin was crawling. Something wasn't right. And my hair went up whenever I thought of Building Five, the place the digger told me about. ::Now why would that bug me? Mother and I came through that donut gate two days ago. Unless, unless, Captain Kirk wasn't through bringing people in from out of time yet.:: Now that sounded like it was shaping up to be a quest. So I ate like a bigger Klingon and finished my meal. I buried my tray in the slot too. Just in case the V'dmerr was around. I wouldn't want it to have more V'Dmerrs just because I was careless. Then I went walking again in the jungly gardens. There were no bushmonsters on that path but my instincts were crawling and I kept growling without thinking about it. Then I saw the big building where all the doctors and nurses worked Starfleet Medical. I walked like a human and got inside and got into a turbolift until I was at the leader human's floor, Beverly Crusher Chief Medical Officer. The lift opened and I knew I had found the place making my skin crawl. There were a lot of people in the room and two ladies were lying on medibeds. Captain Kirk and Spock both were there and Mr. Data was in jail! This I had to see better so I snuck into a dark place and backed up until the shadows made my skin and eyes disappear. But then I smelled perfume!! Oh! Humans were here in the dark office with me. So I called out. "Hey,, I can smell you two female humans. Why are you hiding in here like a P'tak about to be whipped?" My eyes got better in the black and I saw a light skinned human in blue and another one whose skin was as dark as mine in red. She reminded me of mother. I waited for them to speak. They had to for I had found them out. ------------------------------------------ (attachment) Image: Alexander with Worf, K'Ehleyr on the Bridge of the Enterprise in a family portrait. ***************************** From: "Alex D" Date: Wed Jan 9, 2002 9:48 pm Subject: Not Staying Off the Grass. "You call that stable cadet?" Jadzia asked, as she wandered along the benches reading from a PADD, looking up momentarily to wink, "The scanning beam has to be perfectly aligned, and you can't get that unless it's stable," "The generator is perfectly stable....I've checked every circuit," the Cadet pleaded. "Re-calibrate the power supply," Dax suggested, as she wandered over to look at the results of some of the other scans, "An Inverse Modulation?" she said approvingly, glancing at one laptop display, "Never hurts to read up on the manual, does it?" she winked. This was her teaching style, keeping things moving, always walking, always interacting with different groups. She taught the way she lived. This was a specialist field Science class, first year cadets, but Dax lectured a wide variety of subjects to the more experienced cadets. Her Klingon hadn't gotten rusty, she thought with a wry smile. "Ma'am?" No time for a trip down memory lane. "Cadet?" "The other classes have been dismissed," the benzite cadet informed her, "I went to acquire a power cell, but the entire block has been cleared, the computer has announced that an unspecified situation is occurring," Jadzia shook her head, she'd disabled the audio warning on her terminal. "Are we dismissed, Ma'am?" "No," she said sharply, "Finish scan sequence one...then pack up," Jadzia wondered outside, the sliding doors leading out of the Sciences annexe at Starfleet Academy, and into the grounds. Just as expected Boothby was tending the grounds. No Dax had been at the Academy on a day when Boothby was not diligently tending his beds. Approaching him from behind, she allowed her smile to come into her voice. "Boothby," she said. He didn't turn around, "Well well, haven't you got a class to give some assignment too?" "Someone has cancelled classes," Jadzia said carefully, "I though that if anyone knew....you would?" "Well, you were wrong, and if I don't get these buds gone today..." Jadzia stepped over him, over the railing around the flower bed, picked a rose, and let it drop onto the pavement. Boothby shook his head, "Why'd you do that?" he demanded, "Always the impatient one..." "Do you know?" "What am I? A Terminal? Go channel a console if you want the official version," the old man snorted. "Boothby....Boothby!" she said. "I knew it, a little impatience bubbling over....been on paradise a little too long have we? Looking for some sort of adventure? Try Starfleet Medical...Ward One...." he said, "Some one's monkeying around with the way things should be, it's going on up there," "Thank You," Jadzia smiled. "And since your going to step around the rules today, missy, go and find Harry Kim...he works for Building Five... he doesn't come and demand information...so he won't have it," Boothby said, in his usual tone. "And you can put that rose on your desk..to remind you not to stamp all over my beds," "You might bump into someone else familiar there...probably still in that d@mn set of pyjamas.... Yellow...." he muttered. Jadzia smiled inwardly as she walked away, not the first time a Dax had met Boothby, and had the same reaction. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Months...Years.... Well, at one time in his life, Harry Kim would have felt elation just at entering Building Five. Working on classified things, working in a building without a door.... just the name of the place 'Building Five.... But behind the smokescreen 'research , it was an operations job. Harry thought of it as a stepping stone.... Maybe Operations Chief at Utopia Planitia...or the ASDB... Anyhow...it was just work, high profile assignment, and the perks were hard to ignore. Libby was happy, because he was on his way to a better job. "Hello?" :: *Hello* ? Nobody in this building needed to say Hi... or, for that matter, Hello... :: Harry walked out of the office he was in, which looked down upon the project centrepiece. Back in the corridors. "Hello?" he responded, "Anybody there?" "Hello," Jadzia waved from five metres away, and closed rapidly, "I'm Jadzia," she said. "Harry Kim," he managed, "Are you... cleared for this level?" Dax regarded him with an amused expression, "Do I need to be, is this classified?" "Well...Yes, Ma'am," Harry said, feeling an odd desire to stand to attention. This woman was wearing a Starfleet uniform, but he hadn't seen any rank pips yet. "I was looking for.... James Kirk," she ventured. Harry took this completely normally, "He's not here...." "How did you....?" he began to ask, realising, from her unwavering gaze, "You didn't know he was here....but you do, now," he admitted to himself. :: Nice one Harry....become a little too used to this classified stuff? :: "Something's going on Harry," Jadzia stepped closer to him, "Let's go and find out..." Harry had glanced through the logs being sent to Kirk care of Building Five.... and it appeared something was happening in Ward One, Starfleet Medical... it had been sealed off...and Kim had noted Janeway and Chakotay arriving there....as well as some unusual power to a forcefield set up.. Realising Jadzia was watching him carefully, he nodded, "The transporter's still set for Ward One," Dax nodded, and followed him. Harry called out, "Energise..." and the two were standing in the ante-room of Dr. Beverly Crusher's office. Jadzia walked straight in...risking a quick tricorder scan, to check her timing. Harry caught up with her...and they both stepped in to the ward to see the collection of people assembled. ---------------------------------------- (attachments) Image : An older Harry Kim, matured by years. Still youngish. Image: A closeup face view of a very curious Jadzia Dax. ********************************* Date: Thu, 10 Jan 2002 20:54:49 -0800 (PST) From: "Myron Ojala" Subject: Dusting Off A Relic The sounds of metal banging and clanging filled the hall as cadets and new plebes passed a lab door in Science Building Six, adjacent to Starfleet Medical. The door to the lab was marked forbodingly, "Enter at your own risk." That sight was combined with a noxious smell which made them nauseous if they stayed near too long in the hall. So they hastily went about their business. The metal banging went on for a few more moments when a new noise was heard, it was followed by a rather colorful explicative in highland Gaelic. (When a student later inquired about what he had heard, and what Deora Ar Mi Chroi.. meant, his instructor said, "Up yer shaft,.." with a face that could bluff a pair, straight to a royal.) What was being assaulted, looked like a transporter accident involving numerous plumbing fixtures and kitchen appliances combined with what could be mistaken for a painful Klingon interrogation device. One could only imagine what function or engineering marvel this construct being built would perform if ever installed on a Starship. Almost reverently, the somewhat famous, or perhaps infamous engineer, Montgomery Scott, finally finished the last adjustment on the project that so intrigued those passing outside his lab door. With a pause... he threw the switch! The strange device began to emit an eerie hum. Lightd began blinking on and off in rapid sequence on Scotty's console. The aged engineer grabbed a classic tricorder which he had personally upgraded, and scanned the machine's functioning. It was as close to his original design as he believed possible now. The unknown device continued to process until a beep sounded. It went quiet. A panel nearby opened and a container about the size of a coffee cup appeared. A smile appeared on Scotty's face as he lifted the cup to his lips. "So far, so good. But the proof's in the haggus." The contents from the cup were drained in one gulp. For a moment nothing seemed to happen then, "....*gasp*..Ccchhhookkeeee *sputter* ..." he coughed, "...ahhhhh, now that's what I call Scotch." He created and drained another cup. Scotty decided to toast one more on the success of his secret project on his third glass. He happily gulped it down and smiled contentedly, and then his eyes rolled up into the back of his head. He was unconscious before he even hit the lab floor. Moments later, a signal was received at Starfleet Medical's bioflag monitoring system that a person was down, condition unknown in Building Six, Lab Four. #Medical Emergency Building Six. Science Lab.# the computer said aloud. Janeway and Chakotay looked up and saw the EMH was still busy stabilizing Tasha Yar. "Computer, what is the situation?" Janeway asked. # One lifesign noncritical. Human not responsive to automatic hailing.# it replied. "Computer initiate site to site transport of your emergency to our location." Chakotay ordered. The computer responded, #Transporting now.# On an empty biobed, a cascade light effect appeared foretelling the arrival of a patient. It completed its cycle in moments. Janeway and Chakotay approached the bed. "Chakotay, is that who I think it is?" she asked. And Chakotay nodded in awe, scanning the fallen man with a modern medical tricorder. "Now I know I'm in a room filled with living legends." The EMH spoke up from where he worked. "What's his problem over there?" Chakotay read his screen, grinning, "Ah, his blood alcohol is unusually high.....He seems to be sleeping it off." Kirk and McCoy glanced up sharply at that comment. "Noo..." Bones said. Then they saw the patient was indeed their old friend from days long gone. Then he grinned, "It's nothing that he hasn't done before ever since his retirement from Starfleet." Spock looks at his original Enterprise motley crew and said, "Captain, it appears that the "gang", is all here.." Kirk said, "I couldn't have said it better myself." --------------------------------------------- The EMH said, "I'm through here," and he left Yar's side, moving to Scotty's bed. "I'm a guest but I'll take a look at him." he said sarcastically. The doctor looked at Scott's bioscan and said. "Time to wake up sleeping beauty.." and he removed a hypospray from a nearby tray and gave a not too gentle press with it to Scotty's neck. The telltale hiss was audible and after several moments the engineer's eyes blinked open and a groan escaped from his lips. "I'm getting too old for this." "One would think 125 years of experience would have shown you that an overindulgence of alcohol is detrimental to your health." the EMH said sarcastically. "But this time you only suceeded in giving yourself one grand daddy of a hangover." "Going ta give me something for it?" Scotty asked. "No." "What kind of programming do they give you things now? Torturing a man who's suffering from a wee bout.." he groaned. But then Scotty noticed an android in a cell nearby and two lovely ladies on two other biobeds near his. Then he got a really good look at everyone around him. His jaw dropped. And for a moment he didn't know what to say. "I must really be drunk. Lost captains and fake doctors and really old friends all in the same hallucination." He layed back and closed his eyes. "I think I'll stay right here until I'm sober." "You are sober...." the EMH said authoritatively. "I've neutralized the alcohol in your system. Whatever hallucinations you think you are experiencing are quite real." Janeway smiled, "It's a pleasure to meet you Captain Scott. I've wanted to meet you since I read about you being revived in our century." "I know one particular engineer who'd love to make your personal acquaintance, sir. B'Elanna Torres." Chakotay commented. Scotty looked at Captain Kirk and asked of no one in particular. "Why is that android over there wearing a Starfleet uniform and why do you have the laddie locked up?" Janeway replied, "Mr. Scott that's going to take a while to explain. Here. Read this." and she handed him a data padd. "Ok." Montgomery said. "Hey what's that? " he asked sniffing, "It's perfume.." "I beg your pardon.." Janeway said, "I'm not wearing any.." "Captain Kirk.. Isn't that Uhura's brand? I swear it's exactly the way I remember it. It's coming from over there.." and he pointed to the dark office. "Computer lights.." he called out. And the lights came up in Doctor Crusher's office exposing Alexander, Nurse Chapel, and Lt. Uhura. "Oh, NOW the gang's all here, Mr. Spock." Then he saw Uhura and Chapel hadn't aged a day.."Captain, " he said to Kirk. "You haven't been messin around with that blasted Guardian again have you? Don't you remember how much trouble we had the last time with that confounded contraption?" and he looked at McCoy apologetically. ------------------------------ (attachment) *animated gif* Scotty in a jeffries tube surrounded by electrical bolts, working madly. ************************** From: "Samantha Rose" Date: Sun Jan 13, 2002 6:38 pm Subject: Truth Be Told Soft music streamed from the speakers, and the lights were dimmed. Enough, though, that one could still catch up on status reports while enjoying the comfort of their quarters. Commander William T. Riker walked out of his personal bathroom, a towel draped around his shoulders, data PADD in hand. He scrolled down the tiny screen as he walked over to a long couch. Sitting down, he propped his feet up on the opposite end and leaned back. At that time, an intership hail came from the bridge. "Bridge to Commander Riker, we've just recieved a message for you from Earth. It's marked urgent." the voice of the officer on deck overpowered the music, causing Will to sit up in his chair. "Route it to my quarters." The officer acknowledged and the Enterprise's first officer went to his computer terminal. Opening the text, he quickly read it. At the sight of the message written, he quickly closed it and went to the closet to grab a clean uniform, hitting his comm badge on the way. "Riker to Shuttle Bay 2, prep a Type IV shuttle for departure immediatly." the Commander was changed and ready to leave the ship in a matter of minutes. After informing Captain Picard of his leave, Riker headed for the shuttle bay. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Galileo streamed through space as it travelled to Earth. Inside, Commander Riker was at the helm. By this time it has been about 30 minutes since he had recieved the message from SFA about Deanna. The messanger had only informed him about Deanna and gave no reason for her condition. The only reason that came to his mind was it had to be connected in some way to her Betezoid abilities, things like that had happened in the past. A few moments passed by, and Commander Riker began his descent into Earth's atmosphere. After a short while, Starfleet Academy came into visual range. The landing platform was just off to the left. Riker piloted the shuttle into a landing. Will didn't even bother to power down the engines, and headed straight for Starfleet Medical, Ward One. He didn't even notice the details of the campus, or the ominous look of Building Five. It hadn't even occured to him that there was not a single door leading inside the building. The Commander quickly made his way past various other buildings and through the gardens on his way to the Medical building. A ruffled Boothby peered up from on of his chewed flower beds with curiousity. No doubt the hurried man was following the path of the others. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- The doors to the Ward One flew open as that tall first officer entered the room. He stopped dead in his tracks at the sight that met his gaze. Captain Kirk, Bones McCoy, Montgomery Scott, Voyager Command, and, ::Data?:: Commander Riker came to the transparent holding cell of his android friend. A full security detail guarded the door. That's when he spotted Dr. Crusher and an odd looking bald man standing between two bio-beds. Will quickly made his way towards them. He, again, stopped short when he saw who was lying on the first medical bed. With a surprised looked, he approached Dr. Crusher. "Doctor, just what the h#ll is going on here?" Beverly closed her tricorder and turned to face her collegue. "A very large chain of events, and a long story." Dr. Crusher gave him an apologetic look and went about her work of maintaining her patients' stabel condition. The EMH noticed this exchange and stepped to Commander Riker's side. "Perhaps I can be of some assistance." Will turned to find the bald man standing next to him, not tall enough to look him in the eye, therefore craning his neck somewhat. The two stared at each other for a minute or so and Will finally gave a sigh. "Very well. Please. Clear this all up." he waved his hand around, indicating the mass of people there. The EMH gave the Commander a "know-all" look and started. "Well, from what Dr. Crusher has told me, Counselor Troi collapsed during a workout this morning. Apparently the grafted tissues in her trachia could not withstand the physical..." as he started to go into the basics, Commander Riker stopped. "Hold up. Grafted tissues? What grafted tissues?" The EMH, again, started to explain, Riker grabbed him by his holographic uniform, "What's wrong with Deanna!?" A look of surprise filled the holo-doc's simulated eyes and the Commander soon realized what he was doing. Letting go of the Doctor, he quickly apologized. Smoothing wrinkles from his uniform, the holodoc went on, "As I was saying. Counselor Troi was with Dr. Crusher this morning. She experience some problems and was transfered here. When she walked in, she caught sight of the other patient. I believe she was identified as...Tasha Yar." The EMH nodded. "Yes, Lt. Tasha Yar." he now noticed that Commander Riker wasn't paying attention to him anymore. He was looking over at the bio-bed where the once-deceased officer lay. From there, he looked over at Commander ] Data and then to Troi and Crusher. "If you'll excuse me." Will patted the hologram on the shoulder and in keeping his eye on Dr. Crusher, headed in her direction. As he approached the bio-bed, Troi started to come to. Riker noticed this and in taking her hand told her to be quiet. She looked up at him and smiled. "I am glad you are here, Imzadi." she said. He gave her a warm smile and gently kissed the back of her hand. She became weary again, and a nearby nurse gave her a sedative. Turning to Beverly, he looked at her with a mix of determination and pleading. "Beverly, I need you to tell me exactly what has happened to Deanna and why am I here?" he looked at her and then to the two bio-beds that held Troi and Yar. By this time, Commander Riker's presence was well known and those around who were not properly informed on the recent events, were curious as to his arrival. Will eyed each person in that room and then came back to Doctor Crusher. She sighed and placed her tricorder on a nearby tray, and began to tell him the horrifying story of Deanna's attack... ------------------------ (attachments) Image : Riker looking concerned in his gray uniform and maroon turtleneck. Gif: A white older logo for Paramount Pictures. *************************************** From: "Andy Anda" Date: Sun Jan 13, 2002 9:55 pm Subject: tribble 1 Tribble is contentedly active with an intense focus on its intent. Its current intent is to find breeding food. But, being pre-sentient and pre-conscious, it isn't quite aware of itself and its motivations. In the absence of breeding food, Tribble has been quite content to sample other food-types that apparently sustain, but haven't triggered the reproductive hormones. Tribble quickly forgot the comforting hand and dark pocket that gently released him into this paradise of grain-bearing plants. Tribble did not know or care that he had been placed in a few-acre recreated primordial prairie reserve in a region of the Bay area which had a suitable micro-climate. This was both a public services and a research outlets of Star-fleet Medical's agriculture dept. Tribble's instincts kicked in when a rabbit passed by. Observing it for a while, Tribble soon ascertained that it was not a predator and not quite a competitor. So, Tribble began to pattern some of its foraging and predator avoidance behavior on the behavior of this indigenous critter. This instinct for behavior patterning has evolved over the many millennia that Tribble's progenitors have been surviving off-world (just which world was the original tribble home-world is an active area of debate in the Star-fleet Xenobiology literature). Tribble learns the different reactions of the rabbit as different types of shapes fly overhead -- long necks & short tails are ignored, but short necks and long tails mean FREEZE. Tribble no longer remembers or cares about the dark pocket world and its occasionally visiting hand. --------------------------------- (attachments) None. ***************************** END WEEK ONE RECAP 01-14-02 http://www.geocities.com/voyagerliveaction Showcase Site http://groups.yahoo.com/group/voyagerliveaction Writer's Distribution Hub WEEK TWO RECAP 01-15-02 ************************************* From : "Katherine Bird" Subject : Getting Ahead.... Date : Tue, 15 Jan 2002 10:16:01 +0000 ==================================== >"Computer lights.." he (Scotty) called out. > And the lights came up in Doctor >Crusher's office exposing Alexander, >Nurse Chapel, and Lt. Uhura. >"Oh, NOW the gang's all here, Mr. Spock." > Then he saw Uhura and Chapel hadn't aged >a day.."Captain, " he said to Kirk. >"You haven't been messin around with >that blasted Guardian again have you? >Don't you remember how much trouble we >had the last time with that confounded >contraption?" and he looked at McCoy >apologetically. Judging from the high color on Kirk's face as his long time ship's engineer associate exposed Uhura and Chapel's out of time youth to the old McCoy, and how most of the command grade Starfleeters in the room rubbed their eyes in mutual frustration, Chapel pretty much figured the cat was now out of the bag.. She tapped Uhura's nearby arm as she marvelled over the computer terminal that still transfixed her with its marvelous future time EMH schematics. "Uh, lieutenant... I think you'd better look at this.." Uhura didn't take her eyes off the screen. "I am... These blueprints of this century's EMH technology is fascinating.. Oh, and thanks for putting the lights on, I can see much better n--" her voice trailed off as she realized the voice she heard rumbling a few brief seconds ago had been Scotty's and about the Guardian of Forever.. Kirk's supposedly secret operation.. "Oh,, my.. Christine. Are we in for some trouble.." she gasped when she realized their hiding place had been doubly discovered by the room occupants at large and by whom was apparently, a very tiny Klingon boy. Christine nodded dumbly in agreement. Chapel's eyes shifted between Kirk's ire, Scotty's innocent curiosity, Alexander's questioning Klingon warrior play face and the presence of a few more newcomers to the red haired doctor's ward ; a woman whose face spotted species she did not know and two others in obvious Fleet uniform design but total opposites in their ranking color order. "You can say that again." The oriental man Lieutenant,. Uhura liked right away. ::He's no Sulu, but is he cute.:: Uhura thought of Harry Kim. But she didn't want to get in the way of the big man with the beard. He seemed to know the dark haired patient on the biobed extremely well. ::Are they a pair?:: she wondered. ::And this Commander is spending time by Tasha's side too. He knows her. This tall bearded commander must know that android over there too. This Data's wearing clothes like his and Dr. Crusher's. They all must be crewmates.:: she concluded. Uhura guessed all the people whose uniforms had the color across the shoulders were from the same ship. She automatically lumped Janeway with Chakotay and Harry and hoped she had guessed their ranks right by the future style pips she barely learned about from Kirk's briefing before they came forward in time. Jadzia's origins were a total enigma due to her different breast pin even though her uniform matched Janeway's for style. Seven, on the other hand, was only like the female captain, because of her pin. Struck speechless about what to say to a sputtering Bones and Mr. Scott as they gaped at her still young appearance, she knelt by Alexander instead. She was ironic when she said. "Ever feel like you're gonna get yelled at?" The tiny boy nodded vigorously. "Everyday.." he said. "Well.. my friend here and I are about to pay our dues my fine Klingon friend.. " Uhura said and she took his hand in the traditional Klingon handclasp. "It is a good day to die...." she said solemnly serious, then her face broke out into a wonderful smile that broke the tension in the room. Kirk's rising anger softened and he put his hands on his hips when he realized Uhura had the right of it by mocking the moment. McCoy, just scratched his head once he saw Deanna Troi's sedation had taken proper effect and he said, "Sure ain't no fountain of youth around here I know about..." he muttered. "The Guardian's the only possible answer for Christine and Uhura looking not a day over thirty.." Scotty began to grin at his guessing the Guardian's role in everything.::I'm good. Maybe I should have a wee drink more often.:: he thought to himself. ::I feel as smart as a Vulcan..:: Nurse Chapel began to blush when she got a good look at Spock, her former love interest. ::Oh,, does he age well..:: she decided. "They all do...the captain, Scotty included." as she clearly beheld her future time shipmates as she followed a curious Alexander out of Bev Crusher's office. The EMH cleared his throat and said, "This is nice. But we need a meeting of the minds badly or we'll not know heads from tails.." he said. "I know the history of each of you and the current events. I have just accessed Starfleet Headquarters' Worldwide Database." he blinked at Harry. "Mr. Kim.. you're moving up in the world.. You're Kirk's project secretary for Building Five? I'm impressed.." "So am I.." the current time Janeway muttered. "Chakotay, did you hear of Mr. Kim's promotion? I seemed to have lost track of everything once we got past the reunion party for Voyager's return." Chakotay chuckled, "No..." he said, winking at Harry. "I'm just as surprised as you are." The EMH proceeded to acquaint all present with their mutual identities, places in time/history and then everything that happened to him that morning, starting with his serendipitous meeting with McCoy in his quarters. In the background.. Mr. Data nodded vigorously with each point the holodoctor made but he wasn't heard through the containment field. "Now there's no need for secrecy.. Not about Building Number Five. Nor Deanna's unfortunate incident." He eyed McCoy and Janeway with amusement. "Seems like the morning's lecture headaches will fade away like a bad memory.. Classes campus wide have been cancelled." the holodoc added. "Why?" Alexander wanted to know. He was worried for that meant his mother would be seeking him soon to make him do his Earth Studies early for the day. The EMH rolled his eyes at the Enterprise boy. "Because the Dunkin Donut wishes it.." he joked. "You remember how the Guardian brought you and your mother here to solve a little mystery surrounding the counselor over there. Well, the portal brought Yar and Uhura and Chapel back too, using Captain Kirk's influence with Starfleet for a purpose that may or may not involve that gold shirted android over there.." the holodoc said to Alexander. The boy waved to Data, who innocently naive, waved back, making Alexander laugh. "Oh." Alexander said. The EMH rose facing everyone around him, "So,...we all know what's going on and who's who?" All heads nodded. "Good. Now we can move on with why the Guardian wants us together.. I think we should start with learning more about the night Deanna was attacked, and for that..I need to wake her again." The holodoc injected Deanna Troi with a simple stimulant and her eyes began to flutter. He likewise injected Tasha Yar, so she could relate with all in the room as well. Nurse Chapel leaned in on the EMH and said, "Are you always this successful managing odd situations and people?" He quipped, "I've been around the galactic block you might say, Nurse.. This..." he held out his hand to all present.." ..is a piece of cake." Uhura reached out and tenatively touched the holodoc's sleeve.."He seems so real..." "Of course I'm real!" the holodoc laughed. "Does it matter that I'm made up of photons and forcefields? Oh,," he remembered belatedly. "Your Enterprise has never seen holographic technology.." he said to Uhura.. Right then.. all the current time Starfleet officer's pins erupted in a hail. Uhura's eyes bugged out when she realized that the decorative pins she had been admiring earlier were actually... "Those pins are tiny universal communicators??!" she turned, amused, and accusingly at Christine.. "You never told me about this advancement...." Several minutes went by, and soon, Deanna and Yar were up and talking with the rest of them. All three doctors certified them as fit to get out of bed. Christine and Uhura hung by a wall where they watched Riker, Janeway, Chakotay and Kirk all in close conference, talking about how best to proceed with the investigation Kirk said the Guardian had asked him to organize. "Hey Christine.. The higher ups are schemeing.." Uhura whispered to Scotty and McCoy and Nurse Chapel. Her retorting tease was cut off by Boothby's voice coming uncharacteristically over the commbadges.. =^=Boothby to Starfleet Medical Ward One. I've found something you should see out here in the gardens while I was tracking down the tribble snacking on them.. Oh, yeah.. bring Mr. Data with you.. I'm in the east courtyard by the dedication fountain..=^= Uhura and Christine were nearest the door leading to the turbolifts and got to Boothby before the others.. Chapel looked over her shoulder and she and Uhura made their way over to the wizened Gardener waving them over. "Looks like he never ages.." she quipped to Uhura. "Boothby looks the same way he did when I was a cadet." She knew the others from the ward would follow in due course if they chose. So she stopped looking for them to arrive and concentrated on kneeling down where Boothby sat in the dirt near a pile of wilted flowers. Uhura took his other side and gasped. In the dust, Boothby exposed a frightening sight. She shouted, "Oh my god.. That looks like,, that looks like..." Boothby grew serious. "Yes..., Mr. Data's head. And it's from only two days in the future.." And he brushed the dust away from the hole he had dug from around it. "Now how did it get here, back into the past, where I'd find it right at this particular moment?" Uhura could hardly wait to find out what the others thought when they arrived. "I don't think that marvelous Starfleet EMH is going to have a ready answer for this one.." she quipped. The EMH materialized out of the air making Uhura and Chapel, who were still highly unused to holograms, jump. He steadied them with grips as he knelt, "Another thing you ladies should know.. I'm a hologram with free will. I come and go as I please.." Then he saw what Boothby was pointing to in the shallow hole in the uncovered garden by the fountain. "Mr. Data sure gets around..doesn't he..?" And he hefted Data's head in one palm, arm outstretched, at his eye level.. "Alas, Poor Yorik.. I knew him well..." he said dramatically. Boothby snatched Mr. Data's head back protectively.. "Time paradox is nothing to joke about..! This is obvious something the Guardian wanted us to find while it protects us from consequences crossing times.. " He blew dust out of the head's eyes and nose.. "Show some respect, doctor." He grumbled a second before he huffed a breath on the fascimile's forehead and he buffed it with a grimy sleeve, to a rich shine. -------------------- (attachments) Image: Chapel, a big close up. Image: Picard and Boothby, crouched by a flower bed in the sunlight. Image: Uhura, huge smile. Image: Data's severed head lying in the dirt. ********************** Date: Tue, 15 Jan 2002 12:02:53 -0800 (PST) From: "Jeff Seltun" Subject: Clues to "Head" off the Mystery Seven of Nine took all the EMH had to say in stride. It seemed logical that everyone surrounding her knew facts and details about everyone else. ::It is efficient to have crucial information regarding individual identity and circumstance. The doctor is right to violate the time interference directives in doing so. By Captain Kirk's own admission, the Guardian of Forever is making us free of paradox while we're all on Earth. It was the one who wanted contact with us here, not the other way around. So anything we do or say now will have no risk to worry about.:: she concluded seeing the dark skinned communications officer and the blond nurse coming her way out of the office. Seven's metal eyebrow rose when she saw the tiny Klingon boy following them into the ward. His civilian outfit was covered in dirt and an errant evergreen twig poked out of his pants. His serious adult like demeanor almost made Seven smile. She knelt by the boy. "I see you have survived a battle today. We must compare battle stories later." and she stood to listen to the EMH speak on, orienting everyone in the room as to rank, name and situation at the Academy. Then Boothby's call went out over her combadge. >=^=Boothby to Starfleet Medical >Ward One. I've found something you should see >out here in the gardens while I was tracking down >the tribble snacking on them.. Oh, yeah.. bring >Mr. Data with you.. I'm in the east courtyard >by the dedication fountain..=^= Captain Janeway tapped her badge. "Acknowledged, Boothby. I shall arrange with security to bring him." The Voyager captain nodded to her first officer, Chakotay, who lowered the forcefield. He came near Data, armed with a phaser and asked, "Do I have your word as a Starfleet officer that you will not try to escape, or cause any aggression to anyone?" Mr. Data had obviously turned his emotion chip back on, for his face was strained and puzzled. "You have my solemn word as a Starfleet officer. I have never lied except under order. May I see the counselor and Tasha before we go?" Chakotay caught a glance from Janeway allowing such a visit after she caught one from Kirk which told her to allow Mr. Data freedom for the time being to do what he wished. "Better hurry. Looks like we're going to do a little site seeing on the grounds today.. Boothby never calls unless it's very important. I give you a minute.." he said. putting away his phaser. "I understand.." Mr. Data replied. He went over to Deanna and Yar, who were now sitting up on their beds, having both changed into uniforms with the help of screens and Dr. Crusher's assistance. Data couldn't help but feel a sharp, sad gladness at seeing Tasha full of life again, until he realized that for her, she hadn't experienced her own dying at the hands of Armus yet. For her, nothing had been paused for eleven years. Simply a thrust forward in time to the present. His mind raced to the little holo figurine of Yar sitting on his computer desk in his quarters at home at Harvard and the eulogy he could still hear her give in his thoughts with perfect clarity. ::She must not ever see that during the time the Guardian is allowing her for Troi's investigation. It would be too painful for all involved.:: So Data contented himself with a simple query. "Are you well, lieutenant?" he asked of Yar, fighting the urge to touch her to convince himself she was real. Being separated from his friend in the containment field had been torture. The Enterprise security chief was puzzled by the genuine emotion she saw on him. "Yes..I'm.... fine Data.. Are you?" And she looked at Deanna for an explanation. Troi pointed to her head and mouthed, "Emotion chip.." Yar nodded and smiled, realizing what that could mean for her android companion. ::Makes sense. This is eleven years into the future for me.:: "My functioning is unimpaired. It remains to be seen about my involvement with the counselor's attack however.. I have no memory of any event concerning it." Data answered her question. Seven of Nine came to Data's side. "Lt. Commander Data. We must go. Boothby's message sounded urgent." Data lingered a bit longer at Yar's side and smiled in a small way that barely hid real tears of happiness. Then he toned down his chip back to old levels and he set his mind on the task at hand. "Tasha. We must talk later when this investigation is over. I have much to say..." Yar nodded, wide eyed and watched as Seven of Nine and her old friend Data left the room to follow Nurse Chapel and Lt. Uhura out into the gardens. Then shortly, the EMH disappeared, most likely, to join them outside. Tasha threw a shrug about Data's reactions at Commander Riker which oddly, made him grin at her hugely. Then she noticed Wil's beard and did a double take. --------------------------------------------- Commander Chakotay kept pace with Kathryn as they watched Seven of Nine and Mr Data preceed them outside into the daylight. He spoke, "Kathryn. Do you trust the Guardian of Forever to keep us safe from temporal complications?" Janeway laughed, seeing Boothby just ahead. "I don't think we have any choice in the matter Chakotay. As a matter of history, the Guardian does pretty much what it wants. But I'll admit, it's unprecedented action on its part for allowing us to bring it to Earth in the first place. But I do trust the Guardian to use us and time itself for this mysterious purpose it needs. I trust everything I've read about it to preserve all our timelines back to the way they were when all this is over." "I suppose you're right.." Chakotay agreed. Janeway went on, "As to why Captain Kirk brought forward his women officers from his old ship..." she threw her arms wide and her comment hung in the air. "It's anyone's guess. Only he knows for sure. But I think the Guardian knows why Tasha's here. Kirk told us that it was the Guardian's request to allow Tasha to come in the first place before her actual death. I'm going to find out exactly what Yar might know concerning that once she comes outside to join us." Then there was no more time for words. Data and Seven of Nine had reached Boothby and the place where Uhura and Chapel were kneeling. Boothby was polishing something round and dusty in his hands. It startled Janeway to see that it was actually a head. She and Chakotay took an involuntary step backward when the gardener lightly tossed it to Mr. Data. "I believe you lost this, Mr. Data." Boothby said, "Or you're going to..." he joked. "Care to explain it?" he said with a toothy grin.. Mr. Data turned the android head until he saw its face. "This is apparently my cranial unit.." he said before Seven's tricorder confirmed it. "With one difference.." she added, "The emotion chip inside of it has been removed... and temporal decay shows this cranium to be from two days into our future." Janeway gasped, "What?.. Seven scan that again. Has there been any recent opening of the head's access panels? Anything to explain this disembodiment or the head's dislocation out of time?" Chakotay had already scanned the grounds surrounding all of Starfleet Headquarters. "There's nothing more captain. There doesn't seem to be a body to go along with the head here." Seven blinked. "It seems we have another mystery.." Data came up with a solution. "Captain Janeway. We can analyze my... I mean... that head in the main cybernetics laboratory. I can link with it to access its memory records up to the point it was cast backwards into our time. I might be able to learn further details." "Do it." Janeway said. "But first.. Let's wait for everyone else to arrive. They might shed some more ideas about where we go from here." "Understood." Data answered. And he calmly held his severed head under an arm like a ball and froze in place. Chakotay shuddered at the sight and whispered to Kathryn. "He's remarkably calm about everything. I mean, android or not, that head is part of a sentient being's remains... possibly his very own. If I were him, I'd be horrified." Kathyrn laughed. "Never underestimate the adaptability of computer chips. No doubt, the commander has turned his emotion chip down a bit before coming here. I wish I had that ability.. My skin's crawling.." Boothby was toweling off his sweaty neck, letting the officers around him get to work when Seven of Nine angled her tricorder back into the hole where Data's head had been found. "Captain.." she called out. "Look at this." and she lifted out a section of carpetting that had been charred around the edges. Seven immediately ruled out the possibility that it might be a part of the landscaping tarp underneath the gardenbed. It was blue. Data spoke up. "That color. I know it. It's the same shade as the floor covering on Counselor Troi's patio, here at the Academy.." "Then I think we all know where we're going to be heading next after we probe the head's memory files.." Janeway said derisively. She could hardly wait for the others to arrive. ------------------------ (attachments) Image : Data in black and white. *animated gif* Seven of Nine, going through a flipping gallery, from Borg to human in her life's story. Image: The original Enterprise over the Earth in orbit. ************************** From : "Cory Anda" Subject : A Glimpse into the Future Date : Wed, 16 Jan 2002 11:44:45 +0000 Spock quietly watched Commander Riker, whom he knew by reputation, react emotionally to Deanna Troi and to Tasha Yar. ::I have been with humans long enough to know that venting emotions often times relieves stress among them. Yet I am feeling effected myself. Perhaps it is the Guardian of Forever's involvement with time here on Earth causing my reaction.:: He saw the dark haired Deanna Troi turn in his direction and smile encouragingly. Spock raised an eyebrow in defense. ::I forget that Deanna is of half Betazed descent. She is a true empath.:: The Vulcan ambassador was content to wait for Kirk to guage how things were proceeding with Yar, trusting his old friend's instincts with that regard. He did, however, amble towards Mr. Scott after the engineer found his land legs again. "It might interest you to know, that in this time, there is a substance called synthehol, that acts just like alcohol on the body until the mind tells it to neutralize. Any unexpected drunkiness can be controlled at will." Scotty looked surprised while he watched Uhura and Nurse Chapel leave the ward, followed shortly by Janeway, Chakotay, Seven of Nine, Data, and the EMH. His mind was only partly on where they were all going, the rest was shocked at what Spock was suggesting. "Now where's the fun in that, Spock? What'd be the bloody point?" he grinned. And he made his way over to the ladies by the biobeds to see how they fared their ordeal. "Humans. I still find their reactions illogical." Spock said to himself. "Then why'd you pick me to be your personal aide, ambassador?" Barclay said, coming near as he scanned the whereabouts of Boothby so he'd know where to escort Spock. "Living with your unique personality is a challenging lesson in patience which I find strengthens both our characters.. I, do not try to analyze you minute by minute as some of your other friends are so fond of doing." Spock said blandly. "I heard that..." Deanna said from across the room in surprised gentle amusement. Barclay gestured her to stop her beginning defense on his behalf, "It's ok, Deanna. I asked Mr. Spock a personal, honest question and I got back a very personal...." he sighed reluctantly,"..and honest answer..." He watched Mr. Spock leave the room to follow the others outside. "...I think." he said, scratching his head. "Deanna, I'm..I'm..so glad you and Tasha are feeling better..but if you'll excuse me.. I.. I'd better go after him.." and he gestured nervously to the door Spock had used. He nodded a see you later look at Dr. Crusher on his way out and shook Alexander's hand in greeting before he hurriedly left. He only ran into part of the wall in his haste to leave sickbay. Kirk regarded the departing lieutenant with a skeptical look but all the women and the boy, giggled. Alex said, "He's so funny.." Dr. Crusher frowned ruefully, "I suppose he is... unintentionally." -------------------------------------------- Reg Barclay slipped in easily into the group surrounding Boothby and he blinked in the bright sunlight. "Oh, my..." he said when his squinting eyes saw what Data was holding. Ambassador Spock was looking at the head closely, while the EMH was scanning it with his medical bioprobe, but Spock did not directly touch it. Reg asked, "Is,.. something the matter, sir..?" he asked him. "Not at present. I am at a loss on how to proceed. The reason for the time disparity into the future isn't clear." Spock admitted. ::For the ambassador. That's as close as Spock's ever going to say, "I don't know about this.." :: Reg thought seriously. But then some deep dark recess in the back of his mind kicked into high gear. "Sir!" "Mr. Barclay?..." Janeway asked him at his outburst.. "Ah,, sorry ma'am. But. I--I meant... Spock, I'm sure Starfleet doesn't want Mr. Data to risk himself analyzing his own self by accessing those memory files. He would be too close to himself to be an effective detective.." Reg's eyes blinked at his own rhyming metaphors and switching personal pronouns. "If something should go wrong, he would never forgive himself for losing himself inside himself...." Reg bit his lip when his own mind refused to make sense of what his mouth just said. He held up an eager finger telling them all to hold a minute. "One second...Jus just... one...I'll show you my idea." Then Barclay snatched up the EMH's med tricorder from the holodoc's grip. "Hey... I'm not finished with that yet.." the EMH protested. But Janeway was intrigued. "Hear him out doctor. If Reg's found a way to get the answers we need without risking our Mr. Data. I want to hear it." "And you shall..uh, captain..." Barclay replied eagerly.. "Just..let me check a few parameters.. May I, uh...borrow your tricorder Commander uh, Chatokee.." he mumbled half distracted while he turned dials on the medtricorder he was squinting at.. "Chakotay...." the Voyager commander grinned. Janeway did too, accustomed to seeing people not yet familiar with him, butcher the pronunciation of his one and only name. "Sure.. Here.." he said, placing his tricorder into Reg's free palm. "Thanks.." Barclay awkwardly juggled the two sensing devices until both of them seemed to beep the same patterns of sounds as both were aimed at the android head Mr. Data held underneath them, while the nervous lieutenant checked something. "Ah...! I was right. The frequencies ARE the same between Mr. Data's positronic matrix and the holoimaging buffers in all of the EMH models we have, in the theta band. I can do this.." "Do what exactly,....Mr. Barclay...?" the EMH asked gingerly as he steadied the med tricorder when Reg tried to adjust the dial with his second hand full of the standard one. "This!" And Barclay passed his two tricorders over the autonomous emitter on the holodoc's arm. "Ahhh...!!" the EMH said as he began to shrink to miniscule size in place, getting smaller and smaller over the course of a few moments until he was only a centimeter high. Both Ambassador Spock's eyebrows crawled into his hairline. "Fascinating.. You've managed to surprise me yet again, Reginald.." he said. "You intend the EMH to interface with the cranium's memory cells in Mr. Data's stead." "Correct.. sir, uh. It was just a thought. I, ...know how manipulative hologram fields can be since I...used to spend a great deal of time...with them.." Barclay was glad Deanna Troi wasn't around to hear that confession. "I see.." Chakotay said. "The EMH will be able to download the head's memory logs into his own until we can return him to his normal size and play those records on a viewer.." "Exactly..Made sense using his normal safety factors. And the doc here doesn't have to use a cable to link up!" Barclay beamed.. "Uh, Everybody, watch your step.." he said as the EMH shrank still smaller, until Barclay reached down and gathered him up. Soon he held a speck of a doc on one palm, barely noticable. He was as small as a pepper grain on the skin as the imagers continued shrinking the doctor. "Off you go, doc.. I know you can hear me. Only your size parameter's been altered." "Oh joyful me.." The EMH pipsqueaked after tapping his holocombadge to add volume to his tiny voice. "That's quite enough on the downscaling, Mr. Barclay..I'll do this task for you if only to minimize the risk to Mr. Data up there. The sooner I get inside to get those memory files read, the sooner I can leave and lose this munchkin voice and body I've got.." "All right...You know to enter the head by one of its accessports under the hairline..." Barclay said as set his hand against the face on the head. "Of course.." the EMH squeaked as he jumped off. A gust of wind nearly swept the EMH away before the doc grabbed a simulated facial hair and hung on. "Shield me from the elements!! Last thing I want is to play a flea to that lost tribble out there!!!" he snapped. The group hastily used their hands to block the breeze until the EMH got into the hair zone on the head on their tricorder scans. The EMH heard a buzzing and tapped his combadge until it opened a channel to all of theirs. ""There's still some power in here. Mr. Barclay. I'm sensitive to certain energy dischargers.. Are you sure you thought of everything to protect me?" "I sure did.." he smiled nervously. "I matched your holoprojection matrix to the cranium's own positronic one. You are two peas in a pod!!" he said with greater confidence. "Terrific.. I feel like a bosom buddy.." the EMH said as a glowing circuit made his holoskin crawl as he walked deeper into Data's severed head. He already knew where he was headed. As he had been shrinking, Mr. Barclay's tricorders also embedded programming with a map of all conduits that made the android up. ::Nice actually. Since I hadn't had any of Mr. Data's records previously in my data records.:: The EMH was about halfway to his objective when he noticed some charring on many of the circuits he was passing as he walked on the micropanels. He tapped his commline to the outside again. "Mr. Barclay. Is Seven of Nine still around?" "Yes. Why? Do you need her for something?" Reg asked. "As a matter of fact, yes, I do. I've discovered some damage in here that might provide more details if we could see them visually too at my debrief upload later on. Have Seven vent a nanoprobe to me so I can capture it.." Seven shrugged and aimed her wrist assimilation tubes at the Data head's neck. The long pipes shot out, making Uhura and Chapel flinch when they realized that Seven was almost part robot internally. Seven fed in precisely one pseioadaptic nanoprobe primed to home in onto the EMH's location. "Coming your way, doctor.. It should arrive there in moments." he told him. The holodoc heard a curious depth sounding ping as it found its way down to him. "I hear it.." The nanoprobe found him. It was the size of a toaster. The EMH caught it out of the "air" as it hovered near him and was immediately lifted off his feet. "Seven!! Kill its locomotion cells!!" "Understood.." Barclay said and she concentrated on the tubes still embedded in the throat section. The nanoprobe dropped into his hands.. promptly pinning the EMH to the "floor" with its immense weight. "Ugh.. A little more levitation.." he grunted between tight teeth. Seven sighed in irritation and made the change. The EMH finally had his working visual nanoprobe. "This is fine Seven, Thankyou. It feels much like my holoimaging camera.." "I designed it to resemble technology you were familiar with..." Seven said. "Fast thinking.." the EMH said. "The Borg are efficient." she countered. "What's a Borg?" Uhura said, looking at Seven's extended wrist tubes curiously. Spock promptly launched into a long description that Seven of Nine could not flaw. "He sounds like Seven..." Janeway told Chakotay from the corner of her mouth. "Very much so...or Tuvok..." he admitted. Uhura was immediately horrified and fascinated with what she learned about Borg and she vowed to learn more about them at the earliest opportunity. "Do those hurt?" Chapel said, scanning Seven's tubes herself with her old style tricorder. Seven shook her head, and withdrew them, her implanting task complete. Christine got permission and ran a few fingers down the inside of Seven's wrist, looking for where the tubes had emerged. She found only seamless skin. ::True symbiosis of machine and living tissue...:: Chapel nodded her thanks and quickly joined Uhura's "I'm fascinated with the Borg concept" club. The EMH lifted the nanoprobe imager to his eyes and took snapshots and moving images in all light spectra on the strange charring he was noting. "If I didn't know better.. I'd swear these internal nodes are showing signs of having been in a fire.. A very hot one.." That made everyone lift their heads. "A fire at Starfleet Headquarters? How extraordinary..." Janeway said. "Yes, it seems to have been a very big one. And this damage is still radiating heat." "Yes. I see it.." Seven said. "I'm linked with my nanoprobe.." Ambassador Spock didn't like what evidence was being uncovered. "A large fire in two days to San Francisco? Something our technology could not stop?" Then he spoke with the tiny EMH directly.. "Doctor, is there any evidence of solar components?" "You mean as in solar flare or super nova? No.. None.. This is more like your conventional wildfire signature.." "California province sure has enough of those." Boothby said. "But the thought of any of them reaching the complex here down by the Bay is extraordinary.." Spock was reflective. "We cannot ignore the evidence in front of our own eyes..figuratively speaking of course. If the future in two days time signals some widespread local catastrophe involving fire high enough to reach Deanna Troi's patio balcony.. Then we must entertain the notion.." "Wait just a moment gentleman..." the holodoc said as he walked down the wire leading to Data's mother memory board. "Heat damage like this can be from a house fire, too. I'm not yet reading traces of hillside bioflora.."..a moment later.. "Correction.. I found some.. and evidence of brick and titanium byproducts and....plasma.." Barclay immediately looked startled. "Building Five. It's the only place that uses plasma shielding for security reasons.." "Yes," Boothby said, "But Building Five's about two kilometers away from Counselor Troi's living quarters." Spock slowly nodded. "Which supports Boothby's theory of a large grassfire reaching the heart of Starfleet Headquarters. Fire of a nature that the Corps could not extinguish easily." "I..I don't like the sound of that.. sir.." Reg said. "It is a truth given us, however indirectly, by the Guardian of Forever. It sent back this cranial unit two days into the past into a place where it knew Mr. Boothby would find it." "Why can't we just question the Gateway about this matter?" Chakotay said. "Surely if the gate can bring Uhura and Chapel here from the past, It can see into the future.." Mr. Spock steepled his hands into the sleeves of his Vulcan embassy robe. "Perhaps it is not allowed to show this evidence directly. Perhaps this is why it garnered Captain Kirk's cooperation in retrieving Lt. Yar back from death. So we could learn about this catastrophe and then deal with it.." Everyone around Spock grew silent. Even the birdsong above them seemed ominous in their ears. "Is this the huge threat to Starfleet the Guardian told Kirk to investigate?" Reg said, swallowing around his dry throat. "And..and and..not just us checking into Deanna's attack..?" "The probability, based on all evidence makes it 84.395 % to one in favor of that outcome.." Spock said finally. "I don't like those odds at all.." Janeway said. Reg couldn't have found a better sentence than hers to describe his own feelings in that regard. ----------------- (Attachments) Image : A serious Spock in a promo, arms folded. *animated gif* A roaring wall of flames. Image: The whole of Starfleet Headquarters. *animated gif* An explosion of a fireball in slow motion. Image: Mr. Barclay sharing a light moment with Harry Kim. ************************ Date: Thu, 17 Jan 2002 21:57:26 -0800 (PST) From: "Myron Ojala" Subject: Scott's Hot Plot Shot Scotty was wishing that his head wasn't so clear. When he realized that his friend, Captain Kirk, had for reasons unknown, used the Guardian of Forever. ::Now that was daft. Now it'll be up to me to pull his arse out of the fire this time.:: He looked across sickbay at the young lovely lass, whom they called Yar. ::The fair lieutenant is important to the captain's plan, whatever that blasted thing is..:: "Don't worry lassie, " he said to Deanna. "If I know the captain. He's got something up his sleeve about where we all go from here." he confidently reassured her. Scotty thought about where the other officers went and decided to follow. He stopped short when he saw a small Klingon child looking up at him with a most intense gaze. " Laddie, some days just aren't meant fer dyin.. and I'll tell ye why.. It's much better to outlive yer enemies, because at the end of the battle, ye can have a nice pint, and know that yer enemies died thirsty..." Alexander returned a growling smile. ::I like that lesson. Even though he is just a human.:: Scotty patted the boy's head and went to the spotted woman in Station Science blue and introduced himself. "I heard you were married to one of them..eh,, how'd it go??" Jadzia didn't take offense, she smiled and said, " It's been...memorable..." Dr. Crusher came over and gave Scotty one last once over with her scanner. "If you've fully recovered, Captain Scott.You may go anytime you wish." "Aye.. I think I'll join the others with that crusty groundsman, Beebee, or whatever his name is.." Beverly and Deanna smiled as Mr. Scott exited the medical bay. -------------------------------------------------------- It took him a few minutes to cross the Academy grounds but he finally found where everyone went. He looked at Mr. Data, carrying something and then realized what it was. He blanched. " I don't know how much I've missed, but.. laddie, just where did that come from, or.. maybe I don't want to know.." Boothby overheard, "You HAVE to know about this one. Or rather about two days hence..you Scottish oaf.." "I already know about the Guardian ya malicious, peat spreader. " Scotty snapped back. Boothby came nose to nose with the older captain. " I remember you when you were a know it all, snot nosed little plebe. Tell me, are you still building those contraband stills? Smelled one the other day.." Scotty blushed five shades of red, " I don't know what yer talking about. A hobby's a hobby. If you must know, I was conductin valuable research in Lab Six." The others watched the exchange between the two like a tennis match. Boothby grinned "I'll just bet. Any student here can tell me the truth of things learned just by sniffing the air around your office. But enough of this banter. I said that two days hence is VERY important. Weren't you listening?" Scotty heard a whine from Data's head and realized just what it was.. He saw Barclay's two tricorder's working overtime, projecting a field downwards over it. He noticed the EMH wasn't there. " Captain Janeway, where did that artificial Bones go?" Janeway pointed to the noise making head. "He's in there." Scotty went nearer. He examined the tricorder setup. "You've cross connected the tricorders with the EMH's personal emitter thingy. Whatever for?" Chakotay said, "The EMH is attempting to access the future cranium's memory banks. We've learned that something is going to happen to this entire area in some possible disaster.." Scotty grew serious and looked up from his mechanical prying, "You mean to say that the ol garden geezer's remark about the two future days is a detail we need to know?" "Yes." Janeway confirmed, "Most of the components in Data's head have been subjected to some form of extreme heat energy. The holodoc's found signs of incinerated plant material. The kind found in a brush fire. There's more. There's evidence of plasma burning as well." Barclay added, "As in Building Five.. Its security fields.." Scotty looked alarmed, "Those shields are plasma driven? How bloody stupid.. Who thought of using those to surround the Guardian thing?" Spock replied, "Starfleet's. They are quite safe." Scotty immediately hit his combadge, "Scott to Captain Kirk. The haggus is in the fire and the fire will be very real this time. Hurry along as fast as ye can. There's physics here that I may not be able to understand." Montgomery thought aloud, "Plasma fires? Enough to burn android circuitry? Where was this damaged?" Chakotay said, "Seven of Nine found a piece of carpetting with that head. From Deanna Troi's outer balcony. I know that to be three stories off the ground." "A fire coming that big? And a plasma one at that? Building Five's not the only place with active plasma ya know. " Scotty pulled out his own tricorder and consulted its database, " I got the schematics uploaded, Mr. Spock, of every place and source of raw plasma here at Headquarters. The Engine Design Reactor Lab, next to my building. You know the one, Building Seven. And another source would be in half a dozen labs all over, in any arsenal testing range for plasma weapons. We could be weeks checking out those leads." Scotty came up with an idea, he had to learn more information from what the EMH was recording. "Now where's the doc I need to ask him a few things." Barclay answered, "He's a little.. uh, little.. right now." Scotty, "Huh?" "Just tap your combadge and he will answer you." Boothby said gruffly. "Ok.." and Scott did so. "Scott to doctor EMH." "Mr. Scott? Are you well?" "Quit yer bedside quackery. We've got two days to figure out all this. Where the blasted blazes are ye right now?" The EMH responded, "I'm currently examining Mr. Data's head, literally from the inside out." "Fine." Scott said, not understanding. "Chakotay tells me you are mucking about for memory files. Skip that. What we need to know is just about the plasma signs in there. Age them. Try to find the oldest hotspots. Were they from the outside in or the inside out?" Janeway looked up sharply. "What was the purpose of that question?" "Well now lassie, Everyone is thinking a fire from the outside.. Now, tell me this, what if Data himself, is going to be this disaster's flashpoint in forty eight hours.Did anyone think of that?" Everyone, including Mr. Spock, looked at the head. The EMH voice was heard saying, "Well, I'm a doctor, not an arson investigator. All I can do is show you what's in here.. Pick up where I leave off.. I'm ready to return now, Mr. Barclay.. Or Scotty, would you do the honors.?" Scotty beamed and rubbed his hands together "Reversing.." and he turned a few dials. "Here comes something.." and he laughed to ease the tension. Soon, the EMH had returned. "Seven, I believe this is yours.." and he handed her back the visual recording nanoprobe between two fingers. Seven said, "I will recompile the data for main screen viewing." Scotty said, "Shall we all go my lab? I've a pretty setup for virtual analyses." Boothby said, "Complete with alcoholic refreshments.." he mumbled. Scotty shot him an irritated look. "Let's go. The others can meet us there." --------------------------- (attachments) *audio* McCoy- Well, Scotty, Now you've done it. Scotty- Aye, the haggus is in the fire , for sure. Image: Uhura and Scotty looking at the forward screen from her communications station on Enterprise's bridge. ************************************** From : "Cassidy Meyers" Subject : [voyagerliveaction] Knight in Shiny White Skin Date :Sat, 19 Jan 2002 20:46:28 +0400 Beverly finished up her preliminary report for the classified rundown Starfleet wanted on Yar and separate one on Montgomery Scott. ::I've practically worn my terminal keys down on this diagnosis.:: she thought of the times Scotty came in with alcohol intoxication. ::I don't know how or why he always manages to fall for the experimental drinks can be dangerous to your health trick when he shows absolutely no propensity for alcoholism. "I think I should state my case for Starfleet to come up with that perfect Scotch just to save the man a lot of grief always waking up with a Fleet doctor lecturing him about it." Deanna Troi glanced at Riker and smiled as she smoothed down her hair. "Every man needs a hobby. Surely Admiral Scott's is a harmless one." "Not if the floor rises up to meet your face too often." Beverly snorted. She turned off her terminal with a viscious button stab. "And how often has that occurred in actuality in the past five years..? Be truthful. I'll know if you aren't..." she teased. Dr. Crusher thought about it carefully. "Hmm.. wow, only six.." "There you go.." Troi sat patting Wil on the shoulder as she hugged him. "Thanks for coming Wil. And don't worry about my Frankenstein's graft in my neck. It's finally taking.." "Too bad there isn't a synthetic trachea on the market." Bev chuckled. "What?" Troi grinned. "If there were, Captain Picard and I could form the first bionics symposium.. Where's the captain anyway?" she asked Riker. He replied, "I was given immediate solo leave to see you Deanna. An alpha two message can't be ignored." he said, with both eyebrows rising. Deanna clucked her tongue. "My aren't I important?" I know a few years ago, just getting an open general system channel was tough work.." then she gasped. Dr. Crusher and Riker both caught her arm. "I'm fine. It's just the others have discovered something frightening.. I'll tone down my shields by the time we get there so you two don't have to stretch out a safety net everytime I make a noise.." she quipped. "Shall we go??" Dr Crusher hit her combadge. "Doctor Crusher to the Boothby. What's your location? Sounds serious on your end. Deanna's already twitching.." Boothby came on line immediately. "I wish jumpy nerves were the only thing we needed to worry about. Try time dialated catastrophe scheduled to hit San Francisco in forty eight hours..." Bev and Riker and Dr. Crusher fell quiet. Wil pantomimed that he was going to comm his ship with the news silently and that they were to go on ahead of him. Dr. McCoy decided to see what Captain Kirk would do and he too waved for the two ladies to go on ahead. Troi nodded and asked, "So we'll take the bull by the horns and shove back a little." she said with a confidence she did not feel. "Tell us where you ended up Boothby." "In Scott's lab. The EMH took some polaroids of the inside of Data's head and we're viewing them." "What??" Beverly interjected. Boothby was terse. "The sooner you all come down here. The sooner you'll learn things. Boothby out." and the connection was cut. Tasha Yar, in a fresh yellow uniform, padded over and indicated with a nod for the counselor and doctor to go on ahead of Riker and her. "I'll wait for the commander. Go.." she said. So Deanna Troi and Dr. Crusher got to Montgomery Scott's private labs in Building Six. Deanna smiled as she walked through the shadowed highly crowded lab off the cadet's hallway and past what could only be a careful contrived still. She could see a shattered glass on the floor just under it. "Hey Bev.. so this is where Mr. Scott's famous still is located. I wonder how many cadets try to break in here to sample some of the goods on the sly themselves.." "None. Or Scotty's still wouldn't be the tantilizing mystery it is, whenever the winds blows its perfume around the Academy grounds. I hear talk about secret quests to find it from the students occasionally. I'm sure Boothby enjoys the challenge for them too. He sure talks about the smell and slips the admiral's name to them often enough." Deanna said grinning. On the outside, she was all professional, but on the inside, a huge part of her wanted to snatch up a beaker and taste the stuff sitting in the tube apparatus bubbling before her eyes herself. Montgomery Scott said as if he read her mind. "When we get over this doom and gloom prophecy of ours, we'll drink on it, but, come see this ladies.." he added. Dr. Crusher and Deanna went over to where Seven, Janeway, Chakotay, Uhura, Chapel, Ambassador Spock, Barclay, Boothby, and Data stood in front of a very hodge podge main viewer. Deanna was shocked to find it part holo. "All the images are 3 D. wow.." Then she recognized the detailing of circuitry drifting around her. "Now why are we seeing the inside of Mr. Data's head here?" Janeway looked up at Deanna and pointed to the charred haired head under the android's arm. "We checked it out when it came through from the future. It's singed by plasma burns as hot as a real hillside wildfire." She held up a scrap, "Recognize this?" she asked Deanna. Troi saw the blue material in her hand, "Yes.. that's the floor covering from my balcony.. I don't understand." Chakotay went on, "Boothby found Data's head, from two days in the future, with that shred of rug in one of his flowerbeds. We are guessing the Guardian of Forever put it there so we could all guess the real meaning of why Tasha Yar was restored from her timeline to ours." "I thought it was to help me remember the attack on me." "So did we.." Janeway smiled tightly. "But we think the Guardian's thumbs are tied with directly mentioning a major event effecting, say, an Earth City like San Francisco. So it approached Captain Kirk with its visiting proposal until Starfleet accepted its passage here to Earth. Then all it did was slide us this clue, " she pointed to Data's sooty cranium, "with a foot while looking the other way so to speak.. Makes sense that it might have a few noninterference directives of its own." "Why do that for Starfleet and Earth?" Beverly asked the Voyager captain. "Surely there are a million other worlds to protect apart from ours.." "Yes, but how many have Captain Kirk on it?" she grinned. "I have a hunch the Guardian loves visiting with him almost as much as Kirk likes seeing it. Naturally, the lonely Guardian would want to help and possibly save, his gold uniformed friend by warning us of danger." Deanna sighed as she finished reading the reactions of everyone around her. She knew of Uhura's fear of fire but the lieutenant was holding up remarkably well so far. Data, on the other hand, was a blank. ::He's turned off his emotion chip.:: Troi went to his side, "It's all right, Data. If I were facing myself, I'd turn off my emotions too." she said, patting him on the arm. Data gave her a quizzical look but turned back to the EMH giving his virtual holo report to them all on the 3D viewer. The EMH said, "I only found evidence of plasma charring on the outside circuitry just below the optic servers and Data's dermal covering. He saw the plasma fire, Mr. Scott, so he couldn't have been the object that started it." Captain Scott nodded. "And the nature of how Data's head left the rest of him is interesting too." the holodoc said, "It was phasered off at the neck." Everyone was shocked. Beverly spoke up, "Who would try to murder someone in the middle of a catastrophic wildfire?" Deanna added another question. "And why was Data on my balcony to be that victim in the first place?" The EMH was just getting into his element as a lecturer. "Perhaps he was trying to save you yet again. I'm not convinced that he was the one who harmed you counselor, despite the android traces found in your home the night of the attack. Mr. Barclay found you on your balcony, horribly injured and took steps to keep you alive until Beverly Crusher and others arrived to help. I am convinced, now more than ever, that Mr. Data was trying to protect you then and he will again in the future, from another attacker who's still at large.." he said, "...and.. I found this account in Mr. Data's memory files.." The EMH blinked and the holoview changed to a moving 3D picture of a night scene in Deanna's quarters as if from behind a pair of eyes. "This is Mr. Data, on the night he was decapitated. It is his own memories leading up to the event." Smoke filled the balcony window and a horrific orange glow. A white hand swept away curtains to show a landscape on fire. Everyone gasped, the flames eating the trees and buildings below were turning the hideous green of a plasma fire as it neared. Most of Starfleet was threatened by the altering blaze. "Somehow, a natural wildfire from Golden Gate Park got through Starfleet's security shielding. Once it opened Building Five, all the natural oxygen flames turned to these green plasma flames you see here.." "Those are unstoppable!" Beverly whispered. "Yes.." the EMH replied. "Only open space can put them out." Data's memory vid played on until he had located a huddled form on the smoky balcony. Again, Data's hand played in front of the view, shaking the person he had found. It was Deanna, in a long white gown and loose hair. She turned over and looked up at the "camera". "Mr. Data.. I can't get down. We have only a few minutes to evacuate.. We have to find K--" They all heard the future Data's voice. "I am aware of that. We must go. Can you stand?" "Yes.." the sooty future counselor in the image said and rose, taking the white hand. Then she screamed. The view on the screen shifted and focused on a second dark form coming out of the darkness. "Armus!! Let her go!!" They all could see short blond hair and Enterprise security yellow. It was Tasha Yar with that phaser!! Her hair was whipping wildly in the heat of the massive color altering fire below the balcony. The watchers heard Deanna's voice call out. "Tasha! This is Data.. You're hallucinating.. He's trying to help me escape.. Let him help you too! We've got to get away from the Academy before they evaculate all the air out of--" Then a wicked view of a flashing phaser beam shot out and the vid playback went dark as Data's head was severed off his body. In the lab, everyone was stunned. So was Deanna. "And that's how it happened. "the EMH smiled. His face flattened when he saw the others didn't smile back. "Sorry.. I thought you'd be pleased we found out how Mr. Data's head was transported into our time. It fell from the balcony according to these readings and hit the leading edge of the advancing plasma fire line. It began to burn there but then the Guardian shoved it into the dirt of Boothby's flower bed and two days into the past where we'd find it.." The counselor began to tremble as she stared at the snowy screen before them. ::That will be me in two days. Oh Tasha.. How could you mistake Data for Armus? Did the fire make you think you were back on his planet and you were firing at what you thought was the oil slick, trying to save me?:: ----------------------- (attachments) Image : Troi in a nightgown. Image: Dr. Crusher, with her face lit up by viewscreen light. Image: A view from a green screened viewer looking at Seven, Janeway and Tuvok, examining it. *************************************** From : "Roxy Dee" Subject : [voyagerliveaction] Heart of the Fire and Fire of the Heart~~ Date : Sun, 20 Jan 2002 16:03:54 +0000 Dr. Crusher and Deanna Troi had no sooner left the medical ward when Yar and Kirk's combadges went off. >Scotty immediately hit his combadge, "Scott to Captain >Kirk. The haggus is in the fire and the fire will be >very real this time. Hurry along as fast as ye can. >There's physics here that I may not be able to >understand." The older Kirk tapped his, "Scotty? Can you tell me more?" "Just come." came the answer. ::Now that was odd.:: Kirk said. Usually, his old engineer spattled off reams of information almost as detailed as Mr. Spock's when Kirk asked for it. ::Must be serious indeed.:: Kirk said. He waved cheerily at Dr. McCoy, putting the last touches on his medical report while Harry Kim watched him fight with the computer and Kirk nodded to Dax and Riker who seemed to be saying hello to Alexander, a tiny Klingon boy. He grinned at Tasha who was pulling on her boots. "I actually see a real Klingon child. I don't believe it. I've seen Kang, Kor, and Koloth. and countless warriors, but then to see that boy here on Earth. It's comforting to know that one day, the Klingon Empire and the Federation won't be mortal enemies." Then, a curious vulnerability crossed the older captain's face. Yar was surprised to see it there in the legend she had heard so much about. " And there's some other intelligence I don't keep up upon very often. Like seeing Riker, and that boy. It seems anything and any one coming to Earth with a history on Enterprise D, slips my notice. I guess it all came home when the Guardian contacted me to find you and bring you to Earth on its behalf." Kirk went unexpectantly open. "I wonder why I'm slow in that area?" Tasha looked at him and blinked,"Perhaps we.. remind you of your old Enterprise starships captain. I..heard about your loss of each vessel under you vividly. I even had models of them growing up." That admission made Kirk feel old. But he replied. "I'm flattered. Perhaps that's the reason. Shall we go find out what all the excitement is about?" Yar nodded, and adjusted her phaser and tricorder in her belt, ill at ease for having caused Kirk some angst. She started to speak again, "Captain, I..." But the Enterprise original had already changed the moment. Kirk went over to Alexander, "I'm sure your mother will be along soon, Alexander. Come with us until she arrives. I'm sure it will be very interesting.." "More than fighting bush monsters?" the boy asked. "Oh yes. I'm practically certain of it." Kirk smiled. Alexander nodded, agreeing to go with an actual human captain. ::Now I'll see some glorious battle!!:: Yar regarded Jadzia Dax for a bit, copying Kirk's move to let the weighed moment pass. "I've heard of your people Lieutenant, being combined with a symbiont and all. Having multiple lifetimes of memories sounds wonderous. I hope you come help us in Montgomery Scott's lab." and she left with the gold uniformed Enterprise captain and the tiny boy. ------------------------ Kirk was the first to arrive as Tasha's and the boy's legs were smaller. "What's the situation people? I heard Scotty's call.." The EMH glanced over Kirk's shoulder and saw that Yar wasn't in the room yet. He spoke quickly. "In two days time, there will be an out of control brush fire metamorphosing into raw burning plasma after it damages Building Five's shield modulators. Commander Data over there will try to evacuate the Counselor from her home before Starfleet Corp Engineers erects an atmospheric envelope and create a vacuum across the city to put out the plasma fires. Tasha Yar, apparently, gets delusional for a time and phasers off Mr. Data's head before any of that can happen." Kirk's eyes looked to his old friend Spock and he saw the truth in the matter when the ambassador nodded slowly at him in confirmation. Before Kirk could say anything. Tasha arrived with Alexander in her arms and the two were growling in Klingon amicably. Tasha immediately noticed everyone staring at her and set the boy down, handing him her tricorder to play with, "Alexander..why don't you record a few things in the lab. Might help us out." The boy ran off eagerly with his prize. Tasha met everyone's eyes and said., "Why do I get the distinct feeling that I'm out in left field here?" She saw the snowy screen and then Mr. Data's head in the current Data's arms. "Oh...!" she said. "What happened?" Kirk said. "Lieutenant.. have a seat. We've learned events about the future and some of them involve you. But first, what did the Guardian tell you when he pulled you off into the Gateway for me to find you?" Yar shrugged, "Nothing out of the ordinary, sir.. uh, I remember a voice saying that I was needed for another mission to save Deanna on Earth. So I turned, Armus shot me with something when I started to move, and then I felt the Guardian pulling me in.." "Is that all?" he asked. "Yes....sir..." she smiled uncomfortably.."I..I remember you kneeling over me, asking me if I was all right..I'm confused. Did I do something wrong?" Kirk weighed the decision to inform Yar about what he had learned and decided that the Guardian's protection from paradox would operate here. So he said, "Gentleman, show us what you've found." he said to Spock, Barclay, the EMH and Kirk. The EMH's playback resumed. Yar's face ran a gauntlet of emotions as she beheld the roaring brush fire turning green as it was contaminated with plasma from Building Five's shields. And then paled when she saw Deanna tell Data they needed to escape the balcony. Then Tasha saw herself "kill" Data with her phaser. A horrified knuckle went to her mouth. "No.way.. I- I'd never do that.. Sirs.. how can you know this evidence is real? I,, mean.. the fire damage could have altered Data's visual memory records.." Chakotay looked to the floor. Even Janeway rubbed her mouth, saying nothing. Scotty started to say a few words of encouragement, but Deanna stopped him with a small gesture. Kirk again smiled warmly and he took Yar a short distance away from the others, nodding to the counselor and Spock to look sharp. He told her things the way they were. "There is no guilt being plied here, lieutenant. Not on you and certainly not on anyone in this timeline. We don't have all the answers yet. But this, " he pointed to Data's head, " is from two days into the future. That can't be faked. And the Guardian cannot lie. It usually tells things as they are... Like " his mouth quirked up on one side, "a certain cantankerous old country doctor I know..." His wry look was lost on Yar. She was too disturbed to see an inside joke to Mr. Spock from him. " Captain. Here.." and she took her phaser off and handed it to him, powered down. "Take this.. if my actions later this week will cause that.." and she pointed to the frozen viewer locked on the image of the phaser shot from her own hand. Kirk gave it back to her. "I don't believe in predestiny Lt. Yar. And neither should you. Our choices in our lives are laid out like tree branches, you've many ways to decide where to branch off into. These images are simply showing one branch, one possible way that might happen. The Guardian has been good enough, in its own crafty way, to get around its own laws to warn us. Forewarned is forearmed. And I'm certain that Mr. Data over there would agree with me.." Data nodded eagerly and Yar went over to him and gave him a big hug, the stress of her coming to the future, briefly coming to the surface. Then Yar immediately broke apart and wiped tears away from her face. "Data, if you see me ever coming at you with a phaser. Break my kneecaps and both wrists. I'd rather be a crippled delusional than a free murdering one." She added more with a gruff tone. ~~SEE SOUND INCLUSION ABOVE~~ Kirk let them have their moments while he consulted everyone else closely. "We should tell Starfleet to heighten satellite surveillance. To look for any evidence of storms or other sources creating off a spark in the grasslands around us. It must be something out of the ordinary that we aren't yet aware of that will begin this fire. And it has to be one that starts fairly close to Building Five, if plasma conversion instigates before the Fire Corp can deal with it." "I'll get on it sir.." Scotty said, and he moved off to a console to tell them and show them the vid the EMH had recovered. Then Kirk gathered everyone else to him. "Time we tried something novel." And he tapped his combadge. =^= Kirk to the Guardian of Forever..=^= he motioned all the higher officers' sudden protests silent while he went on, =^= We....understand your mission.=^= he said being intentionally vague. =^=Looks like it's going to get a little hot around here.=^= ##ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE. I AM YOUR GATEWAY. THE FUTURE IS CLOUDED UNTIL IT COMES TO PASS. THE TRAVELERS I BROUGHT FORWARD ARE MULTIPLE FACETS TO A LARGER POSSIBILITY'S SOLUTION. I CAN SHOW YOU NO MORE.## it said. Then the comm line went dead. Uhura muttered, "I didn't know it could do that over communications systems.." Kirk grinned, "Neither did I, lieutenant. The thought just occurred to me." Immediately, all the status bars over their heads went amber, as the entire Starfleet Academy Headquarters Medical complex went to yellow alert. Scott came back into the group. Kirk gripped him on the shoulder. "Thankyou Mr. Scott. Now the powers that be can't blame us for getting involved with sensitive situations. We gave Starfleet full disclosure, fair and square. It's about time more eyes and ears got involved in this." The EMH's over head view switched to an automatic override as Starfleet trained its satellites towards a fire watch on San Francisco and put a higher security protocol on any approaching craft to the area. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Out on the prairie reclaimation grassland projects, the gone wild tribble found a piece of glass lying among the tall stems of grain it was nibbling upon. Its passing made the shard flip over, until its convex edge curved up into the sky. The tribble moved on, still lost in rabbit mimicking behavior as it adapted to Earth's climate. The bumped glass fragment reflected the sun's light and the dry tinder under it began to heat. A small curl of smoke wafted upwards into the sky until the wind unfortunately dispersed it beyond the satellites ability to sniff it out. As yet, there were no flames. -------------------------------- (attachments) Image: Kirk by meteor display. Audio: Yar- Data. I'm only going to tell you this just once. It never happened. ************************** From : "Clairissa Fox" Subject : That dumb V'Dmerr Date : Sun, 20 Jan 2002 17:35:50 +0000 I watched the human captain in gold a lot. He was the one who had brought me and mum into the future. I didn't know much about all the time talk. It made my head hurt. But I knew about fire. My father was in a lot of it when he was a boy. Starfleet had rescued him from some when he was little and that was why he was a officer on a starship. I wished he was here. But he had to stay where he was because of duty. Duty's stupid. Then you can't go and play all the time. I tapped my pin and called mum. Mum! MUM! You'd better get down here real fast. We're all going to burn down like haystacks if you don't hurry. I knew that would bring her running. And I laughed. I didn't care if she thought there was an emergency with me. If she were smart she'd see there was no burning by me on her tricorder and just come anyway. I like to keep her on her toes. Serves her right. For she always leaves me alone all the time and she never asks me where I want to live. She gets these dumb ambassador jobs and drags me with her to do them. Like bringing me here to Starfleet. That was stupid. I'm too young to talk to all the other lucky cadets here and too Klingon to have the security guys leave me alone. Only Bootby understands me. He let me play with his batlet. But I wanted to see mum a little bit more cause things were getting scary so I just did what the blond head girl told me to do and I scanned the big room we were in. I growled when the yellow alert came on. So I aimed my tricorder all around me until I found why straight up. The floating things in the sky were looking at the city for something. I could see their beams pass through the whole campus like water! Then I heard Captain Kirk thank the fat guy for telling them about the fire stuff. Then I saw on the telly showing the medical room, that Harry and Dax were leaving with suitcases. Where were they going? I just barely met them! Oh, well. Maybe they had another mission to go on. Like like a secret battle where they could blow up a lot of Romoolans. I hated those guys almost as much as I hated V'Dmerrs other human kids waved at me in the playground. I liked the yellow head girl alot. She knew Klingon!! And she didn't mind carrying me around. It made me feel safe. I knew the others would need to know about the others leaving so I went over to where the grownups were standing and said. Aunty Kathy! Aunty Kathy! You'd better plan out a new plan without Harry Kim and the freckled lady. They just went away somewhere else for good. Then I went over to the lady who looked a lot like mum and me because of her dark face and hands. Hi, remember me? I'm Alexander. Are you part Klingon? We're the same color. But then I remembered my promise. So I went over to Mr. Scotty. If the pretty dark lady wanted to follow me to answer my question. She could. Mr. Scott! Mr. Scott! I promised Bootby that I would find him the V'Dmerr eating all the flowers. Can you give me a probe so I can go find him? "What in the world is a V'Dmerr, youngin?" the stout engineer asked. It's the furry balled thing that yells at Klingons when we get too near them. I forget the human's name for it. I have to find it like I said I would. I forgot to ask the hollow doctor to put a sensor out for it when I was in Beverly's office. I got a little mad he didn't open the probe cabinet for me. The ones he invented were fun toys! I once sent one to spy on Mr. Barkly when he was practicing his speech on how he'd ask Troi out on a date! It was so funny! I did that first thing when mum and me came through the Big Donut. Scott smiled like all humans do and pointed to a me to a terminal, then he waved the EMH over to help me on it. He liked me because I liked his inventions when no one else would. "What exactly are you trying to do Alexander? I only caught part of that. I was watching Councillor Troi and Natasha Yar handle Captain Kirk's briefing." the hologram doctor asked. I want to find a V'Dmerr Bootby said was stomping on all the flowers. He let me play battle with a real sword so I must be honorable and hunt for him because he's too busy to. "I see. And..." the EMH consulted his vast memory files.. "I assume a V'Dmerr is the Klingon word for tribble.." That's it! That's it! Why didn't I remember it? "Perhaps because it is such a stupid word for an dumb animal.." the holophysician mimicked Alexander's voice. I laughed a whole lot! So can you help me find it? "There are many animals at the Academy. And many tribbles according to the live species manifest here." the EMH told the boy as he sifted through the records he had called up on his screen. "I'm not officially on active duty for Starfleet any more. I'm just a visiting guest who was hoping to see some top notch lectures from Dr. McCoy. Now with this yellow alert in the way..." I know how you feel. I see a lot of these when I'm with mum. It's kinda scary sometimes. Will this fire hurt me? The EMH grew gentle. "I won't let it, Alexander. I'm programmed to protect life. No matter who's it is. Including that tribble's you're seeking. " I groaned. You mean I can't hunt and kill it? "No..I'm afraid not. You see. I've just remembered that the tribble was rescued by Doctor McCoy from a bar. One whose proprietors were making the tribble race against its will. He told me about it when I was treating him in his cabin for a fall." Do you think the V'Dmerr I want is his? "Most likely. Bones told me that it had gotten out of his skimmer in the car park by mistake. And Dr. McCoy will want it safe to live a normal tribble life after it had lived one so poorly as an illegal tribble racer." I guess you're right. Ok. I'll bring it to Bootby in a cage then instead of skinning it to keep my promise to him. "Good boy. But first, we have to find it." the holodoc said. "Let's start by scanning where he's eaten.. Shall we? If that doesn't work we can ask Mr. Boothby directly where the freshest bites go. It might show us where the V'Dmerr ended up." Ok. I said. So I sat right down next to the hollow doctor and together, we used all the cameras and tellys outside to try and find the dumb V'Dmerr before Mr. Bootby got so mad the rest of his hair steamed off under his hat! ------------------------------------ (attachments) Image : Alexander smiling, wearing brown. *animated gif* Tribbles, multiplying and pouring into a pile. ****************************** From: "patti keiper" Date: Mon Jan 21, 2002 6:50 am Subject: Hot meets Cool.. Doctor McCoy looked up at the monitor he had programmed to keep track of the others as they moved about the grounds. First, in pursuit of Boothby, and then from inside Captain Scott's experimental laboratory. He did a double take when he saw a shadow falling across the floor of the quiet medical ward. He got up from Beverly's office chair and walked slowly out into the main area. He saw her two steps into the open. "Who the h*ll are you? How'd you get in here with that weapon?" The tall stately woman holding the disruptor pointed at the ceiling blinked slowly, her balance comfortably shifted to one leg and she actually smiled. "I might answer that if you tell me just where my son might be. I've tracked his DNA into this room." Bones said, "He's with the captains. All three of them in Montgomery Scott's lab. And why in the blazes did you leave your son alone all day to fend for himself?" K'Ehleyr didn't bat an eye. "I didn't leave him all alone. He ditched his governess." the Klingon ambassador said, then she tilted her head wryly, gesturing with her weapon. "Rather an easy thing to do. K'empec's blind in one eye and mostly deaf. Her nose isn't as good as mine or she'd've found Alexander by now." McCoy unconsciously ducked a bit when the muzzle of the disruptor swung his way. "And why do you have that thing unholstered?" K'Ehleyr shrugged a shoulder to the ceiling, glancing upwards. "Standard procedure for foreign ambassadors tied to Starfleet to do during a blanket yellow alert." Bones followed her line of sight to the amber status bar winking all over sickbay. "Hadn't noticed. My attention was all about the computer screen and filing my report. I thought I was done with those things when I retired. I do have to stop getting involved with medical emergencies. I've filled my quota.." K'Ehleyr stepped the rest of the way into the room looking around and listening past the subtle alert klaxon. "Fine.. Then play tour guide Dr. McCoy. I need to get to my son right away. His trail doubles back and I can't find which way he went from here." K'Ehleyr said mildly. "Why don't you use a tricorder?" "Don't believe in them. Technology's a waste handling most problems.. I believe in good solid face to face communication.." she sighed expansively, putting her weapon back into her boot. "Except for owning one of THESE for those people who don't care to listen very well." she said, patting her disruptor. "I hear ya there. I'm always afraid one of those d@mn transporters are gonna scramble my molecules to kingdom come one of these days." McCoy agreed whole heartedly. "But you government types can KEEP your shotguns. There's far too many people on the receiving end of those in my line of thinking." K'Ehleyr crossed her arms. "Maybe there's just a lot of stupid non listening people these days who won't listen to higher vocal persuasion unless a barrel is sticking their noses a little higher in the air." "So says the foreign ambassador to the Federation." and Bones grinned from ear to ear. "I think I'm gonna like you a lot honey. Not afraid to tell off an old human. You know my name. What's yours?" "K'Ehleyr with a silent "h"." she smiled and offered him her glove in human style in a hand shake. She was diplomatic enough not to crack any of his knuckles when he shook back. "Nice to meet you. I'm sorry none of us are going to get to hear Captain Janeway and you speak on the subject of human hybridization. I could have been a very good case study." "No kidding.." McCoy said, looking her up and down. "And here I thought you were a full Klingon with that sharp wit of yours.. Alexander?" "He's the same. Worf is full and I am a half blood with humans." "I should let Beverly know about that for his records." "She knows.. She saw quite a bit of us on the Enterprise before I died." McCoy blinked "Are you telling me you're some d@mned ghost?" "No. Not exactly. More like.." she smiled in quiet amusement. "Liberated before a fateful encounter with Duras's bat'leth. The Guardian told me all about it in transit." "Don't tell me it's a Klingon fan too." "No,..it's partial to you humans. Like the Q are. My guess is that your Captain Kirk made quite an impression on it when he leaped through looking for you." "How'd you know about that?" McCoy said with a touch of embarrassement. "My dear doctor.. I'm an ambassador to the Federation.. I make it a point to learn all about my adopted identity." K'Ehleyr grinned. "Point taken." McCoy said, heading for the door. "You won't have to test the wind for your son anymore. I'll take you right to him. I'm going there anyway." Just about then, K'Ehleyr's combadge twitched. >I (Alexander) tapped my pin and called mum. >Mum! MUM! You'd better get down here real fast. >We're all going to burn >down like haystacks if you don't hurry. McCoy's mouth dropped open. "What an about faced lie. Just what are you teaching him?" "He's such a kidder." K'Ehleyr said. "All Klingon males around his age have an over abundance of both impatience and a sense of exaggeration. Typical for boys his age. I found if I let his little comments slide, it boosts his ego and self confidence to the point where he can hold his own among the human children.. It's nothing.." "If Joanne ever spoke to me like that growing up, I'd washed her tiny mouth out with soap." "Tried that. Tastes like candy to us.." she shrugged. "And he's too young to listen to diplomatic reasoning. Actually, he's getting too smart for dear old mom. Wish Worf were around to pain stick ceremony him once in a while to give Alexander's identity a direction.. Know what I mean?" McCoy scratched his head as they rode in the turbolift down to the Medical's lobby and outside. ::Pain stick? Perhaps Jim was right about these Klingons all along.:: But he said. "Whatever you say, ambassador. The lab's right this way.." =================================== Ten minutes later Bones and K'Ehleyr were as deep in the reason behind the Headquarters wide yellow alert as everyone else was. The tall Klingon woman fit in easily with both the out of timers and Kirk, whom she unconsciously labelled as a Klingon hater, even after all his years on Earth. The rest of the people in the room she knew by reputation indirectly on her goings about in the last two days since the Guardian delivered her and Alexander. ::Ah, now there's Janeway. We've got to compare notes about dressing down infracting underlings over coffee sometime. No one can do it better. I've seen those ship logs of hers. Poor Harry Kim got the best one on that journey..:: K'Ehleyr thought. ::And it was for firing phasers out of turn even..Imagine that.:: Then she shook her thoughts to the present. Alexander was currently chewing on the R'Neq's jerky she brought for him. She knew the spaghetti she smelled still on his lips that he hadn't had enough animal protein to eat that day. ::How can he eat that stuff? :: she meandered, after she had kissed him in greeting. "Now, Alexander.. go give that tricorder back to Ambassador Scott, we already have two you borrowed and that spy probe from his cabinet in the living space we were assigned to. The housekeepers are getting tired of returning them to Supplies in your name." "Yes, mother.." Alexander said, glumly. K'Ehleyr gave him a gentle ruffling to his hair as he saundered past. "There's a good boy." Then she reconsidered. "Say,.. on my way over here with Doctor McCoy, I caught sight of a vanquished bush monster near one of Boothby's gardens. If I didn't know better, I'd say it had the same sword stroke marks in it that you leave during your Bat'leth exercises from the holodeck on the target dummies." Alexander looked up in alarm. K'Ehleyr winked. "Nice kill..." and she took him in a rush into a hug. Then K'Ehleyr turned to the event at hand. "I'm fully prepared to offer my services to help get to the bottom of this future catastrophe. I'm.....quite used to having surprises sprung on me.." she grinned slightly. "Just tell me what's needed and I'll get right on it." ----------------------------------- (attachments) Image : K'Ehleyr wearing sleek tan leather. Image: McCoy wearing his blue surgical tunic. ******************************** END WEEK TWO RECAP 01-21-02 WEEK THREE RECAP 01-22-02 http://www.geocities.com/voyagerliveaction Showcase Site http://groups.yahoo.com/group/voyagerliveaction Writer's Distribution Hub. ************************************* From : Jeff Seltun Subject : [voyagerliveaction] Lunch Break.. Date : Due, 22 Jan 2002 21:15:01 -0800 (PST) >Then K'Ehleyr turned to the event >at hand. "I'm fully prepared to offer >my services to help get to the bottom >of this future catastrophe. I'm.....quite >used to having surprises sprung on >me.." she grinned slightly. "Just tell me >what's needed and I'll get right on it." Seven of Nine stepped forward. She didn't quite know what to make of the Klingon woman. She instinctively knew that K'Ehleyr didn't appreciate side stepping issues. So she got to the point. "What may serve Starfleet best in the time we have remaining is to guard against any wildfire ignition points from beginning in the immediate vicinity. The satellite deployment by Headquarters is a good start." Data set the future head back onto the counter. "Viewing this account of what is apparently a fatal injury to me yields little useful clues. Is it necessary to even credit what we've seen beyond the basic fact of a fire out of control? My cranium unit's apparent separation from my body is not important." The EMH protested, "Of course it is.. I've followed your career Mr. Data. You are alive in every sense of the word. You merely... have a better chance at surviving...conditions fully biological lifeforms can't, such as being...well,.. beheaded.. Don't write yourself off so soon. This.." he said pointing to Data's head from the future, "...hasn't happened yet. And until it does or can be prevented, you are going to enjoy the full protection and action any Starfleet citizen is entitled to by law from the Federation.. Including search and rescue if this disaster happens and you actually get....scattered into pieces..Dr. McCoy, I'm sure you'll agree with me." "I do." Bones said. Janeway said, "I've seen enough here. It's time we do something to take our own fate into our hands." Chakotay asked, "What do you want to do, captain?" Seven looked up and carefully folded her hands behind her back. "Isn't it obvious Chakotay? We simply do, ..nothing. If a fire outbreak occurs, we'll deal with it. We've been warned by the Guardian of Forever. That's makes us especially alert to any emergencies and makes all of us more cautious from this point on." "Are you all with me?" Janeway reiterated. At least the EMH, Seven and Data nodded yes. "Good, cause I'm starving. Yellow alerts make me hungry." She found a broad table that had only some of Scott's experimental blueprints on it and she set them aside, clearing it until the black enamel table was empty. Janeway made her way to the replicator and said, "Scan the identities of everyone in this room and give me one preferential meal and beverage they order most often for each. Site to site to the table in front of me." Kathryn said. Chakotay began chuckling. "I think I'll join you. After all, most of us here are guests of Starfleet and not on active duty beyond the teaching, guest lecturing levels.. We aren't on the front lines of this yellow alert.. Headquarter's got the ball.." and his eyes twinkling. "Ah,..now this would be mine.." he said reaching for a steaming plate of yams, cornbread and a simple berry bread. A recreation of his clay tea mug from that morning appeared next as he touched his plate. "Ginger tea.." Janeway got some coffee and a solid stew. She and her ex first officer sat, pulling lab stools under themselves and grabbing napkins. "Dig in.." she said. "Mr. Scott. I like this model of replicator, makes meal selections for a group easy enough for even me. DNA selected memory, and off slot delivery by verbal command.. Slick.." "Glad someone liked the upgrade. " Scott mumbled. The EMH smiled when he found a plate that had simply a datapadd on it. "And my middle day fare.. the Opera House Column in the Global News Net. Seven...have you picked a favorite program for our next date yet?" Chakotay nearly spit out his tea. "Doctor, isn't that information a little personal for the lunch table?" he said with more offense than he intended. Data tilted his head, sitting down before a beaker of dark, bitter smelling substance. "I thought the doctor was engaging in small talk Commander. Is that not the case?" "It is. Ignore Chakotay's tones. He and Seven have a past that is changing. Pay the last remark no mind." the holodoc said pleasantly. "I'm deciding not to." Chakotay sighed and was glad the others were too busy seeing what had been replicated for them to hear the exchange. ::Maybe I am a little worried about Seven liking myself and Kathryn together. I value Seven as a friend too much. Or am I still on automatic "EX" mode.?:: Oblivious, Janeway caught a whiff of Data's drink and curbed a look of disgust quickly as she asked, "Uh, what are you having Mr. Data?" "Guinan calls this the Revolting Ruin. My favorite. It was one of the first drinks I ordered when my emotion chip was installed." Seven didn't understand the interchange between the EMH and Chakotay to Data. She was lost in her own thoughts during those seconds and missed the entire thing. ::Can we relax vigilance during this blanket yellow alert?:: Seven of Nine thought it was a little surreal how the higher ranked officers dismissed the potential crisis situation surrounding them in what seemed like moments to eat when she realized it was a skill that she, as an Academy Cadet, might find useful later on. So she emulated Data, Chakotay, Janeway, and the EMH by sitting by the plate she knew was hers on the table. A large wedge of dark chocolate cake. Deanna Troi was already sitting and she eyed Seven's platter and pointed to her own bowl of chocolate icecream. "Trade you.." she said to Seven. Seven didn't understand the reference so she smiled slightly at the counselor and continued eating lightly. "Doctor, I'd thought we'd try the Marseilles Opera House in Constantinople." "I'll book us tickets for two..." he said. Janeway loudly cleared her throat. "Make that four..." the EMH said. "You, me, Commander Chakotay here and Captain Janeway.. " he hit a button on his reader pad sarcastically. "Anyone else??" he said aloud to the group as a whole. No one else in all politeness answered. Data almost did, but McCoy's slight shake of his head stopped him. He hadn't missed the relationship pair conversation going on in the slightest. Seven of Nine approved of her ex captain inviting herself along, she was almost relieved in fact. ::That way Chakotay and I can get used to the fact that we are no longer romantically affiliated. We can concentrate on being differently bonded. No doubt the EMH and the captain are faster than Chakotay and I on realizing this.:: "Now the only task about which I am uncertain is about what I should wear.." Kathryn winked, "I can help you with that. I've a whole closet of functionary affairs that can double as evening wear. I've given a whole lot of symposiums since the ship got back and I've a line all the colors of the rainbow. Will be a cinch finding you one Seven." "I'd like that captain." Janeway stopped chewing for a moment, smiling with amusment at Seven. ::I don't think she'll ever call me Kathryn. We'll have to work on that.:: she thought privately. The EMH held out his hand to the rest of those in the room. Steamy smells of drink and hot food were enough to convert everyone to at least consider eating with those already starting. It was a strong attraction having a favorite meal already dialed nearby. "This may be the last solid meal and relaxation we'll see for a long time.. Eat while it's hot.." the doc said. "For day after tommorrow...I die.." Data quipped. Everyone in Scotty's lab went awkwardly silent, until Data began to laugh uproariously. The rest followed suit and all tension, yellow alert or otherwise, fled the room.. Data's smile was genuine. "I guess I've finally mastered a joke..." he said eagerly, and bent to his beaker of revolting brown with a will. "MMmm" he grunted thoughtfully. Then he noticed Alexander edging nearer and eagerly eyeing the glass with a fixed stare, licking his lips. Data held it out before he took his third sip. "Want some?" he asked the boy. --------------------------------- (attachments) *animated gif* Data laughing uproariously. *animated gif* Seven of Nine trying coffee. Image: The EMH singing in an Opera House on stage. ************************************** Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2002 20:53:42 -0800 (PST) From: "Myron Ojala" Subject: Sure Plays A Mean PinBall Scotty dragged over another lab chair next to Janeway with Chakotay flanking his other side. "The haggis you ordered is a might better than I thought it would be." "I just simply called up whatever is most frequently ordered under your ident Mr. Scott. Apparently, you have this recipe often.. or it wouldn't have arrived." Janeway said. She noticed that the beverage went mostly untouched by his hand. Scotty noticed her look and leaned over, saying, "The replicator can't make a decent Scotch, but it can make a nutty ale. But, I'm sort of on duty now aren't I?" and he jerked a fork up at the row of yellow alert bars winking above them. Janeway smiled to herself and answered, "That's all right, Mr. Scott. I should have remembered that your replicators provide real alcohol.." Scotty took another bite of his meal, and he looked down and noticed that it was half gone. Thinking as only a Scotsman miracle worker would do, :: The Guardian said the danger was less than two days away but what we know about the future is that it is always in motion and always changing. I can use that.:: Aloud he said, "This plate is half empty.." "What?" Chakotay asked. "This plate is half empty.. but still half full." "Wonderful psychology Captain Scott. " the EMH said sarcastically, "I'll book you my next symposium on the elderly stating the obvious." Scotty glared daggers at the holographic physician. But kept his peace. "No sense arguing with something that's just a computer program who doesn't know how anything really IS... I was referring to time and probability..." and he gestured to his plate once again.. "This here's an example. If I don't finish eating. Nothing will change. But, If I continue to eat or replicate more, then the outcome is different based solely on what I ...choose." Scotty saw that he was winning everyone's attention and they all stopped chewing for a moment and really started paying attention when they realized he was on to something they didn't yet see. " As we make choices, the resulting effect becomes shaped eventually by WHAT we choose as well as WHEN...." Janeway's eyes lit up. "I see where you're going. Chakotay. Is it possible?? Can we alter what we see as evidence here?" she said, looking at Data's severed head. "I don't see how..just yet.. Captain." he said, looking at Mr. Scott. "What are you saying exactly..? " Chakotay said. "There's an old proverb, Time waits for no man. That probably means that it's going to happen when, it happens... For us that means a fire. Now, we know, that Data somehow gets severely damaged trying to rescue Deanna Troi. Now, why was Yar there? And why didn't she recognize Deanna or Data? And why did she appear on the balcony at that point?" Mr. Scott watched Tasha shift uncomfortably. Little or no food was eaten off her meal at all. She wasn't looking at him. "I know the unknown can be frightening lassie, but the sooner we solve this mystery, the sooner you can stop blaming yourself for a murder you didn't commit." The EMH spoke, "Captain Scott. We know the evidence, The head has been burned. Sent to us from two days in the future. That is a fact. Deanna Troi and Tasha Yar have been recorded as having been with Mr. Data on a balcony in the midst of a huge fire turning into deadly plasma fire. This is also a fact. Where are you angling your logic here? We need action. Not more speculation.." The gray haired Scotsman smiled and rose from his stool. "Ah,,.. laddie, logic is something I learned from Mr. Spock here. And I've come up with a form of my own. Sometimes even the most concrete facts may not be what they seem if the whole picture isn't known. I am going to find a way for us to learn this before the forty eight hour mark is reached." "How?" Chakotay said straight faced. "How else laddie?" Scott beamed. "I intend to use the blasted Guardian and go a day into future.." Janeway stood "Wait a minute Mr. Scott. We can't just go willy nilly and leap into a situation even we can't control. The Guardian went through a lot of trouble to warn us. No one's going through anything. Starfleet would never allow that. And quite frankly, I don't think the Guardian would allow us either." "All right. Point taken. But a wee fire alone being the culprit? Somehow I think it's all much bigger than that. Somehow, events are being manipulated in a way that makes it seem our problems are only at home." Mr. Scott went to his invented 3D Viewer they had been using and scrolled back Data's play back from the awful scene on the balcony. "Here's the moment just before Yar came outside with her phaser, Look at this time index, Just over her shoulder.. There's something else there.." He zoomed into the shot, slicing squares and getting closer and closer to the image behind Yar. "Computer enhance image in quadrant 7-18 by a factor of five." The section of the image became clear. "Computer.. Based on the light reflecting off the object in this frame. Speculate and conjecture its identity." ##Plasma configuration. Orientation UNKNOWN.## Janeway and Chakotay were on their feet now. And the EMH had even gone silent. The image showed Scott's special view screen tie in bringing the image sharper and sharper into view. Something was touching Yar's shoulder, a strange green fog.. The EMH stood up, "What is that?!" Janeway said, "Looks like some plasma wash.." "More like a coaelescing field I'd say." Scott replied. Chakotay said, " But we saw outside the balcony window that the brushfire was only just turning to plasma after it hit Building Five's security shields surrounding the Guardian. I thought a plasma fire consumed anything it touched, that's what makes it so dangerous." Scott pointed again to the green glow surrounding Tasha. "Ah,, but what if this isn't Tasha.? What if we have an intruder on our hands? I can't think of a better way for explaining how a simple wildfire got through Starfleet Headquarters proximity deflectors." Scott tapped his combadge =^=Captain Scott to Main Starfleet Headquarters Command. I've reason to believe a hostile lifeform may be connected with events I presented to you a few minutes ago. I suggest going to red alert. Tie into my lab viewscreen and you'll see what I've just uncovered. Scott out.=^= Scott turned to the room at large and said. "Choke those meals down. Looks like the second wave generation is about to become the first. It's us on the front lines again.." He walked over to his cupboard of inventions and probes, unlocked it and kicked it open. Janeway looked over his shoulder as she joined him, an expression of shocked pleasure forming there. "Oh my... You ARE a regular packrat Mr. Scott. " "Aye.. but I'm no packrat.. I invented these beauties. Alexander knows all about this cupboard. Don't ya laddie." Janeway and the others gathered near and saw an assortment of hand sensors, data padds, probes and what appeared to be various hand weapons of a powerful nature. She wondered what Mr. Spock thought of those. Mr. Scott pulled out one of the strange looking tiny probes. One that appeared to be nothing more than a silver sphere shining like a mirror but it was only the size of an old style pin ball. He tossed it into the air and it stayed, "This, is a silkie, changes form at will, and can locate anything out of a timeline. Sort of like a miniature observation post. I...sort of came up with these but then the war ended so they were shelved. Made a few enhancements we might be able to use.. Built in high range sensors. Chameleon effect shielding. It's got an AI that can link with android or EMH.. Give her a crack gentlemen!! " and he stepped back waiting to see what Data or the EMH or both would do next. -------------------------- (attachments) Image: A serious close up on Scotty. Image: A table top showing Star Trek gadgetry. *animated gif* A Red Alert beacon flashing. ********************************* From : "Samantha Rose" Subject : [voyagerliveaction] Surprise! Date : Fri, 25 Jan 2002 05:47:14 +0000 Riker waited as the last of the accumulated officers had cleared the ward. It still surprised him to see Tasha, though she seemed equally surprised to see him. For Will and the crew of the Enterprise, everything seemed unchanged, but they had adapted to any change that may have occurred in the past eleven years. Tasha's story was different. To her, everything had changed, including her friends. The doors to Ward One closed with a tell tale hiss, breaking the Commander's train of though. He looked around the room, seeing now that only a few registered nurses remained. The transparent cell that Data had recently occupied had been converted back into it's original state. Walking away to a quiet corner, Commander Riker tapped his commbadge, opening a link to the Enterprise, in orbit around Earth. "Riker to Enterprise." the chirp of the commbadge signalled that a link had been opened. "Go ahead, Number One." the familiar accent of a one Jean Luc Picard answered the hail. "Sir, some unusual events have been unfolding at the Academy. Commander Data has been detained." Will saw the klaxons turn yellow just then in a campus-wide alert. "Detained." Genuine curiosity and concern from the Captain. "Yes sir. He's being charged for attempted murder." Riker could imagine the Captain's face, a knot of confusion and surprise. "Counselor Troi was attacked on her balcony a few weeks ago. Trace elements of android components were found in the carpetting." "Surely, Mr. Data cannot be the one who committed this crime." Picard paused for a moment, then continued, "Is the Counselor alright?" he asked more as a friend than a commanding officer. "She's doing fine. A little shaken right now, Doctor Crusher has taken good care of her. I should have some more information by the end of the day." Will leaned forward, resting his hands on a nearby console. "Good. I'll be expecting your report, Commander." By now, Picard had eased back into his command, a slight hint of apprehension slipping from his voice. It was never a good thing to hear about an attack on an officer and even worse to hear about another officer being the attacker, especially your own. "Captain, you should also know that Lieutenant Yar is here." Will hesitated at first. They had all lost a friend. "Tasha? Alive? That's impossible." Picard's voice raised a bit at the sudden news of his late Tactical Officer's reappearance. "Apparently not, seeing as she's here at the Academy. Along with an older Captain Kirk and his crew. I must admit Captain, this is rather...strange." More surprises to report. "Very strange indeed, Number One. Very strange indeed." Jean Luc paused in thought, then continued, "I'm going to beam down. In the mean time, I want you to gather as much information as you can. Picard out." the Starfleet Captain closed the link with his first officer and, with a nod, handed command of the bridge to the highest ranking officer there and left via aft turbolift. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Riker sighed as the link between himself and his ship was closed. It wasn't his custom to let the Captain go anywhere alone. There were protocols on the subject and he strictly adhered to them. Personally, he rather liked that protocol. ::Why should the Captain have all the fun?:: He let a small smile escape, but quickly retained a serious manner. He walked out into the open as Captain Picard materialized in the shimmering blue light of the transporter. Commander Riker stepped forward as the shimmer died away. "Sir, everyone has met in Captain Scott's lab. I suggest that is where we begin." Will towered over his Commanding Officer. "I concur, Number One. Let's go." With a wave of his hand, Picard motioned for them to exit the ward and make their way to Scotty's lab. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- The sun shone hot and bright on the Terran surface as two of Starfleet's finest made the short hike from Starfleet Medical to the location of Lieutenant Commander Data and Company. They soon came upon the lab, a rather enticing smell greeting them as they got closer. "It smells like someone is having lunch." The doors slid open in front of them and they entered the building. Just as they did so, the klaxons around them turned from yellow to red. With the change came a change in pace for Picard and Riker. Turning a corner, Commander and Captain alike stepped into Mr. Scott's lab to find an assortment of officers huddled around a cabinet of some sort. Above them, a tiny silver ball. Riker stepped forward, his eye brow arched in confusion at the sight of everyone present. Captain Janeway was the first to notice their new arrivals and silently alerted her ex-first officer as well. This caught the attention of everyone else there. "So glad you could join us, Commander Riker, Captain Picard. You might want to come take a look at this." she nodded her head towards the airborne device. William looked at his Captain and then joined the group. -------------------------------- (attachments) Image: Riker's promo on a soft gray maroon. Gif: A steel combadge bar design Image: Picard's promo on stars. Image: A group photo showing Crusher, Troi, and Scotty with others by a food counter. *animated gif* A fire burning orange. ****************************** From : "Cassidy Meyers" Subject : [voyagerliveaction] Close Call.. Date : Fri, 25 Jan 2002 12:03:08 +0400 > Chakotay began chuckling. "I think I'll join you. >After all, most of us here are guests of Starfleet >and not on active duty beyond the teaching, >guest lecturing levels.. We aren't on the front >lines of this yellow alert.. Headquarter's got >the ball.." and his eyes twinkling. Beverly Crusher was easily taken off alarm as the rest of them so she dove into her lunch of romaine hearts and trout with a passion. ::You know. I never thought of yellow alerts in quite that way before. Chakotay's right. Most of us are second wave. Including me. If anything happens, I'll be paged.:: So she drank her cider and ate her fish salad smiling at Deanna. "Nothing like food to calm jangled nerves." "I agree Bev." Troi said, spooning even more sundae into her mouth. She was enjoying her typical lunch snack when her eyes fell on Mr. Data's head. That upset her appetite and she set down her spoon. Deanna got up, grabbed the detached head from the lab counter and set it on the table in a spot not occupied by someone's meal. Then she folded her hands neatly in front of her and stared into its eyes. "Mr. Data." she said of the still live one across from her with his beaker of revolting drink of choice. "Have you ever.. she broke off, regathering her thoughts. "I mean do you think he can function without a body?" she said, spinning the face on the head around until it faced Data. Data was intrigued. "I have done so in the past." But they were interrupted by Captain Scott's astounding discovery. Deanna found herself transfixed by the image of green fog surrounding whom she thought was her dear friend Tasha Yar. But the computer's identification of the stuff told them it was plasma. But the plasma was NOT consuming Yar. ::He's right. That's not Tasha. Plasma fires burn organic matter utterly, using oxygen as its fuel and any carbon as its path for travel..:: Near her, she could feel Uhura's inherent fear of fire grow as Scott zoomed in on his clued in image. ::I have to talk with Uhura about her fear. It's growing in her by the minute.:: Then Scotty drew Janeway away from the table and launched his clever tiny round probe. About then,.. Deanna felt the familiar touch of her Imzadi. His feelings were very satisfied. And then she felt those of her captain. ##Will. Always planning ahead..## ##When have I not?## came his amused impression. "Captains, ambassadors..." Deanna said to everyone at large. "Commander Riker has contacted Captain Picard off the Enterprise.. They'll be here any moment..." Janeway looked up and saw the two men arrive moments later.. > "So glad you could join us, Commander Riker. > Captain Picard. You might want to come take > a look at this." she nodded her head towards >the air borne device. William >looked at his Captain and then joined the group. Deanna held up a shush finger to them, smiling in amusement as Mr. Scott continued his demonstration. > "....Made a few enhancements we >might be able to use.. Built in high range sensors. >Chameleon effect shielding. It's got an AI that >can link with android or EMH.. Give her a crack >gentlemen!! " and he stepped back waiting to >see what Data or the EMH or both would do next. The EMH eyed the device and held out a hand. It hovered over to it. "Great.. You've given the commander and I, a floating marble. We can go play badminton." He inspected it like a jeweler would a defective diamond. "It's much more than that!!" Scotty protested. There was a powering down tone and whine that began immediately, distracting all from their thoughts. Then the screen over all their heads suddenly went dark. Janeway had to call the main lab's computer so everyone could see again. =^=Computer.. Lights!!=^= ##Lights on full..## "What happened?" she asked. "Report." McCoy had out his bioprobe over the future travelled head. It was smoking.. "It's dead, Jim. " he said. Mr. Data, the live one, raised his eyebrows..."That is most unfortu--" "Complete positronic breakdown is beginning. Must be residual plasma burn melting its carbon based neural net." the EMH agreed with his own bioprobe and med scanner. Barclay shouted, "Quick!! Call the Corp! If that plasma fire spreads..." Alexander hit the red call button on the wall, summoning help, even as his mother found forceps to move the head to a non organic surface. "Wait a minute!! " The EMH said, still clutching Mr. Scott's silkie class probe. "We can still save the data and some of the personality files.. I can see what to do now through the Probe's AI." And with that, the probe sank down below McCoy's scanner and stuck to the forehead on the head. "We need that evidence saved!" Immediately, Mr. Scott's holo viewscreen showed racing algorithms and binaries as the whole personality and memory records inserted themselves into a side program linked to the EMH. The holodoc abruptly turned white, like Mr. Data, as the process went on and he went rigid, falling away from the table arms still outstretched with one palm cupped as it if were still holding the probe. Mr. Data caught the EMH as he fell and lowered him to the floor. The blue voyager uniform exchanged for a replica of Data's current yellow one in violent flickers, his arms still sticking up into the air like a broken marionette. Janeway and McCoy both ran over to him. Chakotay too. "Doctor!!" she shouted. "Doctor! Can you hear me?!" No one touched the EMH except for Data, who was able to grasp the shifting holo matrix easily in his artificially created hands. The holodoc seemed to freeze and quit moving. Captain Picard looked down. "I don't believe what I'm seeing." Deanna told Riker through their empathetic bond the whole story about finding Mr. Data's head and the whole frightening vid inside its memories cells implying a future murder of Data by Yar during a horrible fire contaminated by plasma threatening the Academy. Riker quickly updated his captain while Deanna focused on the crisis in front of them. Then the downloading from the future head completed. The probe lifted off the dead head and floated back into the EMH's palm, and glowed briefly once it nestled there. Tractors from the probe closed the EMH's fingers around itself and then... The EMH's own personality and appearance reasserted itself and he "woke" up. "Ahhhhhhh!!" he cried with a jerk. "Mr. Scott! You did a stupid mistake! I almost suffered an identity crisis permanently. Next time. Design a manual shunt for the next EMH who taps into this silkie probe's AI link of yours. You forgot to separate the android and EMH program port tie ins in there. I just fixed it." "Sorry.." Scott said. "Like I said. Shelved after the war they were before being perfected." Janeway knelt down by where the EMH was lying. "Doctor. Are you all right? Did it work?" she still did not touch him. "Yes. I believe so. I have the holographic equivalent of a headache. But the knowledge from the head has transferred to one of my self adapting analyses programs. I can tap into it but I'm afraid I can only talk about what I "see" there. Mr. Data here won't be able to access them through me anytime soon. The memories are fully holo now. The video images we saw earlier have been lost. Unless someone managed to record the data I put up on Mr. Scott's lab viewscreen." Chakotay put his hands on his hips. "I'm sure Starfleet Command recorded the transmission Mr. Scott just sent calling for a red alert. We don't need it any longer. Doctor. We'll just use your accounts to guide our investigation from here on out." "That will be adequate.." Ambassador Spock said. Deanna meanwhile had covered the head with a fire sheet, and Dr. Crusher sealed it into a vacuum tight container which drew out all the air from inside of it. Beverly stated the obvious. "If there was still some microscopic plasma burning it there, it isn't any longer. I've just snuffed it out. We're safe now." And she scanned the outside of the container. "No signs of plasma registering. Strange that any of it managed to time shift with the head. I guess the Guardian had to hurry too much to decontaminate it before transporting it into our time." "Perhaps.." Captain Kirk agreed. Troi looked at Mr. Data. ::I wonder if this death is effecting him? Technically, Data just watched himself die. And the EMH instigated the holographic equivalent of a katra ceremony for artificially based lifeforms.:: But the expression on Mr. Data's face remained neutral. Deanna felt nothing from him at all. There was plenty on Mr. Barclay's face. He was jumping from amazement, worry, curiosity and lastly, to self consciousness when he realized the others weren't panicking in the same way he was. He fought down his responses admirably. Troi winked at him. "It's all right Reg. I think everyone is feeling the same as you right now. " Then she turned to the EMH. "Doctor.. Now that you have integrated Data's memory ingrams. Tell me.. what other readings besides the visual did you get off Tasha Yar on the vid? We've already seen the apparent plasma on her form there." The EMH shifted, his usually exacerbated reactions and expressions levelled off into blandness. "I have found the time index Mr. Scott framed in that isolated data set. There are no lifesigns coming off Tasha Yar at all in this recollection. Even moments before I was decapitated." came a voice that was somehow, still the EMH's, but with his words phrased ike it would have been if Data had been uttering them. Tasha shuddered, keeping silent.. Beverly Crusher set a comforting hand on the woman's shoulder. But then she asked more. "What else do you see, doctor? Anything else out of the ordinary, inside that playback?" The EMH stared at nothing for a bit. Then his head jerked back as if it had been struck by a phaser beam. He gasped, then returned pure EMH. "I reviewed the entire memory vid. Other than Mr. Scott's green fog, the computer's tenative identification of a plasma configuration and Mr. Data's impression of no lifesigns off whom he and Deanna apparently saw as Tasha, I see nothing new.." "Thank you doctor, for both linking with the probe and saving those records. I'm sure it wasn't pleasant." Janeway said, helping the EMH to his "feet". Chakotay said. "It is never easy to see another in the moments before death comes." "One would think I'd be used to it by now.. I'm a doctor. I'm exposed to it constantly." the holodoc quipped. "Speak for yourself..." McCoy said. "I'm still not used to it." "Mr. Scott, I return control of the probe to you.." and the doc released it to float back into the air with a series of warbles and bleeps. Only then did Janeway step in to grab the holodoc's hand. "Doctor.. Did you burn yourself? That probe was in direct contact with the head." "I appear to be fine captain." Dr. Crusher added from a terminal, "He's safe. I just pulled up the schematics of Mr. Scott's probe here. It has plasma repellent shielding.. They'll be no cross contamination over to him." Deanna turned and beamed at Tasha Yar. "Well all of this is good news. You aren't responsible for anything that will happen two days into the future. So stop worrying." Yar stood, scanning Scott's silkie class probe with her own tricorder. "My worry is still there. It's just shifted from me to you Data.. Something mimicked me and then eliminated you on that balcony. And I'm going to do something about it. Now. " ------------------------ (attachments) Image: Riker, Dr. Crusher and Data standing in bright lit out of doors. Image: Deanna Troi and Captain Picard standing by fire. *animated gif* A green plasma ball expanding. Image: Data's head, lying on dirt, severed from body. *animated gif* A tiny rotating silver probe, with red spikes coming out. Image: A shocked look on the EMH's face in a close up. ************************ From : "Katherine Bird" Subject : [voyagerliveaction] Plan of Action- Nightfall Date : Mon, 28 Jan 2002 04:33:41 +0000 Collectively written story for the third week between "Cory Anda" using MSN messenger chat window and email letters over two days. main parts ------------- Uhura Nurse Chapel Alexander Spock Barclay free roles ----------- the EMH Boothby Janeway Chakotay Uhura saw Deanna Troi looking at her while her mind was lost in a morass of thoughts. ::No, not that.:: she agonized. ::Not fire. I don't think I can stand dealing with another fire.:: But then she snuffed out her fears as Mr. Scott gave his presentation about the Enterprise security head not really being who she appeared to be. She turned to the EMH, wiping her mouth with her napkin to brush crumbs off her face after her sandwich. "Tasha Yar isn't really Tasha Yar, doctor?" she asked him. "Not from the readings I'm seeing here in the memory vid. Plasma fire consumes organic matter and the image we saw earlier shows what looks like the lieutenant in direct contact with the energy fire. An impossible outcome." "Mr. Spock..." Nurse Chapel began. "What is your opinion about what we've learned?" "It is too soon to make an hypothesis to explain this incongruency of facts. Not enough information has been gathered." the Ambassador admitted. Mr. Barclay smiled and began clearing the empty meal plates from the lab table and hitting the replicator's recycle mode. "But, with Mr. Scott's probe, we'll be that much closer to explaining all this." It was all the Lieutenant could do to not drop everything and examine the floating probe above their heads like an eager child. He missed getting one plate into the slot and had to juggle wildly to regain his grip on it. Everyone chuckled. Uhura couldn't help but feel apprehensive about the Red Alert active all around her. She could hear bustling personnel in the hallways outside Scotty's lab and she could see teams of security dispersing about Headquarters. A tell tale sparkle in the sky told her that the dome deflectors had been erected over the entire Starfleet grounds and that civilian traffic was being turned away for the duration of the alert. :: I wonder what that thing is in Data's vision if it isn't Tasha Yar? If it is an intruder, we all could really be in danger of that fire from the future if we aren't careful.:: A scuffling from the hall drew away Uhura's attention and she looked up to see four men in full firegear and apparatus dial into the lab at a run. "Ah.. there they are..." the EMH said out loud. "Over here gentlemen.. We've contained the danger .." The Fire Corps arrived in a timely fashion from Alexander's summons. That was fast! They got here in a whole twenty five seconds! I thought. I got them! I got them! Now there won't be any danger. I shouted. I may be little but I knew what a fire alarm was. It's in there. I said to the fire officers. Dr. Crusher and my mum put it in a space box so it wouldn't burn more. Nurse Chapel ruffled Alexander's hair affectionately. "Let the Corp do their work, let's stand back." I stood back away from the lab table mum had set the container with Data's head in it and the men in outfitter's gear scanned it for the green fire. "It's clear.." the Leader said. I was a little scared but then I felt Uhura grab my shoulder. "It's going to be all right now, Alexander. You want to know why my appearance is like yours and your mother's? I'll tell you. I'm from a part of Earth where the people developed under a very bright sun and where it's hot all the time. My skin is dark because I'm from a place where a hot savanna has stretched all around for millenia. It is a trait of African people Alexander to look like me. Like your forehead ridges are a trait of Klingons to scent trails from the air given to you by your dark moist homeworld." I smiled. I liked this Uhura. She wasn't treating me like a young boy like the other humans. Wow. Not many humans know what these are for. I said smacking my head bumps. Nurse Chapel told more about the reason for the internal fire alarm call to the corp team. "The source of the plasma fire is microscopic in a positronic net inside that containment field. We've instated a vacuum around it. Medical is not needed here. No one is showing signs of plasma contamination." "Thanks. We'll take it from here." said the fire corp specialist. Janeway spoke up. "That is an artifact of a classified nature associated with the Building Five Project. I'm sure your superiors may want--" "Yes, maam.. We have our orders.." said the tall man . He and his three others antigraved the container holding Data's head between them and escorted it out of the room, leaving everyone behind. "Talkative, aren't they.." Chakotay quipped. Janeway rolled her eyes. "Straight to the point. I guess all fire fighters are that way. They have to think and act in a pinch.." "So do captains.." he mumbled. Janeway toasted him with her coffee mug. "I'll take that as a compliment." Mr Spock sat quietly in his chair watching the events around him, allowing the captains to organize and group together for the situation at hand. His simple juice was finished and so was his salad. He steepled his hands in front of him as he regarded a computer scan from a laptop he had secured from Scotty's desk. "I've recalled the copy of the memory files Mr. Scott relayed to Starfleet Command before the head disintegrated. I've confirmed active plasma fire surrounding the visage we see as Tasha Yar in that record. Whoever or whatever she is must be ascertained with all possible speed." Mr. Barclay had finished clearing the table and sat back down into his chair next to Mr. Spock. "I'm..I'm not much of a forensic specialist, but isn't it a bit unusual to have this sort of finding? Granted the red alert Command put out is warranted. But this record is an event from two days into the future.. Who's to say the memory vid we've recovered and reviewed is even real?" Mr. Spock nodded but added blandly, "I've known the Guardian of Forever as long as Captain Kirk has known it. Any situation it addresses in any context is viable beyond any benefit of a doubt. We must construe this evidence as fact." Barclay was properly abash. "Uh,, yes. yes sir." And he folded his hands, not looking at his superior. Then he remembered the little silkie probe floating over the table and extended his hand out to it. Scotty gave a nod and it obeyed, settling on Barclay's hand neatly with a soft purring whirr. Reg gingerly pressed its general menu button and its schematics filled the viewscreen in the front of the lab. "This is incredible Mr. Scott. An EMH interface and one Mr. Data can use. I don't believe anyone has ever thought to link those two individuals together using any technology before." Mr. Scott's eyes beamed and he folded his arms over his expansive belly. "Made sense at the time." Mr. Spock knew when his aide had an idea and wasn't speaking about it. "Mr. Barclay. You have a suggestion in your mind and you are suppressing it." Reg hung his head in an I'm caught body english and rubbed his chin, smiling ingratiatingly. "I.. I.. am just surmising sir.. Thinking about what artificial matrices or lifeforms that could mimick Tasha in this way.." he said, pointing to the image Spock had in a loop playback on his terminal. "While being immune to plasma fire at the same time.. The only answer I keep coming up with is the same.. A hologram.. programmed in such a way to be able to fire a phaser." That answer startled the EMH.. "There are specific inherent safeties to any Starfleet hologram anywhere against being altered to become a weapon Mr. Barclay.. It is a primary functional law built in before any animation matrices are enabled." "I..I..I know doctor.." Reg said uncomfortably. "I'm just mulling over a few ideas.." He gestured over to the main viewer split screened to show the satellite feeds coming from space as they scanned Headquarters and San Francisco.."..They are finding nothing entering or leaving Starfleet that's not authorized. If there is no intruder, than the only possible answer for Data's memory vid showing Tasha Yar can only be.. a hologram." Uhura didn't like that idea at all. She barely had a grasp on what little she read about the system in Beverly's office when she and Christine had first arrived. She had an ugly thought. But Janeway beat her to it. "Reg. The only hologram we know about that isn't fitted with an inherent safety failsafe is the doctor here. He's grown beyond the barbaric need for one as a self willed individual." "That's... uh, that's the same conclusion I've come up with, captain.." Barclay murmured. The room fell silent.. Chakotay's unease matched that of everyone's as it welled up. "Who would take the doctor's free will away and reprogram his mobile emitter to imitate Tasha Yar to kill Data in two day's time?" "Someone who wants harm to come to Data and Deanna Troi of course.." she said. "That fire outbreak may just be cover to hide the real crime.." "But why is the Guardian of Forever involved here?" Nurse Chapel asked. "Surely someone's single crime wouldn't have much significance in the natural order of things in our time line." "Wouldn't it?" Janeway said. "All it takes is one infiltraitor to undermine a whole city's image of safety and security. I'm willing to bet whoever created that false image of Tasha also encouraged that grassfire to grow once it was discovered.." "That is a logical inference.." Mr. Spock said. "Yes, but what do we do about it?" Chakotay added. Janeway gestured and the little silkie probe of Mr. Scott's left Reginald's hand and settled into her own. "The same thing Mr. Scott originally planned. We watched for the fire ignition point and see if anyone is attracted to the site to "fan it along" in any way. I don't think putting a security watch on the counselor or the EMH will make any difference. The doctor can appear anywhere at will in the blink of an eye." The EMH grew indignant. "Wait a minute Captain! You sound like you've already written me off as that murdering tool you've outlined! Let me remind you that none of this memory vid has happened yet!" Janeway sighed and rubbed her eyes. "Doctor, I could discuss kudzu and karma and manifest destiny with you all day long but we can't afford to demiss anything the Guardian has shown us thus far and I'm certainly not going to tell Starfleet about Barclay's suspicions. Would you enjoy them deactivating you permanently doctor?" "Well. No.. but.." "No buts about it doctor. You are an individual with rights as much as Mr. Data here is and I will defend you like I would any other officer here working with me. Is that clear?" Janeway said. "Yes.. very." "Good." she said. "Now.. Our direction seems clear. Locate the fire source site, and keep the EMH under constant contact with one of us until we get to the bottom of these memory vid events in case someone tries to take him over to fashion that Tasha Yar fascimile." I saw Captain Janeway and was surprised that a woman could be so much like father when it came to security matters. Captain Janeway! Captain Janeway! Can I help? I saw her look up at me. "You'll have to ask your mother on that score Alexander." she said. "But.. I could use someone to watch that viewer with the satellite readings and this silkie probe's monitor for any new developments.." Mum! Mum! Can I do it? I know I can help Mr Scott. I know I can. I saw my mum say yes so I went over to the big screen and watched the satellite picture and the probe's telly. Do you want me to send that silver ball out to find the fire spot? I asked. Mr. Spock raised an eyebrow. "That would be very helpful, Alexander. Please implement your idea." Goody! Now I could do something to help everyone. I wanted Deanna Troy and Data to be safe despite the things the Donut showed us for the next two days. I didn't want to burn down, I didn't want to see Data's head again. It was too scary. And doing a action made me feel better. Just then there was a communique from Mr. Boothby. =^= Boothby to Lab Six. Starfleet Command Fire Corp has opened the containment box they've secured from your location. Looks like the Guardian has already returned Data's head back to the timeline it belongs. I assume you've gotten the message the Guardian wants us to find and that now we're stuck controlling our own destiny to stop some horrific event?=^= Chakotay smiled at that comment. "Mr. Boothby, who says it's some horrific event?" "When does any person or agent want to help another except in a bad situation Commander..?" came the gruff comment. "I don't see the Guardian of Forever getting involved in a rosy scene now do you?" "Point taken. Mr. Boothby. Join us in this whole endeavor?" Chakotay asked wryly. "Hmph.. My flowers need me more than you need me. I've still that errant tribble to track down. It's an unknown.." "Tribble?" Janeway asked. Yes! The V'dmeer! I shouted. I'm supposed to go hunting it for Boothby in an honor oath. He let me use his sword in battle. "He did that Alexander?" Janeway asked, "Never mind. I don't think I want to know the details about that situation.." K'Ehleyr laughed proudly at the human captain's reluctance. Nurse Chapel stood. "Right.. Well if there isn't anything else we can do in this lab. I think I'll go back to Starfleet Medical and see if this Red Alert's caused any civilians being held under our perimeter deflector shield any problems..That's if.. I have Dr. McCoy and Dr. Crusher's permission to work in their department.." Both McCoy and Beverly Crusher waved a go ahead to her. Nurse Chapel turned to Uhura. "Coming Uhura? I think we should stick together for Captain Kirk in one area until he needs us.." She got Kirk's affirming nod on that idea. Uhura and Nurse Chapel left the lab. Mr. Spock and Mr. Barclay joined Alexander at his terminal in front of Mr. Scott's viewscreen and read all the data the little boy was monitoring. Reg frowned. "So far.. There's no sign of fire within five kilometers of Starfleet Headquarters." Mr. Spock said, "We'll have a better chance at spotting any developments of that nature at night. Infrared will assist us once the sun goes down." Mr. Barclay was startled, looking at his chronometer. ::Oh my.. how much time flies when we're having fun.:: The over head universal time on the security alert screen read 17:32. It was almost sundown. And already, night was cooling the city and Starfleet Headquarters under a blanket of darkness. He knew his place for the next few hours, to be by Alexander's and Ambassador Spock's side, looking to thwart a firestorm disaster.. -------------------------------------- (attachments) Image: Uhura in Star Trek II tunic. Image: Nurse Chapel in profile. Image: Spock close promo shot. Image: Starfleet headquarters room. Image: Alexander and his family on the Enterprise. Gif: Star Trek title lettering from the original series. **************************** From: "paramountrbd" FOR "Roxy Dee" Subject: [voyagerliveaction] Guard at the Door~~ Date: Mon Jan 28, 2002 6:07 am ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ >Yar stood, scanning Scott's silkie class probe with her >own tricorder. "My worry is still there. It's just shifted from >me to you Data.. Something mimicked me and then eliminated >you on that balcony. And I'm going to do something about it. >Now. " She stood, eyeing up Captain Kirk. She abandoned her plate of food instead heading over to the older Enterprise original captain. "Sir, my course is plain. I was pulled into this time by the Guardian to help Deanna Troi and so that's what I wish to do. Mr. Scott has been able to contribute to all this with his new probe technology. Tell me what you want me to do sir, and I'll do it." Kirk couldn't help notice the slightly stressed look in Lt. Yar's eyes but her commitment and sense of Starfleet duty was very clear. He drew her aside from the others. "Ambassador Spock and I didn't know exactly what the Guardian had in mind either. But now we do. I've never liked time paradox and anything even remotely smacking of time involvement. Goes with the territory. But I like to think that I've gotten past my inhibitions by associating with the Guardian of Forever recently." and he shot Mr. Spock his most challenging I'm an emotional human look. But then he leaned in on Tasha Yar. "Your captain's here. Lt. Does he have level nine clearance with concern for the Building Five project?" "Yes. He does sir. Last year's business with the bluegill worms and Admiral Nyugyen has made that apparent. That conspiracy with Remington, that whole affair came to light to my captain from the very beginning. He has level Ten clearance for sure. I can call Command for you to give you his authorization." Kirk held up a hand. "That won't be necessary. I believe you. In fact, I'd like to use Mr. Riker as well." "What do you have in mind sir?" Yar asked. She was comfortably alert and receptive. "Pretty much what makes the most sense. Keeping my eyes and ears open for any changes in our immediate area on the satellite fire watch. Keeping an eye on Deanna Troi's denizens. Not an activity I'm accustomed to. I'm used to a Starship." "So am I sir.." Yar grinned. Tasha moved near Captain Picard and noticed he had the same expression Deanna Troi and Dr. Crusher wore when she had awakened on the biobed in Ward One. "Captain. I know that eleven years has past for you. And I don't know why you all look at me in amazement as if I shouldn't be here. But let's not look a gift horse in the mouth. We should take advantage of what the Guardian has provided and move on from there." Picard actually reached out and took her hand in a gentle squeeze, ending her emotional outburst. Then he motioned for her to sit as he nursed his own Earl Grey tea. But Yar would not be silenced. "I could stay the next two days with Deanna in her quarters. I could have a security team outside her quarters too. Let me at least try." Captain Picard slowly nodded yes. "You won't be disappointed sir." Yar said. "I'll do my duty to protect her and Starfleet from whatever comes." Kirk met Picard's eyes and spoke, "You have a lot of faith in that young lady captain. I wish my security staff were as dedicated. Join me by the main viewer? Looks like the satellites have spotted something of interest." Kirk waited for Picard and Riker to move near him and he began to toggle up various space views of the San Francisco Bay area in detail. "Here..." Kirk said, stabbing a finger down. "Here is where the ecomechanics have not culled the brush from the hillsides yet. That work is scheduled for next month." He swept a finger in the blue crosshatches of unmowed vegetation. "If any fire will outbreak in Golden Gate Park. It is most likely to be in these areas. We could use Scotty's probe to sweep those areas for signs of potential trouble." Picard said, "I agree." Riker concurred. "Sounds plausible." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On the other side of the room Tasha gathered Deanna Troi and Dr. Crusher with her. "I know with this red alert that you have to check back with your departments. But I'll go with you to do that. Captain Kirk has authorized me to be your body guard counselor. I hope you don't mind my staying with you for a few days." Deanna said, "Of course I don't mind." Dr. Crusher rose from her seat. "The sooner I check my department floor, the sooner we can get back to Deanna's quarters." Yar said, "I want to see if that scrap of carpetting Boothby found has been torn from the balcony yet. " At Deanna's quizzical look, she added. "Just because it was found with Data's head in the gardens doesn't mean they both arrived there at the same time.." Tasha nodded to Captain Kirk who saw her depart with Deanna and Dr. Crusher. He indicated his communicator pin to her and she ok'd signalled him back. ::He wants me to comm the lab once Deanna and I are situated at her house. I'll do that..:: Yar didn't know what to expect next but she decided she would be ready for anything. She wasn't afraid to face death in the eye. She saw Captain Picard move closer to Kirk to begin to get involved in the situation. At that, she felt a whole lot better about it all. :: We've four captains here. I don't think there's a problem out there we can't solve together.:: And she didn't miss Riker's sudden glance upwards at her when Picard told him where Yar was headed next. Yar knew that Wil wanted to be the one guarding Deanna with all his might but only his title as first officer proved to be getting in the way of that. She gave Wil a thumbs up and then followed Deanna Troi and Dr. Crusher to where they needed to go . ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kirk saw the three ladies leave Scotty's lab. It felt good taking action, finally. He was never good for waiting around for clues to develop. ::Spock is much better for that than I. McCoy is too, for that matter. I guess I'm not the scientist or the doctor and patience doesn't have to be in my job description. Fine by me. I'll let my crew work. And, I'll keep them safe. Earth isn't very different than safeguarding crew on a starship. The only thing different is that you don't have to watch out below your feet.:: he chuckled, taking a sip of coffee. Then he listened to what everyone was saying around him. ------------------------------- (attachments) None. Author's secretary from California offers apology for not being able to send pics and sounds offered by this writer. ***************************** From: "Andy Anda" Date: Mon Jan 28, 2002 6:09 am Subject: Tribble 2 The direction of the breeze shifted lazily as it had been doing for some time now. However, this time Tribble smelled (tribbles don't have noses, but they can perceive subtle chemical changes in their environments via specialized hairs distributed amongst the rest) smoke. Regardless of the planet, the one predator that a tribble must be wary of is fire. The smoke was still telltale, so Tribble didn't automatically encyst to survive it -- that was an extreme autonomous reaction that allowed it to survive small diffuse fires much like a horse-chestnut nut, but at the expense of its fur which took a significant energy debt and some time to grow back while also allowing the tribble to be more vulnerable as well. However, there was still time yet. So, as always in this environment, Tribble moved to where it could view the local lepus and its reaction to the smoke. Fortunately, the rabbit had a keen sense of smell as well. The rabbit soon smelled the smoke as well. Quickly, the rabbit disappeared down into one of the portals to its warren. Tribble followed soon after. This was not the first time Tribble had entered the warren. Tribble had followed the rabbit down under the surface of the prairie several times before. As before, Tribble was able to mimic the scent of the rabbit at least well enough that the rabbit and its brethren were not alarmed at the intruder... --------------------------------------------------------- (attachments) None. ********************************** END WEEK THREE RECAP 01-27-02 WEEK FOUR RECAP 01-28-02 http://www.geocities.com/voyagerliveaction Graphic Site http://groups.yahoo.com/group/voyagerliveaction Writing Site ******************************** From : "patti keiper" Subject : [voyagerliveaction] From the Ground Beneath Your Feet... Date : Mon, 28 Jan 2002 21:56:09 +0000 K'Ehleyr was feeling punkish. Matters were about to move beyond her usual ambassadorial duties. She could feel it in her bones. The answers the humans needed had finally materialized through the Guardian of Forever's graces. ::One would never suspect an android head to be the pancea of fortune telling.:: "Alexander.." she called out to her son. "That was a quick reaction calling in the Fire Corp the way you did. I'm proud of you." she grinned setting a hand on the back of his chair as he watched Mr. Scott's main viewer as the satellites swept the earth around San Francisco. He was fascinated by the graphic maps that phased in from them. K'Ehleyr whispered by her son's ear. "Now this Vulcan next to you is a very wise man. He's Mr. Spock and he's even spied on Romulus without having been discovered." "Wow.." Alexander said, eyes goggling out as he looked again at the older calm Spock in his robes as he, too, watched the computer displays from the silkie probe and the satellite images. K'Ehleyr said, "Remember, you mustn't touch him. He admires those who control their emotions. So show no fear or doubt even if a crisis begins. He will teach you strength of a kind that isn't fighting with a sword or even the path to violence. I have come to respect him." Alexander absorbed all that his mother told him and grew thoughtfully in awe of the seated Vulcan steepling his fingers as he analyzed the computer displays next to the boy. K'Ehleyr told her son that she would go with Tasha Yar and Dr. Crusher and the counselor and that he would be safe in the lab with Mr Barclay and Ambassador Spock. She was turning to go when Spock raised an eyebrow to her and pitched his voice so only she could hear. "If I was as legendary a figure as you portray to your son, no doubt peace would be an absolute across the entire Milky Way galaxy, Ambassador.." he said, quirking an eyebrow. K'Ehleyr tightened her lips. "I forget your ears are as good as my sense of smell. Just hush up and play the good babysitter while I'm gone, a favor from one ambassador to another. huh...?" And she left his side in quick irritation at having been read so well. Spock's lips rose in the barest of smiles at the corners. "I dutifully accept the honor." Dr. McCoy saw K'Ehleyr leaving, too, ducking as her son directed the tiny silver probe's sphere outside to sweep the grounds, to look for fire sign. The silkie probe rose into the sky and headed west, glimmering in the moonlight brightly despite its small size. He hurried to catch up to the Klingon woman. "Wait a minute, Where are you going?" K'Ehleyr didn't lessen her stride for the aging human and neither did she look at him. "Isn't it obvious? I'm going where the heart of the action is. Not much work for ambassadors this evening..We're in a lock down..." she said pointing to the red alert beacons flashing on all the lampposts across campus in the darkness. "Everyone except officer's grade will be restricted to their quarters, including you.. I might add." McCoy harrumphed loud in his throat. "I'm an admiral Ms. AmBASSador Klingon." "Purely honorary doctor as I recall. You were never one for paper pushing in a corporate ladder." she quipped, turning up the night cloaked path leading to Starfleet Medical. She could clearly smell Deanna Troi, Tasha Yar and Dr. Crusher as having passed that way. "This way.." she said, cutting in front of McCoy as she abruptly changed direction in a haughty air. "I'm sure the higher ups gave you that title to get you out of the sickbay setting where I'm sure you drove the resident doctors to distraction following your retirement. With an emotional makeup like yours, teaching and lecturing is better suited at your stage of life.." McCoy sputtered, highly indignant, but his reactions were cut off as he lost his breath trying to keep up with her. "I'll have you know th--!" Then he stopped in his tracks, very thoughtful. ::You know.. I've always wondered why I got promoted so quickly back then. And I think Ms. Turtlehead's right and has just pegged the answer I never knew. I'll be d@mned.:: and he hustled after her, his respect for her sharp powers about things and people around her, growing by leaps and bounds. Both K'Ehleyr and Bones squinted as they entered Starfleet Medical's lobby from the nightime grounds and waved their idents past the security guards at the entrance. They saluted smartly. K'Ehleyr didn't even look at the head security crewman as she asked, "Has Dr. Crusher and Counselor Troi along with another woman gone straight to Ward One?" "Yes..about two minutes ag--" "Thankyou, that will be all..." she said and swept into the turbolift behind Dr. McCoy. Bones took great delight in the man's discomforture at her grilling question and manner. "Do you always take great perverse pleasure at keeping Starfleet types off balance?" "Sure. Why not?" K'Ehleyr shrugged. "I especially find it so with human males. My being a female Klingon rattles them.. Just look at OUR first conversation together Dr. McCoy. I was bracing, wasn't I?" "One wonders how you've managed to work together with others for so long.." he mumbled as the turbolift doors opened on Dr. Crusher's department's floor. "Here's my reasoning for it, Doctor. Ambassadors work best alone on occasion. We become accustomed to being opposed politically quite often. My being female is often a detriment in my line of duty when it comes to working inside certain circles. An air of competence and a touch of snob works wonders in the trouble spots. But I'll admit, it's hard to mask that facade once one is recalled off assignment." She admitted, straightening out a leather glove in her belt. "So that's why Spock's still in a super Vulcan mode everytime he ships back to Earth from one of his Romulus undercover assignments. That attitude shifting difficulty you just mentioned explains why he gets his ears in a knot over anything Jim dabbles in that's classfied that he finds excluding his Vulcan rear. Like this Building Five project. Spock had to verbally muscle his way into it with the high admiralty before Jim would even peep about the Guardian.. heh." he chuckled. K'Ehleyr tactfully said nothing and just curled her lips in what she thought was polite listening. She entered the ward and was surprised to see all the biobeds empty. ::Huh. I guess even these Starfleet cadets are somewhat hardy against panic during a blanket red alert. No one is here getting treated for anything.:: "Dr. Crusher? Deanna Troi? Lt. Yar?" "Over here.." came Beverly's voice. K'Ehleyr and Bones found the three women in the main office getting together medkits. McCoy grabbed his own he had brought with him but had left behind, when the EMH got him to sickbay following his wrist mishap that morning. "I take it you three are going to camp out at Deanna's for the next few days... Mind if I join you? K'Ehleyr here can be useful too. She'll sneer at the guards and keep them awake at night." Deanna smacked Bones on the shoulder for his comment. K'Ehleyr simply raised an amused smirk. "It's all right counselor. Dr. McCoy's joking about something we discussed on the way over here. I am not offended. It's his human way of using acid humor to ease his own tensions I'll wager.." and she helped Tasha Yar find the comm frequency on her outdated pin to the current day's so she could keep in touch with Commander Riker and Captain Picard still in Scotty's lab across campus. "And I thought I was the counselor here.. She's got you down fairly well doctor.." Deanna winked at Bones.. "And yes, you can come. My suites are big enough for all of us." "K'Ehleyr reads me better than Spock does I've recently discovered.." McCoy grumbled to Troi. "A survival trait only. I assure you." K'Ehleyr admitted. "I'm used to hitting the preverbial prejucidicial Klingon wall with most people on Earth these days. I forget I'm on campus, where my diverse bloodline is tolerated with open arms.." "Thank Ambassador Spock for that little effect.. Now if only he can crack Jim's Klingon bristling.. we'd be Scot free." McCoy snorted. "Let's go..." Tasha Yar said. "I want to get set up as soon as possible." "Relax darling.. We're in the heart of Starfleet Headquarters. What can go wrong?" K'Ehleyr soothed the fiery lieutenant. ====================================== Out in the park, one of the blue cross hatched regions Kirk indicated on Scotty's overview as a fire hazard, was becoming so. Three yards from the rabbit bolt hole the tribble had found refuge within was an airduct, which led down into Starfleet Headquarters massive Tramway system stretching underneath the campus and Starfleet Medical. It was drawing the night air down into the ground as part of a passive ventilation system for the stations underneath the earth. After a few minutes, a random night sea/land breeze finally made the sunlight heated, glass shard sparked ember catch after its hours long smoulder. It was the tiny source of smoke the rabbits and lost tribble had detected before they had retreated underground to safety.. The curl of flame fed on its plant stalk and it climbed up the single blade of the grass stem, reaching its top. The burning grass frond folded, tumbling over the sucking subway airshaft grill beneath it and its autumn seed pod snapped off of it and it fell, with all of the fire flaming with it, deep into the tunnel below. The sooty grass frond, free of its heavy fire and top, recoiled back into place, and the smoke coming from it was smothered by the thick fog before any sensor, satellite or eye noticed it and it went cold once more. Deep inside the earth, the grass seed ear crackled with flame as it fell onto an antigrav track in the red alert cleared tramway below. It was convected into the earthen wall by static charge in seconds, to behind the track's metal wiring, where ancient roots of trees, tinder dry, stretched inside the sandy soil. The fire began to feed, invisible to satellites and sensors, through the ground along the dead wood, and soon, underneath the deflector dome shield erected around Starfleet Headquarters. Abandoned animal tunnels became avenues along its highway of destruction. Any smoke from the fire was absorbed by the soils and never reached the detectors lining the tramway tunnel. And meters of earth kept the satellites from seeing the rising temperatures of the spreading fire deep inside the ground. The fire coursed inside its net of tree roots, sucking its air from pockets left behind from centuries of accumulated earthquakes in the area, growing larger. Its progress was inexorably towards Headquarter's heart along its crawling subterranean route. As it burned invisibly, the earth around it began to weaken wherever the fire disintegrated the roots it fed upon. Building Five was the nearest structure to the buried fire, only a half a kilometer away from the airshaft the fire had fallen into from above. The building was still glowing with its experimental green plasma shields Headquarters had mistakenly thought safely isolated by the deflector shield dome over the city. And those inside of it had forgotten one important fact. The protective energy dome didn't reach beneath the surface at all. Building Five's belly was open to the growing fire angling upwards, sixty meters beneath it. The stressed substrate weakened further, crumbling, as dirt and rock steamed and hissed from the heat of the fire. Scientists in Starfleet Command dismissed the activity as common variety earth tremors on their seismographs as the chamber was born. The great hole opened up into a cavern and even more roots piled high to feed the subterranean fire. The cavern grew taller, and it was right beneath Building Five and climbing... -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Inside, the Guardian of Forever was forced to remain silent by its own laws even though it knew the fire had begun. It had done its best to warn the emphemerals around it of the danger and it could do no more on the matter, so its portal stayed dark and its communications access quiet. It hoped the man in gold it had befriended from the metal shelled ship would yet again make a difference when it counted most despite his encroaching later age years.. Its own structure could withstand fire easily, it was only a matter of phasing. So it prepared for what was to come and just waited. Something it was famous for doing well. =================================== K'Ehleyr and McCoy and the others were on Deanna Troi's balcony, sharing drinks and relaxing in the warm night air. K'Ehleyr's nose twitched. "Do you smell something doctor?" She felt on the verge of a very human like sneeze. Watering eyes blurred the faint weak light from the full moon overhead, shining over the grounds. "Huh?" McCoy grunted, looking up from his 3D chess game with her. "Oh.." and he took a deep breath of air from the slight wind tickling his face to humor her.. "No.. I don't smell anything. It's probably just the sea fog. That's something you're not used to smelling. Remember, we've still a lot of residual smog left over from two hundred years ago. The ozone's sure to stink from it for a good while yet despite the air scrubbers and purging weather satellites. You can't just replace atmosphere like a shattered dilithium crystal." K'Ehleyr was unfamiliar yet with Earth's scents close to the hillside residential towers ringing Starfleet Headquarters. Deanna's home was on the third floor of one of these. The musty brush and sharp tang of eucalyptus made K'Ehleyr sneeze finally as she tried to separate elements from the moist cool sea air around her face. It was loud enough to make everyone look up. "Bless you.." Bones said afterwards. "Maybe I should take a look at you after our game. There's always a first time for you to develop an allergy to your surroundings.You are slightly out of time, like Tasha Yar is.." he quipped. "You're bound to develop something like that. Your immunity probably isn't used to this decade yet." "Perhaps that is it." And K'Ehleyr dismissed any thought of the unfamiliar scent that had briefly drawn her attention to the horizon and turned her mind back to their chess game trying to ignore her suddenly streaming nose. ------------------------------------ (attachments) Image: K'Ehleyr in black and red. Image: McCoy looking at a rod. *animated gif* Blazing orange fire. *animated gif* A red, black, amber and green lcars panel saying Star Trek. ********************************** From : "Katherine Bird" Subject : [voyagerliveaction] Popcorn by Firelight Date :Tue, 29 Jan 2002 10:48:09 +0000 Nurse Chapel and Uhura took their time returning to Starfleet Medical. Even at Red Alert, the future time for them held wonders and sights they had never seen before. Uhura spent a moment looking at the campus lamps glowing in the dark and the alert bar fashioned above them. "Christine. Look at this.." she said, tapping a virtual pad at its midpoint. "It's like the captain's status padd. It's telling a constant report on what condition this alert is for. A possible intruder. In this decade, even the garden lamp posts have computer terminals.." and she giggled. The ground shifted beneath their feet. "What was that?" Christine asked. Uhura swung her old style tricorder to scan the ground. "Just a little seismic activity I suspect. It's nothing to worry about." "Let's go inside. It's getting chilly out here." Nurse Chapel said. "Now I know why the women crew around here all wear trousers!" she quipped and they both laughed. "Janeway's got the right idea. Even Beverly's got a lab coat over her uniform unitard." "Think we can get a pair for ourselves?" Uhura asked. "I don't see why not? We do have clearance in Building Five to obtain anything we might need for ourselves." Nurse Chapel said, "Remember the briefing we got before the older Kirk showed up to take us here through the Guardian of Forever?" "How can I forget. It was all I could do to keep from laughing when our Captain Kirk met the older one." Uhura. "I've never seen the captain looked so disappointed he couldn't come into the future with us." "Yeah, but his older self is just as charismatic and all business here as he is for us back on the ship." Christine said walking down the path leading to Building Five. The guards at that door, lowered the plasma security field long enough to admit them passage. Uhura nodded and they walked past, but then she turned and looked back at them.."Any word out of the Guardian boys?" "Not a peep lieutenant.." the younger man said. "It's been quiet as a morgue in there.." Nurse Chapel descended the stairwell leading to the vast climate controlled hanger where the Guardian sat. They went past it over to the living quarters and research room reserved for them and all involved in the secret Building Five project. Uhura followed closely behind and they went into a cabin very much like one found on a starship connected to a smallish galley. The windows of the room opened onto the enclosure containing the Guardian of Forever and a continuous readout flowed on a panel next to the sight. Uhura went over to it and tapped a button. "Well, we're still being protected from temporal paradox, Christine. I'm still getting two chronometer times. The galley here is in our time, matching equipment and technology we're familiar with. And this living space is in their time, so we have access to the communications net with the current Captain Kirk and everyone in Starfleet Headquarters." "Did our Enterprise leave us a message in the galley?" Nurse Chapel wanted to know. "I can't see them sitting idlely by in orbit over Starfleet while we enjoy a jaunt into the future like this.." Uhura took a breath and crossed over to the galley's time envelope. There was a new data padd on the counter. She picked it up and read it. "It's from Captain Kirk...=^=Hope you girls are having fun. Don't get into too much trouble with myself. And make sure Spock and McCoy over there behave themselves like two proper middle aged men. Signed..your past acting Captain..=^= ". She laughed and returned to modern day Building Five's time period in the main living quarters there. "You were right. He did, absolutely burning with jealousy that we're here where he can't be." she said, handing Christine the now dusty datapadd. She flopped down into a chair across from Christine, who had replicated two universal trouser style unitards for them that still were the same color as their old Enterprise departments, right down to the breast insignia on their shoulders. Chapel tossed Uhura a comm badge pin programmed from current time. "Put this on somewhere after you've changed." She shushed her friend as she hit the comm open. =^=Chapel to Captain Kirk. Change of plans. We decided to wait for your orders in Building Five. Nothing's doing in sickbay.=^= "Understood, Christine. I'll check up with you later.." the middle aged Kirk replied. =^=You already have, sir..=^= "Pardon?" =^=Never mind. Chapel out..=^= And the two women laughed hysterically over that ironic fact. Nurse Chapel sighed.."It's about time we get to wear these openly." she said, polishing the communicator pin. "McCoy knows about us now." "Isn't that funny how Captain Kirk fussed over that? I still don't see how Bones seeing us young would have made him nervous for his speech giving symposium, do you?" Uhura said stretching out a few kinks as she caught the new uniform Chapel tossed to her. She disappeared into the sleeping room to change. "Leonard's funny that way, Uhura. He doesn't like change. Maybe that is why the captain tried to hide us and the Project for so long.." Christine said softly. Uhura appeared back out of the water space in the new uniform. "Ooo, I feel like a crewman from these times already.." Chapel laughed and joined her on the couch. "What shall we do now while we wait for the powers that be to decide what we do next in the investigation? Watch a few televids? Eat?" "I'm open.. It's not like we'll get to see any live action tonight.." she said jerking her thumb over to the viewports overlooking the silent Guardian of Forever on the other side of the hanger. "I...am going to go change... You pick what we'll do.." and Nurse Chapel went out of sight to dress. Right then, the ground shook again, making the ornate sculpture on the VIP suite table shift enough to make both nurse and communications officer notice. "Whoa.. active night for the San Andreas faultline." Uhura said. "Did the big earthquake happen yet for Earth? I forget.." "That's not for five hundred years or so..around 2907." Christine's voice replied from around the corner."I remember that detail from the Guardian's sequence just before we leaped here to meet Captain Kirk and Spock in this time." "Ok.. I'd give anything for a little excitement around here." Uhura sighed, eyeing the subtle mauve furnishings and crystal table of their VIP quarters provided by the Starfleet of this time to accomodate them. "Bored with the future already?" Nurse Chapel said, "Don't tell me you're eager to return back to "Hailing frequencies open, sir.." so soon?" Uhura giggled. "I'm not. Believe me. I'm glad to hear from the computer that my older self got promoted past that fifteen years ago.." "Where are you.. I mean, where is she now?" "On Vulcan.. visiting Spock's cousins. After Sarek died, She feels the need to keep in touch with them even as Spock chooses not to." Uhura said. "Captain Picard knows alot about how Spock's father passed. He was there for Sarek's last official assignment as Federation Ambassador." Uhura said. Chapel made a connection. "And now K'Ehleyr is the new ambassador in his stead?" "Bingo.. until she dies..er....died nine years ago. Two years after Tasha's killed." "Agh... My head hurts wrapping around all this time paradoxal history.." Uhura chuckled. "Yeah, well she's just as much future shifted as we are until this whole adventure runs its course. I wonder who else will show up?" Chapel snorted. "Probably whomever the Guardian sees fit to keep this timeline and Starfleet Headquarters safe I guess.." "Hungry..?" Uhura asked. "Famished.. I didn't eat a lot in Scotty's lab. Too much new stuff to see." "I hear you there.. All right.. Chakotay told me about an old snack native of his people, but prepared in an even older way from a real paper sack.." she said. "What is this miracle food?" Chapel said, intrigued. "Microwave popcorn.. Be right back.." and Uhura went to the replicator and got some enough for two. She was still talking animatedly as the two settled onto the couch for a long night of waiting for orders with the steamy bag, she was excitedly chattering until Chapel slit the top of it open and a smokey scent and column of steam rose from the white buttered morsels. All color left Uhura's face and she began to sweat. "Uhura! What's wrong??" Christine said, freezing in place. "Nothing.. It's.." she said, wiping the thin sweat off her upper lip. "I was just reminded of something..when you opened that...The smells and sight, brought back a memory. I.. it's stupid. Never mind.." Nurse Chapel turned all professional and she set the bag aside. "Now I know a psychogenic fear when I see one.. Want to tell me what it is or do I check the computer database on your file to find out what it is..?" she said firmly. "All right.." Uhura said, closing her eyes. She gripped Nurse Chapel's hands and closed the tricorder record she had almost opened. "I'll tell you.." and she sighed, flopping back onto the couch dejectedly. Christine lost all sense of her hunger as she heard Uhura's tale of her childhood unfold. Uhura's voice took on a fearful color as she related her memory. "Growing up on Epsilon Colony Serengeti II was the ultimate eco experience. Even the same Earth trees, animals and plants were relocated there in a second, great African wilderness all for the sake of wildlife preservation. My family moved there to help out shortly after the humpback whales went extinct. Everything was done with the minimum technology necessary. Even down to the weather.." and she shivered. Christine got her a silver blanket and draped it over Uhura's shoulders and she set a hot cup of tea in front of her. "Go on.. I'm listening.." Uhura smiled faintly and went on.."..I must have been about five or six.. playing with my boyhood friend on the plain not far from our villa, when a stray lightning bolt panicked the local impala. One of them kicked open a fallen log the bolt had struck in its haste to get away and the sparks set .. the savanna on fire.. I started running for the water hole as fast as I could, almost faster than the impala and soon I was safe. When I looked back, all I could see was a great wall of fire behind me but no sign of Bantu.. " Uhura lowered her head. "I got wet with water and ran searching for him until the fire turned the water in my hair and on my skin to steam. But still, I couldn't find him. I was forced to return to the water hole just to breathe.." She began to sob. "Bantu didn't make it even though the fire passed quickly.. Father eventually found me and flash healed my burns.. but for years, I dreamed of that fire and imagined Bantu's screams as he died. I.. and just now.. I smelled the same smell from the popcorn..." Christine drew Uhura into a hug, cradling her head. "Shhhh Uhura.. You don't have to say anything more.. Hush.." "It's so stupid.. Having this uncontrollable fear of fire. I ..I almost didn't get the Enterprise because of it. McCoy put in a good word for me with the captain..." Uhura said, pulling away. "I've learned to control it even when we got into battle and my own communications panel erupted in overload, I never panicked nor left my post.." Christine pulled the blanket closer around Uhura.. "Listen hon,.. we are far from that savanna.. and even farther from the Enterprise for the moment so relax.. and EAT your popcorn.." she teased, waving the bag under Uhura's nose.. "before it gets cold. We want to enjoy Commander Chakotay's favorite snack food the way it's supposed to be served. Piping hot.." Uhura laughed through her tears. "I don't know why the old phobia's suddenly having an impact. I..I ..guess it started when I first saw the playback from Data's cranial records. It reminded me of Bantu.." "Yeah, well, Data's head is long since returned to its own time. You heard Mr. Boothby." Christine said, stuffing her face with the paper bag cooked popcorn in a greedy handful. Uhura took only a few. "Yes, I know. That's what I keep telling myself. But nothing I do is helping to convince me of that Christine. And I don't know why.." "Don't worry about it. It'll pass. All bad memories do.." ------------------------- Uhura was about to relax when the entire floor of the hanger outside the living space collapsed into a fiery hole filled with flame. With a horrible high pitched shatter, the transparent aluminum of the windows all burst in their frames and the floor of the crew quarters splintered and listed. The couch, and furniture slid at a hideous angle towards the yawning gap beneath and Christine and Uhura were thrown onto the skeleton frame of the floor that remained above the drop. "Uhura!!" Chapel shouted.. "Hang on!!" Choking smoke made it hard for both to see and then the earth shook again as the whole back side of Building Five tumbled into the burning chasm that had appeared from the very ground. Again the metal frame work jolted hideously downwards into an angry pit, taking the two women tangled there with it. Then the falling stopped suddenly. The wind was knocked out of the lieutenant. Uhura quailed, ::Fire.. The one we were told to look out for..no!!:: Uhura desperately grappled on the twisted bars of the collapsed floor to keep herself from falling. Then she remembered her friend.. She saw Chapel on a narrow ledge along the viewport lip, perched precariously. She wasn't conscious. "Christine!!" Uhura reached out to her but the other woman was more than three meters away. Her friend didn't move. Gasping, Uhura's nightmare fear grew and clamped down on her mind with numbing strength. But her fingers worked, to reach the spot where the new time combadge was. To her horror, it wasn't there.. "Oh, god. no...oooo... Not again....Bantu...." Uhura passed out when thick smoke covered her. By some miracle, the scaffolding continued to hold her body beyond the reach of the fire that was still an earthy orange. None of it had yet touched the plasma security field during the floor's collapse in the hanger to turn green. It was still uncontaminated by plasma. The gaping hole had stopped just short of the Guardian of Forever's base, but the flames were building along with the smoke inside what was left of Building Five. The two guards standing vigil outside had heard the women's screams and rushed in. They connected with the green plasma field jolted meters out of place inside the thick smoke and they were immediately vaporized when they failed to guess it had been grossly warped out of shape from around Building Five's exterior. Both women were threatened by both flame and smoke where they lay trapped. The night sky on campus began to glow orange as the fire made itself known from the depths. A combadge, melted from the heat, tumbled from Nurse Chapel's shoulder and chittered open on a rocky protuberance below when the earth shook again. But there was no one to speak into it.. Only static was sent out. SEE SOUND BITE ---------------------------------- (attachments) Image: Nurse Chapel. Big close shot. Audio: A channel is open warble. Image: Uhura. Big promo pic. Gif: A chest insignia from the original Trek show. ************************************ From :"Clairissa Fox" Subject : [voyagerliveaction] I Find the Emergency Date :Tue, 29 Jan 2002 17:45:47 +0000 I couldnt help myself. I kept staring. The gray haired wrinkly Vulcan made my mum treat him like Kahless? Even when the sun went down, I kept staring. And then my elbow bumped the wrong button on the human computer. It caused Mr Bootby to call me on my pin. "You needed something of me, Alexander?" the gardener asked. I didnt want to tell him I was clumsy because Klingon warriors are never clumsy. So I made up something. Im with Mr Spock and were both watching for stuff on the sky things and with the flying silver ball. I could hunt the Vdmeer for you using them. I thought that Spock would say that I couldnt use them that way because of the red alert but he just kept changing the pictures on the big telly and writing into his metal pad. But then Bootby decided to come by me. He came using the transporter. "Ah,, there you are..." the crusty old man said walking over to the tiny boy. His straw sun hat was gone and so were his dusty overalls. Youre clean! I shouted. "Of course I'm clean. It's nighttime. Do you think anyone can garden when you can't even see the hand in front of your face?" Boothby exclaimed. "And thank you for the offer to hunt down the tribble, but I distinctly recall someone telling you that hunting and killing the tribble wasn't an option young man. And yet, you still insist to me that you are." Shhh not so loud. I said. I didnt want Mr Spock to hear me. I know. I was made to promise Id bring him to you in a cage instead. But look! I showed him. This screen is coming from Mr Scotts marble. I sent it outside to look for the fire Data told us about. And these other really high ones are from the sky things. "Those are satellites. Alexander. I know it's a human word that's hard but that's what they are." I know.. I said and got a little angry. I hated it when there was an Earth word I didnt get right away. I was happy when Mr Spock didnt say I told you so. He knew I was only a little boy and was trying to be like him. Bootby Captain Janeway left some food on the table over there. Not everyone ate because they were scared. I saved it for you. "How thoughtful. Cold food." Boothby said sarcastically, but he yanked on Alexander's ponytail affectionately in a way that he knew would be taken as play. I leaped from my chair and knocked Bootbys pink hands away. He wanted to honor battle play with me! So I growled real loud. I didnt care when Mr Spock raised an eyebrow at me while he worked and I got right in there and tackled Bootby around the legs. "Why you, tiny little hairy leech!" the gardener pretend insulted, lifting Alexander by the back of his trousers into the air. I swiped and swiped but I couldnt reach his face so I just got louder. Grrrr!! But then my boot got him across his middle. "Oaf!!" Boothby pretended and went down into a heap onto the floor. I leaped onto his throat and grabbed it. Die! Traitor! And know that it was I son of mum and Worf of the Moug house who kills you like the slime you are. Grrr... and I grabbed him by the ears. Boothby cried out and faked a death dramatically under Alexander's tiny grip on his earlobes. "Ahh! Oh woe the day I challenged the great Alexander. Farewell..." I laughed loud when he went limp. He battle played real good. So I leaped off him. You mock battle just as good as dad. "I take pride in knowing Klingon practices. Sometimes I think there isn't a race I don't know.. Except for the tribble's." he said glumly. You still can't find him? Ha! I said and climbed back into the computer chair next to the old Vulcan. I can find him. The metal marbles a really great telly and fox hound all in one! See? I pushed some buttons and the picture zoomed around as I made it fly over the woods. Mr. Boothby got to his feet, brushing off non existent dust off his backside and eyed up an apple on the luncheon table. He picked it up and started chewing as he made his way back over to the boy. "Ah,.. so that's Mr. Scott's new prototype surveillance probe.. He called it a silkie class if I remember rightly." Thats it! Thats it! I just couldnt remember that word like I cant remember the hard one. The satill..the sata.. "Satellites.." both Boothby and Mr. Spock said together. Yeah. That one. "But why isn't Mr. Barclay flying it right now? I thought he'd be the logical choice." Boothby asked. I said. He went with Scotty to see his inventions in the secret cupboard back there and Mr Spock said I could take over for a while for him. This feels like flying a shuttle. It's easy. But then I saw the clouds. They were glowing tangerine. Hey look. I know its not dawn yet because that weak Earth moon just came up. Whats that? I made the picture look at the ground. A green dome was over the Building mum and I used to get here but it wasnt sitting right. It was leaning over onto the sidewalk and had made a few of the post lights go out. The faint orange glow was coming from inside of it. Mr. Boothby exclaimed in alarm. "Fire! And from a direction none of us ever expected. I look down everyday digging in the dirt." he said sarcastically. And he hit a disaster call bar on a wall that ran to Starfleet Command. =^=Situation? We've no infrared sightings..=^=came the admiral on duty's voice. "That's because's it's covered up with your experimental plasma shield! Building Five's been engulfed from below! Get on it! And shut down that confounded plasma containment field over the Guardian before the fire changes into charged plasma!!" I saw a white button flashing so I pulled on Mr Bootbys sleeve. Sir. Sir. The firemen cant. The box making the green dome is stuck still on. Look. And I showed him the white button. "You're right. It's fused over there. They'll have to find another way in. Transporters will be nonfunctional with that d@mned security field in place." Boothby checked. Mr. Spock had moved the satellite sensors over Building Five and they could see the glow the boy had spotted just barely, through the green security field. Spock tried rerouting the override controls through the master computer but still the misshapen, battered plasma dome remained stubbornly over the burning building. Bootby! Bootby! Get them out of there! "What are you talking about young man?" the caretaker demanded, grabbing Alexander's arm sharply. I heard the pretty yellow haired lady call Captain Kirk to tell him she and the lady dark as mum would wait in Building Five for his orders. "Spock? Is this true..?" Boothby asked the Vulcan who was rapidly trying to learn more about the situation through the sensors. "It is true. However, I cannot locate any emissions, biological or other wise through the plasma shield. Only visible light is escaping." he said. "That's why the alarm wasn't raised..That d@mned full moon blocked out the fireglow." Boothby snapped. He tapped his combadge. "Boothby to Uhura. Respond." There wasn't even a welcoming chitter. Boothby tapped another frequency. "Boothby to Nurse Chapel. Answer me." This time a line came open, but only hissing static and the sound of crackling flames came over it. "At least she's confirmed inside, Mr. Spock." Boothby told him. "I'm hearing fire over her combadge." Why didnt the bioflag ambulance transporter help her? "The plasma shield prevents lifesign readings from being taken by the main computer Alexander.." the caretaker told him. What should I do. Should I call the Fire Corp again? Boothby looked at the tiny worried boy. "You don't need to. They've been alerted with my disaster call. Now, all of Starfleet knows." Sure enough, they could all see tiny running figures heading towards Building Five's coordinates. I turned on the voicebox on the metal marble. Look out! Look out! The green domes tipping over wrong. Dont touch it or youll get hurt! I saw the people stop and pull out their tricorders so they could find the edge of the green energy covered by the orange glowing. Boothby got to thinking. "Aren't there two guards posted at every building across campus due to our intruder alert?" Mr. Spock nodded. Then why arent they calling us? I asked. Boothby took over the flight path of the silkie probe and made it move over to the egressing transporter pad near the main sidewalk side of the building. Two hideous silohuettes were burned into the grass where the security guards had collided with the security field trying to get inside. Oh no! They got killed. I said starting to get really scared. But then I remember what mum told me about showing no emotion around Mr Spock so I uncurled my fists and made my face listen. What can we do now? Boothby hit his combadge to all the personnel still on the other side of Scotty's lab. To Kirk, Riker, Picard, Scotty, Seven, Data, Janeway, Chakotay, the EMH and Barclay. =^=Front and center people. The fire found us from under our feet. Building Five. Two are dead and two others possibly in jeopardy. Get up here!=^= He heard running footsteps as the others came quickly. ------------------------------------ (attachments) Image: Alexander in white Karate clothes. *animated gif* A night moon reflected in an electrified mirror probe. Image: Boothy wearing his straw hat. ********************************* Date: Wed, 30 Jan 2002 02:15:20 -0800 (PST) From: "Jeff Seltun" Subject: Blast Into the Past >Boothby hit his combadge to all the personnel still >on the other side of Scotty's lab. To Kirk, Riker, >Picard, Scotty, Seven, Data, Janeway, Chakotay, the >EMH and Barclay. >=^=Front and center people. The fire found us from >under our feet. Building Five. Two are dead and two >others possibly in jeopardy. Get up here!=^= ::Mr. Boothby? With news on our mission? Things must truly be urgent if he's relaying accounts.:: Seven thought as she hurried back to the wide area in front of Scott's viewscreen. On her way, she consulted her tricorder and aimed it towards the direction of Building Five. ::Strange. I'm reading nothing amiss. But then again, the experimental plasma security field around the structure is very good at what it does by concealing internal contents.:: Data caught her eye as he too, matched her move attempting to scan the fire reported. He shook his head in the negative fractionally when Seven raised her eyebrows. But then android and exBorg saw what Alexander had seen on the main viewer and heard the open comm crackling flames audibly. He saw the ident displaying the signal as coming from Nurse Chapel's combadge. "Does she have any lifesigns?" Seven asked Boothby. "That d@mned prototype dome's blocking everything except for our comm system signals and visual light according to Mr. Spock. We can't tell, and,...these others say, Lt. Uhura may be with her." Captain Janeway and Chakotay came at a run from around a bend and sized up the situation in seconds. "How long since you got that comm badge functioning?" Janeway asked, eyeing up the status board the silkie probe was projecting as it hovered, circling in the air above the eerie green glowing energy wrapped around Building Five. "Twenty one point five seconds.." Spock replied. "But she doesn't answer us.." Alexander added. Chakotay asked, "Your confirmed dead are the guards?" Boothby nodded. "Yes. Their DNA is reading on scorch marks in the grass." Janeway sighed, clearly not happy at all. "The field's still up. We've got to get it down, now, for a team to go in there to get to the two women. But I see here, its generator is fused from the high heat levels inside." The EMH sparkled by their side. "I have an idea. Send me in there after them." "We can't.. transporters won't function through the plasma shield." Seven said. Data spoke eagerly and he didn't blink as he delivered his idea. "We can stream in the doctor the same way the fire entered the premises. From underneath the surface. Once he tags them with proximity tag beacons, we can beam them out safely into a tramway tunnel." "Let's go.." Janeway said. "Captain Kirk, Mr. Scott, Spock. I'll need you here to be our eyes and ears on the sensors. You tell us the moment by moment if the fire contaminates with plasma, I don't want anyone to be anywhere near the area when it does. Data, Seven, doctor.. Chakotay, You're with me. Mr. Barclay, if you're feeling adventurous, meet us in Tramway Tunnel Three with a full med team. I don't know what condition they'll be in once the doctor finds them. Or how injured we might get if the fire turns plasma. Captain Picard and Commander Riker. I'm open to suggestions. I might need you to rescue us if something goes wrong down there. But I'll try Data's idea first.." "D-Don't you worry. I'll have everything ready captain." Reg reassured her. Chakotay tapped his badge. =^=Lab Six to Starfleet Command. Beam Captain Janeway the EMH, and Commander Data, and Seven of Nine and myself to the tramway tunnel directly below Building Five with a standard series of portable transporter enhancers. We're going to try following the fire's path inside to mount a rescue..=^= =^=Understood Lab Six.. Site to site transfer in five, four.....three..=^= Janeway felt the lab shimmer away and immediately, she was somewhere else and a trickle of seared dirt and soot rained down on top of her head. They had materialized directly beneath the cavern where the fire nested. They were in the middle of the tramway tracks. She coughed, ducking away from the earth that was falling in dusty columns to a clear area. "Doctor!" The EMH had his med tricorder aimed at the ceiling. "They're alive... and I'm getting only oxygen burning up there. The fire hasn't reached the shield yet thank goodness or they'd already be incinerated." Chakotay quickly motioned for Data and Seven to turn on the pattern enhancers Starfleet had beamed to them into a triangle and the three of them quickly switched them on. "Doctor.. You ready?" The EMH got out two tag beacons, but he left his medkit behind. He figured he'd need all his limbs to move around the shattered collapsed flooring around Uhura and Chapel. "Yes.. Make sure I don't transport near any power emissions or the security field or it will decompile my program despite my mobile emitter." "Command post. Energize..." Chakotay shouted into his combadge. He and Janeway watched as the EMH disappeared. Seven said, "We can shore up this ceiling while we wait for him with support rods.. Data.." The android found a nearby pile of track rails and he hefted them up one by one, reinforcing the weakened roof rock, until the falling dirt stopped. Then he scanned his handiwork. "The fire is burning approximately two meters beyond the ceiling and is filling a chamber twenty by five meters in size. There appears to be organic matter fueling it." "Tree roots.." Janeway said, "This tunnel's littered with them." :: Come on doctor.. get the lead out. With a fire that size using up all the air, they won't survive much longer.:: -=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= The EMH rematerialized hanging onto a steel support beam. He almost dropped his beacon tags when the dizzying height of where he had appeared hit his visual centers. He was near the top of the great hanger over the Guardian of Forever. The floor itself was gone. He could see the gaping chamber holding the subterranean fire even lower down from where he had been projected. His sensors told him the oxygen levels in the hanger were falling below human criticals in the intense heat around him. He located his first target. Lt. Uhura was just below him on a rocky pinnacle in the middle of the chamber surrounded by flames. Her clothes were smoking. He swung like a gymnast to the next support strut in the hanger rafters until he was just over her. "Lt!! Can you hear me?!" His voice was drowned out by the roar of the flames around them. She didn't move or answer. But he thought he could see her still breathing. The doctor didn't want to risk losing his rafters route above the fire, so he dangled by one hand, carefully site-ing the tag over her body with his other hand like a man throwing a dart and he let it go from between his two fingers. The beacon hit her back and began flashing the instant it struck. The EMH hit his combadge. "I got Uhura. Isolate and transport. She's six point two meters directly below me..!" "We have the tag's signal. Beaming now.." Janeway's voice replied, full of static. The holodoc watched with satisfaction as the away team beamed the unconscious woman down into the tramway tunnel beneath the fire. Putting the second tag disk in his mouth. He climbed over to what used to be the living quarters, ninety meters away. He saw blue uniform material and two legs draped over a shattered window frame in the dark. "Nurse Chapel??" A sparking wire kept the EMH from getting any closer to her. He was stuck hanging from the rafters about two meters above the tilted window. There was blood trickling down the wall from where Christine's waist was folded over the window frame. Again, there was no sign of movement. The EMH tried to reach out to her with his foot to stick on the beacon tag, but when his limb got too near the violated raw electric wire, it fuzzed frighteningly into non existence. "Ahh...!!" The doctor whipped his leg away. And thankfully, the leg popped back into being.. He pulled himself back up onto the rafter in a chin hold, then pulled himself onto it on his stomach. "Doctor.. what's the matter?" Seven said through the comm line. "Remember those energy emissions I'm supposed to avoid? Well there's one of them between me and the only way to Nurse Chapel.. I'm going to need some help here. Looks like she's tangled badly inside this wreckage.." Data's voice came online, "I can withstand any electrical discharge. I may be of some assistance.." The EMH could hear Chakotay, Seven and Janeway debating safety risks but finally, Janeway's voice replaced Seven's over his combadge. "He's coming right to you..doctor. We'll beam him to exactly where you started in there." The EMH heard clamoring and creaking metal over the roar of the fire, as the heavier android made his way over to his location. Data hung by his hands and flipped to land on the rafter above the EMH precisely around his holo gripping fingers. "Hurrah, Looks like Tarzan's finally here.." the doc said sarcastically after wiggling his fingers to see if they all were still there. Data crouched down. "I can see Miss Chapel now. I don't think the metal frame around her can withstand the addition of my weight to it. It's been weakened by metal fatigue..." There was a pause.." Is she bleeding badly..?" The EMH snapped. "Does it look like I brought my medical tricorder..? It's all I can do just manuevering around like this. I'm not so concerned by that as I am about the concentration of oxygen left in the air in the hanger. Can you tell that for me? If it falls below 18 % she'll stop respiring altogether." Data said, "Last reading from the away team showed it at 19% doctor." "We have to hurry. I based my estimate on someone not unconscious and not folded up in half over a window frame." the doc said. "Here.. Take this...." And the EMH gave Data the beacon body tag. "Hurry.." Data took the shiny disk and nimbly climbed and leaped to debris that he felt would hold his weight until he was one beam strut away from where she was trapped. He was about to leap to a more secure position, when the beam caved in. Data slipped a bit, losing his grip on the beacon disk and it dropped into a crack and was gone before he regained a secure hold for himself. The holodoc hit his combadge."Send me another tag. We lost it." =^=*Crackle..* You're too close...t...wire. Retur....start..g...poin...t. Can't g....lock..n..you..=^=Chakotay shouted. "There's no time.. Data.! You're going to have to get her there manually..Go easy.. I don't know how badly she's injured yet." the doctor shouted to him. Data nodded and gingerly wormed his way past the sparking wire to her side where she hung upside down, belly over the window. He knelt by her face and saw blood dripping out of her nose and mouth, but he heard faint gasps as he listened. "She's breathing adequately doctor..." but then he saw pretzeled steel wrapped around her chest and shoulder. He bent it back until she was untangled. "She's free.. Doctor, how shall I move h---" Another cavein shook the rafter where the doctor stood. The EMH was knocked off center and he pinwheeled as he tried to regain his balance on the ceiling beam. He failed and fell two stories down into the heart of the fire. Data saw the image of the doctor fizzle out the moment he touched the flames and then the emitter alone tumbled down until it reached the bottom of the deep burning chamber below. It landed with a poof into the glowing ashes. Data hit his badge, keeping a grip on Chapel while the ground shifting continued. "The doctor is offline at the bottom of the chamber." "What happened?" Janeway asked quickly. "We just had a little landslide here ourselves." "He fell when his stabilizer failed to compensate." "Make due the best you can.. We'll think of something else Data.. Hang tight. Do what first aid you can but guard against injuring her further." Janeway ordered. "I understand." Data said. "Is the doctor's emitter in jeopardy?" the commander asked. "Not at the moment. It is beneath the fire." "That's good." Janeway cut in.."The landslide buried one of our pattern enhancers. We're waiting for a new one. Seven tells me it'll be at least twenty minutes until we get unburied enough to transport anything in or out to our location." "How's Lt. Uhura?" Data wanted to know. "We're stretchering her to Medical now..We managed to get a tram running down here. Looks like she'll make it.." "That is very fortunate." "So far so good Data. Remember, the energetic interference of the plasma field is making our targetting sensors sluggish. Without the beacon tag, you're going to have to get Christine over to exactly the same coordinates you beamed into. Got that?" "Yes." Data said. "I understand captain." "We'll rendevous you to us in a direct beam as soon as we're able. We'll be watching for your return to the beam in coordinates. Janeway out." A soft moan attracted Data's attention and he held the nurse's head still as she awoke. "Uhura?" was her first word. "Safely evacuated. Do not move. I have yet to ascertain your injuries.." Christine coughed and spit out a mouthful of blood. "L--lungs.. and ribs.. I know my feet are still there so get me out of here before.... Ohh!" she groaned as the ground shaking jolted her painfully. Then the tremors stopped. Data immediately noticed an instantaneous silence surrounding them. His head snapped up sharply just in time to see that flames all around him were changing color from noisy orange to a soundless deadly green.. ::Plasma! The landslide must have cause the fire to contact the shield moments ago..The atmosphere is seconds away from superheating...:: He flew into action as fast as his artificial reflexes allowed. He lifted Chapel up onto his shoulder and leaped into the time shifted galley that was still intact in front of them. The green plasma filled the space they had just left and smacked with a wet suction against the time differential separating the galley from the rest of the hanger and halted there, held at bay by decades of time. Data tumbled the rest of the way to the floor with his burden. The impact made Christine pass out as her head hit the bottom of a countertop. Data rolled and avoided crushing her as he landed on his front and hands. He was instantly aware of what time he was now within.:: I'm in a bubble of Nurse Chapel and Lt. Uhura's own decade, in the Building Five of their Starfleet, confined by the same plasma shield that has just imploded in my time.:: Dismissing the disorienting sensation, he crouched by the injured woman next to him, feeling for signs of breath and a pulse. He found them. But the bleeding from her nose and mouth went unabated. He turned her onto her side. ::Doctor McCoy isn't going to be very happy with this at all. I'm stuck in the past under a pure plasma fire from the present without a medkit.:: Data had truly run out of options. The only sound that greeted him was a red alert klaxon hopelessly outdated in his recollection. SEE SOUND BITE -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Seven of Nine's mouth actually dropped open. "Captain!" she shouted. "What is it Seven?" Janeway asked, worried. Seven turned another dial on her tricorder. "I... Commander Data and Nurse Chapel have just disappeared." "What?" Chakotay exclaimed. "The instant the fire metamorphosed into plasma and filled all the space in the hanger.." Seven clarified. "That's impossible.. Are you sure they haven't.. vaporized?" Boothby grumbled. "I'm positive." Seven glared at him. "And now I'm reading a surge of tachyons.." Janeway's face turned white as a sheet. "They didn't leap into the Guardian?" "No.. They haven't..the Guardian has itself nulled. No activity registering at all. None since it spoke with Kirk this morning." Seven confirmed. "Then where are they?" Chakotay. "Uhura must know." Janeway said, "But she's unconscious in sickbay. We'll have to wait for Kirk to explain it to us. D@mn, I knew I should've taken up his offer to serve on the Building Five Project last year but I was too busy with.." she broke off. Chakotay smiled. "You were too busy with us.." he grinned, giving her a light hug around the waist and releasing her. "Don't shred yourself over this lack of knowledge. You can't be everywhere at once, Kathryn." "But the Guardian can. I don't know why it won't help us the whole nine yards. The green h#ll's here after ample warning and where are we? In so thick we lose three crewman five minutes into the nightmare shown in previews to us hours ago." "We'll find a way to recover the doctor , Data and Miss Chapel soon. Have faith in the system.. We're in the middle of Starfleet Headquarters, where some of the most brilliant minds live and work. Let's wait for the rest of our colleagues to arrive to assist us. Many heads are better than one.." Chakotay told her. Kathryn didn't feel so confident. "Yeah, well I think in this case, no head at all would have been better than the one we received this morning, don't you?" Boothby grunted at the pun. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Data stopped his examining of the tiny galley he had dragged Chapel into when she started choking. He pressed a palm against her stomach repeatedly until he got a large clot out of her mouth. She started to breathe again but shallowly. ::I'm going to need an anticoagulant as soon as possible.:: he concluded as he monitored her vital signs. Then he had an idea. He called to the air. "Computer...." ##Working....## came a strident harsh female voice not at all like the one he was used to on Enterprise. "Is there a medkit available inside this time chamber?" ##Affirmative..## "Display its location.." Data told it. A tri-screen monitor mounted on a table top lit up and a simple schematic of the galley came up after an automatic scrolling. Data found a bright dot on the diagram. ::It is under the water basin beneath the food delivery slot.:: He quickly located it and opened the kit on the floor beside Christine. Strange, old style equipment met his eyes and he murmured, "Without assistance, I will be unable to treat her condition. I am unfamilar with these instruments and medications. How shall I get help with her?" ##A communication to Headquarters is advised.## ::That is an option not available to me. The Guardian isn't in this decade to protect me from time paradox so the temporal prime directive holds here. I cannot allow anyone from this timeline to know of my existence.:: Data decided to take a gamble with the hypospray. "Computer. Analyze the woman's condition in front of me and detail treatment verbally." ##That function does not exist in my programming.## Data frowned. ::Just how far back did Captain Kirk go to get Nurse Chapel and Lt. Uhura for the Guardian.:: Then he recognized a drug vial in the kit by its red color. "This is cordrazine.." ##Correct.## By inference, Data figured out the old style hypo and guessed a dosage he hoped would stabilize the woman's vitals. He injected it into her throat and waited using the old style bioprobe he had learned how to use by watching Dr. McCoy secondhand in Scott's lab so far away into the future. He settled into motionless power reserve to await an outcome in either her or their situation. Their only companion was the eerie deadly green plasma pressing against the walls of the time shifted galley. Then he remembered Janeway's last words to him "We'll be waiting for your return to your beam in coordinates....coordinates...coordinates..." Data's chip actually made him despair through his protective filter when he thought. ::How am I going to return us there when the whole hanger is now completely filled with a sea of liquid plasma fatal to anything organic?:: ------------------------------ (attachments) Image: Data clinging to a rail. Image: A very sooty Seven and Janeway looking alarmed. Audio: The red alert sound from the Original Trek TV show. **************************** From : "Roxy Dee" Subject : [voyagerliveaction] Darkest Hour~~ Date : Thu, 31 Jan 2002 08:48:23 +0000 >"Let's go.." Janeway said. "Captain Kirk, Mr. Scott, >Spock. I'll need you here to be our eyes and ears on >the sensors. >You tell us the moment by moment if the fire >contaminates with plasma, I don't want anyone to be >anywhere near the area when it does. Captain Kirk nodded, accepting his part in the joint operation outlined by his fellow captain. He kept one ear out on the rest of the orders she issued and his other on the channel he opened to Tasha Yar. =^=Kirk to Lt. Yar.=^= "Here sir." "A situation has arisen. Fate's gotten around us by cheating. Building Five is fully involved." "What?!" he heard McCoy sputter. "I don't see anyth--" he said, leaning out over Deanna's balcony rail, peering into the dark. "That's because, doctor, the fire appeared UNDER the plasma shielding. Alexander only discovered it by a close pass in the visible spectrum with Mr. Scott's experimental probe. Stay put. If this thing gets out of hand I need the five of you to keep the events surrounding Mr. Data's decapitation, from happening..." Tasha broke into the frequency, "How bad is it sir?" "Nurse Chapel isn't answering hails. She and Uhura were last reported inside Building Five.." Kirk heard Yar's sharp intake of air that expressed his own concern. "Janeway is assembling a reconn mission from a tram tunnel below the fire to get to them." Tasha looked from Deanna, to Beverly to McCoy and then to K'Ehleyr who all sat transfixed where they were as they overheard the conversation. "Want me to return to your location in the lab, captain?" =^=Negative. Help McCoy safeguard the counselor. I'll be in touch. Kirk out..=^= A million thoughts raced through Yar's head. ::What does Captain Picard want me to do? What if the fire does spread and we're still up here in Deanna's apartment? Should I move Deanna away from here so those events we saw can't happen?:: But she realized that she would obey anything Kirk ordered her to do beyond all doubt because so far, she had no reason otherwise to do anything else. Deanna was on her feet and pacing already as she began to pick up the emotions of everyone involved. Tasha pointed to the computer terminal on Deanna's table. "May I use this?" Deanna nodded, "Of course, lieutenant.." as she folded her arms about herself uncertainly. Tasha Yar tapped into the same signal Scotty's lab was receiving from the silkie probe and the satellite feeds. She told the others. "It's getting worse out there. I'm seeing the plasma shield beginning to distort over Building Five. It looks like no one is able to turn it off." Deanna Troi gave a cry and sat on the couch clutching her head. Dr. Crusher went to her. Yar didn't have to be an expert on Deanna to know what happened. ::Someone just died.:: She trained her display to detail the probe and soon it hovered over the place where the two Building Five sentries had been vaporized. "Two guards are dead." she told everyone. "Looks like they blundered into their own security shield." Then she heard the unmistakable whine of a transporter outside from the direction of the balcony.. "There goes Janeway's away team." And she pulled out her tricorder to scan towards the far end of campus and the normal appearing dome over Building Five. "They've arrived, in Tramway Tunnel Three.. Clever. They're probably going to use the EMH to rescue Kirk's crew." A few tense minutes went by as K'Ehleyr, McCoy Crusher and Deanna crowded around the computer with Yar as they watched the drama unfold on the view being sent to them from the hovering probe. Soon, there was another transporter signal. Yar was elated when she saw Kirk's communications officer's identity code appear in Starfleet Medical on her scanner. "It's Uhura.. They got her out.. She's alive.." Despite that victory, Yar felt apprehensive.. She threw her head towards the moonlit balcony nervously. ::That was too easy.. the other shoe has to drop.:: Soon, it did. Yar saw the trace on Data turn to static as it winked in the characteristic precursor to a pattern buffer scan.. ::He's volunteered to go into that inferno. D@mn it. Something must have gone wrong.:: Sure enough, another transporter signature wrapped around Data and he went off Yar's tricorder screen. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kirk paced the floor behind Mr. Spock and Barclay and Scotty in the lab. Picard and Riker were calmly organizing communications and scans with them. But Kirk wasn't content staying still. ::Something doesn't feel right.:: "Watch your back, captain...." he said quietly, for Janeway's sake. Then there was another earth tremor and the power in the lab fluctuated..briefly... before stabilizing. A sharp crackling came over all their combadges, like an interrupted signal.. Kirk slammed a palm to his. =^=Kirk to Captain Janeway.=^= "It's all right captain.. A minor landslide.. However, there's been complications. Mr. Data reports that the EMH was jarred offline in that last shake. Most of the floor is gone in there.. Hang on.." Muffled shouts of alarm and then shouting... Janeway's voice came back, tense and clipped. "Seven's lost Data and Nurse Chapel's signal. The fire just imploded into plasma.. The hanger's been flooded but they disappeared just before its energy conversion. The shield's holding.." Kirk bit his lip.. "I wonder...." Janeway didn't understand. She got to the point. "I'm sorry captain but they may have been incin-" James Kirk ignored the comment, thinking to himself aloud. "That isn't it...Smart android. He's taken her into the phased galley, captain, I'm sure of it.." "Explain.." Janeway said. "The living quarters inside the hanger are being skewed by the Guardian. That room I'm talking about is in a when, eighty years ago, the time Uhura and Chapel travelled from. It's a sort of temporal oasis. We felt it necessary to have a pocket of that time readily available so we could update their ship , and my younger self, on their progress at will, while allowing an easy back and forth to our time. The whole rest of Building Five's interior is still our current time for you and me." Kirk lightly hit an anxious fist on the back of Spock's chair as he talked to Janeway.."Captain..what was Nurse Chapel's status last you saw of her?" Chakotay cut into the frequency. "The doctor said that she had been pinned in wreckage but alive. The final vital set we received on scans before she disappeared showed moderate shock but overall, not critically injured as far as we could tell. Some blood volume was being lost.." Mr. Spock near Kirk, shifted in his chair, but his face didn't change expression. Kirk set a hand near Spock's shoulder reassuring him subtlely. ::She's alive, Spock. That's what matters most.:: Kirk went on, looking to Picard, "Are you sure Mr. Data can offset any difficulty she may have medically?" Jean Luc replied. "His training's as good as yours or mine captain. Have no fear." Kirk sighed wishing with every fiber that McCoy was with his crewman too. Janeway came online. "Captain Kirk, I'm sure Data AND your crew woman are safe for the moment. We aren't so fortunate. One of our pattern enhancers was buried in a landslide. We're stuck in a cave-in solid enough that no transporting will be possible to or from my location for twenty minutes until we recover it." "Are you completely pinned down? Any injuries? Do you want me to send in another team?" Kirk asked quickly. "No. No. and no thanks. We've a single tram running in a side tunnel. It's bringing the excavation equipment we need to free that enhancer. What we need is a way to retrieve the EMH's portable emitter..." Janeway replied. "He survived the plasma flooding?" "Data said his emitter fell beneath the actual fire. I am taking this to mean it's buried in the ashes at the bottom of the hole inside the hanger, about twenty meters below ground level." Janeway answered. "So it's more than guaranteed the doctor's program is still viably salvagable if this is true." Kirk spoke mostly to himself. "It's a no man's land inside Building Five. 100% liquid plasma at 3,000 degrees Kelvin. Anything living entering it would be consumed in seconds. A mixed blessing having that experimental shield still up. It caused the fire to change into a greater danger but it's the only thing still keeping the entire Starfleet grounds from becoming an inferno.." He shuddered to think what would happen if they shut down that security field now before the plasma was extinguished. "All that carbon in the vegetation and air outside would cause the plasma firestorm to multiply around Headquarters. And if the city wide deflector dome failed after that...." ::The end of Earth..Now I think I understand the Guardian's unprecedented aid in this matter. I only hope we can extinguish this blaze successfully.:: Kirk looked up at Spock and the others in the lab with a heavy seriousness. "A plasma fire has never broken out in a planetary atmosphere before in the entire Federation's history, gentleman. What do we do now? We can't create a vacuum across Starfleet Headquarters campus to smother it, too many people are inside the deflector dome covering the city. We couldn't possibly have enough breathing apparatuses and pressure suits for everybody to safeguard them during the purging. And I dare not lower that larger deflector shield to evacuate them. The risk is too great.." Mr. Barclay was speechless. Mr. Spock daunted. Kirk stood tall in the face of the surrounding adversity. He supplied hope to the away team underneath Building Five. "Hang tight Kathryn. Plenty of thinkers on this end. Answers coming soon. Kirk out." Kirk spread out his hands. "I need options, Scotty. And I need them now.." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tasha Yar was about to snap when her combadge twittered into life. "Yes, captain. Go ahead." Kirk spoke to her. "Plasma has contaminated the entire interior of the building but our people are safe in a "safe zone" of disjointed time in another room in there. So far, the experimental shield as a whole is holding." Yar glanced up at the sky at the thin layer of deflector. She could see its shimmering against the starlight and moon over San Francisco.. "Sir....if..the plasma gets released and touches the city dome.." Kirk finished her thought. "There'd be no way to contain the catastrophic implosion that would chain react as a result. Our entire atmosphere and all life as we know it would be vaporized from ground to stratosphere. Armageddon, lieutenant." Yar sat on the edge of the loveseat with a thud. Her tricorder felt so heavy in her hand that she dropped it. "Oh, mother of god..." Her horror reflected in Deanna's and the old doctor's and Beverly's, only K'Ehleyr's face remained stony blank. But her knuckles were loose around the king's chess piece she was holding. Until she crushed it to powder.. Lt. Yar said it all for them. "Captain. We've got to implore the Guardian to help us.." "Denied.." "But sir...!!" "Lieutenant.. Don't you think I want the same possibility available right now? That Guardian of Forever has done ALL..it CAN.. Don't you see? There's an order out there greater than us that must....be...maintain--d." Yar heard Kirk falter the tiniest bit into vulnerability. "My hands are tied and so are yours.." the silence between them stretched for long moments.. "I'll let you know the minute something changes, lieutenant, and that goes for all of you.. Kirk out." Tasha stared numbly at the wall and saw a framed holopic of what was obviously some of Deanna Troi's dance students at the Academy. They were laughing in sunlight, chasing each other with long trailing ribbons of peach satin on a picnic in a frozen moment of innocent play. She thought of those children in that picture. And then the billions more everywhere on Earth. Then her mind spoke her heart's fervent bitter oath.. ::I will do anything to save you....Hear me?!! I'll do exactly what I must to save you all..:: she promised them. ::Even if I lose my commission, or my life..:: Then something inside of Tasha snapped and her mental fear turned to the sharpest insanity. Behind her, Deanna glanced in her direction with a look of shock as dark emotion from her friend rolled over her like scalded oil. ------------------------------------ Image: Kirk flipping open a communicator. Image: A little girl running to her grandfather on a picnic outing. Image: Earth on main viewer from orbit. Image: Tasha Yar looking enraged with a phaser. **************************** Date: Thu, 31 Jan 2002 22:25:29 -0800 (PST) From: "Myron Ojala" Subject: Out of the Petrie Dish and Into the Fire >Kirk stood tall in the face of the surrounding adversity. >He supplied hope to the away team underneath >Building Five. "Hang tight Kathryn. Plenty of >thinkers on this end. Answers coming soon. Kirk out." >Kirk spread out his hands. "I need options, Scotty. >And I need them now.." "Aye captain. We'll get on it. We'll do everything we can." he said as he returned to the computer screen in Lab Six. He continued his work configuring a more precise manual control of his invented little silkie probe. ::I've just dubbed you Byte little darling. Now let's see if we can get your reactions tweeked up so they will be more effective for a little splunking excursion.:: "Captain I think I may have something for you. I've recalibrated this wee bairns sensors so that it can detect the doctor's holoemitter. We already know the precise location to send in Byte here." "Byte who?" Kirk asked. "This,.. the wee probe captain.. We'll just send him in, sniff out the doctor, grab him and return back to the away team ! I'm flying Byte to a place that's showing new soot on the surface.. It looks like the fire started here. "And Scotty showed them all a single blade of prairie grass that was blackened near a charred piece of glass. "Looks like a part of this fell into the shaft." and he flew Byte down into a ventilation pipe leading into a tramway tunnel. "Janeway's right. The fire's been burning along the roots." The probe entered where once a tree root protruded inside the tunnel wall. He sent the probe along the fire's original course until suddenly it was bathed in an eerie green light that encompassed the entire chamber beneath Building Five.. "Aha laddie, now we're there... Captain, just so you are aware of this.. The root canal I just sent the probe through to get here can be used by the plasma to reach the outside. I'm sealing this quickly before it spreads." Byte rotated 180 degrees towards the hole it came from, and a sonic blast caused the root canal to collapse in on itself. The breach to the outside was safely sealed. -------------------- Janeway looked up from her tricorder, "Chakotay, that probe of Mr. Scott's right above us inside the chamber. I've just registered a sonic burst." She hit her combadge sharply, =^=Janeway to Captain Scott.=^= "Scotty here.. Are you all right captain?" "We're all fine. What are you up to?" she asked. "I'm using the wee silkie to get your artificial doctor online. I think I can use him with my probe to break through and free Mr. Data and the injured lass. I found where the fire started and sealed it off from the surface." "Good work. I hadn't thought of that." Chakotay spoke up, "Mr. Scott, is there anyway we can assist you?" "Just let me know when you've freed your trapped pattern enhancer. I'll be sending them through to you hopefully momentarily.." Janeway didn't want to delay him by asking how he was going to reach their people, nonetheless she said something anyway. "Just do the best you can Mr. Scott, and good luck. Janeway out." Scotty guided the probe through the tangled debris of flooring in the raw plasma but the green light was coming from everywhere around Byte, not just from one source. Slowly his sensors locked onto the doctor's uniquely constructed EMH signature. It moved past shattered rubble that had once been pristine lab equipment littering the bottom of the fire chamber. At one point the silkie moved over one particular spot of deep soot. A steady hum began and from the ashes the emitter broke through the surface and attached itself to the little silkie. "I got it captain! The wee thing has done it.. We've got the emitter using a bit of magnetism.." "Well done, .... for a Scotsman.." Boothby mumbled. "Now, let's see if I can get these two to the android fella in the past..." Scotty said to himself as he flew both the emitter and Byte upwards into the ruins of the hanger above. A wall came into view that was not a wall. It was a square area of blankness, a void. "That's where he went.." Scott said and he shot Byte and the doctor's emitter right into the nothingness. ------------------------------------------------------ The probe landed and rolled to rest right at Data's feet. A man sized shimmer appeared in the middle of room and the emitter floated up until it was suddenly back part of the EMH's shoulder. The doctor stooped and picked up Byte tossing it into the air and catching it again. "It seems Mr. Scott has lost his marbles. Or in this case, a marble.." The emergency medical hologram immediately oriented on the injured Nurse Chapel. "Mr. Data. I do believe I'll take it from here." and he began a full examination of Christine using the obsolete medkit. "It is good to see you again doctor. I do hope that you'll be able to assist us in expediting our departure as soon as possible.." Data said as he caught the probe the doctor tossed him. "Just as soon as I've stopped some of this bleeding." The doctor ran an old style medical sensor over her head and torso. The EMH then ran the readings through the larger medical tricorder. "She has a punctured lung, but it can wait until we get her into surgery.." The EMH gave her medication that stopped her hemorrhaging. Then he went on. "Captain Scott downloaded the procedure we'll follow to escape using that little fellow. Ever heard of metaphasic shielding?" A curious look passed over Mr. Data with also a nod of affirmation. The doctor continued. "Mr. Scott beefed up the silkie's capabilities. It will protect us in a pocket of safety while we climb back to Janeway's beam in site.. However, once I go back into the plasma, I will shut down. " The EMH said. "You will have to carry both of us there. Are you ready?" Data nodded that he was. The doctor helped settle Nurse Chapel over Data's shoulders and then they activated Byte's shield and took a first tenative step through the wall, back to the future. Data felt the EMH deactivate but he kept a good grip on the emitter as he traveled. Soon, he was where he first appeared in the chamber. "Data to Captain Janeway. Have you recovered the lost pattern enhancer?" "Affirmative Mr. Data. We're just putting it into position now.. It will be just a moment until we can initiate a site to site transport." Data waited hearing the hiss of the plasma around the probe's metaphasic membrane until he heard the familiar hum of her transporter activation. The next moment Mr. Data was standing in a pattern enhancement field and the EMH fizzled back into existence. He felt med techs take Nurse Chapel off of him and he was about to say something when his combadge went off. It was Mr. Scott. "Well, done lad. Next time I see you. Drinks are on me.." Janeway said, "Congratulations you two. You're both a sight for sore eyes.. Let's get the h#ll out of here." The EMH piped up. "Aptly put. I wasn't about to abandon all hope just yet." -------------------------------------- (attachments) *animated gif* A ball morphing in chameleonic effects. Image: A very good Scotty smile. Gif : Star Trek The Next Generation Logo. ********************************** From : "Cassidy Meyers" Subject : [voyagerliveaction] Troi's Log... Supplemental. Date : Sat, 02 Feb 2002 17:46:42 +0400 " Counselor's Personal Log. Stardate 020202.7. It has been a tumultuous day. Seems only an hour ago since all that Beverly and I had to worry about was testing the limits of my physical rehabilitation. I guess I'm impatient. I've wanted my newly grafted trachea to integrate faster than it has been doing as of late. And that makes me wonder about another thing. I may have been mistaken about not telling Wil about the mysterious attack I suffered two weeks ago. The look on his face in sickbay when he first arrived to see me and the color of his feelings through our soul bond right now might have an adverse effect on him in dealing with Starfleet's current emergency in Building Five. He's not the only one with excess emotional baggage. I did a few spiralling corkscrews of my own when I first learned about Tasha. It still seems strange seeing her alive and talking again, like a cruel dream. But then Tasha's unique emotional thread weaving in my empathetic sense slaps me into reality and I know that all this business with Kirk's Guardian of Forever is as real as what I ate for breakfast this morning. I believe I've recovered my equilibrium at discovering Tasha restored and healthy again after so long. I don't know if the Guardian will return her to her death once its through using her, but I know one thing with absolute certainty. I won't permit anyone or even Tasha herself to learn that her life cuts short while serving in the line of duty. I'm sure she suspects something bad, but I sense it's mostly still a vague uneasiness in that regard. Which leads me to what I just witnessed a few minutes ago following Captain Kirk's communication with her in the living room about the fire's extreme danger to Earth. Tasha changed profoundly somehow in a way that frightens me and I can't quite put my finger on it. It happened in the blink of an eye right after Captain Kirk told her that any further request to the Guardian of Forever to intervene in our crisis situation was denied. The effect of that on Tasha was profound. Instantaneous. Her emotional feel is now withdrawn and channeled into a highly protective mode. She may sacrifice herself utterly for the sake of others just in the need to help and make a difference ending the danger to us all. The same thing she was attempting when she died trying to get to me in the shuttlecrash on Armus's world, fighting his skin of evil. I fear this same caring, selfless aspect of Tasha's makeup will jeopardize her life once again and that the Guardian of Forever will be forced to cut short her grace period it granted her with us. I am not willing to let her go instantly. I want to spend as much time with her as she has left on her mission before I have to face losing her once more to her unavoidable fate. It's a mixed blessing having her here. I've seen the calming effect her surprise return is having on Beverly, Wil and Captain Picard and on me. But I also know how much pain we'll have to live through once she is gone again from all of us. Already, that fact's been having an effect on me. I reacted unprofessionally to the deaths of the two guards watching Building Five when they accidentally touched the out of place jarred plasma shield hiding the Guardian. I feel stupid for letting my empathy get the better of me. But it's been difficult keeping the emotional barrier between myself and others in solid balance. Beverly says it's just one of the effects I'm going through while I heal from my injuries from the attack. That's another matter distracting me away from the impartiality I should be maintaining. I have absolutely no clue who attacked me in my quarters two weeks ago. All I know is that I didn't feel that other presence one iota, even while I was being strangled. I remember feeling only Mr. Barclay's worried emotions when I awoke briefly, while he resusitated me until Beverly and the med team arrived to take over. But all that's water under the bridge. That mystery can wait. This fire emergency is all I should currently be focusing upon in my duties as a counselor. I don't care that I'm still on medical leave from active duty. My shipmates and colleagues need me to aid their tasks at hand. And so I will, to the best of my abilities. End log. " ----------------------------------- Deanna returned from the personal hygiene alcove into which she had excused herself to wash the tears from her face after the shock of feeling the two guards who died had left her. She had vehemently resisted Bev's fussing over her and had deflected her friend away by pointing out Yar's abrupt mood change to her. ::Let Beverly monitor Tasha with me so we can both keep her safe.:: "Are you feeling better?" Beverly asked looking up from the computer screen they all were clustered around. Deanna Troi glanced quickly at Tasha but the fleeting dark emotion she had felt coming from her was gone. Only Tasha's eyes held a sign of the sweeping change that had gripped her minutes earlier. ::It's not an anxiety spike. I don't know what this is. I've never felt any response like this from Tasha before..:: Outwardly, Deanna said, "I am. It took just a few moments to strengthen my empathetic barrier. That slip up won't happen again." and she smiled encouraging to all in the room. Beverly searched the counselor's face deeply for any sign of weakness, physical or emotional but she found none on either her tricorder scan or with her eyes. She took a deep breath and said, "All right. I'll trust your judgement on that count." and Dr. Crusher grinned teasingly. Then she turned her attention to K'Ehleyr. "Ambassador, Dr. McCoy might be on to something with that allergy theory of his. Your symptoms came on rather suddenly." K'Ehleyr rose gracefully from the white wrought iron chair in front of the chessboard, and angled her head. "A runny nose hardly warrants a trip to sickbay. I don't need to be fussed over unnecessarily, doctor." Deanna suppressed a chuckle, "A familiar theme tonight, Beverly.." she teased them both. "All right.. I give up." Dr. Crusher said. "Can't keep the mother from cropping up out of the doctor mode." Then she changed the subject. "Dr. McCoy, your captain seems like a man who doesn't mince words. Do you think the danger is as bad as he said to the Lt?" she asked, indicating Yar, who had moved a distance away from the others to look at a holopic of children on the wall. Bones' light expression over the mother henning in the room evaporated. "Jim never exaggerates a situation. He usually tells it like it is.." That sobered everyone in the room to silence. Deanna attempted brevity. "Well,.." she said, clasping her hands together in front of her loudly. "It's not like the world is going to end right this moment. Keeping ourselves informed on matters through that probe tie in will be keeping ourselves ready to act when the others call us again." This brought nods and various reactions of agreement. "So let's have at it.." Deanna said mildly, and she sat back down on the couch near the others. Then she looked up. "Tasha... are you going to join us..?" Yar jerked as if she had been away a long distance in her mind and she said,."Uh...yeah. uh.. Sure." And Tasha slowly pulled a footrest closer and sat down. But every so often, Troi noticed her sneaking quick peeks at the holo of her students and each time, she felt a stab of angry vindication and protective instinct shoot high in her. Deanna thought. ::I wonder why Yar's reacting that way:: Suddenly the EMH came online through Beverly's combadge. "Doctor.. It's showtime. We've recovered Uhura and Nurse Chapel. Uhura's unconscious but fine. But her friend's going to need immediate thoracic surgery for a pneumothorax I've discovered. Being officially, nonofficial as a retiree these days, I'd be being forward taking over her care in your ward." Beverly stood. "Understood. I'll be right there.. Crusher out." She then spoke to the others in the apartment. "I've got to go." Dr. McCoy too, rose to barge along but Dr. Crusher snubbed that possibility right in the butt. "Ah, ah ah.. I distinctly remember Captain Kirk ordering you to help safeguard Deanna... There's a whole Medical Wing out there who can help me with your shipmates Leonard. I'll let you know how they're doing as soon as I know.." Dr. McCoy grumbled but took his seat again. Then he remembered K'Ehleyr's unexpected histamine reaction from earlier and decided to stay when Dr. Crusher reinforced his recollection on the matter with a subtle glance towards the Klingon ambassador, who was trying to hide another fight with a second rising sneeze. Beverly watched Dr. McCoy's radar reorient on the tall woman and she sighed, tapping her combadge. "Central Transport. One to beam to Ward One immediately. Medical Priority." Dr. Crusher sparkled into light flecks and disappeared, leaving Dr. McCoy, Lt. Yar and K'Ehleyr behind in Deanna Troi's home. ::I just hope this fire business doesn't interfere with the surgery operation on Chapel. Could get tricky if the powergrid across Starfleet Headquarters goes out.:: ---------------------------- (attachments) Image: Dr. Crusher sitting in a chair, a portrait. *animated gif* An EKG scrolling across a screen, saying "Hi.." A caption reads "Still alive and kicking.." Image: A worried Troi on a couch. ********************************* From : "Cory Anda" Subject : [voyagerlvieaction] Holocall M for Murder.. Date : Sat, 02 Feb 2002 21:15:29 +0000 Things were winding down with the rescue efforts in Building Five in Lab Six. Mr. Barclay felt the tension in his back and arms finally ease as he sat next to Alexander and Mr. Spock in front of Scotty's enhanced viewscreens. ::I'm glad the two crewman are still alive. It's miraculous that the fire didn't kill them when it turned plasma. I don't know how Mr. Data knew about the time shifted galley enough to seek refuge in it but I'm very relieved that he did.:: and Reg let out a huge explosive sigh that caused Mr. Spock to glance up briefly at him.. "S- Sorry sir.. I was just,...thinking.." "It's quite all right, lieutenant. In my experience, humans usually have a period of distracted emotions following a crisis resulting in wandering thoughts and emotional outbursts such as yours." the older ambassador told him. ::Great. That doesn't make me feel offended in the least, now does it..?:: Barclay thought sarcastically. But Mr. Spock had a point, his thoughts WERE wandering and his emotions were jumbled for the moment. ::Well, there's always retrospect in hindsight until my higher brain returns...:: he reasoned with a touch of humor. So Mr. Barclay excused himself and he went over to the food table Janeway had provided to see if anything remained left for snacking out of nervousness. He found Alexander also eating. "Any of that good?" Alexander shrugged expansively, then he burped loudly as any child away from his mother's direct supervision would. "Thought so.." Barclay said, laughing softly. He leaned over and snagged a donut from the plate with his ident on it. "Try one of these Alexander. It'll put hair on your chest.." and he tossed the tiny Klingon boy a maple one. "Mmmm..." Alexander said, and he pulled Mr. Barclay's plate away from under the man's hands and began to feast on the donuts. Barclay sighed, "That's.. that's ok. I'm not really hungry anyway." Actually, he was embarrassed to admit that donuts were his mainstay food of choice as of late. ::Only Deanna knows I overindulge eating donuts when I'm under stress. "Cushioning with comfort food." as she called it, saying she knew about that symptom well with her own indulgence of chocolate ice cream once in a while during his last monthly recovering from holoaddiction session.:: He hadn't had his meeting with her for the month due to her medical leave from duty recovering from the attack. He still didn't like to think about that night at all. It had been one of the few times where he didn't fold up under pressure in a crisis when he had found her lying near death, on the floor of her balcony. But as usual, for the fifth time that day in spite of the ongoing fire threat, he did. ====================================== It had all begun when he had decided to check up on her when she didn't show for their dinner date. Buzzzzzz. Buzzzzzz. "Deanna? It's me..." Barclay said from behind his bundle of purple lavender blooms and box of chocolates. "You didn't answer my hail. Don't tell me you're still powdering your nose.." he laughed nervously at the front door's web camera, he first peered one eye and then the other at the surveillance lens to make sure it was registering his presence on Deanna's portalstep. There was no answer to his bulkhead's ring. He tapped his combadge. "Computer.. Where is Deanna Troi?" ##Current location is not registering. Her duty combadge is not enabled.## "Of course not. She's off shift now." he told it. "All right." he said rethinking his problem. "Tap into your records of this cam vid I'm now registering on. Did you see her enter the house after she was done working for the evening tonight?" ##Affirmative..## "Bingo.. Computer.. hail her again. On chat holo, using the campus intercom system into her home's personal holosuite. Authorization. Barclay Nine Theta Five..." he said, still in anticipatory excitement of their first date. He only felt half guilty using this secret computer hack's backdoor into her home's communications system using the holo network. In Deanna's holosuite, off to one side in Counselor Troi's living room, a holoimage of Barclay as he now currently was, appeared on the tiny yellow and black gridded raised floor situated there. The real Barclay closed his eyes where he stood outside in the hallway and his holo ones opened. "Deanna?.. You home?" the holo Reg asked. It could not leave the holo platform it had appeared on but it could see all of the living room and a part view of the sleeping alcove from where it was. "It's me...Knock. Knock. Knock.. Surprise!! " he said. His hack really wasn't illegal. It was simply an offshoot of a comm line he had upgraded after getting the idea he had once heard at one of Captain Janeway's symposiums. ::Must have felt strange for Kathryn to speak to the Borg Queen that way back then during their final altercation..:: Even Project Pathfinder didn't know about his little holo interfacing trick. Barclay had wanted to share his unveiling of it to Deanna and then work the bugs out of the system with her before presenting it to Headquarters' Research and Development Department. Hence the first "date" of theirs he was currently attempting. "Deanna?" he said. Then he noticed something awry with a lamp on the carpetting. It was tipped off the table and was lying on the floor near a set of wind billowing curtains leading from Troi's terrace balcony. "That's strange. I wonder if she left the veranda doors open to cause that." Then his holoeyes fell onto the carpetting and he saw an odd trail of red sprinkled on the blue leading from the kitchen to... The wind blew the lacy curtains more vigorously at that moment and Mr. Barclay saw a twitching hand fall from under it in the moonlight. It was writhing in a pool of blood. "DEANNA!!" The real Reg's eyes flew open and he lost his link with the his holohacked image. "Oh my god.. and he tapped his combadge..=^=Barclay to Main security. Release the personal seal on Counselor Troi's quarters at once.." A bored voice answered him. "Not again, Reg." came Barclay's roommate. "The counselor's asked me to ignore such a request from you until you learn to call ahead first.." "I'm not kidding Michaels.. Just do it. She's in trouble in there! There's blood all over the place.!" Barclay shouted. There was a brief pause and then Reg's startled roommate spoke again. "Summoning help right now.. Overriding her door lock now.." And the front door into Deanna's quarters flew open. Barclay ran inside, and was disoriented a bit until he called on the lights. He ran towards the balcony knocking his shins on the glass tea table and falling painfully in his haste to get to her side. He rolled to his feet, limping and fought with the lacy curtains until he ripped them down. Deanna Troi's throat was a mangled mess and she was no longer moving. "Deanna??" Reg knelt by her side, feeling her chest for signs of breathing but there were none. Hesitating only for a moment over the hideous sight, Reg tilted her head back and tried to clear away the blood oozing out from the gaping wound ripped from below her jawline to her collarbone. But only passive air gurgled out of the tear. "Oh my god. Her throat's been ripped out." A weak pulse still beat beneath his fingers but his first attempt to breathe for her just resulted in more gurgling with nothing reaching her lungs. Barclay straightened and saw a stylus on the rug near the counselor's hand which she had been using he guessed. He snatched it up, and frantically disassembled it until he only had its outer tube opened on both ends. "Ugh.." he quailed squeamishly as he took it and threaded it into what was left of her trachea below her voice box. ::Hope this works. I've never seen what doctors do in a tracheotomy..:: He leaned down and blew into the tube. Deanna's chest rose finally, and her bluish face began to pink up. In between breaths he tapped his combadge, "Michaels! I need a med team. NOW!!" "On their way buddy. Hang tight. Just what's going on over there?" he asked. Barclay didn't answer him, concentrating on keeping Deanna from crashing completely with his artificial respiration. "Reg..?" "Just shutup and make sure they get here on the double!" he said spitting out blood that had reached him through his hastily improvised airway. It was all he could do to keep from vomitting. Thirty seconds later, Beverly Crusher arrived with a response team and they sparkled into existence by his side.. Dr. Crusher paled but got to work when she saw the two of them head to foot in blood. "Keep it up, Reg. We'll connect her to oxygen intradermally. One minute more.." she said scanning Deanna's still body with her tricorder. Barclay didn't even open his eyes as he worked. Then he felt a tap on his shoulder from one of the med techs. He felt himself pulled away from Deanna and he opened his eyes. The med tech had placed a stasis chip on Troi's forehead and he activated it. A yellow shimmer enveloped Deanna completely and she froze in its energy field. Even her bleeding stopped. Beverly looked up from her scanner. "Good she's fully in stasis. Her oxygen debt is eliminated. She's too unstable for transporting. We'll take her by stretcher.." The team rose, but Barclay found he didn't have the legs to do the same. Bev set a hand on his shoulder, "Are you injured too?" she said eyeing the gore on him. "N--No.. I-it's all ...hers.. Doctor.." he grabbed Dr. Crusher's arm. "Is she going to make it..?" "Yes, Reg.. You may have very well saved her life. I'll keep you informed of her condition. Right now she needs immediate reconstructive surgery..I'll let you know her complete condition once I learn more." Bev looked up and saw the security backup arrive. "Stay with these men for now. They're going to need to learn just what you saw.. I'll be in touch.." and she half ran out the door with the medtechs bearing Deanna's antigrav bed. The next half hour was a blur.. and all Barclay could think about while they grilled him with questions was that he was sticky.. Sticky with a very gory substance that he wanted nothing better than to wash off immediately. ::Deanna.. Be safe..:: A scour of scans by the security team revealed only the counselor's and Barclay's DNA traces in her home, until one investigator thought to check for sentient individual inorganic traces. They found android type byproducts on the rug and mingled with the bloodstains on the balcony. ::Inconclusive.. Why is all this inconclusive?! My friend was almost a murder victim here!!:: ==================================== Reg Barclay shook himself from his reverie and saw not the blood from his memory but a donut still clutched in his fingers. He was feeling a tugging and he saw Alexander on the other end of it and he was back in the lab. "Here.." he said glumly, giving the boy the donut. "I'm not hungry.." and he fell into a fixed stare of the back of Kirk's, Mr. Spock's and Scotty's heads while they conferred data about the raging plasma pool still burning out of control in Building Five. Then he heard golden words from the Vulcan.. "...is contained for the moment as long as the shield around it holds.." Reg sighed again, deciding a few things. "Somehow, I think Deanna's attack is related to all of this and I'm going to find out why....just as soon as I find my legs again.." "You lost them?" Alexander asked, mouth full of crumbs, chewing aggressively, and he began to laugh. "Just eat your donut little warrior...." Barclay told him. ------------------------ (attachments) Image: Deanna being courted by a Shakespearean Barclay. Gif: A computer Lcars bar border. *animated gif* Spock, raising his eyebrow. ***************************************** END WEEK FOUR RECAP 02-03-02 WEEK FIVE RECAP 02-04-02 http://www.geocities.com/voyagerliveaction Showcase Site http://groups.yahoo.com/group/voyagerliveaction Writer's Distribution Hub ********************************** Date: Mon, 4 Feb 2002 13:56:26 -0800 (PST) From: "Jeff Seltun" Subject: The Hidden Impasse. Seven of Nine left with Janeway and the away team from the tramway tunnel in deep thought. They all boarded the one tram still running underneath Building Five and Seven sat into her seat, not seeing the scenery at all on the brief flight back to the surface. ::These events we seem to have uncovered puzzle me.:: She looked up and saw Janeway, Boothby the EMH and Barclay all in animated conversation in front of her outlining what they planned to do next. Seven herself, actually didn't know what was best. ::The data is circumspect and hypothetical. Yet I am at a loss to explain an alternate possible outcome of this fire during the next two days. :: She called up the status board from Command on her tricorder and learned that Chapel was still in surgery but Uhura was now awake and functional, having been released back to duty. Seven leaned forward until Chakotay noticed her. "Problem, Seven?" he asked. "No. I merely wanted you and the captain to know that I plan to speak with Uhura about what she saw inside the hanger during the fire. It may lead to clues about how we might best put it out." "Sounds promising.." Chakotay shrugged. "Granted. Go ahead and learn a few things. It's not like we have a lot to go on anyway. The EMH was offline through much of the incident." "True.." Seven said. "Carry on.." Chakotay added, then he turned back forwards in his seat and he rejoined in the intense discussion going on around him. The short flight ended quickly and the shuttle pod wasn't even completely on the ground when Seven of Nine cracked the exterior door. "Hang on a minute there Miss Borg. I want a few words with you.." Boothby called out, stopping her from going down the shuttle ramp. Seven didn't stop walking, "You can tell me on the way. I'm returning to Building Five to view the plasma shield's warping from the outside. I am not certain why it has done so." "No surprise there, Seven.." Boothby grunted. "The fire "melted" it. It's hot." he said simply. Seven didn't even look at him as she and the caretaker walked on the night time sidewalk now lit with crisis lights and fire teams rushing to the site. "Organic fire cannot effect a deflector shield just by burning. What is curious is that the shield altered its programmed shape long before the fire turned into plasma by touching it." Boothby halted in his tracks at that. "You know.. You're right. That was odd." Then he hurried to catch up with her, puffing, but very alert and with the subject. "Any theories, Seven?" Seven of Nine held her position well back from the undulating plasma shield rotating around Building Five. They could now clearly see the green plasma writhing just behind the thin wall of energy. She brought out her tricorder and meshed with the engineering database she had pirated from Scott's lab when no one was looking. Boothby noticed. "That's classified information, Seven. Just what th--" "I am under orders to "Get to the bottom" of this. I am..." and she shrugged,.."doing just that to the best of my ability. Having detailed information about this security shield over the hanger will help me perform my duty to that effect." Seven said blandly. "You're learning fast.." Boothby grinned toothily. Then he came close confidentially. "Care to tell an old gardener what you're thinking?" Seven gave him a skeptical look. Boothby took affront, "Oh, come on.. I have clearance to know what Komach has for his noon day drink and where he takes it, for Pete's sake. Do you think Command keeps me denied from knowing about the secret inventions around here too? This shield's nothing new.In fact, I could tell you a few things not on those schematics.." he said, rocking back on his heels and whistling with his hands folded behind his back. Seven paused in her scans, her glance up speaking volumes. "All right. All right. A trade. You tell me the angle of attack for your investigation into this Guardian prediction and I'll spill what I know. Deal?" And Boothby held out a hand after spitting into it. Seven frowned but unflinchingly, took his hand and shook it likewise. "We have an agreement Mr. Boothby. You first.." Boothby did a double take when he realized that he had been outmanuevered. "Fine there by me missy. At least I know living up to an agreement's set fairly in stone with Borg types." and he scratched an itch on his neck, "Yeah. even while they're slicing up disks outta your hull plating.." Seven chose to ignore that last remark. ::True..:: she thought. ::A Borg Collective has no need to lie or any use for being deceitful.:: "I believe that Captain Janeway would say "get on with it." Boothby hastily got out of the way as a team of engineers trotted by down the sidewalk towards the intensely green glowing Building Five as the fire continued to fill the space beneath the experimental energy dome. "....Whoa.. excuse me.. gentleman.." He fixed her with a stare. "Not only did they use plasma configurations to power that security barrier around Building Five to hide the Guardian of Forever from casual sensors, they used phase variances too." Seven looked up sharply from her tricorder screen, her eyes reflecting the eerie glow of the plasma fire in them. "Those are highly difficult to control once they distort." "I know. I know.." Boothby threw a hand out to the shield warping slowly out of shape. "That unexpected variable is probably what killed those guards. They didn't expect a security shield to reach out and grab them when they came near it." "Starfleet Command showed little intelligence using such a questionable technology." Seven countered. "If the blood of anyone is to be on anyone's hands, it would be on theirs." Boothby took the tricorder from Seven's hands and shut its lid with a snap. "You're hearing me, honey, but you aren't listening.. I said phase variance.. Like they knew the Guardian would be coming ahead of time..and were taking shortcuts..." Seven blinked, "Are you telling me Command knew the Guardian would arrive on Earth way ahead of the time it actually did, to ask Kirk to bring Yar and the others back from the past?" "Yes... and if anyone asks.. a little birdy told you.. Tah.." and Boothby left, disappearing out of the green fireglow into the distance. Boothby's supposition left more questions than answers in Seven's mind. The very idea of one's superiors withholding critical information about a secret project's hidden dangers was unthinkable. And Seven didn't know where that left her. ::Should I tell the others about the phasing nondisclosure?:: Then Seven decided it did not matter. If her crewmates thought they were on a par with Headquarters absolutely, then they would be more effective carrying out their duties as Starfleet officers. Emotions would not cloud the issue. Seven moved a little closer to the oscillating security shield until she could see the outline of the raw plasma eating through the very stone of the remnants of Building Five. ::I wonder...:: and she hefted up her wrist and shot out her assimilation tubes.. A fire fighter near her leaped with a cry to push her out of the way but Seven stopped him with a hand to his chest and he recoiled a bit. "Are you crazy?? That stuff'll vaporize you.." he shouted. Seven turned back to her task. "As you can see, I am not actually touching the shield. I am fully aware of the danger. Go back to your work ensign." The man walked away, glancing back at her every so often shaking his head incredulously. "Women...." he mumbled. Seven advanced her tubes until they just poked through the shield's membranes and released a stream of sensor nannites from her bloodstream into the sea of plasma inside the hanger. She linked with them mentally and then withdrew her assimilation tubules from the shield and stepped back onto the sidewalk. Inside her mind, she could see the nanoprobes swimming towards where she wanted them to go. ::The Guardian of Forever.:: Through their eyes, Seven saw the slight out of phasing the Guardian was using to keep from being harmed by the flaring super heated plasma liquid searing around it. The first rain of probes touched the Guardian's protective "coat" and they sank inside to the normal air beyond. Soundlessly, the floating nanoprobes formed a lattice in the air that turned into a ring and they began to spin there. Seven now had her communications conduit to the Guardian of Forever. ##We must speak at once.## she told it. ##I've learned something you should know..## and Seven told it the very same information Boothby had disclosed to her. The Guardian came to life, it's inner donut pulsing with white light. ##THIS PREKNOWLEDGE OF MY COMING AND THE ENERGY SHELL'S TRUE NATURE ARE RIDDLES THAT I CANNOT ANSWER. ## Seven spoke through her nanoprobe eyes, "Then perhaps we should work together to solve this little mystery before it is too late for Earth and its people." Seven felt the time gate shrug mentally, ## THE CURRENT TIMELINE MUST REMAIN UNSULLIED BY PARADOX.## it said. "Starfleet's preknowledge of your mission long before your arrival is a paradox in itself. Your ...distress...over this news is a sign that it is one wrinkle you did not see for all your power. Let me help you learn more." Seven offered. ##PROCEED.## Seven opened her eyes, maintaining her link with the Guardian through her nanoprobes remotely as she walked away from the fire scene. She decided to head back to whereever the away team had gone. ------------------------------------------------ Data followed Janeway, Boothby and Chakotay back to Scott's lab, where they all immediately began to pore over the information Byte was sending to them while it measured the extent of the warping shield around Building Five. He thought he saw Seven's unmistakable outline against its green glow but he couldn't be sure with any absolute certainty. He had dismissed the thought when Seven arrived to his side a few minutes later. "I have news from sickbay. Nurse Chapel is going to make a complete recovery. Dr. Crusher has just completed surgical repairs on her torn lung." Data told her. "That is fortunate. Perhaps no others will be harmed by the fire now that it's here." "Perhaps.." Data said. ExBorg and android both watched the EMH demat out of the lab to go check up things in the Medical Building in Ward One to see if Dr. Crusher needed his services. Seven and Data worked quietly, pooling information from the sensors when Seven spoke up, "How are you feeling, Mr. Data?" Data cocked his head and shifted it some, raising his eyebrows. "I have toned down my emotion chip so it will not adversely effect my work until this crisis is over." Seven frowned. "That was illogical." "I don't understand.." Data said. Seven stopped her scans filing and folded her hands behind her back as she regarded the light skinned android in front of her. "I have found in my experience with Captain Janeway's crew, that sometimes, strong emotions help strengthen one's resolve to achieve goals faster and more efficiently." Data said without any trace of conceit, "I can function faster than most humans." "No doubt." Seven answered, "But I've learned that sometimes, powerful emotions can make the simple act of ....living, more rich in content and meaning." She had surprised herself with her own retrospect. "I apologize commander. I do believe I am ..rambling." "No apologies necessary Seven of Nine. If anyone is guilty of rambling. It would be me. Captain Picard frequently reminds me of that fact." Seven inclined her head in acceptance of his admission. "Shall we proceed with getting our report on the preliminary analyses of these distorting shields ready for the captains?" Data nodded eagerly and as one, the two completed the task in about five minutes. Seven presented the report to Captain Janeway and Data gave an identical copy to Captain Picard. Seven spoke up as Janeway and Picard took the datapadds. "These are preliminary detailed scans of the plasma shield. So far, it looks like it will hold without problems for nearly twelve hours.." "Then we have our breathing room..." Janeway said. "Perhaps long enough to come up with a solution to putting out the fire before Data's vision comes true.." "Yes..." Seven said, thinking of what she had shared with the Guardian. "Anything is possible now." ------------------------------------------- (attachments) Image: Data, sitting at an art easel painting. A caption talks about how love is a splendid thing in French. Image: Seven of Nine and the EMH arm in arm in engineering, at a party. ***************************** From : "Katherine Bird" Subject : [voyagerliveaction] The Holo "Nurse" Nightengale Date : Tue, 05 Feb 2002 06:30:38 +0000 Christine awoke slowly. Her mouth tasted a bit off and it was very dry. She moved her head fractionally and felt softness beneath it that was unexpected. ::Water.. yeah, that would be nice.:: "Easy, Christine.." came Uhura's voice. "You're only just coming out of anesthesia. This nice EMH here and Dr. Crusher have just mended a hemopneumothorax you sustained in your fall. " That made Nurse Chapel open her eyes quickly. "What? The last thing I remember, was the earthquake throwing us onto the floor. I remember getting mad because our evening off was interrupted." and she licked her lips.. Nurse Chapel felt her head supported and a cup of cold water was given to her. She sipped slowly and the tarry taste in her mouth went away. "That was no earthquake, Chris.." Uhura said seriously. "That was the floor caving in when the underground fire burned it up." Nurse Chapel turned her head in horror. "The fire's started already? ..Oh, Uhura, how did you cope? Your fear--" "....Didn't get in the way.." Uhura smiled. "The smoke made me black out before I even had a chance to panic." "Consider yourself a very lucky young woman." the EMH said holding the cup from which she had drunk. He swept a hand in a gesture over her body. "You're still in one piece. Thanks to the time shifted oasis of that galley in Building Five. Your rescuer manage to avert certain destruction from the plasma surge by taking refuge with you in there." "It hasn't spread...?".. Christine began, growing pale, remembering the memory video playback from the android's cranium records of the hideous green energy burning below Deanna Troi's balcony. "No..It hasn't. Not beyond that building." Uhura quickly. "And now that we know it's started, it won't be going anywhere, anytime soon with that shield continuously reining it in." Christine laughed. Then winced, holding a pair of hands to her stomach. The EMH frowned. "You're feeling pain?" "Just a little." Christine shrugged, "My stomach." "Mind if I have a look?" the holodoc asked. Christine lowered the silver sheeting, "Go ahead..doctor.. Feels like bruising.." The hologram pulled up her sickbay gown and then all three of them saw it. "Whoops.. Looks like my colleague forgot about this.." he said apologetically. Christine looked down and saw a black and blue imprint of a hand clearly on the skin of her abdomen. "What on earth is that from? Looks like somebody's palm print." "Mr. Data apparently had to clear your throat during the time you were out of contact with the away team. For an android, he was careful enough, I'm seeing only superficial damage here." The EMH said and rolled sheepish eyes at her. He passed a dermal regenerator over the area until the bruising was fully healed. Christine grunted, rubbing the tingling spot as the pain went away. "Hmmm. Never thought I'd ever need the Heimlich. Say,.." she said now understanding that she had been rescued from the fire scene. "Was anybody else injured besides Uhura and I? I remember how fast plasma implodes once it touches an open flame from my old Academy days." Uhura and the EMH both lowered their eyes. Then the doctor spoke. "There were two fatalities. The security guards outside the building. They heard you two scream and went running to find you. They were vaporized instantly when a malfunction in the plasma shielding around it shifted over them." Christine looked startled. "What could have caused that?" "Any number of things. A time distortion. A power surge or blackout........ Sabotage.." the EMH added mysteriously, trying to ease Christine's tension. His tactic worked, Christine's distress over the death of the two guards changed to an air of incredulous debate. "Sabotage?..I can't believe that. Security into the Guardian's hanger is ....was ...tight, doctor." Christine told him. "The only ones allowed in were the ones cleared by Headquarters.." and she ticked off on her fingers the names she knew about. "Kirk, myself, Uhura, Spock, Mr. Barclay, K'Ehleyr and her son, Tasha Yar...and that handsome fellow and his freckled friend. I haven't seen them around since the yellow alert.." "You mean Harry Kim and Jadzia Dax.." the doctor clarified. He tapped his datapadd. "They shipped out over six hours ago. Pulled away from Earth to do security detail once our intruder alert was initiated. I'm afraid that they're going to be gone from our little adventure for good." Uhura said, "I'm sure none of the people you mentioned there are terroristic spies Christine. So I think that idea of sabotage is pretty much a wash.." "Yeah, well.. it's not exactly common for a Federation security shield, however experimental, to malfunction like that." Nurse Chapel said. "Maybe it's Spock rubbing off on me, but that detail doesn't sound very logical to me." Uhura bit her lip, thinking. "Maybe there are details we don't know yet about the shield's construction. We're just simply two of the passengers who disembarked under it, Christine. I'm sure somebody will figure it out." And she sighed.. Despite herself, Christine yawned. The EMH noticed. "Visiting hours are over.. Lt.." he said to Uhura.. "Shoo.." Just then, Dr. Crusher came over. "Glad to see you're awake Nurse.." she smiled. "The doctor here said you're the one who handled my pulmonary repair." Christine said. "I was. There's no complications at all. So rest easy.." and Bev turned down the lights over Christine's bed and turned on the remote monitor to display her vital signs in a relay to her office. "Thank you, doctor.." she said. The EMH grunted in his throat, tapping holofingernails on the guardrail of her biobed. "Oh, and you too, doctor.." Christine added hastily. "My pleasure.." the holodoc said and he joined Bev in her office to followup log his part in Christine's recovery. Uhura waited for him to be well out of earshot. "My.. does HE want praise.. Sounds like another doctor we know very well now, doesn't he?" Christine chuckled, this time discomfort free. "Bones doesn't scoop for attention like that.." "No, he just shouts loud enough until he gets it from Kirk and Spock. Undivided." Uhura set a gentle hand on her friends arm, mindful of the intravenous tubes connected there. "Sleep tight. I'll keep you up on the latest from Captain Kirk.." "You do that.. I hate being a patient.." Christine mumbled, drifting off. Uhura snugged the silver sheet back around Chapel's shoulders and she left the Ward quietly. --------------------------------------------------------- Lt. Uhura didn't even look in the direction of the swarming fire and engineering crew around Building Five. She was shivering enough just hearing the sirens and klaxons of the arriving crack disaster response shuttles from the night sky. She quickly made her way across campus and tapped her shoulder. Belatedly, she realized that she was still in her seared unitard and that she no longer had on a combadge. ::Wonderful..:: She made her way over to the nearest garden lightpost and toggled a switch. =^=Uhura to Kirk.=^= "Kirk here.." He sounded very relieved to hear her voice. "Before you even ask, I'm fine, sir, and so is Christine. And you can tell Mr. Spock that she's in perfect health and resting." ::Chew on THAT, Mr. I-don't-feel-anything for-Christine. I don't care how old you are in this current time line. I saw how you looked at her when you first saw her arrive through the Guardian of Forever. Like she was some mystic mirage after ninety years in the desert..:: She imagined a conversation with Christine about that very subject from the reverse point of view. SEE SOUND ADDITION AT TOP named "Chaplove". Uhura voiced none of these thoughts aloud, though she wished she could. So she contented herself with just that terse report to them. But something of her tone must have made Spock's eyebrow go up because she heard Kirk's amused chuckled hidden in his voice when he spoke again to her. "Thank you, lieutenant. Would you be so kind as to get yourself another combadge and go help McCoy right away..?" "I'm on my way now sir.." "Very good. Kirk out." Uhura grinned lopsidedly at the point she scored getting under Spock's skin. She took her hand off the commpadd and headed in the direction her tricorder showed McCoy to be. ------------------------------------------------------- She politely hit the page outside of Deanna Troi's door a few minutes later. The night air had cleared the last of the smoke from her lungs and had distanced the last traces of stress from her mind. ::I only wish I would've had time to change. But.. Immediately means immediately..:: she shrugged. A heavy thug type opened the door and behind him, a ready for anything Tasha Yar stood with a phaser drawn. "Oh, it's you.." Tasha said, "Come in. Everyone ok?" "Yes." And Uhura sidled past the hyper alert guard. Yar holstered her weapon and showed Uhura to Deanna's living room where everyone was gathered around the computer terminal linked to Scotty's lab and the probe and satellite views there of the fire. She felt very self conscious at being so dirty around such nice personal furnishings. Deanna Troi met her halfway. "Lt.. I'm glad you're fully recovered. Oh.." she said, eyeing up Uhura's sooty appearance. "They sent you over very fast, now didn't they?...Please, feel free to sonic shower and then to access the replicator in the sleeping room for a set of clean clothes.." ::Thank heavens for empaths.:: "Thank you counselor, don't mind if I do.." ::I'll replicate a new combadge under my own code, too.:: Less than ten minutes later, Uhura returned to the others in Deanna's main living space, feeling more like being able to tackle the crisis at hand than she had when she had first left sickbay. The first thing she noticed was the low hologrid platform painted with black with yellow stripes next to the fireplace. "Oh!.. That's a real holoprojector, isn't it?" K'Ehleyr grinned, straightening up from a set of ferocious sneezes. "Sure is.. a prototype of Lt. Barclay's I imagine. I recognize his handiwork." Uhura sat on the side of the couch nearest it and admired the platform and the remote sitting on the table that was obviously the one meant to use with the holostage. McCoy piped up. "Deanna was telling us earlier that that was how Mr. Barclay had found her the night of her attack. Using a holo projection of himself getting through her locked door when she didn't answer her doortones." Uhura's eyes lit up. ::Another technological goody to learn about.:: "May I?" and she hefted up her tricorder. Deanna shrugged a go-ahead and then got distracted when a particularly violent oscillation of Building Five's plasma shield caught her attention from the tiny view on the computer screen. Uhura knelt on the carpetting next to the tiny holoplatform and scanned it, feeling like a kid in the candy store. ::This is like that EMH who took care of Christine. I'm reading the same components. The same holoimaging matrice alignments...:: Her brain did a double take. ::The same holoprojecting footprint?:: She looked up at Deanna. "Tell me, Miss Troi. On the night of your attack. Was Janeway's EMH the one who responded to your medical emergency? He's showing up as having visited on my tricorder..." That made everyone look up in startlement. ---------------------------- (attachments) Image: Chapel promo with a pink background. Audio: Chapel- I'm in love with you Mr. Spock, You: The Human Mr. Spock,...The Vulcan Mr. Spock.. Spock- Nurse..... Chapel- Shhh. Christine,... please.. Image: Uhura in sepia tones. ************************************ From : "Andy Anda" Subject : [voyagerliveaction] Tribble3 Date : Wed, 06 Feb 2002 16:37:51 -0800 After a spell of lurking underground, the rabbit crept to the surface where it proceeded to test the air for any further scent of smoke, its nose working furiously. Satisfied that all was right with the meadow again. It emerged from its warren. As has become the norm, Tribble followed soon thereafter. The fire danger seemed to have abated, but Tribble sensed continuing anxiety in the rabbit. Could the rabbit be uneasy because of the unusually agitated activity of the numerous bipeds scurrying about near the periphery of the meadow? For once, the Tribble did not mimic the behavior of the rabbit,as Tribble always sensed safety in the company of those inscrutable bipeds. And, there were none of those awful larger bipeds (known to the reader as Klingons). Meanwhile, Boothby is out and about _supervising_ the agitated chaos spawned by the underground conflagration. He had a pretty fair suspicion of where on the surface the fire had entered the complex. Years ago he had drafted and sent off a memo warning of the risk and how to eliminate it. But the memo had gotten shelved during an unrelated minor crisis and soon thereafter forgotten. After there had been no action on his suggestion, he considered resending it, but then he decided not to, as it would be a lesson to THEM if his warning proved prophetic. So, Boothby ambled through the meadow a ways looking for the tiny portal that was breached by the fire. He didn't see any overt burn residue anywhere. This puzzled him for a moment, but he then realized that it wasn't necessary for a spark to have been produced. He noted, not entirely consciously,the movement of a critter a ways away near the other side of the meadow. Glancing over idly, he saw his old friend, the meadow rabbit, or rather a multi-generational offspring of his original old meadow rabbit friend. Suddenly his eyes widened, and he then blinked. "Hmm. Bunnies usually have just one tail..." he remarked to no one in particular besides himself. ----------------------- (attachment) Image: A red tribble looking flower! LOL! ******************************* From : "Cassidy Meyers" Subject : [voyagerliveaction] Absolute Proof.. Date : Sat, 09 Feb 2002 10:40:17 +0400 >She looked up at Deanna. "Tell me, Miss Troi. On the night of your attack. >Was Janeway's EMH the one who responded to your medical emergency? He's >showing up as having visited on my tricorder..." >That made everyone look up in startlement. Beverly Crusher turned down the audio cues on her computer terminal. "No, I was the one who did." Beverly's face grew very thoughtful. "This is impossible..." as she knelt on the floor next to Uhura and studied the all too familiar readings of the EMH's past presence on the holoplatform. "Starfleet says that Voyager's EMH didn't arrive for Dr. McCoy's speech until five days ago. Deanna was injured over two weeks ago, Lt.. Are you sure your readings are right?" she asked of Uhura. Deanna Troi sighed. "Beverly, have you ever known a holo trace turning up false before? An identity like that is registered all across the global hologrid. Any activation of any holocharacter within Starfleet is duly noted and logged as to what persona and when." Yar turned from the picture she had been viewing. "We should turn off that hologrid. Now.." "Why? Anything that appears on it can't leave the grid lines on the platform. We're perfectly safe Tasha." Deanna said. She wasn't sure what she was reading off her friend and it made her uneasy. Yar chose to not say a further word and went to the balcony window to look out, flicking her eyes at two of her fellow guards to check the hallway again for any new visitors. Dr. Crusher read the results of the holologged signature on her newer current century tricorder. It was the EMH's trace showing as having been activated remotely the night Deanna was attacked. "Uhura's dead on. The EMH, specially, Voyager's EMH was here exactly two weeks ago for six point four minutes, ending his activation about ten seconds before Barclay showed up at the front door on the security monitor." Beverly Crusher tapped her combadge, =^=Crusher to Lab Six. Captain Kirk.. Do you have a few minutes?=^= "Certainly, doctor. What can I do for you?" Dr. Crusher knew that the EMH was in earshot of Kirk so she disguised the real reason behind her call. "I need another opinion about the fire's possible effect on your officer Uhura." She widened a look at the lieutenant in apology but Uhura waved a hand dismissing the issue. "It will only take a few minutes for me to ask you a few questions. Could you come when you can? The sooner the better." The EMH piped up, "If you need an expert's advice on pyrophobia I'd be glad to assist you doctor.." he beamed vocally. Dr. Crusher responded almost hastily.."No.. No. That's all right doctor. uh, Captain Kirk knows Uhura well and has the sort of insight for which I'm looking. Don't let me disturb you from the lab.." she said calmly. Her deflection worked. The EMH was diverted."Very well, keep me informed if the lieutenant suffers any psychological symptoms from her fear." "I will.." Bev smiled, even though the smile didn't show through a comm link. Kirk got the gist of her meaning just from the tone of her two words. "I'll be there shortly, Dr. Crusher.." "Thankyou captain. Crusher out.." McCoy grunted once the comm link was closed. "Now why didn't you want the EMH here to see this?" he said, gestured at the tiny hologrid next to Troi's couch. Dr. Crusher was frank, "If someone has been tampering with that EMH prior to his coming here, it's likely that they'd also provide a tap leading back to themselves so they would know if anyone ever found their holomanipulation ability. Just as what Uhura discovered just now." K'Ehleyr stood, wiping her streaming nose but her voice was even and very well thought out. "You did right to prevent the holodoctor from coming here until we learn more." Deanna Troi stood and began pacing on the carpetting from one length to the other in front of the couch where most sat. "How could I not know if my hologrid was activated that night?" Beverly shrugged, " I remember what I saw when I first got to you. There were blood spatters leading from the kitchen to the balcony. You must have struggled with someone and were injured first in there.." Deanna looked uncomfortable, but she didn't stop pacing. "But no holocharacter can leave that grid, Beverly." "Ah,, but Voyager's EMH can. He has a portable holo emitter, allowing him freedom from the restriction of hologridding." Uhura added. "I remember that detail when I read about the system in Dr. Crusher's office." Deanna threw arms about herself, "That could explain why I didn't feel anyone's emotions at all then. But what about the android byproduct traces the invest- igative team found on the rug?" Beverly studied her hands. "To throw anyone off the true trail. Pointing fingers at Data would most certainly distract all but the most open minded people. Uhura here is new at everything in this decade. Perhaps that's why she discovered this long before we did. She was seeing her surroundings through a fresh perspective." Troi relaxed just a bit, then she went over and pulled the power cord leading to the tiny hologrid platform out of the wall. "There's going to be no holocalls this evening.." Dr. Crusher nodded her approval. "We'll wait until Captain Kirk arrives before we show him what we've seen. Being and staying safe from the fire and now from a possible intruder's, top priority." Deanna nodded, "I agree keeping the EMH away from these quarters until we find out more details are a smart idea. But, eventually, we're going to have to find a way to confront him, directly, about his travels in the last month here on Earth." Dr. Crusher rubbed her face, "That sounds like an interview for Mr. Barclay. He's become something of an expert on holocharacters." Deanna Troi raised her gaze from the tricorder scans registering in front of them. "Shall I call him?" Beverly said, "No.. If Kirk's half the sharp mind I think he is, Barclay'll tag along with him." One of the guards spoke up. "Building Five's growing a brighter shade of green. I wonder if the plasma's building pressure." "Unlikely..." Dr. Crusher said. "The security field's designed to bleed any energy surge off into the ground, preventing such a buildup. I remember a time like this on the Enterprise when Deanna first took command of the bridge in the middle of a ship's disaster call." "I remember that too." Troi said. She wanted to look out the window, but the guard would let her expose herself to the outside. She relented and returned to a chair next to K'Ehleyr.. "I'm not used to being penned up like this, under guard or not. I feel a bit like Helen of Troy just now.." Despite the stressful night, everyone laughed a bit. Deanna rose and went next to Tasha Yar, who was still back to one wall, with a foot propped against it, watching the balcony terrace throught the billowing lacy curtains. "How are you feeling? I only caught part of your last mood change during your comm to Kirk. Care to tell me about it?" ---------------------------- (attachments) Image: Dr. Crusher from Third Season. Image: A serious Deanna Troi in civvies, sitting on her couch. Gif: A Lcars display showing EMH interfaces. *********************************** From : "Roxy Dee" Subject : [voyagerliveaction] Shifting Guilt~~ Date : Sat, 09 Feb 2002 17:21:50 +0000 >Kirk got the gist of her meaning just from >the tone of her two words. "I'll be there >shortly, Dr. Crusher.." Captain Kirk closed the connection to Dr. Crusher and turned back to the computer screen where Mr. Spock, Mr. Barclay, Seven of Nine, Scotty, and Alexander were sitting while they watched the sensors screens. Just then, there was a hail from Starfleet Command. =^=Commander Riker and Captain Picard have been recalled back to the Enterprise scheduled for departure immediately, Captain Kirk.=^= "I understand. These things happen. Spock and I will cover all aspects of Building Five in their absence, although insight from the Enterprise command crew would have been very welcome." =^= A situation has arisen that requires them to disembark Earth captain. I'm sure you and your project crew will manage. Command out.=^= "Well, well well,.." the EMH sighed. "It never rains but it pours.." Kirk turned to look up at the EMH who was helping Alexander key in flight sequences into Byte. The probe was no longer hunting for the fire's ignition source but instead doing ironically the same as Mr. Boothby, looking for the air vent the fire fell into. Kirk whispered to the boy for him to program the probe to search for Mr. Boothby and then he would find the vent when the older caretaker did. He then straightened to address the holophysician, "Doctor.. You're not feeling left out being in charge of sickbay per chance? Dr. Crusher wanted to spend some time checking out Deanna Troi. She hadn't been examined since her collapse incident in the dance studios. Don't tell me you're feeling the weight of being in attendance again." "Hardly..." the EMH said sheepishly. "Although after my retirement... It does seem odd doing so. I was just remarking on how wishy washy Starfleet seems in sending its personnel on their mission assignments. The Enterprise would have been a very good asset to utilize in studying this fire and the events surrounding it." "Ours is not to reason why,..." Alexander said, part laughing.. "Ours is but to do and die..." the EMH said darkly. "Yes..." and he rubbed his chin. Kirk took his opportunity to escape. "Doctor, you should get back to sickbay. I'd like it if you personally were there for Christine when she wakes up. Then you can update her as to goings on here in the lab." "Of course captain.." the EMH said. "I only came over here with Dr. Crusher to deliver her medical report." and he handed Kirk a copy of his medical log on Nurse Chapel. "I appreciate it, doctor." Kirk watched as the EMH phased out, returning back to Starfleet Medical's Ward One to monitor Chapel along with the medical staff. He then spoke aloud so only Spock, Seven, Mr. Barclay and Mr. Scott could hear. "I'm going to the scene of the crime.. It seems there's a connection between Counselor Troi's attack and the memory vid we all viewed on the future Data head's circuits." "Sir.." Mr. Spock began. "You should go with all due haste. Seven of Nine has done her research well. This fire is going nowhere for the next twelve hours. The plasma shield is holding." Seven of Nine spoke, "May I go with you captain?" she said, remembering her promise to the Guardian of Forever. ::Even now, I can feel it seeing through my nanoprobes and through my eyes, waiting.:: "It's your choice.. Captain Janeway, can you spare your aide for a while?" Captain Janeway looked up from a table where she had called up schematics on the landscape around Building Five's site. She had cross hatched the most likely path the fire would burn using the wind direction now blowing across campus if it got out of its containment. "Spare Seven? Certainly.. It's up to her." Kirk glanced awry at Seven of Nine, "You heard your captain.. The decision is yours." Then he moved over to Mr. Barclay. "Reg,.. you heard most of the transmission from Dr. Crusher in her conversation with me..." he started up. Barclay shifted uncomfortably in his computer chair, "W...Well, I..." Kirk smiled, "Any good junior officer eavesdrops once in a while when he can. I take no offense. I've had too many years with Mr. Spock's ears scouring the bridge air for tidbits to be worried about anyone else's tacit snooping.. " and he threw an amused glance towards the ambassador. Mr. Spock, to his credit, didn't visibly react, although Kirk saw his back straighten just a fraction while he worked. Kirk went on, " You are an expert on holotechnology. Please come with me to the counselor's the moment you're through there." And he left for Deanna's. It was a short walk to her apartment tower. The peace of the middle night was punched through with flashing lights as fire and engineering crew worked to extend the life of the melting plasma shields around Building Five. No one even saluted Kirk. ::This is a dangerous time indeed.:: Kirk said when he noticed that. ::Normal protocol doesn't hold here. We're all in new territory.:: Soon, Kirk was let inside Deanna's home by Yar's security team. Right away, he noticed something wasn't right with Tasha. He touched her arm as she seemed transfixed by the fire scene on the computer monitor. "Easy, lieutenant." he said when she jerked her arm away instinctively. "Sorry sir.. I've..I've had a lot on my mind. I.. was very bothered when I found out we can't use the Guardian of Forever to alter this fire's course. I..can't help but feeling that I'm on borrowed time. Strange, really. But that's how I feel. I've learned to trust my gut reaction on my own emotional barometer, a skill I picked up growing up in the Colony." Kirk studied the young woman's eyes without letting his own knowledge of her future pass through his own. He knew she had an inkling of the moment she had been saved from by the Guardian just before her own death at Armus's hand. Yet for the sake of the Temporal Prime Directive, he could not tell her that her vague feelings were true. Instead, he diverted her with some sage advice. "Worrying, lieutenant? That's all right. It'll keep you sharp. Barclay's on the way, and maybe Janeway's aide, Seven of Nine. Watch for them." "Aye sir.." and Yar moved back to her place by the balcony so she could watch both Building Five and the sidewalks leading to the apartments. Kirk studied Yar for a long while, feeling the weight of responsibility of knowing Building Five's true purpose and keeping it away from the others. ::Spock's much better at this than I am. Taking action is my strength. Not hiding it.:: Then he sat down on the couch and listened to what Uhura and Dr. Crusher had to say about the clearly, newly invented hologrid platform near the couch. He saw that it had been powered down. He looked up again sharply when he heard of the EMH's possible involvement in Troi's attack. "Is he to be trusted Doctor?" he demanded sharply of Beverly. "I just entrusted him to Chapel a few minutes ago." "Absolutely, Captain Kirk.." Dr. Crusher said. "It seems the holovariance only shows on Reg's prototype grid here and only from that night. K'Ehleyr has just scanned Starfleet's activity logs and the EMH shows no deviation from normal parameters.. He's fine.." Deanna said. Kirk took a slow breath, broadening his thinking as he did so. "Data, in two days, will lose his head from an image of Yar that seems to be able to withstand raw plasma burning on its matrix. And now, you say, two weeks ago, Voyager's EMH was here during the time Troi was attacked, leaving behind android traces in this home, possibly for investigators to find.." Nods from everyone in the room. "Are these two events related?" "Yes.." said K'Ehleyr inequivocally. "Personnel coming in and out of Starfleet during that time period all check out. The two must interelate." Kirk said, thinking aloud, "Then.. the Yar we saw firing a phaser which subsequently kills Data, is really the EMH, altered to look like her?" Tasha shifted from her place as lookout. "Listen,.. a Doctor Jeckyl Mr. Hyde theory? I don't buy it. How can any holoprogram be altered without anyone else discovering that it's been tampered with? Especially if that program's nonlethality measure has been compromised." Kirk said, "There's a first time for everything. And I have a feeling we'll find it right here.." he said, setting a boot onto the deactivated hologrid platform. "Although it's looking more and more likely that the finger pointing's shifted a bit. Mr. Barclay's got a lot of fast talking to do now, doesn't he to avoid the mad doctor appellage?" Deanna shivered to the bone when she realized that her patient and friend had the means to create such a holonightmare. She hoped to God that Kirk was wrong. "He'll be here in a few minutes.." Kirk told them all. ------------------------ (attachments) Image: Offtopic- The Olympic Rings. Image: A very suave Kirk Image: Tasha Yar with a phaser. *animated gif* The USS Voyager getting flung off course then a banner reading, "Get thrown 70,000 light years from home.Watch Star Trek Voyager.." on black in yellow lettering. *********************************** From : "Cory Anda" Subject : [voyagerliveaction] The Pinnochio Syndrome Date : Sat, 09 Feb 2002 19:01:35 +0000 Mr. Barclay couldn't wait to leave Mr. Spock to go to Deanna's. ::I have to prove myself. To them and to myself.. I haven't been able to sleep for weeks now just thinking about what I might have done..:: He glanced at Mr. Spock who regarded him calmly. "Mr. Barclay... Confession is good for the soul as Dr. McCoy is so fond of saying. Your body english suggests you are upset about something and hiding it." Reg startled, his natural nervousnes growing even more pronounced, "W-What ever gave you that idea, sir..?" ::That was brilliant just like a bat in the shuttle headlights. Stand still.. You're about to be run over..:: he mentally admonished himself. "You're fidgetting and avoiding eye contact with Mr. Scott and myself whenever you hand over a new data set from your work station. You are quiet vocally. Unusual for you. Your heartrate has accelerated by 50%..." ::Those damned Vulcan ears..:: Barclay groaned. Spock was still speaking to him... "....and you are sweating to the point that environmental controls cannot dry your uniform. Shall I go on?" Barclay slumped in his chair, affectionately ruffling Alexander's hair as the boy shoved the now empty donut plate into his stomach. The boy got fully engrossed into his probe flying on Kirk's suggestion to find Mr. Boothby. He was oblivious to the quandary now facing Vulcan and human. "Sir.. if I knew more.. I - I could.." Spock interrrupted him. "I am not questioning your loyalty to Starfleet, lieutenant, nor your character. I am simply,.. stating that I have an open ear, so to speak, if you wish to talk about what is disturbing you. A habit I've picked up from Doctor McCoy. " Barclay let out the breath he was holding, " Whewwww..... Thank you sir.. I..uh, I'll keep that in mind.. But I..uh I think I should be off to Deanna's.. I mean! The counselor's right about now. Captain Kirk's hint to report was rather unsubtle..I mean... clear.." Mr. Spock simply said, "Carry on.. Reginald. I value your assistance with these fire scans greatly but my former captain requires your services even more than I at the moment." Reginald need no further encouragement. He even managed to get through the lab doors without colliding into a wall. --------------------------------------------------------- Outside, Barclay's trip to Deanna's was uneventful except for when Alexander buzzed him with Byte, the flying probe. That shock literally made Reg drop into a crouch and draw his phaser until he heard the mischievious boy's laughter echo from the probe's speakers. "I see you Mr. Barclay...!" Reg gathered what was left of his wits and mock saluted the probe's button sensor. "C-Carry on, Alexander.. I hope you find Mr. Boothby soon." And with dignity, Reg continued down the path. He knocked on Troi's door and gulped when he was pulled inside and slammed up against a wall by an overzealous guard. "Don't shoot!! Don't..sh--" A phaser muzzle crammed against his nose, shutting off Reg's words. "At ease, guard.." he heard Kirk say. "I've requested this man's presence..Stand down please.." Barclay brushed the wrinkles out of his uniform after he was released and he cleared his throat. He immediately went to Deanna's side.. "Deanna.. How are you holding up? I was so worried the stress of all this might set off your.." he pointed to his throat.. unwilling to look at the still faintly pink line that marked where Troi's new trachea was lasered in place with surgery weeks ago. "I'm not exerting myself so a repeat of this morning's faint won't happen." Troi told him, taking his hands. Barclay was relieved and he sighed mightily. Then he noticed the expressions of everyone around him, and then he saw where Kirk's boot was resting. His nervousness came back in a thundering wash and he pulled his hands away from Deanna's self consciously. Neutrally, Kirk and Uhura showed Barclay their discovery of finding the EMH's thumbprint on Deanna's hologrid and how it had been altered to attack her and then to leave android traces behind itself. Barclay knew the cat was out of the bag. He set his hands on the couch where he sat and then noticed Yar tensing near him. He looked down and saw how close his hands were to his own phaser so he whipped them up, lacing them behind his own head, slumping into the couch cushions trying to look nonchalant... Neelix, Troi's white Persian that Reg had given her, chose that moment to leap up onto his lap and start purring. Reg petted her absently very quickly as his stress grew. Then he told them everything. "I know I should've disclosed my new invention to Starfleet Research right away.. That that.. that ..hologrid I gave Deanna was so small,.. I didn't think it would matter if I waited until she and I could shake out the bugs.." he said aloud to the room. "But, I fear I've made a fatal mistake." "How Mr. Barclay?" Uhura wanted to know. Reg sank even lower on the couch trying to feel miserably but Neelix the cat was rubbing his chin in a tickle, preventing that. "I not only figured out a way to cut into the Earthwide Planetary Hologrid with my invention. I tried to make its own host, too." Dr. Crusher said firmly.. "Reg...." in warning.. Barclay shifted in place trying to get comfortable on the couch and finally, he shooed Neelix onto the floor. "Beverly, Deanna, You know I used to spend a lot of time recreating the USS Voyager and her crew when my holoaddiction was still running wild. I especially loved the EMH's structure and design. So I....created a template of him for Deanna's hologrid..." then Reg's words spilled out into a tide as the whole grisly truth became known. "I didn't know that my hosting character, HoloZimm, could override his safeties.. He, I... later found out after Deanna told the medical staff that she didn't feel any emotions from her attacker that HoloZimm must have been the one who harmed her. But it was all an accident.. I see what he was trying to do.. Look..." and Reg pointed to a dataset on the scans of the Hologrid they all were looking at. "If you play that you'll see, I,.. according to these,,he was only trying to surprise her in a guess who game..." Why didn't I guess he was the only one who could have attacked Deanna earlier?" Barclay's face crumpled into an intense grief as his admission finished. "I.. I had no idea he would squeeze so hard around her throat... I..it.. it's all my fault.. and I'm afraid that the Holozimm's now roaming free on the Starfleet Wide holonet grid system.. " Reg started sniffling and he wiped his steaming face.. "I wouldn't be surprised if it was he who cuts off Data's head in two days.." He began sobbing.."I..never wanted to be Dr. Frankenstein.." Troi immediately started over and drew Reg into a close hug, and she began rocking him back and forth as a mother would.. "Shhh.." Even K'Ehleyr was sympathetic.."Everyone can make mistakes with new technology Mr. Barclay. If you have released a dangerous hologram, you as its creator, can stop it.." Yar piped up. "Wait a minute.. Deanna said earlier that no holocharacter can leave that platform away from the grid. If this character isn't Janeway's EMH, how was HE able to do it?" Barclay raised a guilty hand and Kirk put both hands on his hips. Reg cringed. "I... found a way to recreate the portable emitter of the doctor's." He spoke even faster when angry scowls flashed around him. "I. it only has a limited life of a month. Tops.. Then it's power cells will die and HoloZimm will be limited to appearing on holoplatforms and inside holorooms exclusively.." "We should hunt it down and decompile it immediately.." McCoy said. "If it mimicks the real EMH and gets into sickbay..." Barclay stood up, fending off the frightening line of talks with both hands. "Doctor.. no.. he's ..he's not inherently evil.. He didn't mean to harm Counselor Troi.. He's more like a kid who didn't know his own strength when he snuck up behind her. It was supposed to be a joke.. I He's.. he's just like Lewis Zimmerman.. Or the EMH minus all his medical knowledge. If Lewis wasn't a killer, HoloZimm won't be either. Please..let me help.. it was an accident. If anyone should be punished, let it be me.. Not the holocharacter. He's as sentient as the EMH now. A thinking evolving being. You can't just shut him off like a light panel..!" Silence filled the living room. They all knew the battle Mr. Data had lived through decades ago when Starfleet questioned his sentience. Soon, it was decided that the only way to track an immatured holocharacter on a holonet was by using another one. The EMH was summoned. Soon, he knew everything the others at Deanna's knew and was livid.. "Mr. Barclay! Just what were you thinking when you decided to create HoloZimm? Were you intending to be bosom buddies with him programmed for instantaneous fealty so you wouldn't be alone in the world?" Reg didn't say anything and Troi sharply called the EMH to order for resorting to insults. The EMH merely looked at the ceiling tilting his jaw in agitation. "I'm sorry counselor but I don't like the idea of beings like myself being cloned! Especially when they're wearing my face! I have a reputation to protect." Barclay found his voice again, "Doctor.. I didn't mean to play God here. I didn't know HoloZimm was sentient. Millions of people program holocharacters everyday and they don't become more than the sums of their parts when they're run.. How was I to know that something like this would happen?" The EMH was blunt. "Because you're still addicted enough to think that normal holocharacters are real." he said angrily. But then his face softened into that of a doctor, sharing news to patient "And you still have that residual genius bestowed upon you from the time those alien explorers uplifted you and linked you to the Enterprise's computer. You were uniquely empowered to MAKE any holocharacters real ever since that day. But you still have the flaws of a man and so your creation is less than perfect. I know.. I've been down that self analyses road before by being a creation of flawed men." Barclay looked up, his eyes full of tears. "I offer myself up to your custody captain for my crimes." "Denied.." Kirk said. "But..." Reg exclaimed. The EMH went on. "As you said, HoloZimm is not evil. Just new. What we need is someone who can track him down on his level before anymore activity on his part leads to another error..." he said ironically. He tapped his combadge. =^= EMH to Commander Data.=^= "Data here." "I have a task for you and need both you and Byte in order to accomplish it. Can you leave Mr. Spock and report to us right now?" "I can. I will be there momentarily..with the probe." they all heard the android say. The EMH stated the obvious. "We have to find HoloZimm before he can harm Data in two days time. Maybe if we can stop that event from occurring, we can stop the plasma firestorm as well.." ------------------------- (attachments) Image: McCoy and Spock, both standing with drawn phasers. Image: Barclay, very nervous, holding a Data padd. Gif: A banner about the RPG web ring upgrade illustrated with an 8472 face. ****************************************** From : "Clairissa Fox" Subject : We find the VDmeer and some icky air Date : Sun, 10 Feb 2002 07:17:45 +0000 I was still in the lab with Mr Spock when they took my probe away. I wanted to fly it around more but Mr Barkly said that Data needed it for some reason at the pretty ladys house. Oh, well. I had fun while I did. I got to scare Mr Barkly and I helped find the big fire. I saw 7 come back into the lab with us. 7! 7! Where were you? A lot has gone on since you left to go look at the burning building. Dont worry about that. It wont get out until after all day tomorrow? Good, then I can go help mum at the pretty ladys house. Mr Barklys gone there and so has the hollow doctor. I wonder what they are working on. I cant help any more here cause the computer screens are too hard now. Its the satellights again. I jumped down from my chair and bowed at Mr Spock since he was a man mum respected, then I left to go hunting Bootby and the V'Dmeer. I didnt need the silver marble to fly and find Bootby for me. I found him because all humans are smelly. Mr Spock didnt smell that way. He smelt sort of spicy. The pretty lady who could feel your feelings smelled like fresh scones. I saw him doing a funny thing. He was hiding in the grass the wrong way. The wind was blowing right towards the earth hopper eating there. Then I saw what he was looking at. The hopper had two tails! I didn't know any earth animal that had two. Mr Bootby! Mr Bootby! Where did that weird hopper come from? I saw the brown hairy small thing hop away. And then I saw it! The VDmeer! "Shhh... Alexander.. Don't scare the tribble. Now you know rabbits aren't born with two tails. That second puff is your V'Dmeer, the one who tried to eat my gardens on a search for breeding food. I should have known it would seek cover from the shield and alert sounds coming from campus way out here. Their hearing is exceptional." the wizened caretaker told the boy he could barely see in the dark, despite the bright full moon overhead. "Shouldn't you be in bed? It's way past your bedtime." I am not a weak human. I dont have to until the sun comes up. Maybe not even while this alert stays on. Mum and I have a deal. I dont go to bed until she does. "That's barbaric.." Boothby said. "It's a wonder why you like to fight so much. It's pure orneriness for sure..." and he grinned. "No wonder you aren't polite ever at all." I grinned back. He sure had good manners. He wasnt all weakling nice to me like the humans were . Klingons hate politeness. Its a sign that you arent telling anyone what youre are really feeling mum says. But then I saw the tribble rolling after the hopper trying to catch up to it so it could go down the hole. I threw a stone that landed over the hole, blocking the hopper in and the tribble outside so Boothby and I could look at it more.So far, the VDmeer hadnt spotted me being a Klingon yet. Good thing. I didnt want my ears to hurt from it screeching squealies at me. "Why did you do that Alexander? Now the rabbit can't get out to feed in the meadow." Boothby pointed out. I told him. The hopper can to get out. It has legs to dig with. The VDmeer does not. This way we can look for it again when the sun comes out again so I can hunt it honorably and put it in a cage for you Bootby. "Like I can't do that on my own..?. You insult me.." Boothby said, still grinning. I was filled with happiness now at the Klingon style compliment I got out of Bootby. Insult your friends and you are the best honorable Klingon just like Kahless! Mum told me. So I spread that lesson around. Bootbys the only one who knew what was right with Klingons. I figured it was all the wrinkles that made him so smart. Klingons never got those. "That creature should be returned eventually to McCoy. He's the one who originally saved it from underground racing." The caretaker said. I know. I know. I can dream cant I? Not many Klingon boys can say they hunted a real VDmeer. "Let's away and let the tribble be for the night." Boothby suggested. "It can't go down into the rabbit warren with that rock in place and it won't stray far until daylight most likely." Ok. Ok. Ill hunt it fair in the sunup time. Ill get more honor taking it as my trophy then cause itll be able to see me coming the whole way! So Bootby and I left the VDmeer sniffing by the rock blocking the hopper's hidey hole and we went back to campus. Bootby. Why did you come out here? I know it wasnt to hunt the VDMeer cause you arent in your dirt clothes you wear working in all the flowers. "I was finding the fire's ignition point young man. And I found the very place it began right over there." Boothby said, pointing. I looked and saw only a airgrate that went into the tram tunnel straight down. How can fire grow down there? Its all hard like stone. "Ah.. Yes,.." Boothby said, "But it's lined with invading tree roots and those burn rather well." Oh! So thats how the fire got into the Donuts hanger. "Donut? Oh, I see. You aren't referring to the ones I see powdering your shirt that you consumed recently. Here's another hard word for you Alexander. Almost as hard as "Satellite". The Donut as you call it is the Guardian of Forever." he taught. Guardian? As in a security guard? I should go meet him! He might be a great fighter. And he could teach me how to deck Romulans like my dad does. And.. "Alexander. The Guardian isn't a person. Remember? It's the stone gate that brought you and your mother to this time period." Oh. Ok. I forgot. Im only little. Then we were walking by the green dome that was melting with all the scared humans around it. Something strong made my nose tickle and I sneezed so hard that I fell down. Then I kept sneezing and my eyes ran water that I couldnt see. Then I started coughing and my legs wouldnt work. Bootby saw the boy fall and react suddenly to something when they came within half a mile of the fire sieged Building Five. "Alexander? Are you ill?" Bootby.Bootby! Make it stop! My nose itches and my eyes! Boothby scanned the area, thinking that the tiny Klingon boy had provoked some smell that Klingons could detect but not humans. His tricorder could find nothing wrong. ::There's some static charge coming off of the Plasma shield and from the deflector dome over the Starfleet complex. But that's all. Odd..:: He scooped up Alexander into his arms and went into the nearest sheltering structure he could find away from the night air, Deanna's apartment tower. I couldnt cough anymore cause my throat was so tight and my nose sniffled so much I couldnt sneeze. So I decided to sleep. "Alexander... Now don't drift on me.. You're allergic to something I haven't found yet in the air outside. I'll carry you to some help but keep your eyes open.." I couldnt. And now I couldnt talk neither. It got black real fast. Boothby cradled the now unconscious boy tighter in his arms and the turbo took him rapidly up to Counselor Troi's door where he knew three doctors were. ::I've never seen so fast a decline. I hope the physicians can find what is making Alexander sick.:: And the caretaker shifted Alexander's slight weight in his arms long enough to kick the door to attract attention of the crewmen he knew were with Deanna Troi. "Open up! Something's wrong with Alexander! Let me in!" ----------------------------------------- (attachments) Image: Alexander smiling in the sun. Image: The lost tribble Alexander finds. Image: Byte, Mr. Scott's probe, all sparky with light. ******************************************* From: "Patti Keiper" Subject: [voyagerliveaction] Klingon Ker-choOOOoos... Date: 10 February 2002. Sunday 09:17:34 GMT USA >And the caretaker shifted Alexander's slight weight in his >arms long enough to kick the door to attract attention >of the crewmen he knew were with Deanna Troi. >"Open up! Something's wrong with Alexander! Let me >in!" All the heads inside snapped around and Yar recognized the Academy caretaker's voice and she waved the guards to let him pass. McCoy rushed forward, taking the pale boy from Boothby and placed him on the couch hastily vacated by everyone. "Dang blasted. I should have realized. Anything effecting his mother would no doubt effect the boy, especially if it's some common factor.. ..Dr. Crusher.. .You too, TV doc. I need you here. We've got to get a baseline scan to find out what's bothering him before we can treat his symptoms.." K'Ehleyr rose, moving by the terrace windows and started sneezing uncontrollably. "Alexand-- AaaCHOOOO!!!" Dr. Crusher said, "Oh, my goodness. That doesn't sound like a cold. More like an allergy.." McCoy grumbled. "Get her over here too. I'm still kicking myself for not following through with this. I noticed K'Ehleyr getting symptomy during our chess game on the balcony.." "I'm fine, doctor.." K'Ehleyr said firmly. "Just worry about my son. Klingons don't faint." "Let me be the judge of that..." the EMH said. "I've attended B'Elanna Torres who did so quite often while pregnant.." K'Ehleyr shot him a dirty look as if he betrayed a secret fact about Klingons. Bones passed his bioprobe over the still boy's chest and looked at the tissues in his nose and gums. "Looks like a head cold.." Ambassador K'Ehleyr was very quick, still stinging from the EMH's lack of tact. "Klingons don't get colds, either.." "Like they don't suffer partum fainting spells I gather..." McCoy jabbed sarcastically. "Of this, I am more than certain.. There is nothing on Earth we can contract, and my son and I haven't been on any foreign worlds as of late. We were on the Enterprise D when the Guardian of Forever came for us. Dr. Crusher in that time had just given us a physical. We both passed with flying colors." K'Ehleyr said in a clipped voice. She knelt by the three doctors and seemed hesitant to hold Alexander's hand in front of humans. McCoy snagged her palm and firmly joined their grips. "Stop blithering about having affectionate emotions for someone you love and not ever showing them. You Klingons are almost Vulcan that way. Drives me nuts! Spock still gets that way whenever he thinks about Nurse Ch--" he stopped himself... "Uh...never mind.." Deanna Troi smiled just a bit when she guaged Bones' embarrassment over a Vulcan's feelings for a human. The others chose discretion as a better part of valor. The EMH was oblivious. He was studying his scans. "Definitely analphylatic reaction. He's swelling up in nose, lungs and throat. But I can't identify the cause. There's nothing strange in his system at all.." Kirk, had been attentively watching through the whole conversation, he offered an observation. "K'Ehleyr got into her sneezing just now as she went by the balcony doctors.." McCoy's head shot up. "Of course..! It's got to be something recently new in the enviroment outside... Lt Yar.. close those veranda doors leading to the balcony." he tapped his combadge, =^=Computer. Seal Deanna Troi's living room and cut off all contact with external atmosphere. Provide standard life support settings with no outside air exchange.=^= ##Parameters set. Specify oxygen requirements.## "Way above normal you infernal pile of computer chips. We've got a sick boy in here.." ##Do you require medical assistance?## "What a stupid computer!" Bones said. "It doesn't even know when we've got three doctors in the room. I think I like my Vulcans better.." ##Please restate reply.## "No. Blast you.. just be a good filter and clean our air in here." McCoy said. The EMH was injecting Hynaline to Alexander's inner arm. His eyebrow arched. "Doctor, you're getting excited. Not good for someone your age.." he smiled. "Hush up. I always get this wired arguing with computers. And I'm allowed a lot of hot air when a medical problem has me stumped. Like the one these two have right now. You're just as mystified or you would've looked up from your tricorder at least once already in the past five minutes!" McCoy snapped. The EMH's smile wiped away. "Guess I am at a loss to find the problem as well." K'Ehleyr sneezed again, violently. "I--it started right before the disaster call, a few seconds after my son spotted the fire.." Alexander began wheezing a bit. McCoy made him more comfortable by putting a pillow under his shoulders and letting his head fall back. "He's getting into trouble, fast. We have to stop whatever's bothering him." Yar spoke up. "Doctors.. I do know of another coincidence to the ambassador's illness's onset. It started when the plasma field began to distort.. Look." and she keyed up a playback of Alexander's probe flybys over Building Five. The field wobbled for the first time exactly when K'Ehleyr first began sneezing during McCoy's chess game. "Well I'll be d@mned." and Bones and the other two doctors launched into a guessing match... Soon, they almost had an answer.. Almost.... Barclay beat them to it using his implanted smarts. "Ionization.... Starfleet's got us under a fishbowl with that city wide deflector shield in case Building Five's shield fails.. That experimental plasma shield's warping. And that ionizes the air? Odd, usually plasma shields are nonreactive.." Seven of Nine stepped into the room having flashed her clearance to the guards outside. "Not when phase variances are built in to speed up creation of that device..." "What?!" Kirk shouted. That Starfleet endangered them all with a secret design shortcut angered him greatly.. Uhura searched her earlier atmosphere readings from on her trip over to the counselor's. "You're right. Free ozone is five percentage points above normal Earth levels." "K'Ehleyr.. why didn't your people ever tell Starfleet Klingons were sensitive to ozone?" Bones frowned. "Would you admit to a vulnerability like that?" the ambassador wheezed. Dr. Crusher gave her a shot just like Alexander received but her worst symptoms did not ease. McCoy got up and went over to Deanna's kitchen replicator. He programmed for two face filters using his priority coding. "Yes.. " the EMH said, "That is what they need. A barrier away from the air around the city." He reached out and grabbed the smaller one from the gray haired doctor while Beverly handed K'Ehleyr the larger one. Bones fit the mask over the boy's face and the clear plastic moulded fluidly over his nose and mouth. "I've set this permeable to all BUT ozone.. Once his system expells the gas naturally, his symptoms should improve.." K'Ehleyr resisted putting hers on because she was sneezing so hard. The EMH gave her a different shot, one that numbed her sense of smell. The sneezing stopped and Dr. Crusher was able to get the woman to allow the mask to seal itself over her face. She relaxed as the sneezing left her.."..uh, I wouldn't wish these symptoms on anyone. What did you call this? An allergy??" "It's a fairly common ailment on Earth.. It usually follows familial genetics.." the EMH said while nodding. K'Ehleyr gave him a look of disgust.."Families with such a defect are allowed to live?" The EMH turned abstinent. "Of course.. a regular treatment of antihistamines cures the worst symptoms in allergy sufferers. We're not barbarians who kill less than perfect people.!" "Pity.. They might have been grateful for the release.." "Hardly.." the EMH said haughtily. McCoy straightened from listening to the boy's chest. "His lungs are a bit clearer.. but there's a lot of ozone still in his blood." "Not surprising.." Boothby said, "He and I walked right down wind of Building Five coming from the meadow." "What were you doing out there?" K'Ehleyr wanted to know. "He was hunting a tribble. I was hunting the fire's ignition point. We both found our quarry.." Boothby smiled hugely.. k'Ehleyr gave a shudder. "I hate V'DMeers with a passion. I don't know how my son even looks at them. They're so....so...fuzzy.. and scaleless." Uhura giggled, then slapped a hand over her own lips to seal them. Bones passed his bioprobe over K'Ehleyr's chest and body. She flinched, not liking a technological device probing her inner most workings any more than McCoy like having his scrambled in a transporter. "Hold still. This is necessary.." He then studied his results. "You aren't as poisoned as your son. As long as you both wear those biofiltering masks. You won't sneeze and faint.." he said. "Great..." K'Ehleyr said sarcastically. "I've always wanted to look like a waxwork. What about the ozone already in our systems?" Bones shrugged. "Your triple set of kidneys should clean that out in a few hours. Not having a liver, any toxin clearing's gonna take a while.." "Oh, and I assume humans detoxify faster?" "We do..." McCoy said. "We have something called a liver. We can get drunk and burn it off in an hour. Just ask Scotty.. Perhaps being lily-liver-less explains why Klingons stagger around so much with their bloodwine goblets still in glove on their Birds of Prey all the time." K'Ehleyr grabbed McCoy by the collar and Kirk got in the way, preventing the ambassador from hitting him, but then Kirk saw K'Ehleyr actually smile widely.. "Why doctor, that's the nicest compliment anyone has ever given me in quite a long time.. " and she nodded, giving McCoy's cheek a peck through her mask and then releasing him. McCoy grinned, "No problem. I never irritate my Klingon patients unnecessarily.." Kirk started scratching his head. The EMH leaned over, "An insult to a Klingon is a compliment, captain. Whereas politeness is seen as an insult..." "I got it.." Kirk said wide mouthed. "I think.." McCoy said aside. "Hey Jim, you missed alot about Klingons running around on those ships of yours during the last fifteen years. There's a whole bar of them across campus..I swear, they'll teach you anything.. Honest.. You should come with me sometime once all this is over.. Ambassador..You and your son will be fine. It'll just take some time.." and he sat down next to Alexander's form to monitor him for the rest of the night. The medical crisis over, all in the room sat down in chairs waiting for Data to arrive with Byte. ------------------------------------------------- (attachments) Image: K'Ehleyr portrait. Image: Dr. McCoy with a scanner. *animated gif* Red Alert.. ************************************* END WEEK FIVE RECAP WEEK SIX RECAP 02-11-02 http://www.geocities.com/voyagerliveaction Showcase Site http://groups.yahoo.com/group/voyagerliveaction Writer's Distribution Site *************************************** Date: Mon, 11 Feb 2002 21:22:07 -0800 (PST) From: "Myron Ojala" Subject: That Naggin Hunch [voyagerliveaction] Scotty bent over the computer screens, fervently analyzing the data on the upgrading shield around Building Five. Despite the data assurances from Seven of Nine that the shield would hold for twelve hours, Scotty felt a familiar gut wrenching that something wasn't right with that time table estimate. "Mr. Spock, I've got a bad feeling about this.." The Ambassador wearing his traditional robes signifying his current office, swiveled in his chair, his hands steepled over his chest in deep thought, "In this instance, Mr. Scott. I believe I must agree with you." Mr. Data approached the two esteemed Starfleet officers, "May I be of any assistance? I must be leaving soon to Counselor Troi's apartment. I've just been called." A gleam appeared in Scotty's eyes, a trace of inspiration. "Laddie, you may be just be what we're looking for. We're missing something crucial here about why those plasma shields are fluctuating so dramatically. It doesn't sit right! I'd like you to take a look at Seven's report and see what you make of her time estimates." Mr. Data held out his hand and took the datapadd Mr Scott handed to him and flash read it. "It may take some time for you to hypothesize any variable that may mean problems for us later on with that plasma fire.." Scotty said. Captain Janeway and Chakotay walked up, sensing a change in mood from those at the main computer panels under the view screen. Janeway spoke up, "I don't like the feeling I'm getting up here. Doesn't inspire confidence. Fess up gentlemen.." Scotty said, "Mr. Data is an android. There's an old phrase that goes, "Thinking outside the box.." "Literally..." Chakotay said, laughing, meaning the box of shields rippling eerily around Building Five on their monitors. "I don't follow you Mr. Scott. I don't know quite why you and Mr. Spock are uncomfortable right now. Care to explain it to us further?" Janeway said. "Lassie, I've been in engineering so long in Starfleet, that I've come to trust my gut instinct more than any hard facts thrown my way.. Somehow, we're looking at this wrong. Seven says we have twelve hours left. But I feel that this is simply not the case!!" Chakotay frowned, "Do you have anything to substantiate your feeling? We have to have something to tell Starfleet Command. A hunch is a command perogative but it's nothing until it comes to light.." Janeway glanced up at Data, "I heard Captain Kirk calling you away.. Can you consider Mr. Scott's hunch on your way?" Data nodded. "Carry on, Mr.Data, We'll be in touch." Janeway nodded. The four of them watched as Data with Seven's padd left the lab to go to Deanna's home. Scott suddenly rose, his knees cracking as he pushed out of his chair. "Captain. Commanders... There's nothing more that can be learned here. I am going to Building Five to take more direct readings of those blasted shields.. It's not that I don't trust your blond lassie, but a hunch is a hunch and I've got more than a few to confirm or disprove now don't I?" Janeway still didn't know the whole of the matter bothering the older engineer but she knew the power of the voice of experience talking through the mind. And it was one no different for him than hers was within herself. "What more do you intend to do, Mr. Scott?" "I may be about to jump from the preverbial frying pan into the fire..or in this case, plasma fire.. Don't worry, I'll have a care.." -------------------------------------------- Mr. Scott got to the fire site. He got there slowly so he could make complex scans of the surrounding area. He tried not to miss anything no matter how miniscule. He waved his specially modified tricorder around not really searching for anything in particular but opening his mind. After a few moments he noticed something that hadn't been there before. "Now how did those little wee beasties get in there?" He didn't know for sure if the nanoprobes actually belonged to Seven, but he knew the location of all others in Starfleet. ::And there were none in Building Five..:: Concentrating his scans on them, he found that they were forming a complex communication array linking Seven to the Guardian of Forever... "What the devil??" Scotty began to think. ::Now why didn't she tell anyone she awoke the Guardian? Why did she do it?:: His tricorder revealed more. "Hey,, I can connect directly with these. They aren't so different from the ones I am used to in my lab." He toggled a button. Then tapped his combadge..taking a deep breath. He had never ever spoken with the Guardian before. ::It's usually Kirk's pet. Not mine..Well, I'll get this over with. It can't kill me trying..:: he thought, then he remembered the gruesome detail of Data's head vid. :: I think.:: Clearing his throat he said, "This is Captain Scott. I know Seven and you have had words with one another. Care to share them with an old acquaintance of Captain Kirk's?" ##I AM THE GUARDIAN OF FOREVER. IT IS MY PURPOSE TO ANSWER A QUESTION. I WILL SPEAK WITH YOU.## Scotty thought. ::Yesss!!:: "Why exactly did Seven summon you out of your protective blackout?" ##A THREAT TO THE CONTINUATION OF THIS TIMELINE HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED. THE LEADERS OF YOUR WORLD ARE INVOLVED. THEY TRANSGRESSED TECHNOLOGICAL LAWS OF THE PHYSICAL REALM. THE SHELL ABOUT ME IS UNSTABLE. THE WOMAN SAID THEY ESSENCED IN "PHASE VARIANCES."## "What??!!" Scotty shouted. "The bloody fools! Adding a phase variance to plasma shields makes them extremely unstable. They depolarize oxygen, flop out of shape, degrade matter, .. the list of dangers is endless.. Are you telling me that Command was stupid enough to allow that use?" ##THE EVIDENCE HAS BEEN SUGGESTED BY THE WOMAN..## "I'll bet.." Scotty snapped sarcastically. "I need to have a few words with her.." his brogue getting thicker as his anger increased.".. and why she kept this little tidbit of news to herself." Scotty was about to close his tricorder when he remembered his manners, "I thank you for speaking with me. If she should tell you anythin else lad, com me through my chest device here, will you?" ##IT SHALL BE DONE.## ----------------------------------------------- Scotty barged his way past the guards outside Deanna's quarters. He made his way into the room and immediately went toe to toe with Seven of Nine. "Lassie, you've got some explaining to do. Why didn't you tell us Starfleet Command used illegal phase variances in the shields around the Guardian? Don't you know that we don't have twelve hours.. It's more like six before they fail. And when they do, Earth doesn't stand a snowball's chance in h*ll to survive it." ------------------------------ (attachments) *animated gif* Scotty working in a jeffries tube near plasma. *animated gif* The Starship Enterprise 1701 flying towards a red galactic barrier. *************************************** Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2002 04:18:59 -0800 (PST) From: "Jeff Seltun" Subject:[voyagerliveaction] Hologrid Happenings. > "Lassie, you've got some explaining to do. >Why didn't you tell us Starfleet Command >used illegal phase variances in the shields >around the Guardian? Don't you know that >we don't have twelve hours.. It's more >like six before they fail. And when they >do, Earth doesn't stand a snowball's chance >in h*ll to survive it." Before the unflappable exBorg could answer, Mr. Data came into Deanna's living room with Byte. "I am here as ordered, doctor." he said to the EMH. Then he caught a bit of the new tension in the room. He recognized the anger on the engineer's face as being very fresh so he oriented on Mr. Scott, falling silent. "I am waiting young lass.." Scott said to Seven of Nine. Data was merely curious and it was all he could do to not ask about what was going on himself. He chose to focus on landing Byte, the silver marble probe onto his hand to distract himself. Seven of Nine took a deep breath and straightened, not at all bothered by Mr. Scott's folded arms nor the tapping of his boot on the rug. "I was gathering more data for the Guardian of Forever. When I had a working conclusion as to the reason why, I would have come forward. I didn't want the news to unnecessarily alarm the Starfleet officers around me about Command's dangerous move prematurely. But, apparently, the damage is already being done." Kirk was almost as enraged as Mr. Scott. "You should have let your superiors be the judge of that, Miss." Seven turned her head and regarded the older Enterprise officer with a bland opposition. "I for one, know the power of a cohesive group mindset. The unity every officer feels for their superiors should have remained intact until after this fire crisis passed. Now, that is not the case. I suggest we not confront Command with our discovery of the plasma shield phase variances until then so we can all handle this emergency effectively." The EMH sighed. "You know, against my better judgement, I have to agree with Seven of Nine. Any lost focus on the part of either us or the departments dealing with this fire alert might be fatal, especially if Mr. Scott's new time estimate on those shields is accurate." Mr. Data chose that moment to step in neatly, "That is something that I can determine." He held up the datapadd that Mr. Scott had given him. "On my way here. I noticed not only the degree of fluctuation of Building Five's plasma shields, but the drain they are having on Starfleet's power grid. I was under the conclusion Seven of Nine just eluded to as that being the only factor which explains the data." Uhura said, "Is the Guardian of Forever all right inside all that burning plasma?" Seven answered her, "Yes. It has erected an out of phase pocket of time around itself, keeping out the energy flaring. When I spoke to it through my nanoprobes, it was well." Then the blond officer noticed Alexander lying on the bed. "Is the boy injured from the fire?" "Indirectly.." the EMH snapped. "Those illegal phase variances you speak of are causing a lot of free ozone to be formed in the air we have inside the city deflectors. We've just learned that Klingons are highly sensitive to ozone." he said, throwing an admonishing gaze at K'Ehleyr for that oversight as he went on, "Both he and the ambassador here will recover fully once their metabolisms rid their systems of the gas. Biofiltering masks will prevent any retoxification." Seven of Nine then turned to the deactivated hologrid that Barclay had invented. "How curious. That is a holofloor platform." "Yes, uh,, it is Seven. I meant for it to be a surprise for Starfleet developers but it looks like it's more of a nightmare right now.." Barclay replied. "I don't understand.." Seven said. The EMH told Seven the whole reason. About the HoloZimm's inadvertent role in harming the counselor on the night of the attack and its at large status inside the holonetwork at Starfleet Command. Seven took the bad news in stride. "A holo character, with newly born sentience, with the free movement capability of the EMH? I suggest we find him and terminate his holographic parameters as soon as possible." Troi spoke up from where she was on her chair, "Seven, we can't just turn HoloZimm off. He's an independent newly evolved lifeform." "A dangerous one." Seven countered. "He almost killed you if you have forgotten, counselor.." K'Ehleyr interceeded her own thoughts before Deanna had a chance to reply to Seven's opinion. "Deanna knows full well his rights as an evolving being. No one has forgotten anything." "Then how do you propose we find this HoloZimm before it mistakenly plays a guess who game with someone else again?" Seven shot back. Yar smiled at Seven's obvious determination to end the threat from at least the holographic angle. "She's right you know. I'm not so sure we'll win its confidence if we pursue it, no matter how benignly. I say shut off his program." Data, who had been scanning Deanna's hologrid with Byte said, "That will not be possible. Apparently, the HoloZimm was created without an offswitch." That started the room up in a noisy uproar. Data spoke aloud again to be heard over them all, "However, I can access the hologrid network of Starfleet's and communicate with him through Byte, to try and calm him down enough to make a reappearance back here.." Kirk nodded for Data to make the attempt. The EMH said, "I'll link with him. He might respond to a familiar face.." he said, pointing to his own. No one laughed. Data pulled out his cranial cable and connected it to the hologrid controls he exposed on the side of the holoplatform. Then he sent Byte to hover over the center of the gridwork. "Accessing the holonet now. I've reintegrated a viable enviroment here on this platform. Please keep a sufficient distance away from it for a margin of safety against any power surges that may arise." The EMH grunted, "Well, that's something that I don't have to worry about." and he strode up the short stair until he was in the middle of the glowing grid. "I'm ready Mr. Data." Data's head gave a nod and the cable running from his head began to light up as he began his search of the holonet for HoloZimm. Byte provided a visual matrix for everyone else to view while Data and the EMH searched. It was a landscape of green grass, and a sky that was of an indiscernable color and the light seemed to be coming from all directions. They could see the EMH turn about in place, uncertain as to which direction to head. Data himself appeared as a holoimage of himself next to the doctor and he unhesitatingly headed in one direction. "He is this way, doctor. On the outskirts of the holonet." The EMH and Data strode in silence across the endless flat grass that rippled despite the lack of a wind. At one point the EMH stopped when he thought he saw giant faces ringing above him in the sky. Data noticed, "That is just those we left in the counselor's living room watching us. Everything is all right, doctor." "I'm rather new on this grid, Mr. Data. So I'm a bit jumpy. Mr. Barclay made its alignment a little bit on the powerful side. Don't you feel your skin crawling?" Mr. Data grinned, "I have no holoshell to react doctor, However, I shall take your word on that tactile effect. Shall we proceed?" "Please.." the EMH grumbled, wrapping arms about himself and smoothing down his holo goosebumps. ------------------------------------------- They felt HoloZimm before they saw him. The EMH felt his presence like someone in front of a mirror in a darkened room would. "Hello? I'm the first you and this is my friend Mr. Data, who is a synthetic being like ourselves. Won't you come out to speak with us? Don't feel worry about harming us physically, we don't have a biological makeup to get injured." Data shouted as well, "Let us help you reestablish your safety protocols.." They felt he was watching but HoloZimm did not manifest before them. The EMH sighed, "Listen.. tap into my memory isolinear files. You'll see an account of what I saw and heard concerning the woman you accidently hurt. She's fine and she bears you no malice." Both Data and the EMH felt the tickling in their matrices as the tenative HoloZimm took them up on the offer of information. Then there was a buzzing mechanical zip, and he stood before them. HoloZimm looked just like the EMH, "Please state the nature of this holo communication." The holodoc said, "We told you. I'm your... well, I'm your father, so to speak and this is my friend Mr. Data. We are reaching you on the hologrid through a sensor probe, linked to both of us and the hologrid." HoloZimm set his hands on his hips and said sarcastically, "That much is obvious. I was referring to the purpose of why you are seeking me. Can't a holoman sulk in peace without being pestered by anyone ?" The EMH took a matching stance, "Can't a stubborn hologram recognize a first contact when he sees one?" "I wouldn't know, " said HoloZimm. "Except for the night my hands caused the woman to unexpectedly bleed, I haven't ever had a first contact. Mr. Barclay didn't think interactive exercises were needed for my social skills subsystems." The EMH refused to be diverted. "Why did you run? Why didn't you summon help for her?" HoloZimm sighed, "I'm not an EMH, I'm.. I'm... still undefined.. However, I find Reg's image of me as a child who doesn't know his own strength amusing. And despite what you two are thinking, I am not a danger to anyone. I have since figured out how to flip on my safeties on my own. I "left" simply because I didn't recognize that Deanna Troi was injured, it was a concept foreign to me. I have since learned about abnormal physical states in organics from the Starfleet Medical Database in the Library. I've been all over Starfleet and know every lab, every computer and every vault on the premises." and he sighed, "I almost feel as if I'm a Starfleet Cadet, at the level of a post graduate." Data said, "Then you know about Building Five." "Of course." said HoloZimm. "It's the only area that I couldn't enter. Who's the dolt who started that fire? Nasty business." "A tribble did, overturning some refuge. Refracted sunlight through a silica medium started the spark which burned into the building through the tramway system." Mr. Data summarized. "Figures. They aren't much for thinking ahead now are they? All instinct and appetite. I've been having some fun watching the boy and the flower man trying to hunt it using the surveillance cameras. Great stuff! How did you like that mimickry trick the little hairball used pretending to be that Lepus's second tail?" HoloZimm said. The Holodoc shouted over his doppleganger's laughter. "Would you help us fight this fire outbreak or are you just going to stand by claiming bald faced newness as an excuse?" Data agreed, "That would not be true to a graduate Cadet's responsibility.." HoloZimm looked them over, thoughtfully, "I don't have all the answers about that area gentleman. I haven't been able to get inside Building Five. It's too hostile an environment. What could I possibly do?" Mr. Data dropped his clincher. "It has been determined that Starfleet Command used phase variances in the construction of Building Five's security shields. If they fail, all of us and you and this hologrid, will be vaporized. With your access into all areas of Starfleet, you can look for the plans used in their construction so we can find the frequency in which to control them safely." HoloZimm seemed to consider. "I can at that. Hmph. I just don't see why you people haven't used this probe of yours. It's a good tapper into the computer systems all on its own. Mr. Scott outdid himself with this little spy in the sky." "We have rules preventing us from doing that HoloZimm." Data stated. "Oh, so that is my new name. Holo as in holographic and Zimm as in "Zimmerman, Lewis, R." How quaint." he said clapping his hands in delight. "Tell you what. I'll be this snoop for you to find those designs. It's just like Starfleet Command to raise the bar on risk finding another way to put out that fire without giving away their dirty little phase variance secret. I don't like those odds, since I rather like the life Reg has given me. Be a shame to let a green firestorm burn me up before I've even seen what this new life has to offer me.. Let's go guys, race ya to the outside!" Poof! And Data and the EMH were left alone on the featureless holoplain. -------------------------------------------------------- Everyone watching Mr. Data and Byte's link to the holoplatform jumped when a full sized EMH appeared onto it. Seven said, "Doctor?" The blue uniformed bald headed, brown eyed hologram crossed his arms together with amusement. "Wrong toots, he's my dad. Well, folks. It worked. I'm recruited to your side. We've a common enemy you know. That nasty plasma fire over there.." and he pointed vaguely out the windows. He jumped down off the hologridding and went straight for Deanna. He knelt by her side and uptook her hand. "I hope you forgive me dear Deanna. I now know the scope of my crime upon you from my first night alive. Will you forgive me? I was rather like an infant then." Troi accepted HoloZimm's kiss on her hand, nodding. Then she turned his gesture into a handshake of welcome, smiling in wonder at him even though she couldn't feel any emotions from him. He sighed, greatly relieved, then he stood, "Hello, Captain..I know your entire life history.Even what you ate this morning." he said to Kirk. "Glad to finally be holoface to face with ya. "Cadet HoloZimm reporting for duty.." And he saluted the older Enterprise captain smartly. ------------------------------------------------ (attachments) Image: A suave looking EMH, who's actually, HoloZimm. Image: Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine against a rock face. Image: Data with a cable running from his cranial port. **************************************** From : "Roxy Dee" Subject : [voyagerliveaction] Shell within a shell~~ Date : Wed, 13 Feb 2002 21:28:10 +0000 > "Hello, Captain..I know your entire life >history.Even what you ate this morning." >he said to Kirk. "Glad to finally be holoface >to face with ya. "Cadet HoloZimm reporting >for duty.." Captain Kirk raised his eyebrows in surprise, "You went through all of our Academy and Officer's schools training in two weeks?" "Of course, Captain. I'm a hologram. I can pretty much absorb any information I find." HoloZimm shrugged. "And I have you to thank for it Reg. " he beamed, glancing up warmly at Mr. Barclay who was a mixture of awe and pride. "I don't believe it. He's..uh, you have evolved far beyond my wildest expectations, HoloZimm." Reg sputtered. "You haven't seen the half of it, buddy. I don't know what ya did for my cognitive subroutine's but what ever those aliens left you sure made me a wonderful life. I feel like I'm two hundred years old, not two weeks." the new hologram said. Kirk regarded the liberated HoloZimm thoughtfully. "Would you mind... if I had my aide scan you uh, Cadet.. We want to make sure you haven't suffered any damage being continuously run for two weeks unsupervised." "Fire away, captain..." he said amicably. He turned until he saw who was going to check him over, Lt. Yar. "Ah, now you're a mite out of place Tasha. I wonder how you got here to the present out of your own time stream. It seems you should actually be a distant me--" Kirk shook his head fractionally, to hush. ::Don't tell her.:: his look said. HoloZimm shrugged, content to obey a superior officer. "His safeties are on, captain." Yar said, and she put away her tricorder. She hadn't reacted to the small exchange between the two about the circumstances surrounding her own death that was being hidden from her knowledge. She was too wired into her assignment of keeping the situation and Deanna, safe. "I don't know how Mr. Data and the EMH did it. But he's fine staying online. There's no danger." "Ah,, that's not essentially true, Lt." HoloZimm said. "There is danger, and it's all about that fire out there." He smacked his unreal palms together and sat down on the floor near Alexander so he could gain access to the computer on the table. Kirk chose to remain silent while he observed HoloZimm's behavior. ::I wish Spock were here. He'd find this living hologram fascinating.:: He studied his appearance and noted slight differences in HoloZimm from Voyager's EMH. ::His hair, what there is of it, is darker, he seems taller, somehow. Perhaps when Reg used the EMH template, he altered it to more closely match those of Lewis Zimmerman physically. Maybe for ID purposes?:: he considered. Then he spoke aloud. "Cadet." "Yessir.." HoloZimm said eagerly. Kirk couldn't help but smile slightly. "We...need to find those designs on Building Five's plasma shields, no matter how classified." HoloZimm called up the information with a flourish of button sequences, "Already done, and captain, this information isn't classified. For that would mean everyone knows about it. It was merely hidden." Then his forehead crinkled, "Why, may I ask, did the plasma shields need to be up and running so fast?" Kirk felt no harm in telling the hologram. "The Guardian of Forever was making Earthfall and the means to protect it well were absolutely necessary to assure its continued security." HoloZimm took this new information in stride. "Ah, so that's how these four folks come to be here out of their proper timelines. Interesting. I've read about this Guardian of Forever from your own Enterprise captain's logs. Tell me, does its voice sound truly mysterious and all powerful?" Kirk frowned, "Not exactly, more ..deep and very very patient. Listen, HoloZimm I'd like to chat with you all day but we...really need to see those shield designs immediately." "Oh, forgive me captain, of course. Here." and HoloZimm projected his data back onto the small hologrid where it spun floor to ceiling high, easily readable to everyone in the room. Scotty murmured, "I've never seen a hologram who's learned how to control his own environment." "I can do much more, Mr. Scott. I'd be happy to show you but this,," he pointed to the designs everyone studied carefully. "is a priority I'm afraid. Captain's orders.." HoloZimm said, pointing to Kirk. Lt. Yar took the opportunity to remove Data's cable from the holopadd. Right away, Data came back into animation and the EMH likewise followed suit next to him. "Data. Did you study those schematics yet? We need you.." "I have. They are embedded firmly in my memory." Data replied, sealing up his hair door and returning his portable cable length back into its storage compartment in his forearm. "Mine too.." the EMH grumbled. "HoloZimm makes very vivid illustrations." Scotty especially had his eyes scowling over the illegal diagrams and questionable shortcuts he saw on them. He looked like he would flay whomever created the plasma shields alive for creating such a shoddy, dangerous design. Kirk let him stew, and instead, moved to the EMH. "You can validate HoloZimm's inherent safety among us?" "Oh yes.. He knows what a post graduate cadet knows. I wouldn't be surprised if he's the perfect embodiment of a Starfleet Cadet down to the letter. Except for his difficulty on the night of his birth, he's more reliable than you or I in that regard." Captain Kirk saw how Mr. Baclay's face rainbowed pride, self conconsciousness, worry and awe during the whole exchange. Kirk decided to let the man off the hook, "Don't worry Reg. You aren't going to get in trouble for creating a lifeform. You just...used a unique way to get one, that's all.. HoloZimm's no different than an exo-comp. No one knew they became sentient until it happened either. So relax." Barclay physically let out the breath he was holding. "T- Thank you sir.." Kirk, Barclay, Scotty, Uhura, Data and the EMH all bent to scrutinize the shield blueprints revolving in mid air in front of them. Meanwhile, across the living room, Lt. Yar made her way over to Deanna, Beverly, K'Ehleyr and Doctor McCoy who were ringing Alexander's couch. She sat next to the tiny boy and set a protective hand on the Klingon child's shoulder. Then she looked up. "What do we do now? Who knows if they," she cast her head to the six looking at the designs, "will be able to find the information they need to strengthen the shields' integrity in time?" Deanna smiled with confidence, "Six hours is a long time with a problem. We all frequently have had much less time in similiar emergencies in the past. I am not concerned." "I would be Deanna.." Yar said empathetically. "That memory record of Data's showed the fire burning freely, right under this balcony. Like it or not, that's going to happen. And it will be most likely a malfunctioning HoloZimm who's going to cut off Data's head like an annoying weed." Beverly sighed, "Who's to say we haven't already altered that outcome by befriending HoloZimm?" K'Ehleyr understood what she meant."That's right. In that memory vid, the Tasha fascimile didn't recognize you or your shout to not fire its phaser." McCoy added, agreeing, "If that was him, he no longer fits the facts. HoloZimm now knows the counselor. And from what Mr. Spock tells me. Holograms never forget." A Fleet wide hail came over all their combadges intercoms and computer screen. =^=This is Headquarters Command. Commencing helium saturation under the security dome. Engineers say this will act as a retardant preventing a secondary firestorm should the plasma burn's heat escape Building Five. Levels of helium in our deep air will rise to 16% and hold steady. Be advised. Command out.=^= Lt. Yar considered the comm she just heard, "That won't work. Helium only suppresses oxygen burning fires not carbon burning plasma ones." "Ah," said HoloZimm joining the group near the boy. "But if the heat from Building Five ignites the grass around it into an Earth brush fire, this is an excellent countermeasure." Tasha was not pleased, "But what if the green plasma energy itself gets out? Carbon is everywhere, in the air as dust, in the dirt as debris, in our bodies.. Only vacuum snuffs plasma fires out. But we need air to breathe." "That is a problem. With the city dome in place, no one can transport or shuttle out. And it'll take longer than our six hours to evacuate everyone manually." HoloZimm sighed, "There's no point in even attempting that actually. If the plasma explodes outside its current confines, I'm afraid the city dome won't be able to contain it at all. It'll collapse and then the plasma will be exposed to all of Earth's organic matter. It'll be the end, I'm afraid, for this shining world." "I know." Yar said glumly, "Captain Kirk told me about that. I wasn't very happy hearing that possible outcome. But what can we do to help out?" HoloZimm replied, "I shall have to think..." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Captain Kirk watched his people work. Uhura, and Scotty seemed especially diligent on the problem. He noticed Yar drifting over to the doctors and the ambassador on the other side of the living room. ::The Guardian said that Lt. Yar was needed to safeguard the counselor in this time, like she did the day of her death. I only hope having Yar here, now will fulfill the destiny the Guardian says she must undertake.:: Kirk began secondguessing himself, ::But why is K'Ehleyr and her son here? They were brought to us as well, and Nurse Chapel with Uhura solely for my benefit on the Building Five Project. What purpose are they to serve here?:: Kirk scanned his tricorder to the atmosphere outside the window. As promised, the helium trace indicator was rising. ::That tactic is only a tiny step in the right direction. We're gonna need the big guns to stop a plasma cascade should Building Five's shields fail.:: Then he thought of something and tapped his combadge. =^=Kirk to Lab Six. Spock, listen to me. Is there any way we can erect a second force field of sufficient strength over Building Five's security dome and then remove all the atmosphere between the two layers to form a vacuuum?=^= "Intriguing concept, captain. But another security field cannot be set into place while the current one is fluctuating in its shape so severely." Ambassador Spock replied. Kirk smiled broadly. "We're working on that. A new sentient hologram with sticky fingers has filtched the plans to those shields we should have the code to its illegal phase variances for you in a moment. Should be a piece of cake stabilizing that field and then to implement my idea afterwards. Stand by. Kirk out." Spock raised his eyebrows at the mention of phase variances and he sat back in his chair thoughtfully. Then he thought. ::Another hologram apart from Janeway's EMH? Fascinating..:: He turned his great faculties to tend to the problem Kirk proposed, making ready that option for implementation the very moment it became feasible. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lt. Yar again grew restless despite Alexander's rapidly improving condition and the leads they now had concerning their dire situation with the plasma fire. She rose to her feet, pacing. Data, noticed her anxiety and came over to his friend. He didn't say anything. He didn't have to. Yar wrapped her arms around him and said into his ear. "I'm so sorry all of this is happening, Data. I don't want you to die tommorrow. I'd rather die in your place if it means saving you or Deanna." Data's emotions rose to melancholy when he thought, ::That is precisely what you did the day you died, Tasha. And I shall never forget your sacrifice.:: Data said nothing aloud, for he could not find the will. He let his embrace comfort her instead. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A few hours later Kirk was pacing almost as much as Yar was. "Gentlemen.. I need options.." "We're almost there.." HoloZimm told him. Kirk decided not to pester his crew anymore and instead inquired about Alexander. "How's the boy, doctor?" The EMH looked up, "I still have a direct access to his vital signs. He should awaken soon. I'm letting him do so on his own terms when his body decides he's ready." Kirk suppressed an unbidden thought. ::Perhaps it'd be better if he didn't regain consciousness at all. Burning alive is not a fate I'd want to wish on a child.:: Deanna Troi caught a bit of Kirk's despair and glanced up sharply at him, but as soon as she did, the Enterprise captain had reined in his irrational reaction and was once again the firm commander in charge. ::He's entitled.:: she decided. ::He's under immense pressure.:: HoloZimm shot up from the place he was kneeling in front of the projection of the plasma shield schematics. "I got it!! The phase variance used to weave the security shield over Building Five is oscillating from 4.7 to 9.0 every 3.4 milliseconds." Kirk tapped his combadge. "Spock..You got that?" "I did, captain. The plasma shield is now stabilized. Secondary shielding engaged. Vacuum envelope is now established.." "Good news, Mr. Spock. You bought us the time we need to finishing evacuating the rest of Starfleet. If I were down there in the lab, I'd kiss both of those pointy ears of yours." "That will not be necessary captain. My ears are not the kissable type." came the dry reply. Uhura mumbled, "Christine would refute that in an instant Mr. Spock." she whispered only to herself. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Outside Building Five, heat had grown into an intolerable level. An orange flame burst into the lawn just before Spock's vacuum barrier snicked into placed. But the edge of the new field didn't extend far enough to snuff out the fire in time to prevent its formation. And the engineers and fire personnel were no longer there to notice, having placed a false confidence on Spock's innovation. They had joined the growing evacuation crowds at the edges of the city dome. A small line of Earth normal fire sank into a ditch leading to Deanna Troi's apartment complex, burning into the peat along the salt marsh there. It wasn't the green of plasma energy but its telltale orange was bad enough. An earth brush fire was in the making. The helium countermeasure in the air had not yet reached 9%. It was as yet, far too diffuse to smother the new blaze. It burned, unobserved, under vegetation, towards the living quarters towers. Deep inside Building Five, the Guardian of Forever saw the change but was held to silence once again by its laws from disclosing it to the humans. The rising helium had the unfortunate effect of blocking any smoke from forming out of the growing fire. And under the sunlight of almost noon, the heat from it was masked as well. Starfleet had unwittingly caused one more circumstance predicted about the future to come about. It was now a race against time. The manual evacuations of the population of San Francisco and Starfleet versus the advance of the undetected crawling fire. In an hour, only one half of the city and Starfleet's complex had been cleared of its inhabitants. The fire, meanwhile had reached its goal. The first tendril of orange flame licked the plastifoam of Deanna's apartment Building. A passing jay noticed the motion and gave a warning call, but the inflated helium levels made its voice sound like a sparrow's. No biped noted anything out of the ordinary because of it. They were too intent on escaping with their lives to notice the distressed bird chirping urgently in a tree over their heads. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In the Situation Room of Starfleet, in the Command Area, the Admiral in Charge turned to a subordinate, a nervous Bolian monitoring the satellites over the city. "Is Ambassador Spock's jury rig holding? " "By all appearances, yes, sir." the cadet replied. "The vacuum is still registering as absolute." "I dare not lower the city shield for transporters. The risk of plasma cascade is too great. How long until we have the entire populous evacuated?" "Another twelve hours sir, best estimate. That's assuming one person every second goes through the gate at every checkpoint, without pause." The admiral sighed heavily in frustration. "Wonderful. That'll put us about one hour before the event showing Data losing his head takes place." "Sir?" "Never mind cadet, classified information. Keep me posted. You'll be evacuated yourself by evening so relax. Your family is already safe." The admiral realized that only when all people were out of the city and Starfleet's complex, could another pocket of vacuum be created through use of Starship tractor beams city wide. Only when that occured could the Building Five Plasma Blaze be thoroughly exstinguished and the danger to Earth ended. ::Let's just hope all odds fall into our favor until then.:: he wished. The exhausted admiral of the day turned back to his tactical screen and grimaced when he took a sip from his long cold coffee cup. ------------------------- (attachments) Image: Tasha Yar looking up. *animated gif* A burning fire wall. Image: Kirk in the big chair. ***************************** From : Myron Ojala Subject : [voyagerliveaction] If At First You Don't Succeed..... Date : Wed, 13 Feb 2002 20:58:25 -0800 (PST) "I think I'm going to go get "pissed". Drunk that is." Scotty said to no one in particular. "Now I've seen it all.. holographic doctors, artificial Lt. Commanders, now an artificial cadet..The next thing ya know, they'll have an artificial engineer for a bloody unreal ship." HoloZimm started smirking and made his way over to the older Mr. Scott. "Don't worry Mr. Scott, I have no intention of being an engineer. I've seen some of your technical manuals and my head's still spinning." Scotty strode over to the new man made of light and eyed him toe to toe. "I've seen a lot in my years laddie. And I must admit we have never seen the likes of someone like you before. Like Starfleet's motto, "To seek out new life", well laddie, if that doesn't include you, I don't know what does." HoloZimm replied with a smile, "Thank you Mr. Scott I don't believe anyone has as yet paid me a better compliment. I hope to live up to the expectations and traditions I've read about in such detail.." Mr. Scott rose from his chair in front of the computer in Deanna's living room and went over to Captain Kirk. "We've only to wait a few more hours for the city to be fully evacuated, then we can attempt to put out that blasted fire once and for all. But the margin of error we have now is so small. Why don't we,..change the future we have learned about in Data's memory vid? We've all been reacting to the situation we are in now because we think we're trying to AVOID the events we've learned beforehand about Data getting his head lopped off. How do we know for certain that the actions we're taking now will end or won't end up like the scenario we saw in the vid? " "We can't. Because no one can predict the future until it arrives." Seven said. Kirk said, "Exactly, but how about changing the message sent into the past so we try another option for surviving this fire?" K'Ehleyr said, "How do we know we're on the wrong track?" "If the bloody world goes up in a green fireball, I'd say that'd be the wrong track lassie." Scotty said. "Then how do we proceed?" McCoy asked softly. "If we wait, we'll burn. And before we can even lift a finger to save ourselves." Mr. Data tilted his head, "Ah, you're implying we use my head as a second chance in case we fail in this attempt." Scotty turned toward the android, nodding affirmation. "Ye hit the nail on the head laddie. We'll only have about four seconds once that Building goes before we're all vaporized. My idea proposes we have another go lined up before we're all toast." "How do we do that?" Uhura asked. "We orchestrate a scenario outlining an action we and Starfleet are not doing now into Mr. Data's memory files, just like the one we discovered. How do we know we haven't been down this road fighting this fire many times before? Let's keep the ball rolling. We're bound to hit the bullseye eventually. So let's make a movie folks." HoloZimm said, "Am I to be the executioner again? I don't think I like that very much. I'm a cadet now." Beverly Crusher said, "Think of it an acting career, Mr.Barclay knows what I'm talking about." Mr. Barclay stammered, "It's a part, HoloZimm, nothing more, just flick off your safeties and remember that you are the key to saving us all, you probably have already done so. We just haven't realized it yet." Deanna spoke up, "But what if we choose an option that has already failed once before?" "Then we keep doing it until we get it right. We just have to figure out what option to send as the last message to ourselves. So let's get the show on the road as they say." He tossed a phaser to HoloZimm, "Better hang onto this lad. It's our ticket out of a one way scenario." HoloZimm caught it and looked at it distastefully. "Hmmm. I'm beginning to regret ever having been born.." Scotty's fingers danced over his keypad on the computer as he manipulated a holographic record on Barclay's invention. Soon, he had a working vid with another possibility engrained into it. "Here Mr. Data. Come take this into your positronic matrix." Mr. Data soon did so. "I have one question. Why was I the image projected onto HoloZimm when he phasered off Data's head this time around?" Yar asked. "Something you'll say or do might be the option that works?" Scotty suggested. "You're not an engineer but that might work out for both of us. The Guardian brought you.. You of all people back from the past to assist us now. Here. You must have the answer we need in some way." Yar looked very vulnerable. All of the sudden Building Five hit critical, an image of indescribable searing green light burned into all of their retinas as the fire ball bloomed huge and deadly, signalling the end of everything. "Yar!" Scotty shouted. "Give me an option!" he said with his fingers over the keyboard now tied to Data. "Get ready with that phaser HoloZimm!" "Uh.. show Alexander finding the tramtunnel early with Byte before it reaches the bottom of the hanger in Building Five!" she screamed. Scotty barely created her suggestion and finished setting the vid scene inside Data when he died. HoloZimm fired his critical shot. Data went into two pieces. Seven barely had enough time to talk to the Guardian of Forever through her nanoprobes, "Take the head, now!" --------------------------------------------------------- Scotty looked on with amazement clearly showing in his eyes. "Bloody hell, it actually worked! It took five starship tractor beams to create the vacuum across San Francisco to put out the Plasma fire. Smart boy Alexander. His playing with my wee Byte found and diverted a catastrophe that surely would have killed us all." He looked out over the blackness inside the city dome from his high orbiter shuttle and sighed. "It's a total blackout down there." He told his team. "If we're going to get Starfleet back in power and online with the rest of the world, we'd better get started. Our first task is to unbury the Guardian so Uhura, Chapel Yar, K'Ehleyr and her son can return back to whence they came. Grab your environmental suits lad. There's still no air down there. Captain Janeway, let's head to Central Command. We'll need that main reactor back online first, then we'll see about getting the main computer back on line. HoloZimm can help us there. Nice how we met him in that coffee shop outside of town. I think Deanna's going to like her birthday present a bunch. Reg's a clever lad." Janeway smiled. "Chakotay, Doctor, Spock, Kirk. Let's all head down there. The first thing we should do is secure Starfleet as soon as possible. I get a little nervous when the heart of the Federation is sitting in the middle of a blackout inside pure vacuum, don't you?" Chakotay said, "Wouldn't bother you so bad if you had just stopped at two cups." "Hush.." she said. ------------------------------------------ The away team beamed down from their orbitting shuttle above the security dome. They were skittish because they knew they were the only people currently inside of San Francisco. Janeway picked up a cup, previously belonging to the admiral of the day. The vacuum had made the liquid vaporize and nothing remained inside but a brown skin. "What a waste of good coffee." She could barely make out computer panels and dark viewscreen ringing the immense room in the beam of her wrist light. "How soon can we restore the atmosphere under the city dome Mr. Scott?" she asked. "We have to make sure the plasma fire is fully out., captain. That could take a few weeks. SEE SOUND BITE Those four ships maintaining our dome integrity will have to remain in orbit until we finished. Doesn't mean we can't restore a little power down here a bit at a time. We just won't have the luxury of breathable air until then. It'll be dawn soon. Won't feel so much like a morgue then." Scotty made his way over to a power access panel he knew better than the back of his hand. It was very like one he had in his Lab in Building Six. He cracked it open and lifted his tricorder for a preliminary scan. He found something unexpected. He tapped his helmet comm unit so all with him could hear him. "This can't be right? I thought the Guardian doesn't emit chronoton particles.. I've seen only time capsules creating a signature like this. " Janeway said "What?!" "There's a time shifted residue left on these controls. It seems to have been left right around the time our plasma fire started." Scotty said, his voice was hollow inside his helmet and it began to steam with the moisture from his breath. Chakotay's larger form appeared next to Scotty's and Janeway's "Are you saying Starfleet been breached by a time traveler?" "That's exactly what I'm trying to say, laddie." Scott said. "I don't like the sound of that one bit." Janeway said. ------------------------- (attachment) Image: Scotty, serious closeup. Audio: Scott- It could take weeks , sir. Image: Chakotay in an environmental suit. ***************************************** From : "Cory Anda" Subject : [voyagerliveaction] Reginald's Absolute Truth Date : Thu, 14 Feb 2002 08:12:18 +0000 Mr. Barclay had beamed down with Ambassador Spock from the orbitting shuttle about six minutes after Chakotay Janeway and Mr. Scott did. ::I don't know how he manages to do that.:: Reg thought, reaching up a glove to scratch an itch. The plexiglass over his helmet of his envirosuit stopped his hand instantly.::Spock is wearing a full issue jumper with life pack and he still looks dignified.:: Reg gulped. ::And, he's not afraid of the dark.:: Reg shined his wrist light as far as it could go within Building Five. The shaft of wane light hit rafters that were still dusty with smoke, and created eerie shadows everywhere. Shivering, Reg composed an entry for his personal log to keep imaginary ghosts at bay. His helmet computer dutifully recorded his voiceprint, Reg added more to his log.."...We saw the orange firelight glowing through the shields on the memory vid we recovered from Data's head the Guardian left us this morning. It showed Alexander playing with Mr. Scott's spy probe down in the tramway tunnels and it was he on that record who found the fire in a cavern about to burn through the floor of the Guardian of Forever's hanger. Nurse Chapel and Uhura narrowly escaped when we comm'd them in warning. Shocked, Command opted to mass beam everyone out of San Francisco to create an emergency atmosphere purge over Starfleet Headquarters and the entire city. And so, here I am. Five miles into a black, powerless city in the middle of a vacuum to meet the Guardian of Forever in Starfleet's most secret Building... I don't know what we'll find. I just overheard Mr. Scott and Captain Janeway talking about finding chronoton particles in Central Command and that never bodes well with any Starfleet personnel unfortunate enough to find some. End log.." Barclay was so intent on what he was saying, that he nearly fell over a tipped over chair. A strong glove steadied him before he flopped painfully all the way onto his back. "More vigilance and less conversation may aid your concentration on the task at hand, Mr. Barclay." Spock's voice said loudly into the audio pickup in his helmet. " The next stumble may breach your envirosuit if I'm not present to catch you when you fall." "I'm sorry, Mr. Spock. I don't do very well in dark, airless places." Barclay gasped. "We are perfectly safe, as long as we keep our heads about ourselves." Barclay's imagination immediately went to a few hours ago when they all found Mr. Data's head in Mr. Boothby's garden below Deanna Troi's balcony. "Like he kept his head?" Reg whispered about Data. "Working into an anxiety ridden state is illogical. I suggest you direct your thoughts elsewhere. Mr. Data is unharmed and the head from the future no longer exists in our timeline." Spock added. "And why do you think that is, uh, sir," Barclay said, as he and Spock slowly made their way deeper inside the pitch black hanger, only their wristlights showing the way to the dirt layer around where the Guardian of Forever had last been located. Mr. Spock turned so he could see Reg through his face plate. He could see the nervous man sweating but was at a loss on how to make him "feel" better. So he said simply, "That is a reason we shall never know lieutenant. And I have learned to trust the Guardian of Forever's judgement and from what my former captain shares corresponding with it. Its silence on that question should be a warning to us not to meddle further." Reg fidgetted, following exactly in the Vulcan's boot prints as he tried to ascertain the Guardian's new position inside Building Five "Yeah, but how are we to know what it wants us to do if we keep hitting the gray areas all the time. Granted, we were lucky avoiding that fire without anyone getting hurt at all, but this just.... this just stinks sir." "Then I would suggest adjusting your environmental controls to recalibrate your air filters Mr. Barclay." Spock said evenly, studying the brightly glowing tricorder which did nothing to ease the darkness. "I'm not talking about my suit sir, I'm talking about us not knowing all the answers. Don't you find it a bit odd that two dead women, two unaged women and a boy who is actually a man in our time suddenly shows up here through the Guardian at it's behest?" "Tasha Yar and K'Ehleyr are being granted a vacation the Guardian told us. If it chooses to spare death for them a little while I find no illogic in that. Alexander was cheated from time with his mother at a crucial age. It is logical to assume the Guardian is righting some wrong between them. As to Uhura and Nurse Chapel, the Guardian thought Kirk was lonely for his friends of old and retrieved them from where its vast memory told it they last were, from the Enterprise of the past. It is harming nothing to have them visit as their youthful selves.The Guardian is very good at avoiding paradox.." Spock said in a long speech. At the end of it, Mr. Barclay calmed considerably and he could finally walk in his suit boots without tripping over every obstruction in the dark. "So why are you coming back here to ask it more questions? We just might hit another philosophical concrete wall again." "I assume you are speaking metamorphically Mr. Barclay. Captain Kirk is off duty and he has asked me to continue where he left off last night. He is still recovering from "working a double shift" during the fire emergency yesterday morning. That is why I am here a second time. I need you present because the Guardian is curious about your birthday gift to the counselor and it wants to know more about it." "It finds HoloZimm an object of curiosity?" "Yes." "Oh." Reg said. And then he found nothing much more to say after that until they reached the new spot the Guardian chose for the evening. It was barely discernable in the darkness, a spot that was somehow a little bit blacker than the rest, until Ambassador Spock reached out a glove to touch its ancient surface. ##THE FRIEND OF KIRK RETURNS. AND THE ONE WHO MADE LIFE FROM LIGHT. SPEAK FEARFUL ONE OF YOUR CREATION AND I WILL LISTEN...## Mr. Barclay gasped when the bright white of the donut stone lit with each spoken word from the ancient monolith gateway. "W--What..do you want to know about HoloZimm. Uh,...really, uh, there isn't much to tell. He was sort of...an accident. I- I- I ... He was really supposed to be just a holoprogram but somehow, he..became alive." As Reg spoke he felt not only that he was being listened to but probed in every cell in every nuance of attentiveness from the Guardian. He could feel that focused attention on him like a weight and he knew with absolute certainty that the Guardian was looking at him, even with no eyes. It was an odd sensation. The weight grew until Reg thought he was about to snap until... ##THIS NEW LIFE WAS BEGOTTEN OF THOUGHT. A RARE ABILITY IN EMPHEMERALS OF ANY TIME LINE. I HAVE GARNERED YOUR IMPRESSIONS OF HIM AND THE PROCESS ON HOW YOUR LIFEFORM CAME ABOUT. YOU MAY ASK ANY QUESTION AS A BALANCE TO OUR COMMUNICATION.## Barclay saw Mr. Spock's eyebrow raise at that. Apparently, it was an offer not lightly given to any visitor to the Guardian. Reg swallowed away the dryness in his throat and he glanced back at the patient stone waiting in silence. Then he spoke into the hollowness of his helmet. "Sir,.. I've long noticed how reality effects people profoundly for good and evil. One never quites gets used to the results. I know, I used to run from it until Deanna showed me reality was better than a holographic one. What I want to know is,.. Is there a purpose for every life living as it does, when it does, beyond just procreating itself for future generations?" The question had escaped Barclay's lips before he could rein it back. Mr. Spock was nodding in respect when Barclay was through. It wasn't two moments before the Guardian lit up once more in speech/thought. ##LIFE IS DYNAMIC AND AN ANSWER TO THE GREAT VOID SPANNING THE UNIVERSE. THE POWER OF ONE IS THE SAME AS THE POWER OF MANY. THOUGHT, ENERGY AND TIME ARE ONE. LIFE CREATES ANEW WHEN THIS BALANCE IS REACHED. EMOTIONS, PAIN, DEATH AND BIRTH MAKE LIFE DIVERSE AND ENRICHED IN EACH THAT POSSESSES IT. ONE IS BORN BEING ABLE TO MAKE ONE'S OWN DESTINY. SEEK IT, REGINALD, AND BE FULFILLED.## A lump formed in Barclay's throat and he felt his superior's grip under his arm supporting him as a single tear flowed down his sweaty face. It was an absolute truth that filled Barclay to the core and left him weak. Then the feeling faded, leaving him as he had been a moment ago. "Did you hear that Mr. Spock?" Reg asked. "I heard nothing, Mr. Barclay. You and it have been silent for exactly two point five minutes." he replied. ##THE OTHER MAN HAS A DIFFERENT TRUTH TO DISCOVER. HE HAS YET TO EARN IT AS YOU HAVE DONE. LONG HAVE I AWAITED A QUESTION SUCH AS YOURS. IT IS ONE WORTHY OF YOU.## the Guardian said. "Would you like me to bring HoloZimm to you next tommorrow when we come back with a survey team to restore power here?" Reg asked it. ##THE NEW LIFE AND I HAVE WORDS SHARED EVEN NOW. I DO NOT NEED HIM NEAR.## Reg nodded, then felt stupid when he realized that Guardian knew what he meant in ways deeper than verbal or nonverbal communication. "Uh, thank you... uh,.. for speaking." He retreated into his work surveying the smoke and fire damage for the rest of the night. It gave Reg a vaguely pleased feeling to see that the Guardian failed to light up to any question Mr. Spock posed to it. =========================== Dawn spilled into the absolute vacuum under the city dome around them and light penetrated deep into the still hanger. Barclay wasn't even tired. He felt somehow, physically and mentally buoyed. He assumed he was euphoric because it was his first experience with the ancient gateway. He caught himself whistling, several times for no reason at all, until one note of song came into his ear as dissonant. It was Janeway, from across Campus. "We've learned more about the temporal residue Mr. Scott found on the main reactor panel. It is from a living being. Mitochondrial traces are showing up in our scans. They sprang into our lifebands when the sunlight hit them. Likewise, we're beginning to fire off phaser rifles into the main spaces in our Building. We're hoping the ionizing discharges may light up any other chronoton particles trails as yet undiscovered. So if you see phaser fire over here. Know it's us." Mr. Spock stopped his calm regard of the silent Guardian and offered insight of his own. "Understood. Captain, about the residue. The extent of the cellular differentiation over five types should pinpoint a biological origin as opposed to a biomechanical one." "Already on that, ambassador." the EMH answered on their com frequency. "So far, inconclusive results. How's everyone's air by the way. Please check your life packs every six hours to be on the safe side. It's not like you can crack a helmet for some fresh air when an oxygen cylinder sours out. I and Starfleet Medical's going to need a check-in every half hour. Kapesh?" Everyone down inside the vacuum zone responded in the positive. "Reg," the EMH continued on the universal line, "You're doing much better. I'd say daylight's calming your nerves substantially." Barclay didn't even take offense. "Amazing what philosophy can do for one doctor." he thought, thinking of his experience with the Guardian a few hours ago. The EMH quipped, "Just make sure it's Zen and not nitrogen narcosis creating that euphoria lieutenant. A lack of atmospheric pressure can create the EX-Bends despite those environmental suits. Keep with your work partner so you have a safety margin in place." "I will doctor. No doubt our bioflags will tattle if it is anything untoward happening to any of us. You should beam over here doctor. The view's fine.." Barclay said, seeing the oval serene arch of the darkened Guardian in front of him. "I'll stick to monitoring the away teams as you re-empower Starfleet Headquarters and finish your fire followup checks. EMH out." Mr. Barclay found it strangely hard to leave the Guardian's hanger when his and Spock's shift inside Building Five was over. ::Huh. I'll have to ask Captain Kirk about that effect.:: -------------------- (attachments) Image: Janeway firing a phaser rifle in the dark. Image: A Barclay promo in an oval frame. *animated gif* The Guardian of Forever, beaming Kirk and company away. **************************************** From: "Andy Anda" Subject: [voyagerliveaction] Fire Break Date: Thursday February 14, 2002 04:08:09 GMT USA Outside the city dome, life in the prairie project went on pretty much as it always had; With the critters, as always, fairly oblivious to events far and near, however desperate, that do not affect the prairie directly. Boothby, stalked about the perimeter of the dome, uncharacter- istically perturbed, worrying about the survival of the many gardens he nurtured within the complex. After some peregrination, he found himself once again on the periphery of the prairie project grounds. The recent fires, never far from his thoughts, got him to thinking that it was fortunate that the fire had not spread out from the dome to effect this local idyll especially since it is "brown" season with all the vegetation so dry. But, ever the insightful thinker, he wondered whether it was actually fortunate. The prairie project was an attempt to recreate and reproduce an example of a primordial prairie. He remembered that many habitats integrated periodic burning as part of their life cycles. Pulling out his essentially antique datapadd, he cross correlated the expected average period between burns with the record of the last burn of this project. The datapadd soon revealed the answer to his query. His eyes lighting up with a tacit ::eureka!::, he initiated a conference call to both Starfleet Botanical and the local fire control. ::Things might get a bit toasty soon for Mr. Hasenpfeffer and his new friend...:: ------------------------------------------------- (attachments) Image: A cartoon of the fluffy tufted posterior of a rabbit. ************************************ From : "Cassidy Meyers" Subject : [voyagerliveaction] People to Plants- Two Viewpoints Date : Sat, 16 Feb 2002 10:22:58 +0400 Deanna Troi sighed deeply. The main conference room of the USS Excelsior was no place at all like her spacious office that was now, powerless and airless, at Starfleet Medical. ::Thanks to the fire that almost was Armageddon. It's just that, here, it's too.. stark.Although I admit, it was wonderful of Captain Sulu to lend Headquarters the use of his ship for the duration of our restoration.:: she thought. She glanced up at the place on the wall where Livingston, the lionfish would have been living in a similar room on her home ship, the Enterprise D. Instead of a tank, a simple shelf sat, with a planted flower illuminated softly in a purple glow. She did a double take when the flower actually turned its bloom towards her. ::Oh, my. I forgot about her. She's a mobile Phytodendron. :: Sure enough, the bright orange and purple plant began chirping and swaying eagerly at her. Deanna hushed her,"Shhh.. Quiet you.." she grinned, once she had recovered her composure. "The bridge will hear you. Be a good plant and I'll feed you some sushimi.." Troi went over to a small stasis field and reached in to grasp a china bowl full of fish. The field rasped metallically when she reached inside for a delicate morsel to feed the flower. Immediately the Phyto bloom fell silent. Deanna was surprised it actually was emitting emotions! Mild ones of excitement and eagerness not only for the fish she had but also for the fact that someone had actually started paying attention to her again. "Ah,, I see you've met Cecilia.." a baritone voice said. Deanna Troi inadvertently started at the sound and the fish piece went flying. The animated Phyto neatly intercepted its flight through the air and ate it. "Oh, doctor, you startled me!" "Don't worry counselor," the EMH said, coming over to scratch the plant's rapidly dancing head. "You can't overfeed Phytos no matter what. A plant feeds whereever and whenever it can." and he started chuckling when the bright plant started to purr at his ministrations. "This little darling is the daughter clone to the one Captain Sulu had on the Enterprise." "She's beautiful.." Deanna said, and timidly tried to pet the flower bud. A green leaf reached up and grasped her finger and shook it. "She just said hello and sampled how you smell at the same time." the holodoc said. Deanna gave the Phyto one last pat and then turned to the doctor. "How do you know so much about Mr. Sulu's plant? We've only just boarded Excelsior this morning." "Ahh,," said the EMH, "Captain Kirk recognized this little gal and introduced me to her when he briefed Ambassador Spock, and everyone about how to proceed restoring the powergrid without re-igniting the plasma fire in that cavern beneath Building Five. He was just returned to duty after a night's sleep. Charming man. I can see why he's set as an example to cadets training at the Academy." Deanna Troi smiled. "Captain Kirk had a very charismatic and adventure filled career. Wonderful stuff to inspire new recruits." She thought about something, as she turned to looked out the port window overlooking San Francisco. Excelsior had set down on a high hill overlooking the tractor beam boosted city dome glowing over the city and the Starfleet grounds. "So, things are going to stay airless under there for how many weeks?" "Two at the most." the holodoc said. "The Fire Corp didn't want a repeat of last night's near miss. It's a wonder that no one was hurt or killed." Deanna sighed, "I am surprised the Guardian of Forever gave us that message from the future. But why he used Data's head to do it is beyond me." The EMH sucked in a simulated breath, "In my twelve years of active duty, I've learned to not wonder so much how handy information arrives to bail one's butt. Never look a gift horse in the mouth." Troi regained her chair in the conference lounge and sat once again in front of her many notes. The EMH looked the padds over, "Still rearranging your scheduled appointments, counselor? Kind of difficult to do so without an office to see them in." "You know.. I was just thinking that when Cecilia made herself known so dramatically.." Troi laughed. "Mind if I join you?" the doctor asked, "Not as if I have anything better to do. This little almost catastrophe cancelled classes for the day. I doubt if I'll get the chance to hear Captain Janeway give her speech about human hybridization at Doctor McCoy's symposium anytime soon." "Too bad they can't just land a whole fleet of Starships and run Starfleet Command from them.." Troi said with a flip of her hand. The turbolift doors whooshed open and Dr. Crusher entered. In her hands was a sizable stack of datapadds. "Oh, sorry, didn't know you set up shop here, Deanna. Want me to go?" "Beverly.. it's a big ship but it's now a very crowded one. Don't be ridiculous. Have a seat." Troi said. "Got a lot of appointments too?" "These are the medical files on the current away team inside the city dome, as best as I can recover them." she admitted. "Odd not having Starfleet's Universal Medical Database handy when you need it. I had to pull most of these from Ship's logs and other civilian sources.." The EMH held up a hand "Look no further doctor. Mr. Data and I collaborated a few minutes ago. I know what he knows about any Starfleet or affiliated personnel involved here. And that includes everyone's medical records. I just finished playing mother hen to Janeway's away team at Command telling them to monitor their oxygen packs." "How are they holding up?" Beverly wanted to know. "Well enough. Mr. Barclay took a little longer than most to get over his claustrophobia being locked up inside an envirosuit with only a wristlight but he's managing. I've paired him with Mr. Spock to keep an eye on him." "Good thinking. Reg will automatically do anything Spock orders of him. He's used to being the ambassador's aide." Troi said. "He is?" Beverly asked. "Yes. Weren't you briefed on Building Five once you got here for the Symposium Conferences?" Deanna asked. Dr. Crusher's face turned dour, "No.. I'm on vacation." Then her expression brightened. "But I do know about it now. Ran into Lt. Uhura and Nurse Chapel last night at Captain Kirk's briefing. I was shocked to learn that they had been pulled out of time with K'Ehleyr and her son for an unspecified reason." Troi was bland, "Chalk that up alongside that appearing/ disappearing Data's head trick that saved all of our rears last night. Just another mysterious circumstance that only the Guardian of Forever knows about." she shrugged. "Shall we get to work then? You with your counseling scheduling and I with my away team medical notes?" Beverly suggested. Deanna rolled her eyes, "No time like the present I guess. I wish I were with the away team. Seems like they're going to get all the really really exciting missions this week." Beverly shivered, "I wouldn't want to be locked into a suit, under a half mile of vacuum in the middle of an abandoned, pitch black city.." Troi thought about it. "Beats paddwork.." she said, holding up her like stack of records. The EMH rose, "Well, if you'll excuse me ladies. I have to find Mr. Boothby. It seems no one's considered what will happen to the biosphere in there; the plants, trees and general population of soil flora. It seems Starfleet only emergency beamed out the animals and birds along with the people before we sucked out all the air." Cecilia began chirping mournfully from her pot on the lighted shelf. The EMH rose and comforted her. "I'm not so worried about the landscape as I am about those who will run into Boothby in the next few days. Just picture how he's going to react learning his rosebeds weren't spared." "Oh!" Deanna quailed. "I just remembered! Didn't Dr. McCoy lose the tribble he saved from that bar in the shuttlelot? I don't know if our transporter buffers had the tribble species on their list of animals to beam. Tribbles aren't indigenous." The EMH quickly raised his medical tricorder. Soon, he was smiling. "The tiny fellow's all right. He's hiding with a rabbit just outside of our vacuum dome in the prairie preserve.. annnnddd " his voice drew out long as he studied his readouts. "Boothby's very near him, too." He rose, "Well, I'm off. Contact me if anything exciting comes up. I'll volunteer to even catalog smoke damage with the away team if I have to." "I'm first in that line, doctor.." Deanna said. "And I'm second." Beverly said. "Third is good." the EMH nodded. "I'll be in touch ladies." and he poofed out to appear by Boothby's side. ------------------------------------ The EMH had paced alongside the disgruntled caretaker for almost a full minute when he decided he would try vocalizing to get Boothby's focus. "Nice day." "It's a crappy day doctor.." "The sun is out. Nice breeze." "Not for my gardens there isn't. They're suffocating even as we speak under that vacuum dome. Soon, they'll be so dry, their stems'll snap like toothpicks and then where will I be?" "Cornering the pot pourri market?" the EMH ventured. "Not funny baldy. I've spent over two centuries in those beds while I checked out officer potential cadets. It rankles me that all that energy and artistry is going to be so much dust by sundown tonight." "Just think, you'll have an opportunity to create a new canvas without the work of hoeing." holodoc pointed out. "Just stomp a foot on the ground and poof! Instant powdered topsoil in rainbow petal colors.." Boothby grabbed the EMH by the collar and yanked him close, "Do I look like I want to start over on my lovelies from scratch?! Not on your life." "That's good, because I don't have one for you to bargain with." the holodoc quipped. "Listen, Boothby. From one stubborn persona to another. They're just weeds when you think about it, the only difference is that they've been labelled as widely accepted frilly flow---eerrggg!!" Boothby squeezed the EMH's throat until his fingers met in the middle. "I,.. wanted to be aLONE on this walk, I.. didn't ASK for your COMpany. So scram before I rototill your backside with my BOOTS!" and he flung the holodoc sailing through the air until he landed quite some distance up on the energy dome. The doctor, of course, slid right back down again, landing on the mound of dirt near the tribble's rabbit den with such force that dust raised high into the air. When he got up, his butt cheeks left two neatly pressed rodentia beds which the lepus and tribble undertook instantly, circling like dogs before lying down contentedly in them. The doctor noticed the two animals lounging in those impact craters left from his nether anatomy. "Opportunists." He hurried after Boothby after blowing on a thumb and reinflating his throat. "Burning off a little steam? Why don't you do something constructive instead of dwelling on what's going bad?" the EMH said. "I AM being constructive. I'm planning on a controlled burn to perfect the only plant project I got left, this prairie restoration refuge..." The EMH raised his eyebrows, "You want to start another fire..." "That's right. One that should've happened years ago. Look at that rhododendron! It's all spindly with weak blooms. It's choking out the chapparel..." Boothby started to say, then he caught himself. "Wait a minute, why am I discussing plants with the likes of you?! You're a hologram." "Glad you finally noticed. Took you long enough." the EMH grunted. "Long enough nothing!" Boothby countered. "I had more important things to worry about than to converse with a tactilized set of forcefields with an attitude." "I'm not the only one with an attitude. People have said we're two peas in a pod you know." "Great..." Boothby snorted. "I feel so brotherly.. Listen holohead, if you came out here to make me feel better, there's only one way to do it. Make like a hurricane and ...." he pursed his lips together and exhaled strongly in the doctor's face. The EMH grimaced as breath and spittle shot his way. He opaqued his mass and the stuff missed him and sprayed the grass instead. "Lesson two about holograms, we have zero density at will to go along with the attitude." "Didn't ask for a belligerent barometer..." Boothby shot back, attempting to walk away from the EMH even faster until he started to wheeze. "And we never tire. Slow down, or you'll lose your breath to the point of fainting." the doc suggested. "Good, I like the idea of suffocating. All my flowers are doing it right now. Call it implied empathy.." "More like masochistic tendency..." the EMH said. He dematted and reappeared right in front of Boothby until the old man was forced to stop his headlong march or run right into him. "And we never, ever get swayed from a task once our minds are put to it. I'm staying here until you get over this pity pit over a mere landscape change." Boothby's expression went stone cold and every muscle and sinew in his body coiled up in rage. "Holobaldy.. I'm warning you.." "Ah,, ah ah..." the EMH waggled a finger right back at him. "Get any more mad and I'll gain consent to confine you to a biobed when your blood pressure burns that white fuzz you call hair right off your head! Keep it up, Boothby." Boothby immediately sucked in his breath and balled up his fists, counting silently to ten. When he reached zero, most of the veins in his forehead had stopped pulsing with his heartbeat. "Thank you doctor for this oh so personal housecall, but your therapy stinks like week old cow dung. If you're bored, why don't you pester Jimmy or Kathy instead? Captains seem to love it when their medical officers needle them to death. Keeps them sharp cause it ain't working here. I'm not a captain!" The EMH rooted to the ground, letting Boothby outdistance him. "Damn.. Troi was right. Boothby's rank isn't captain. I lost that bet.." he sighed and transposed himself back to the bluelanded USS Excelsior near the city dome. "She wins and I get the honor of mopping the soot out of her offices the second Earth's atmosphere is allowed back into San Francisco. Joy.." ------------------------------------ Back in Excelsior's officer's lounge, Troi began to snigger. "What's so funny?" Dr. Crusher asked her friend and colleague. "I just won a little bet with the holodoc." Bev quirked a smile. "Oh yeah? What kind of bet." "The one everyone usually plays with Boothby. Try to guess the caretaker's official Starfleet rank." "What did you win?" "A complete cleaning service at work.." "OOooooo..." Dr. Crusher sympathized, thinking of the mess they all saw left behind in that part of Starfleet Headquarters. Deanna's suite carpetting was no longer a light melon, it was pure charcoal now. "What would he have won?" "A free night's reading of Seven's emotions via subdermal comm during one of their next opera house dates." Deanna said. "You're kidding.. The holodoc still isn't sure of Seven of Nine's feelings towards him?" "Apparently not.." Troi shrugge