Wesley sat the holodeck, angry over his mistreatment. He had stopped Data's evil brother Lore, and what did he get in return? An official reprimand from Captain Picard, for not following orders. Some reward for saving everyone's lives.

"Shut up, Wesley," he said in a mocking voice. "Just cause I'm a kid, everyone treats me like crap. I probably wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for Mom."

Absent-minded, Wesley started scrolling through a list of scenarios, preprogrammed into the holodeck. He saw the galaxy's largest zoo, the sports zone, a replica of Disneyland without any lines, and the all-female town that Commander Riker liked to frequent. Nothing looked interesting enough to cheer him up.

"I don't wanna go anywhere," said Wesley. "I want...I want respect. I want people to treat me like more than just a high schooler."

Wesley started typing his desires into the holodeck. He wanted to see what it'd be like if he was older. More experienced. If people actually looked up to him. If he had a real uniform instead of that ugly sweater.

The holodeck swiftly responded to Wesley's inputs. In seconds, an older Wesley shimmered into existence. He was tall, perhaps taller than Lt. Worf. He was imposing, with a red officer's uniform, a barrel chest and a neatly-trimmed beard.

"Wow," Wesley said.

The older man blinked and looked around alertly. "Hello, Wesley. Did you bring me here?"

Wesley gulped and instinctively took a step back. "I...uh, yes, sir. Mr. Crusher, sir."

The man smiled and put his hand on Wesley's shoulder. "Please. We're the same person. No need for formalities."

"Uh...okay," Wesley said. He was starting to wonder if this wasn't a bad idea.

"So. You wanted to see what you would look like when you're older?" the other Wesley said. "Feeling sad about being so young?"

"Yeah..." Wesley said. "No one respects me around here."

"Being young might seem like a hindrance, but it's not," the older man said. "Why, look at me! How old am I?"

"Um...forty?"

The older man laughed. "I'm twenty-five," he said.

Wesley's jaw dropped. "There is no way you're only ten years older than me."

"I mentioned my age for a reason. I am the youngest-ever captain in the history of Starfleet."

"Cap-you're a captain?"

"Wesley Crusher, Captain of the Starship Enterprise," Captain Crusher smiled. "They gave me a promotion which skipped several levels, when I ended the Second Klingon War."

"You ended a war?"

"All by myself, as a matter of fact," Captain Crusher said. "But of course, this shouldn't be surprising. You were the one who stopped Lore, after all."

"Yeah!" Wesley said. "I was the only one who could tell he was pretending to be Data! No one else noticed it."

"That was very good, on your part. You trusted your instincts, but more importantly, you helped protect your friend," Captain Crusher said. "I'd be honored to have a man like you as part of my crew."

"Really?" Wesley asked.

"Really. I know it's difficult, but if you wait a few more years, you will—"

The conversation was cut off by an emergency siren, sounding throughout the entire ship. "Red alert. Red alert. Unknown, hostile vessel approaching. All crew report to their stations."

"Danger? I must protect my ship!" Captain Crusher boldly declared.

"What?"

"I need to take care of this. We can talk later." Captain Crusher walked out the door, leaving a confused Wesley behind him.

"But you're not allowed to leave the holo—oh." Wesley gulped. "I...think I messed up. Big time."

"Any idea what we're looking at?" Captain Picard asked.

"As I said before, the spaceship appears to be of Klingon design," Data said. "However, there are no matches for it on our computer."

"An unknown spacecraft in an unauthorized area," Picard said. "I don't like it."

Commander Riker started at the image on the screen. "Magnify by ten times," he said. "Maybe if we get a close-up view, we can learn something about them. Any response from them yet?"

"No sir. Either they are not receiving our messages, or they are purposely ignoring us."

"Keep trying," Picard ordered.

The doors to the bridge opened, and Captain Crusher stepped inside. "Nobody worry," he said. "I am here to resolve the situation."

Captain Picard did not take kindly to this interruption. "Who are you, and what are you doing on my bridge?"

"Shut up, Johnny," Captain Crusher ordered.

"Johnny?" Picard said. "My name is Jean Luc Picard, and I—"

"Am no longer captain of this ship, so shut up," Crusher said. He quickly put himself in the Captain's chair. "Unless I'm mistaken, that is the Wordef."

"The what?"

"It is a Klingon word, meaning stinger," Lt. Worf said. "As in, the type a bee has."

"Use frequency 232.4," Captain Crusher ordered.

"But that's not a standard hailing frequency," said one of the confused engineers.

"Trust me, it will work," Crusher said. "I'm familiar with this vessel. I fought against it many times in the war."

Commander Riker and Lt. Yaz, the head of security, walked over to Picard to consult with him about the strange interloper. "I don't like this," Riker said. "Who is this man, and why is he trying to take command?"

"I don't know who he is..." Picard said. He took a good look at the strange man who was sitting in his chair. The man seemed familiar, somehow, but Picard couldn't place him.

Captain Crusher was speaking to the other vessel, in fluent Klingon. Picard didn't know what he was saying, but he picked up on some English words. "Enterprise", "Captain" and then..."Wesley Crusher."

Suddenly, all the pieces of the puzzle fell into place.

"No...Dammit, Wesley!" Picard growled. "If this is your fault, I'll..."

Picard turned to Lt. Yaz. "Bring me Wesley Crusher. NOW!"

Wesley timidly stepped into the sick bay. "Uh...Mom? Do you have a minute to talk?"

"Hi, Wesley," Dr. Crusher said. "No patients today. What's on your mind?"

"Well...I think I made a mistake in the holodeck. A big mistake."

Dr. Crusher's face fell, as she deduced what her son was talking about. "Oh. Oh. Oh. I..."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to—" Wesley began.

"There's no need to apologize, Wesley," Dr. Crusher said. "I was expecting this. Just...not so soon."

"Huh?"

Dr. Crusher sighed. If only Wesley's father was still alive! He would be better at handling this.

"I know puberty can be tough on young boys like you," she said. "You have so many new hormones, so many different feelings. It's perfectly natural if you decided to...experiment in the holodeck," Dr. Crusher said.

"Whaaaaaa?" Wesley asked.

"Believe it or not, most of the adults on the holodeck do the same thing. Why, Captain Picard's holodeck wife—oh, but I'm not supposed to talk about her—"

"Mom!" Wesley cried. His face was redder than a tomato. "I'm not talking about that! I—I made someone in the holodeck, and they got out! Now they're on the ship!

"I thought that was impossible," Dr. Crusher said.

"He, um...you know how the captain has override privileges? So does my holo-man."

Dr. Crushed looked serious. "Wesley, is the ship in danger?"

"I don't think so, but we should probably take care of things before someone notices—"

The door to the room opened and Lt. Yaz entered. "Wesley, the Captain needs to see you. Immediately."

"Uh oh," Wesley said.

Wesley explained the situation, as he went through the hallways with his mother and Lt. Yaz.

"You created another captain?" Lt. Yaz.

"Wesley, you know better than this," Dr. Crusher said. "You shouldn't make dangerous people in the holodeck. What if he decides to take over?"

"He already has," Yaz said. "He kicked Picard out of the captain's chair and told him to shut up."

"Awesome," Wesley said.

"Not awesome!" Dr. Crusher said. "The man sounds like a dangerous monster!"

"But he's me!" Wesley said. "He's not evil! He just wants to help protect the ship!"

"By committing mutiny against the captain?" Yaz asked. "I believe—"

A scream of pain echoed through the hallway.

Yaz gasped. "That came from the bridge! We have to hurry!"

Another scream pierced the air, as the three of them ran to the bridge. When the door opened before them, they saw Captain Crusher standing in the middle of the room, his foot firmly planted on the chest of a wounded Klingon.

"I surrender!" the Klingon Captain said. "My crew and I will leave this quadrant, immediately!"

"Now that's more like it," Captain Crusher said, smiling. "Tell engineering to beam this dog back to the Woredef. I don't want to see his ugly face anymore."

"My brothers...will avenge this insult..." the Klingon said.

Captain Crusher laughed. "More likely, they'll execute you for failing in your duties as captain. Klingons who lose battles aren't popular."

Captain Picard was watching the scene with some amusement, but he quickly made his way over to the door. "Wesley," said Picard. "Am I correct in assuming this man is an older version of you?"

"Yes. I made him in the holodeck," Wesley said.

"Which is against regulations," Picard said. "You can consider your punishment doubled."

"But that's not—"

"Tripled," Picard said. "You may be brilliant, but you still don't know when to keep your mouth closed."

Wesley pouted. That wasn't much of an improvement over "Shut up, Wesley."

The Klingon Captain was beamed back to his ship, and the ship left the area at top speed. The red alert was lifted, and the Enterprise returned to normal conditions.

Picard walked up to the captain's chair. "Excellent job, Captain Crusher," he said. "You rid us of those hostiles in record time."

"It is my duty as Captain to protect this ship," Crusher said graciously.

"Then you understand that it is my duty, as captain, not to let anyone else take over my command."

"Yes, of course," Captain Crusher said. "I suppose you want me to return to the holodeck to be deactivated."

"You have no objections?" Picard asked. In his experience, these problems weren't usually resolved so peacefully.

"I do, but I understand where you're coming from. In the past—well, in your future, I suppose—there will be some holodeck problems."

"Oh? What sort of problems?"

Crusher smiled. "I'll let you find out on your own. Goodbye, Picard."

Picard shook hands with Captain Crusher. "Farewell, Crusher. It was a pleasure meeting you."

"But before I go, there's one more thing."

"Yes?"

Captain Crusher took a step backwards, then belted Picard in the face with a mighty punch. Picard fell backwards, landing on his butt.

"Sorry," Crusher said. "I always wanted to do that."

"Awesome..." Wesley said, under his breath.

Captain Crusher winked at Wesley, as he left for the holodeck to decommission himself.

Picard picked himself off of the ground. He was now sporting an impressive-looking black eye.

Wesley wisely decided to say nothing. He had learned something from this adventure.