Star Trek: Free Will
Summary: A few months after "All Good Things…" The Enterprise D finds itself faced with an 80 year old problem… literally. The Trial is still on-going, and humanity will have to prove itself once more… or lose its most valuable intangible. .
Genres: Action/Adventure, Mystery, Drama
Warnings: Violence, mild language, disturbing themes
Crossovers: I'm not counting this as a TNG/TOS crossover as it is meant as a rewrite of Star Trek: Generations, which itself is sort of a crossover.
Author's Notes: Okay, this requires some explanation. I wrote this first chapter approximately (checks word file) wow 4 years ago. I had an idea about rewriting Generations so it didn't suck (Sorry Guys, but Generations was just an extra long episode with a lackluster ending and waaay too many plot holes). It's based on several things I noticed between TOS and TNG.
Without an instant spoiler, expect to see an unused enemy from TNG. Not saying which one (there were a few) but the last bit of this hints at it, if there's interest in this fic, the next chapter would reveal it anyway.
As of posting this, this is all I've got on this story. But I may as well post it to see if there's any demand for it out there. I've edited it to a 'decent' level of writing, but it's not my best. If there's interest, I may continue this.
Uhh... forgive any blatant errors.. i did write this 4 years ago :P Should i continue, it'll be a much higher quality.
Captains Log Stardate 48563.5
The Enterprise has been dispatched to investigate the disappearance of the Klingon Freighter Kak'Toh. It was part of a mining operation on the edge of unexplored space in the Beta Quadrant. Both the Federation and the Klingon Empire have interest in expanding towards that section of the Galaxy and while unmanned probes have not revealed any species, we are the first Federation ship to go out this far.
The Klingon Brel class Chuk'Ma is accompanying us in the search as our Klingon liaison. Having had much experience with the Klingons, I find them quite worthy travel companions.
Our preliminary scans of the area show severe gravimetric distortions, similar to the Badlands of Bajoran space. If the Freighter had been caught in one of the distortions it could easily explain the sudden disappearance. However, the captain of the Chuk'Ma does not seem to want to accept that explanation
Commander LaForge has spent his time refreshing his knowledge of Klingon Engineering and has had a small incident with the Klingon Chief engineer when he noted that the efficiency of power generation was significantly smaller than the Enterprise's. He is recovering under the nursing hand of Dr. Crusher for a broken Jaw and moderate bruising…
"Data to Captain Picard." The com chirped
"Yes Mr. Data?" Jean Luc replied, putting down his pad.
"Long range scans have detected a ship approximately 5 parsecs ahead. We will be in range in five minutes. Shall I bring us out of warp once we are within range?" His pleasant voice showed little to no emotion at the finding.
"Yes Mr. Data. I'm on my way." Jean Luc replied.
It had been almost 3 months since his last incident with Q, Jean Luc didn't like to admit it, but Q had taught him much about his own life. He'd spent the last 3 months trying to make up lost time with his crew, his family.
Jean Luc was also worried about all the things that had been brewing in the galaxy. The threat from the Gamma Quadrant of the Dominion and the Founders couldn't be ignored for much longer. He'd been briefed by Starfleet's top brass and they gave the Dominion too little attention given their potential aggression.
With the Admirality sending the Flagship of the Federation on a simple Rescue and Recon mission, Jean Luc couldn't help but feel something ominous envelop his thoughts.
He stepped out onto his bridge; His staff seemed suspiciously few.
"Number one, where is Lieutenant Worf?"
His executive officer, Commander William T. Riker, stood from his seat beside the Captain's chair. Despite his large stature, his smile was endearing and negated the intimidation. "Sir, I believe he went to the Bird of Prey to do some weapons testing." His voice seemed almost sarcastic, playful with an edge of teasing.
Jean Luc raised an eyebrow as he looked to the screen, saw the stars warping past and then back to Riker. "Difficult to fire phasers at warp."
"Sir, with all due respect…" Troi's Mediterranean accent was soothing, exactly what he needed to hear. Coming from an empath, that was no surprise. "I don't think Will meant ship wide weapons."
Jean Luc sighed and straightened his jacket; he sat down in his chair and touched the com system. "Picard to Lieutenant Worf, Come in." He said with a touch of irritation.
Worf's brusque voice came through clearly. "Captain! I am on board the Chuk'Ma."
"Do you mind explaining why you are not at your post?"
"Sir…? I received an invitation from the security officer of the Chuk'Ma to have a friendly sparring session between our security officers…"
Jean Luc could distinctly hear behind him the sounds of clashing blades, Klingon war cries, and cursing in both Human languages and Klingon dialects. "Be that as it may Lieutenant, I need you on the bridge on the double."
"Sir, Yes sir." The disappointment in Worf's voice was barely evident. Jean Luc had grown to accept Worf's style of responsibility. It led him to trouble every now and again, but he couldn't ask Worf to completely discard his heritage, just follow all his orders.
"Commander, Did Lt. Worf ask for your permission to take a security detail over to the Klingon ship?" Jean Luc had turned his head accusingly towards Riker, but the edge of a grin told him it was a safe question to answer.
Riker's innocent grin hid nothing. "Of course Captain. I told him he'd be fighting for the honor of the Enterprise. He told me that much was obvious."
"Very well Commander, though I would like to be advised should another member of my bridge crew wish to embark upon… Training exercises' especially aboard a Klingon vessel." As if summoned, Lieutenant Commander Geordi LaForge stepped out onto the deck and engaged his command console near the Turbolift.
'Engineering controls transferred to bridge station' the computer chimed.
"Captain, Reporting for Duty." LaForge announced
"Commander, All patched up?" Jean Luc asked
"Yes sir, a little stiff but nothing the Doctor can't handle."
"Geordi, you forgot my one piece of advice…" Riker hinted.
"Oh no sir, I was prepared to duck, he simply didn't give me the chance." The entire bridge staff smiled with slight humor.
"Captain, we are now entering visual range of the ship." Data spoke up
"Very good, on screen." Jean Luc ordered
He quickly glanced around, despite the humor, his entire staff was now fully concentrating, and years of training and experience showed as they all went to stations.
The screen flickered to life and showed a Klingon freighter, badly damaged from the looks of it, with plasma leaking from its starboard bow, sending it into a tumbling spin. "Damage report, Mr Data." Jean Luc ordered.
A few seconds passed as Data replied," "Sensors show moderate damage to all systems, Propulsion is offline, Life support is operating at minimum levels on the decks which have not been ruptured. I am picking up 23 life signs, all Klingon, still alive, but erratic."
Riker spoke up while looking at his chair's viewscreen."Looks like they took a beating, any signs of weapons of energy signatures?"
Data scanned. "Negative Commander, there does not appear to be any weapons or specific energy signatures that correspond to known ship-based weapons."
"What about unknown ones?"
"Impossible to tell, but from what our sensors are telling us, the damage appears to have originated from inside the freighter."
"What happened here?" Jean Luc mused "Data, Hail the ship, perhaps their communication systems are still operating."
"Aye Sir, Hailing Frequencies open."
Jean Luc stood, straighten his jacket once more, and spoke in his clear and commanding voice.
"Klingon Freighter, this is Captain Jean Luc Picard of the Federation Starship USS Enterprise, we've come to render assistance. Please respond."
A full minute passed on the clock above the viewscreen, finally an image resolved. A wounded Klingon appeared, he seemed disoriented but able to speak.
"Enterprise, this is Captain Korval of the Freighter Kak'Toh, It's good to see that the empire did not forget about us."
"Yes Captain, we've come with the Bird of Prey Chuk'Ma in the hopes we can repair your ship."
"Excellent news Captain. I will hail the Chuk'Ma immediately."
With that, the viewscreen shut off, the image of the derelict ship took over. Jean Luc frowned. "Rather abrupt that."
Riker spoke first. "Maybe he doesn't want to appear weak in front of humans; he'd rather ask a fellow Klingon for assistance than us."
"Perhaps, but he seemed rather hurried for some reason."
LaForge spoke next. "Well Captain, they've been trapped for who knows how long, I'd be wanting to get moving as quickly as possible too."
"But we still don't know what caused their damage."
At that moment, the Turbolift doors opened and a sweaty Lieutenant Worf stepped onto the bridge.
"Reporting as ordered, Sir." He said with a slight stiffening of his body.
"Welcome back Lieutenant, Man your post." Jean Luc said as he moved to his station. "I assume you were listening through the com system?"
"Yes sir, A Klingon never sbows weakness, no doubt he's explaining the situation to your counterpart of the Chuk'Ma with as little dishonor on his part as possible."
"That seems appropriate, what about you Counselor? You've been quiet." Jean Luc asked sitting down again.
Shrugging, Deanna huffed slightly in annoyance. "He's hiding something, whether it's his shame or something else I can't tell."
"Hmm… Alright, we've given them enough time, Mr Data, Hail the Chuk'Ma."
"Aye sir." Data responded.
The viewscreen immediately changed to a view of the bridge of the Bird Of Prey, it's dark look added to the sinister atmosphere surrounding the Klingon Captain. "Captain Kay'Val, Has the captain of the freighter explained to you what happened?"
"Yes Jean Luc, It seems one of his subordinates failed to notice a surge in their secondary power grid, by the time they attempted to fix it, it was too late. The entire secondary grid blew killing half the engineering staff, but the damage is not as serious as you may believe. These freighters are scrap when they launch, slightly better than garbage scows."
Jean Luc wasn't surprised; the Captain of the Bird of Prey had made clear mention of his idea that this mission was pointless. "Forgive me if I seem a bit incredulous, but our scans show that that ship is crippled."
"Yes… other than the engines though, it's still space worthy. I don't believe we need the Federation's flagship to supervise some routine repairs."
"Very well, Captain. We'll be remaining in the area for the next few days so if there are any problems, do not hesitate to call."
"I doubt that will happen." The Klingon's obvious contempt for his current situation seemed almost comical.
"Farewell, Captain."
"Ka'Pla!"
The viewscreen died out.
Jean Luc sighed as he sat back in his chair "Well… this seems like quite the disappointment. Mr. Data, are the any interesting astrological objects nearby?"
"There is a binary star system 11 light years from here.'
"Very well… ensure we have everyone back from the Bird of Prey and set a course." Jean Luc took a seat, he still had the nagging feeling that something seemed out of place, but without further evidence, it was nothing more than a feeling.
Ensign Karl Fullerton cursed loudly; it was unlike most ordinary Starfleet officers to use such language, but he wasn't all that ordinary. Karl was part of a new breed of officers from Starfleet Academy. He'd trained extensively in combat and hazardous situations. The current situation though was one he'd only trained in using terran style martial arts.
Karl raised his bat'leth to block his opponent's strike, at the same time he dropped and swung his feet across in front of him catching the Klingon off guard. The Klingon fell taking Karl along with him; he rolled away and reentered his combat stance.
The Klingon got up cursing in his own language. He wiped a bit of blood off his forehead and let out an angry growl as he took his position again. Karl knew he was screwed. He'd been lucky enough to be the last human to attempt to go through the sparring ladder and had the fortune of fighting opponents who were already tired from previous fights. It wasn't so now, both this and his last opponent and been fresh out of the bleachers.
Karl was sore all over, he'd taken 2 blows already to his midsection and a third would signal his loss. Karl had only managed to tap the Klingon once in the chest during a confusing parrying maneuver. Without more extensive training with the bat'leth, Karl didn't think he could win.
'No' Karl thought to himself 'Worf'll tear a strip out of you if you don't win this! Gotta win, gotta win!'
Karl circled his opponent; he had a look a hideous pleasure as he seemed to hunt him. How to take him down? His previous opponent had been too hasty, and left himself with little defense instead going completely offensive. Karl had managed to take him out within 4 minutes. This fight was going on 10 now, neither would give up, but neither could find a real weakness in the other. The only real advantage Karl had was the rule the Klingons had given them, that because of the 'human's inherent weakness' as they put it, to be asked to hit a superior Klingon warrior with the blunted bat'leth even two times was already asking much. So all he really had to do was tag him once more and the fight would be his.
The problem was getting through with a blow, if he didn't keep his defense up, he'd get hit so hard he'd fly into a bulkhead. Proof of this was the bloodied and bruised Enterprise security officers cheering him on from the sidelines. Most were ok, but one had suffered more severe wounds and would need to see the walls in sickbay.
Karl didn't make any aggressive maneuvers; instead he focused on scanning his opponent for any weak spots. The Klingon wasn't so patient. "Come human! Strike me again if you can!" Karl gave no mind to the taunt. One of the things they had taught him at the academy was to separate his emotions from his actions, especially in a situation like this. He needed to think clearly, not act rashly. "Look at this puny human! He knows he cannot win so he hopes to prolong his shame!" the Klingon looked at Karl. "Come now, I tire of this."
The Klingon screamed and lashed out with another blow; Karl dodged it and rolled to the right. As he got up, he swung the bat'leth with his right arm while spinning hoping to catch the Klingon unguarded, the clash of blades told him he missed and he braced himself for another blow, instead the other blade seemed to pick hum up right off the floor and toss him to the side.
He didn't fall, but his back was totally exposed and the Klingon had an easy opening, Instinct kicked in and he left himself drop to the floor with the blade braced in front of him. He could see the Klingons blade come down for what had meant to be the final blow, now aimed squarely at his face. The blades touched and sparks flew.
With a place to brace himself, he had a bit more leverage. The Klingon seemed intent to simply crush his strength. Karl instead used his position to roll backwards and kick the Klingon in the face.
Stunned momentarily, the Klingon reeled back. Blinded, he swept arcs in front of him with the bat'leth. Karl rolled to his side and struck out with a straight jab with the blunt blade. His mind cheered jubilation as it found its mark and the Klingon grunted accordingly. Karl thought he heard the security chief of the Klingon ship say something about it being over, but he could barely make out his voice over the roaring cheer of his companions. Amazingly, he'd managed to beat the Klingons at their own game.
His opponent gazed furiously at him; he bared his fangs and beat his arm to his chest. "Ka'pla, warrior!"
Karl responded in kind. "Ka'pla!"
The four other humans who were there surrounded him and gave cheers of victory, none of them thought about the danger of gloating on a ship full of angry Klingons and decided to head back to the Enterprise. There was much boasting to be done about their friend's achievement, and they wanted something less toxic than Klingon blood wine.
Karl grabbed his bat'leth and handed it back to the security chief. The Klingon grabbed his arm and pulled out another bat'leth, this one razor sharp. "Here Warrior, You're one of the few humans to ever earn one."
Karl accepted the blade. He swung it around his back and beat his arm across his chest. They stayed aboard another 5 minutes before heading back to the transporter. They were in the mood to celebrate.
"You should have seen it! Toe to toe with their best man!" Karl felt his buddy Arnold's arm wrap around his shoulders. It hurt a lot more than he showed on his face. They were talking to 2 young female Ensigns who seemed enraptured by Karl's achievement. "I always knew this guy was tough, but now I'm never messing with this guy again!"
Karl seemed almost in a daze, it had been such a different training session than anything he'd ever experienced. There was a real sense of hostility and danger to it. His bruised body attested to that. But he hadn't yet experienced real combat. Only holodeck simulations and a few live-fire training missions. This was the closest he came to actually having a real threat in his face in his 2 years of service.
"Mind if I join in?"
Karl didn't recognize the voice, but from the sudden stiffening of his friends he could tell it was someone in charge. The voices in Ten-Forward quieted a bit, only enough so eavesdroppers could listen in.
"Commander Riker, Sir!" Arnold's nervousness in front of command staff was almost legendary; one would think that being a security officer meant one was in control of oneself. Arnold was the exception, he served fine during exercises and in the few situations he'd been needed, but anybody above Lieutenant Commander and he'd wet his drawers.
"At ease Gentleman, I heard about the Ensign's victory and came down to see what happened." Riker seemed genuinely interested, but Karl noticed how he positioned himself between the two female ensigns and he and Armold.
"Sir… Yes sir." Arnold saluted.
"Well, who wants to tell me what happened? Or should I get it from the horses mouth himself?" Karl dropped his salute; he let a small half laugh half scoff out.
"It was pretty great sir. I'm still in shock over it." Karl tried to sound like he wasn't intimidated, but he'd heard a lot about Enterprise's second in command.
"I bet, mind if we talk about this in private?" Riker pointed off to a more private section of the bar, it seemed he'd noticed the eavesdroppers.
"No sir, not at all." He replied a bit confused.
Karl looked back at the two female ensigns who seemed a bit curious about what had just happened, while Arnold was half a nervous wreck, and half giving him a 'go for it' shake of his fist. They reached the table and Guinan walked up to them. "So gentleman, what'll it be?"
"Nothing for me Guinan, I'm on duty, but what do you think our conquering hero here should have?"
Karl began to roll his eyes; Riker's sarcasm was evident, but quickly checked himself. It wouldn't be prudent to be disrespectful of his superiors.
"I think I know just what to get him. Back in a minute."
Guinan walked off, Riker seemed to lose a bit of the charm on his face and went into a more serious tone. "So Ensign, what happened over there?"
Karl went into detail of how Worf had asked for volunteers to go and join the Klingons in their sparring matches. He'd always been fascinated with how Klingon's fought and was the first to sign up. But in the actual ladder, he was the last one to fight. He was just describing how the first 2 security officers just weren't prepared for the ferocity of the Klingons when Guinan came back with his drink. "There you go, the drink of warriors."
Karl picked the glass up and smelled it. It seemed strikingly familiar. "Is that…. Prune Juice?"
"Lieutenant Worf's favorite. I'm sure he'd approve."
Karl shrugged and took a sip. It was surprisingly refreshing. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." Guinan's oddly deceptive yet at the same time, genuine voice had always intrigued Karl. Almost as if she was speaking through you rather than at you.
Riker waited till Guinan had moved off to gesture him to continue. He continued the story with the futile efforts of those before him. They managed to defeat 3 of the Klingons in the ladder, but were so tired afterwards that they posed little threat to the 2 top ones. "So how did you get through?"
"I watched each Klingon as they fought, they're just as vulnerable as us in some ways, I know their physiology is quite a bit different than ours, but they still get tired and show weaknesses they don't know. I got through the first 3 no problem, but the 4th was downright feral, he really tired me out." He continued with how he had fought with the last Klingon for a quarter of an hour, he said it felt more like a quarter of a century.
"Sounds like it was exhilarating, Ensign."
"It was."
They were quiet for a few uncomfortable seconds, besides the fight, they really didn't have anything to talk about, or so Karl thought. "Ensign, before I came down here I took a look at your CSV."
"Sir?" Karl was worried, not that there was anything wrong with his Career Service Vitae, but anytime an officer would look it up, there wasn't likely going to be a nice conversation after.
"You've got all the markings of a great security officer, but you've been through different training and education than us." Riker's voice was professional, the amusement was gone and the authority was there.
"Pardon sir, who's us?"
"Sorry, I mean everybody who went to the academy years ago, before they started this whole new curriculum involving all these new threats we've encountered." Karl didn't understand, he said so. "It's a bit hard to explain. Like I said, you have all the markings of a great security officer… in war times." Now he understood. Riker was saying he was more of a warrior than the others on the ship. "When it comes down to it, you've shown that you'd rather fight than try to come up with a different solution. Being the flagship of the fleet, we're supposed to have our best and brightest on board."
Karl took a few seconds to himself, what was Riker saying? He'd learned that courage could take one far, so he took a risk. "Permission to speak freely?"
Riker raised his eyebrows, but nodded once. "Go ahead Ensign, speak your mind."
"Am I right in assuming you don't think I'm one of those, sir?"
Taking a few seconds himself, Riker sighed before replying. "To be honest, I don't know. These aren't normal times. What I would hate to see is all these people.." he motioned towards all the people in ten-forward. "… go from what they are now, to something else."
Karl understood. Riker was afraid all the people he cared about and was charged with protecting would end up on the battlefield. Somewhere he should be."I… think I understand Sir. But why tell me all this?"
Riker cracked his jaw before replying. "Because I know that it's inevitable. And there are things going on that nobody except the command staff knows." He sighed again, only this time in frustration. "Have you ever heard of the Special Forced Operations Detachment - Delta?"
Karl nodded. "Yes sir, ancient Earth special forces unit from the 20th century."
Nodding, Riker said. "Yes they were. They handled missions the regular grunts couldn't."
Karl didn't really know what to say about that. It took him a full minute to come up with anything meaningful to say. "Sir, if you'll pardon my asking, what does the tournament aboard the Klingon ship have to do with this?"
Riker laughed, the respect he commanded remained there, but he suddenly seemed much more down to earth than he'd seemed for the last few minutes. "You stand out like a sore thumb Ensign; it's a poorly known fact that that's what leaders do. We stand out because we're not afraid of taking responsibility for our actions. You say you gladly volunteered for that training session, but what would have happened if you had lost?"
Karl thought about it. "Lieutenant Worf would have probably made us all run laps with added weights around the saucer section."
Riker smiled. Karl knew he gave the right answer. "Probably worse than that, but you understood that you were taking a risk. And you were willing to accept the consequences."
"Begging your pardon sir, but it's precisely because I wouldn't accept the consequences of losing that I actually won."
Riker gave him a curious look."That's exactly what I mean. You were willing to accept the risk, and when the risk seemed inevitable, you fought harder. Most people would have given up at that point."
"That's not me Sir. I don't give up."
"Which is exactly why I'm recommending you as squad leader for the new Delta Away Team."
Karl nodded once in shock, but still asked, "A commando team?"
"In a manner of speaking. We're facing some steep odds out there and a regular away team isn't always going to be an option."
Quiet again, Karl drank the last of his prune juice and swallowed both it and the idea. "Is it for sure sir? Is one of these 'Delta' teams actually being created here on Enterprise?"
"No one else here fits the criteria for Squad Leader." Riker kept his voice deadpan. Karl couldn't tell what he thought of the team.
So Karl asked. "Sir… What do you think? Of the Delta Team I mean?"
Riker dropped his gaze. "I think Starfleet is out here to explore, not fight, but there are situations where it becomes impossible to not do both. So I think the Delta Team has its benefits. But I'm worried that in being part of such a team, one would lose sight of Starfleet's codes and values."
"I understand sir; you don't want us to become soldiers."
A simple snort of agreement prefaced Riker's answer. "Exactly."
"Sir, I know I can't prove it in anyway, but I joined Starfleet to explore. I wanted to see new worlds and meet new civilizations. That's what Starfleet is about isn't it? I became a security officer because I live to protect. I can't explain it, but in my heart I can't help but want to go out and protect that which I love. I'm not sure if you understand me."
"More than you know, Ensign." Riker got up. "If you're going to be a squad leader, you'll need this. Keep everything I've told you confidential except this." He handed Karl a small box.
"Sir?"
"Just something to start your new position with, I'll leave you and your friends to celebrate." Without anymore words, Riker got up and walked away to a table far to the other corner of the room. He joined Counselor Troi and Captain Picard; Surprisingly they had managed to stay hidden there the whole time.
Karl opened the box. There was a pair of new collar pins, Junior Grade Lieutenant Collar Pins.
He looked up and towards the table, all three of the Command Level officers raised their glasses in a toast towards him, no one else noticed.
Karl took it in. He was a Lieutenant now, and even more so, he was something completely new… and frightening.
"I take it it went well?" Jean Luc asked.
"As well as could be expected, he's in total disbelief." Riker responded.
They watched as the new Lieutenant went back to his friends after a few moments of recovering. "I wonder if he knows what he's signed up for?" Troi asked almost to herself.
"I think he knows. Moreso than his record you just need to look at the man." Jean Luc replied "He understands that this new position is fraught with danger, but he isn't letting it get to his head, at least not yet. Only time will tell." Jean Luc finished.
He took a sip of his tea and sighed. He hadn't wanted to start a Delta Team on his Enterprise, but Starfleet had been quite insistent. As the lead explorative ship in the fleet, they were bound to run into dangerous situations.
Jean Luc's worry was more the dangerous situations they might encounter right here in the Alpha Quadrant.
Gamma Shift was on duty, the only command level officer on the bridge was Commode Data, He sat in the Captain's chair
The ensigns and Junior Grade Lieutenants who manned the rest of the stations went about it with normal efficiency. It always seemed that nothing ever happened on their shifts. But if one were to think about it, in space, things don't wait for the morning.
"Ensign Valerie, Status report." Data ordered.
The Ensign quickly tapped a few keys to get a status report on the engines. "Sir, Engines operating at 98% efficiency, there is a minor power flow problem in the secondary power grid, I've already sent a team to repair the problem."
"Keep me apprised Ensign."
The night shift was always like this, status reports, and maintenance, some of the crew almost wished something chaotic would happen just to break the monotony of their shift. For several hours, it seemed as if yet again, nothing interesting would happen. When on the Ops console, a warning began to flash. "Commander Data Sir, I'm picking up a strange distortion approximately half a lightyear away.
"Could you be more specific?" Data asked the question just to ensure everythine was going in the right order.
"I'm trying to scan it sir, but it's reflecting my scans."
"Hmm…" the android seemed to think for a full second before saying "Alter course, bring us to within 10 thousand kilometers of the distortion."
"Aye Sir." The Ensign at the nav replied.
They couldn't feel the ship turning, even at high impulse speeds, its inertial dampeners absorbing the massive g-forces.
"Should I alert the Command Crew, sir?" Ensign Valerie asked.
"Negative Ensign, Not yet."
"Bringing us to 10 thousand kilometers," The Nav Ensign said
"Scans are still being reflected… I wouldn't know it was there if it didn't give such strange readings."
"On main viewscreen."
"Aye Sir." The lieutenant at the conn replied.
The viewscreen filled with what looked almost like a wormhole, but there was something a bit different about it, it seemed to be changing shapes and colors
"Sir, I'm picking up something now."
Data moved over to the Captain's Chair and brought up the readings. To someone who didn't know him it would seem as if he were surprised.
"Ensign Valerie… Wake the Command Staff."
The whole night crew was at full attention, Only Valerie and Data knew what was so important as to wake the entire Command Staff. But both were tight-lipped. They regretted their wish of something happening during their shift.
"You're picking up what?" Beverly Crusher's voice was still groggy from being pulled from her bed. The entire command staff was running on perhaps 5 hours sleep and they looked it.
"The transponder codes for a Constitution Refit Class Heavy Cruiser. Registry Number NCC-1701-A" Data said matter of factly.
"Commander Data, you're telling us that you're detecting James T. Kirk's ship in that thing?" Jean Luc was tired, he'd gone to bed late and had hoped to sleep in, but having been woken had barely convinced the doctor to give him a mild stimulant.
"Affirmative sir. The transponder codes match what we have in our database."
They looked out the observation windows and saw the distortion.
"Analysis Data?" Riker asked. His hair was uncombed and a bit ruffled.
"Sir, I have gone over all historical records we have, and I have found no mention of the Enterprise-A ever encountering a phenomenon like this one nor do I have any record of the ship being anywhere in this specific sector."
Worf spoke next. "Well if it is a wormhole, why don't they come through?"
Troi piped up "I'm not sensing anything from that thing, whatever it is, there's no life inside it. Isn't it possible somebody put a transponder in there to confuse us?
Jean Luc spoke. "Well, all we have so far is the transponder codes to an 80 year old ship. Not even the transponder itself. And we can't even seem to scan the anomaly so… Options?"
"We could send in a probe." Riker suggested.
"Why don't we just hail it?" Beverly asked.
"If it is a deception, we could ignore it." Worf added.
A few moments of thinking, and Jean Luc came to a decision. "Alright. Mr LaForge…" Jean Luc spoke into the intercom. "…send a standard greeting through the anomaly, Hopefully we'll figure out what this is all about."
"Aye Sir." LaForge replied over.
"Let's go to the bridge. Be ready for whatever happens/" Jean Luc ordered.
The command staff moved into the bridge. Commander LaForge was there trying to get the scanners to properly scan the phenomenon.
"Captain, we've had no luck trying to scan that thing; whatever we send towards it just gets bounced back.
"What about our hail?"
"Same result."
Taking another moment to consider the situation, Jean Luc nodded. "Very well, Launch a Class 4 probe. Link telemetry with it."
LaForge did as he was told, they watched on the viewscreen as the probe flew towards the distortion, and then suddenly ceased to transmit.
"What happened? Did we lose the probe?" Riker asked
"Unsure Commander." Data replied.
"Sir!" LaForge spoke up loudly "I'm getting a reading!"
They watched on the viewscreen as the forward saucer section of the Enterprise-A appeared from the edge of the distortion.
"Well… This day just got interesting." Jean Luc mused sardonically. "Sensor report Mr LaForge?"
LaForge tapped on 3 controls and brought up the information.
"It's definitely the Enterprise all right, she matches our records exactly."
Worf broke in "Sir, They've raised shields and armed weapons."
"Hold your fire Lieutenant, We know them, they don't know us." Jean Luc spun as he spoke. "Hail them Lieutenant, let's see who's aboard that thing.'
"Who did you think would be aboard it?" a voice suddenly rung in everyone's ears.
Jean Luc recognized the voice; he'd heard it only a few months ago. For him to be here meant that the situation was about to go from curious to bad, and from there it could only go to worse.
Before he could yell his name, a great flash and displacement of air spread along the bridge. When they could finally see again, standing among them was the Command Crew of the USS Enterprise A.
Captain James T. Kirk, Commander Spock, Doctor Leonard McCoy, Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott, Lieutenant Commander Hikaru Sulu, Lieutenant Pavel Chekhov, and Lieutenant Nyota Uhura,
They did a double take as they looked at their counterparts on this alien but somewhat similar looking bridge. Spock seemed intent on studying Data at the Ops console. He spoke first. "Fascinating."
"Indeed." Data replied with equal curiosity.
Kirk gathered his wits and looked to Jean Luc, "Now look here, I don't know who you all are, but I demand you return us to our ship this instant!"
Jean Luc was about to try to calm him down when Q's voice again seemed to surround them. "Oh shush Mon Capitan; you wouldn't know where to start with the explanations." Q Materialized in between both crews.
"Q!"
"TRELANE!"
Both Jean Luc and Kirk yelled at the sight of him. Q/Trelane looked to both Captains. "Yes, I'd think that would require quite the explanation… You see Mon Capitan…" He looked to Jean Luc. "You weren't the first humans I'd met. In my youth I played a delightful game with the clever Captain Kirk here."
Kirk was took a step towards Q. "Yes… and you almost killed my entire crew. You personally set out to kill me… That is… until your parents came looking." Kirk's voice became playful, teasing Q.
"Ah yes, the old folks. I'm so terribly glad to be rid of them." Q maintained his cheerful demeanor, Jean Luc felt the odd yet consistent urge to strangle him.
Jean Luc decided to get some information of his own. "Captain Kirk, perhaps you could explain the circumstances of this… reunion?"
Kirk looked at Jean Luc a bit confused. "You… know who I am?"
"But of course Captain!" Q yelled jubilously. "Why, a young Captain Jean Luc Picard here was weaned on stories of your adventures! And I wouldn't be surprised if Commander Riker learned from you as well." Q gave Riker a furtive glance. "Perhaps some things more than others."
"Q, why don't you just crawl back into whatever hole you came out of this time?" Riker shot back.
"Oh Riker… Struck a bit too close to the home, did I?" Q said playfully.
Jean Luc had had enough. "Q! Why don't you just tell us why you've done this?"
Q's face flashed into a smile, the kind that Jean Luc knew meant bad news. "The first real question! Who else but Jean Luc Picard, the veritable multicellular organism among the rest of these…" he looked around feigning disgust. "Single celled plankton."
Kirk seemed quite irate as well. "Now look here Trelane or Q or whatever the hell you're calling yourself now. We're not interested in playing one of your games! So send us back NOW." Kirk's voice had the stoutness of a sledgehammer.
Q looked at Kirk and chuckled. "Oh no my dear Captain… This is no game. This time, it's as real as you can imagine it."
Jean Luc felt shivers go down his spine. "The Borg?" He asked.
Q turned around again and looked wryly at Jean Luc. "Yes of course… you humans are still griping over that, aren't you?" He smiled again, deviously. "No Mon Capitan, nothing as uncouth as those walking automatons."
"Then what? You haven't explained anything Q!"
Q snapped his fingers and both Crews were flashed away into the conference room. Most did double takes as they went from standing positions to sitting. The room itself was changed, the table was no longer the normal glass one on the Enterprise D.
It seemed to be a naturally formed rock now. In fact, everything had taken on a much more primitive look as they were now clearly on a desert planet.
Q stood at the front of the table, sitting on his throne, dressed in his judicial robes. "Another Trial?" Both Jean Luc and Kirk said at the same time, and then exchanged confused glances.
"Yes… they do say 'third time's a charm' don't they?"
Jean Luc looked at Kirk. "He put you on trial as well?"
Kirk looked at him, and lowered his defenses a bit, he seemed to accept that whoever this balding man was, he was in fact a Captain of a Federation Ship. "Yes, and he sentenced me to death."
A gong alerted the crews that Q wanted their attention. "Members of the Defense… The charge against humanity remains the same. Just because you have shown some… circumstantial evidence to the contrary means little."
"What charges?" McCoy asked, obviously quite aggravated with the situation.
"The crime of being a savage race, not worthy to fly the stars." Beverly responded to her comrade.
""What in blazes are you talking about? I know we have some bad apples but…"Scotty began.
The gong sounded again and Q shouted "Silence in my courtroom!"
Both crews again were silent. "However… the Q continuum has become more than simply interested in your species. We've begun to suspect that there might be some small, almost insignificant chance…" he gave a look of contempt "… that you might evolve into something somewhat meaningful in a few eons."
Riker gave a bitter chuckle "Why Q, I think that's the closest to a compliment I've ever heard out of you."
"And you shan't hear anymore. But you Mon Capitan…" He gestured to Jean Luc "… to answer your question. 'Why did I bring them here?' It's quite simple really. The Q need a reference to how quickly you are evolving. What better than a Generations difference and how you handle the same problem?"
Jean Luc and Kirk looked at each other; both understood that nothing good was going to come out of this. Spock on the other hand looked squarely at Q/Trelane. "Trelane, Would I be correct in assuming that you have engineered some situation in which both of our respective crews will be tested?"
"As good an assessment as one could expect from logic. But no my dear Spock. I haven't done anything to change the situation, all I have done is bring you both together, to see how you handle such a situation… or fail to." Q's tone was dark as he said this.
Riker growled out his answer. "Q, you still haven't told us what the situation is."
"You'll know soon enough. But for now, I bid you both au revoir and goodbye. I think you'll find things have gotten interesting back there amonst the stars…"
With that, Q snapped his fingers and both crews flash out of and back into existence aboard each's individual ship.
Jean Luc looked around his bridge. Everybody was doing the same, making sure of their surroundings.
"Mr Worf, Hail the Enterprise-A"
"Aye sir. Hailing Frequencies open."
The Bridge of the Enterprise-A came into view. It seemed almost like looking into a nostalgic painting that should belong at Starfleet Academy.
"Captain Kirk. I think perhaps we should confer a little more on our circumstances."
Kirk straightened in his chair "I agree Captain Picard. The only question is; your ship or mine?"
Jean Luc was in awe that Kirk could use humor at a time like this when the sensors rang an audible alarm.
"Captain!" Data broke in "We are receiving a distress call from the Chuk'Ma."
"On screen." Jean Luc ordered
"Sir, it is an audio transmission."
"Let's hear it then." Jean Luc snapped rather annoyed.
"Enterprise! Respond!" the strain behind the voice was disconcerting.
"Acknowledged, what is the emergency?"
Sounds of disruptor fire and unintelligible screams were all that came through. Eventually, the universal translator managed to translate a part of the transmission.
"Destroy… ship…. Invasion!"
Jean Luc frowned. "Anything more Mr. Data?"
"Negative Captain. "
"Set a course back to the freighter's last known coordinates, Warp 8, Engage." Jean Luc ordered.
"What about Kirk?" Riker asked.
"Data, Tell the Captain that it would be best for them to follow us for now. It will be several hours before we reach the Klingons and there is still much to discuss."
"Sir, Begging your pardon, but the Enterprise A's top velocity is only our Warp 7 Velocity." Data would have been insubordinate, were he not an android.
Jean Luc for that matter immediately understood. "Damn, that's right… Very well Mr Data, Signal the Enterprise to follow us at best speed, and get their command staff over here. I'm sure they are quite curious about what's going on."
Moments later, the two ships turned towards the same course and in a double flash of light, vanished into the stars.
"So this Q…. Or Trelane. Whatever its name is, is responsible for bringing us here?" Kirk asked.
"It appears so Captain." Jean Luc replied. "He's been an annoying part of our lives for the past 7 years."
"Captain, since it is apparent that you know much more about the situation than us, perhaps you should bring us up to date on the situation between the Federation and the Klingon Empire." Spock commented.
Both command crews were again in the conference room, this time with no interference from Q.
"I believe Mr. Data would be the best to answer that question."
As Data rose, Dr McCoy interrupted.
"Pardon me Sirs, but if I may be so bold as to ask. What exactly are you… Mr. Data?"
"I am an Android, Doctor. An Artificial life form."
"But we've seen androids before… they were nothing like you…"
"Ah yes, the Ruk III androids. I have been programmed with much more capability then they were and am self aware. If you would like to, I could share with you any information you desire on my…"
"Uh, Commander… I think perhaps we shouldn't be getting distracted here. I think just the history between the Klingon Empire and the Federation would suffice for now." Jean Luc was worried about any potential time line corruption, Knowing about how Data worked could have profound implications.
Data shrugged expertly, something McCoy intently noticed. He proceeded to explain the history between the Klingon Empire and the Federation from the destruction of the Praxis mining moon, and the signing of the Khitomer Accords, as well as the part the Enterprise crew had in its success.
"It's good to know that we still have a lot of good to do." Kirk commented.
"It seems impossible..." Chekov commented. Sulu seemed more pleased that he'd end up with his own command of Excelsior than anything else.
"I assure you sir; it has… and in your case, will happen." Data replied.
"That brings up a whole different question, why do your history books have no comment in them on this meeting?" Spock asked.
"Aye, I don't think any of us would be able to keep this completely quiet if we went back." Scotty commented.
"Perhaps you will have no recollection of this when the time comes. Q has demonstrated amazing abilities in the past, Memory altering would seem a bit basic for him." Jean Luc commented "No matter the case, we still must deal with the here and now. Continue Mr Data."
Data continued with his history lesson. He spoke of many border conflicts between the Federation and both the Klingon and Romulan Empires. He then came to the point of Narendra III,
Worf uneasily shifted as he heard of the surprise Romulan Attack that destroyed the Outpost, and sent ripples through the politics of the Galaxy. "During the surprise attack of Narendra III, the only ship within response distance was the Enterprise-C, an Ambassador Class Heavy Cruiser; It responded to the distress call and was subsequently destroyed by the Romulans." Both crews were silent as they listened to the story, "Since that time, there has been a relative peace between the Klingon Empire and the Federation."
"Has the Klingon Empire joined the Federation?" Sulu nodded towards Worf.
"No… The Romulan Empire attacked the colony I was raised on during our war. Both my parents were killed and I was raised by Human Foster parents." Worf answered.
The catch up continued right up until the point of their Joint mission with the Chuk'Ma, and the discovery of the freighter.
Kirk swallowed, and let out a deep breath. "It's a lot to take in, you're basically telling us that everything we've done, and everything we'll do, is going to change the face of the galaxy so much, that nothing of what we know to be facts are true anymore."
Jean Luc sighed. "Perhaps with a bit more time we'll be able to better explain things. For now, you should return to your ship, we'll be reaching the Klingon's location soon.
"Agreed, despite all you've told us, I'm still wary." Kirk replied.
The A's command crew got up and left the conference room, Jean Luc dismissed his own staff but asked Data, LaForge and Riker to remain. "I feel it necessary to have a small meeting of our own on this subject. Exactly how much do we want to inform them on their future?" Jean Luc asked.
Riker was the first to respond. "Frankly, I'm amazed they were as controlled as they were, I'd be dying to know what my future was."
"I'm not so sure on that Commander, and besides, we've even met some of them before!" LaForge insisted.
"I have been meaning to ask you regarding that, Captain. Several of their crew are still alive today, such as Ambassador Spock, Captain Scott, and Dr. McCoy." Data asked
"I've really become tired of having to ponder this temporal problem. We've already committed ourselves to much by just telling them the history between us and the Klingons, We still don't know whether they will be able to remember any of this if they even go back. Or whether they are the real Enterprise A crew." Jean Luc leaned back on his chair and ran his hand through what was left of his hair.
"Q's played these games before; we don't know whether or not our actions will affect our own timeline in anyway." LaForge said.
Riker mused as he scratched his chin. "I think we should limit ourselves to only telling them any key information that they need to know. Restrict all access to our computers using only codes that came into use recently."
"Agreed, no need to give them any temptations." Jean Luc mused.
The companel chirped to life and Worf's voice was clear. "Captain, the crew from the Enterprise-A has safely returned to their ship, We will be arriving at the Klingon's position within 3 minutes."
"Very well Mr Worf, Go to Yellow alert and signal the A to do the same." Jean Luc ordered. "Let's go."
The 4 men left the observation lounge, each taking their place on the Bridge.
"Mr Data, anything on sensors?" Jean Luc asked.
"Yes sir, Sensors show a medium sized debris field where the Kak'toh was last positioned, the Chuk'Ma Is still in the area and seems to be inactive."
"Any damage to the bird of prey?" Riker asked.
"No sir, however I am detecting a build-up of energy in their systems, it seems they have detected us."
Worf interrupted "Sir, the Chuk'Ma's weapons systems are coming online!"
Jean Luc stood and barked orders "Weapons systems online! Bring us closer to the Chuk'Ma, and signal the Enterprise A to stay behind us!"
Each respective command was followed and implemented, Data signaled the Enterprise A while Worf and Geordi charged up the weapons. The Lieutenant at the conn brought the Enterprise to bear on the smaller Bird of Prey.
"They're firing, sir!" Worf barked.
Lances of plasma shot out of the wingtips of the bird of prey, a quartet of paired shots splashed against the Enterprise's shields flaring them.
"Worf, target their weapons systems, Disable them!" Jean Luc ordered as the ship shook slightly.
Laserfine lances of plasma shot from the Enterprise's phaser banks, the Bird of Prey's shielding flared and buckled, but held and soon reinforced itself, the Bird of Prey turned suddenly, and screeched above the Enterprise-D, now targeting the A.
"Sir, the Enterprise-A is targeting the Bird of Prey." Data announced.
As the bird of prey prepared to fire, the A aligned its phaser banks and let out a quick series of phaserpulse fire in such rapid succession, it seemed as if it were a beam. The directed fire splashed against the already weakened shields and further drained them. The Bird of prey fired it's main cannons again, green bolts of plasma washed over the Enterprise-A's shielding with such force, the shielding failed in parts and the traces of energy let through scorched the saucer section of the hull.
"Mr Worf, Disable that craft by any means necessary, we cannot let the A take anymore fire." Jean Luc barked.
"Yes sir, firing torpedoes."
A trio of torpedoes fired out of the D's rear torpedo tubes, they punched through the shielding on the bird of prey and destroyed the vessel's shields and communications.
"I'm reading moderate damage to their vessel, without shields they're defenseless." Riker reported.
"Don't be so sure Number One." Jean Luc answered quietly.
Jean Luc's analysis proved true, despite the damage, the Bird of Prey swung around yet again, this time squarely at the Enterprise A.
"Worf, take them out!" Riker yelled.
Before Lt Worf could do anything, the Enterprise A pulled itself into a face off with the bird of prey, it's phasers pulsed again, this time tearing into the starboard wing of the craft, the trailing bit of the beam knocked out the starboard engine on the bird of prey and it spun wildly before it could take a shot. Atmosphere vented out of the rupture in the hull and the ship listed.
"Enemy craft disabled Captain, the Enterprise-A is still maintaining weapons lock though." Mr Data reported.
"Data, open hailing frequencies with the A now. We can't let them destroy that ship."
"Hailing frequencies open sir."
"Captain Kirk, the ship has been disabled, stand down!" Jean Luc hurriedly said.
The bridge of the Enterprise A appeared on screen again, the crew seemed eager to continue the battle. "Captain Picard, I fail to see what your point is. The Klingons have made their point clear and obviously are willing to die for their objective; we cannot allow them another chance to strike out at us." He motioned off to the side where a console had shorted out. "As you can see, we're nowhere near as powerful as we might like to think."
"Captain, Before we go off doing something rash, we must find out why the Klingons would attack us so unprovoked…" Jean Luc began
"The Klingons don't need provocation! It's who they are!" Kirk yelled. Worf shifted uneasily, but didn't say anything.
"Captain, in their distress call they mentioned 'invasion' what if the Klingons were captured and the ship not under their control?" Jean Luc offered.
"Scan the ship yourselves, only Klingons." Kirk replied. "Enough of this, Mr Chekov, Fire."
Before Jean Luc could do anything, the Enterprise A shot out a trio of their torpedoes. Two hit each respective wing on the Klingon craft and the third slammed into the bridge. The A also fired its phasers again burning into the main hull of the craft. The ship shredded into pieces with only a small section left over
"Captain Kirk! Why did you do that? They were disabled!"
"Anyway you want to see it, that ship was a threat. And I've eliminated that threat."
Jean Luc was incensed. He had just witnessed a hero of his destroy a ship that had attacked them for no reason. And furthermore, it didn't affect Kirk in anyway to do so. "Captain… I believe the events merit some scrutiny. An investigation you have complicated by destroying the only source of information that we have."
Jean Luc had to hold his tongue from saying something much harsher. He waited for Kirk's response. Instead, Q popped into the bridge of the D, leaning on one of the side rails. "He's so animalistic isn't he?"
"Q, what is going on?" Jean Luc couldn't take much more of this. "Why did the Klingons attack?" Q smiled and snapped his fingers. Both he and Jean Luc were suddenly inside his ready room. Jean Luc was sitting as his desk while Q relaxed on the couch. "Q! Stop playing these games! I demand to know what's happening!"
Q feigned injury. "Oh Jean Luc… To only you would I favor this…" He got up, then leaned in slightly to Jean Luc. "Free will."
"Excuse me?"
Q chuckled. "It's your fragile and deluded sense of Free Will that's at stake. You'll see…"
With that, Q snapped his fingers and vanished from the Enterprise-D, leaving Jean Luc to try and piece together what was happening.
A/N: As I've said above, this is all I have for now, should there be interest in seeing the rest of this, I may continue it. Just as a note though, I wrote this 4 years ago and have since learned that Q and Trelane are considered different beings. Let's just hold suspension of disbelief for now shall we?