Lines As-Q

by Dave Hines

The author finds himself cast into Stephen Ratliff's "Marrissaverse" by Q. Hijinks ensue.

Marrissa's Revenge Theatre 3000: Lines As-Q.

Hi everyone.

This will be my first non-MiSTing fanfic, so be gentle with me.

Upon reading some of the hilariously funny MiSTings that have resulted from
the work of Stephen Ratliff, I pondered, "What would be the result if I
should happen to enter into this world?". I thought this during my reading
of "Marrissa's Revenge II", a non-canon work in which Marrissa herself
comes to Stephen's house to announce her plans to take revenge on those
who have MiSTed the Marrissa Stories. I am one of those authors. The
concept is an "alternate universe" version of myself is mysteriously
transported to the future, to the U.S.S. Endeavour, under the command of
Captain Marrissa Amber Flores Picard. Naturally, hijinks ensue. Let's watch.

For continuity buffs, this story occurs just prior to Anne-Lise Paush's
work, "Generations 2: Generations Ahead" (which was MiSTed by yours truly,
but I digress) for Marrissa and late January 1999 for Dave.

Code wise, here's what we're dealing with:

alt.startrek.creative code: TNG, [PG], The Marrissa Stories (unofficial)

Web Site #9 MiSTing Codes: MST, SELF, SR, TNG, X-OVER

Dedications:

To my namesake, David Hines, who first MiSTed "Enterprized" and "A Gul's
Revenge" starting the Ratliff craze.

To all MSTies worldwide, particularly the Dibs List.

To Mike, Joel, Tom & Crow, who hopefully don't feel too betrayed by my
"going over to the dark side".

To my best friend, Specialist Cliff Hill, United States Army.

And to one of the most gracious human beings I know, for being so tolerant
to what we MSTies do to the stuff he works so hard on, Stephen Ratliff.

============================================================

Introduction: (Courtesy of another monumental crossover, "Archie Meets The
Punisher")

In the 24th century, one woman has been adopted by Captain Jean Luc Picard,
become the leader and first Captain of the Starfleet "Kids Crew" program.
Later, she discovered that she was also the heir to the throne of the planet
Essex. Aided by her friends and crewmates Jay Gordon, Clara Sutter,
Alexander Rozhenko, Patterson Supra, Dr. Jackson Johnson, Martin Sussex,
Shayna Sachs, Ross Lochard, Katharine Szustakowski and T'Luv, she has saved
the Federation many times over, much to the bane of the Cardassians, the
Romulans and the Trakce. Enter the world of Marrissa Amber Picard.

In the 20th century, one man has overcome a disadvantaged background to
become a student at prestigous Point Loma Nazarene University. Defying his
past in which he did not enjoy much social status, he has become arguably
one of the icons of the student body of said institution, including serving
as the 1997-1998 Associated Student Body Director of Activities, and becoming
a regular opinion columnist of the school newspaper, "The Point Weekly". He
is the "self made man". He is "Boffo". Enter the world of Dave Hines.

Prologue:

"Dave, why are you just wasting time surfing the net?"

Dave Hines looked up at the face of Brian, his supervisor at the
PLNU Ryan Library Computer Labs. "Hi, Brian. Just got off shift."

"Uh huh. Just remember I've got my eye on you, Hines." With that,
the supervisor turned his back and walked away.

"Mm hmm. What a life." Dave smirked as the Pentium II Computer
loaded up his NT account. Quickly he checked his email. There was another
PlanetAll update with people he didn't know, an Oracularities digest he
decided to save for later, as well as several Dibs List mails that didn't
really pertain to him. Deleting those, he booted up Netscape and perused
his bookmark list for "Web Site No. 9". He felt like some MiSTed Ratliff
today.

"Hmmm. Hey, Marrissa's Revenge II. Haven't read that for a while.
Marrissa wants to get her revenge on me." Dave briefly checked his watch.
"Oh, snot. I'm going to be late for class again." Dave shut down the
computer, returning it to the regular Student account, then gathered his
belongings and headed out for the door. Passing his supervisor's office,
he called out "Marrissa wants revenge on me!"

"I'm going to want revenge on you. Get out of here."

Sliding his keycard into the lock, he heard the door solenoids
click and he exited the employee's entrance. "Marrissa wants revenge on me.
Tee hee."

Unfortunately, Dave's day was interrupted by a sudden flash. When
the light disappeared, unobserved, Dave was no longer to be seen.

Across campus, the time shifted to 1:30. Dave's professor had no
choice but to start class. "I wonder where Dave is?" he asked himself as he
started his History lecture for the day.

Chapter 1:

"Captain's Log: Stardate 59692.8. We have been assigned the duty
of tracking the Nexus, the pseudo-dimensional access that once contained my
father. Ever since the Enterprise-B's maiden voyage encounter with it, the
Nexus has been deemed an interstellar hazard. Starfleet has routinely
evacuated the smaller colonies that the Nexus has encountered, but its
current course takes it dangerously near colonies so well established that
evacuation would mean economic disaster. On a personal note, one of the
planets in danger over the next few months is Essex. During some of my
recent conversations with my cousin, Queen Victoria, she has made it clear
that the nobility will not abandon Essex. I cannot help but admire this
dedication, but I have lost family before. It will not happen again.
End Log."

Commander Jay Gordon responded, "A little on the emotional side
for you, Marrissa."

"Perhaps, Jay. But I meant every word of it."

"I know that, Marrissa. No one questions your dedication."

Just then, Dr. Jackson Johnson, the ship's Chief Medical Officer
entered the Bridge with Martin Sussex, the ship's counselor. Dr. Johnson
addressed the Captain, "Captain, may I speak with you and Commander Gordon
for a moment?"

"Of course, Doctor. Alexander, you have the bridge."

"Aye aye, sir."

Marrissa, Jay, Jackson and Martin entered the Ready Room.

"What's on your mind, Doctor?" asked Marrissa.

"Sir," Dr. Johnson began, and Marrissa inwardly sighed as she knew
that Jackson was hardly ever this formal unless he had something to say
that he'd rather not say. "I've been speaking with Commander Gordon and
Lieutenant Sussex."

"...and you're all concerned about how much time I've been spending
on the Bridge lately."

"Capt-... Marrissa," Jay began, "You've been working double-shifts
for the last week. I know you're concerned about Essex, and the Endeavour.
But Essex has months yet before it has to worry, and the ship is not in
danger. The Nexus is only a bizarre natural phenomenon. There's nothing that
requires your constant presence on the Bridge."

"I'm not the first Captain to work a little overtime now and then."
rejoined Marrissa.

"Marrissa," Martin spoke up, "we're not simply here as your Chief
Medical Officer, First Officer and Ship's Counselor. We're also here as your
friends. We don't want to see you wear yourself out over a situation that is
currently nominal. This isn't a relief-of-command situation. We're just
concerned about you."

Marrissa paused a bit before responding. "Thank you, gentlemen.
Your concern is appreciated. I will certainly take your advice under
consider..."

However, Marrissa was interrupted as Alexander's voice, audible
both over the intercom and through the Ready Room door, pronounced "We have
an Intruder Alert!"

The Red Alert klaxons began to sound as the four occupants of the
Ready Room bolted for the door.

Chapter 2:

Dave didn't know what was going on. He was on his way to Research
Methods, and suddenly... flash. This made no sense. He shook his head to
clear it as a young man with ridges on his head ("That looks almost like a
Klingon", Dave thought) loudly said "We have an Intruder Alert!" This was
happening way too fast.

One woman and three men rushed out of a door on the side of the
bridge. The woman looked familiar somehow. Like he had seen her on TV, or
in a drawing somewhere.

"I am Captain Marrissa Amber Picard of the Federation Starship
U.S.S. Endeavour. Who are you and what are you doing on my Bridge?" the
woman loudly, but calmly stated.

Dave's fogged brain immediately cleared a little. Marrissa? What
on - ? How? The Revenge! He didn't know how it could be possible, but she
was here, or rather he was there, or... he just didn't know.

"And here I thought the ending to 'The Only Constant' was revenge
enough." Dave calmly paused for a couple seconds before screaming
"Nooooo!!!!!" Having caught the officers by surprise, Dave dived into the
Turbolift and screamed, "Down!"

Marrissa quickly recovered, and calmly stated, "Computer, override
Turbolift control and return Turbolift to Bridge level. Authorization
Marrissa Omega Mozart Alpha Seven." The computer emitted a three-tone
reply to signal its compliance.

---

In the turbolift, Dave felt the subtle change in vibration that
indicated that his direction had shifted. "Oh, no you don't. Computer! Beam
me directly to deck twenty-five, section G. Fleetwide Override Code Upsilon
Alpha Zulu Foxtrot Four!" The same computer tone emitted and Dave's last
thought before disappearing in the transporter effect was, "How on Earth
did I know that?"

---

Back on the bridge, Alexander and another Security officer held
phasers (set on stun) on the turbolift door. It opened and revealed
nothing. Alexander and the other Security officer glanced at each other,
and then cautiously, but quickly, made their way into the turbolift.

"He's not here, Captain." Alexander called out a moment later.

"Alright, then," responded Marrissa, "Computer! Locate any humanoid
lifeform aboard that is not wearing a comm-badge. Let's see where this guy
went to."

---

Patterson Supra was bored with his current assignment. He was
guarding the Deck 25 Armory. Even though there was simply no way any
intruder could make their way into this area of the ship, Standard
Procedure dictated that each armory be guarded by a sentient lifeform, as
well as electronically locked. Patterson was currently assigned to the
Security department under his friend, Ross Lochard. The two of them had
decided to share the responsibilities as to give their department more
access into each area of Starship Security, as well as avoid any charges
of favoritism.

Patterson had heard of one incident back on the Stargazer, where an
uncautious crewperson had made a distasteful remark involving the term
"Captain's Harem" to describe a shift where Marrissa was a female Captain
amongst an all-male bridge crew, and ended up getting a tooth knocked out
by Lochard, resulting in the crewperson's transfer and the only reprimand
to ever appear on Lochard's record.

Because of these factors, and the fact that Starfleet Mental Health
had ruled, in essence, not to give anyone the most mind-numbingly boring
duty in the universe on a regular basis. Patterson Supra got to sit in
front of a door for eight hours. Sixteen hours, he remembered. He was
covering for Cortez. He wished he had remembered to bring a PADD to read
or something.

Patterson's thoughts were interrupted by Red Alert klaxons and
Alexander Rozhenko's voice announcing, "We have an Intruder Alert."

"Now what's going on?" thought Patterson. Less than thirty seconds
later, Patterson heard a transporter beam. The enforced inactivity had
dulled Patterson's reflexes, so he was unable to pull his phaser out before
Dave materialized and knocked him unconcious with the right hook of a
desperate man.

As Patterson slumped to the floor, Dave turned to the keypad and
entered a fifteen digit code that he had no idea he knew. But the door
opened and Dave grabbed a phaser. "Starfleet Type II Phaser. Now that's what
I'm talking about."

"Stop right there." an annoyed female voice said.

Dave turned around with phaser raised, right into the eyes of
Captain Marrissa Picard, also with phaser raised. The two stood less than
three feet apart, with phasers less than six inches from each other's head.
Dave remembered that at this range, even a stun would be lethal.

"Stalemate." he thought to himself.

Chapter 3:

As Dave and Marrissa held each other at bay, Marrissa reflected
on the situation. Several times during her young life, she had been in
danger for her life. By this point, the situation held no fear for her.
It was a simple occupational hazard that Marrissa did not dwell upon.

Dave, on the other hand, was extremely anxious. He was on his way
to class, and then... flash. He had to be dreaming because he thought that
he was on a starship with Marrissa. He ran, and, aided by computer codes
that he had absolutely no idea how he knew, he got access to a phaser and
now was in a life-and-death stand off with what appeared to be Marrissa
herself. He felt a slight twinge between his shoulder and neck and lost
conciousness.

Replacing the phaser back into the armory, Marrissa addressed her
Vulcan rescuer. "Thank you, T'Luv."

With equanimity, T'Luv responded, "You are quite welcome, Captain.
I was taking some readings in the hydroponics bay when I heard sounds of a
struggle."

Just then, Security Chief Ross Lochard rounded the corner
accompanied by three additional Security officers. Marrissa replied, "It's
alright, Ross. The situation is under control. Take the intruder to the
brig, and have Dr. Johnson take a look at Patterson."

Patterson, who had just begun to stir, groaned in pain. Two of the
Security personnel helped Patterson up and began helping him into the
turbolift. The remaining yellowshirt crouched near Dave, tapped his
communicator and stated, "Barklage to Transporter Room, beam two from this
location directly to the Brig, Authorization Barklage Alpha One Delta."
Dave and Ensign Barklage disappeared in the transporter effect.

Marrissa turned to Ross, and said, "Ross, I need you to change all
security codes under the same protocol as that we use in the event of a
captured officer. Whoever the intruder is, he somehow seems to know the
codes for this vessel, including the Fleet Override. I don't like intruders
having that sort of information."

"Aye, sir." Ross responded, then turned smartly and walked away.

Marrissa tapped her communicator, "Picard to senior staff. Conference
in the observation lounge in fifteen minutes." A chorus of "Aye, Sir."
greeted her as response. Marrissa bent to the floor to pick up the phaser
that Dave dropped. "Well, what do you know? All those computer codes and he
doesn't even know enough to take the safety off of a hand phaser."

Just then, Patterson's replacement as armory guard arrived. Marrissa
handed to phaser to him and walked away as he began the process to change
the codes to the armory.

Chapter Four:

"Hey, Marrissa!"

Marrissa turned around to see her first officer and boyfriend, Jay
Gordon. "Hello, Jay."

"Marrissa, we need to talk."

"Yes, Jay?"

"With the incident with the intruder today. You beamed yourself off
of the bridge to where he was."

"Yes, and I caught the intruder, didn't I?"

"That's not the point. You are the captain of this ship, and it is
not your job to place yourself in dangerous situations. Intraship beaming
in itself is risky..."

"Jay, there's only a one in six hundred and seventy million chance
of mishap."

"Yes, but that is enough that Starfleet regulations clearly state
that intraship beaming is to only occur in an emergency situation."

Marrissa stopped and motioned Jay into an alcove where their
conversation wouldn't be overheard by the crewpeople passing by.

"Jay, that was an emergency situation. Would you have wanted that
lunatic running around the ship with a phaser?"

"Marrissa, that's why we have a security force. If it weren't for
T'Luv, you could have been killed."

"No, I couldn't have. The intruder forgot to take the safety lock
off of the phaser."

"Marrissa, all I'm saying is that your luck can't run forever, and
as first officer, I'm supposed to protect you from being harmed... and...
I wouldn't want you to come to any harm."

Marrissa stared at him for a second, then whispered, "Yes, sir." The
two shared a brief kiss. Jay took Marrissa's hand.

The rest of the voyage to the observation lounge was silent.

Chapter Five:

As Jay and Marrissa arrived in the observation lounge, the rest of
the senior staff was already present: Clara Sutter, Chief Engineer; Alexander
Rozhenko, Ops; Ross Lochard, Security; Katherine Szustakowski Lochard, Conn;
Dr. Jackson Johnson, Chief Medical Officer and Martin Sussex, Ship's
Counselor.

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen" Marrissa said as she sat
down. Jay took the seat to her right. "As you probably know, earlier today,
we had an incident with an intruder. I called this conference to discuss the
matter. Firstly, we'll need a summary of the incident. Ross?"

"At 1314 hours, the intruder appeared in the middle of the bridge.
There were no transporter traces..."

"Pardon me, Ross," Marrissa interrupted, "but I have a theory on
that I'd like to confirm. Computer, compare the visual record of the
phenomenon accompanying the intruder's arrival with the effect usually
present due to actions of the entity known as 'Q'."

"Comparison complete. There is a 99.95% correlation."

In a flash, Q appeared. "How wonderful! You've managed to figure
it out all by yourselves. Of course, you didn't have Microbrain slowing you
down."

Alexander shot up. "Do *not* speak that way about my father."

Marrissa held up a hand in Alexander's direction. "What do you want
here, Q? Are you responsible for the intruder's appearance?"

"You've always been a bright girl. Has your father ever told you of
the temporal paradox he had to figure out?"

Marrissa remembered it. On Stardate 47898, her adopted father had
encountered, courtesy of the omnipotent entity who had invited himself to
this conference, jumps placing him seven years in the past, and twenty-five
years in the future. Jean-Luc had mentioned to her that in this alternate
future, where Jean-Luc had developed Irimodic Syndrome, that Marrissa had
died in a training accident, and as her father had not married her adoptive
mother yet, Dr. Beverly Picard, neither her brother Nicholas, nor her
sister Jackie were with him. He was alone in the Picard vineyards, with
both his senior staff and the Kid's Crew spread to the four corners of the
galaxy. Despite the debilitating effects of the Irimodic Syndrome, Jean-Luc
managed to join his senior staff together and with the help of the "present"
and "past" Enterprises closed the temporal anamoly that was to doom humanity.
As part of this, Jean-Luc had to realize the paradox of an anti-time
anamoly.

Marrissa felt a cold chill run up her spine. "Is there another
anamoly?"

"You Starfleet types... to you, everything is just whatever spacial
anamoly hits us this week. What I was driving at was that I have control
over time and space. But go on with your little briefing. I'm interested
to know what else you've deduced thus far."

"Picard to Brig, bring the prisoner to the Observation Lounge.
Continue, Ross."

"As we now know, Q brought the intruder to the bridge. The intruder
seemed disoriented. After the captain identified herself, the intruder
leapt into the turbolift. The captain ordered the turbolift to return to the
bridge, but the intruder somehow accessed the Fleet Override code, and
beamed himself to outside the armory. He knocked out Ensign Supra and
accessed the armory. He retrieved a Type II Phaser. The Captain beamed
herself in, and in passing, may I recommend to the Captain that she refrain
from doing so in the future due to the danger involved?"

Jay shot Marrissa a glance. Q smirked. She studiously ignored the
both of them. "Noted, Lieutenant. Continue."

"The Captain was armed as well, and both the Captain and the
intruder held each other at bay with a Type II Phaser. We would later find
out that the intruder neglected to remove the Phaser's safety. Lieutenant
T'Luv came across the situation and disabled the intruder via a Vulcan
neck pinch. At that time, my Security forces arrived, apprehended the
intruder, and began the process of changing all access codes."

"Is that all, Lieutenant?"

"No, sir. In considering Ensign Supra's being knocked unconcious,
please keep in mind that he had been at that post for nearly two shifts.
I am in the process right now of rearranging the duty shifts so that no
officer is left at that post for more than half a shift at a time."

"Noted. I have decided not to pursue any disciplinary action
against Patterson, other than..." Marrissa smiled and a gleam developed
in her eye, "for the next two days, he's reassigned to the Mess Hall. He
will be in charge of radishes again." she kidded. To her right, she heard
Jay chuckling. "Dr. Johnson, how is Patterson?"

"Other than a bruised chin and some bruised pride, he's fine. Healed
the former, but couldn't do much about the latter. The kitchen duty should
allow him to get some of the rest he needs. He's been overworking lately."

"Martin, how about our intruder?"

"Well, his name is Dave Hines, and he claimed to live in San Diego,
California in the then United States of America in September, 1998. I asked
the computer to verify this by scanning his quantum signature. You'll
remember that the quantum signatures change slightly over time, and we can
trace that. Mr. Hines' signature verified that he was from the late
twentieth century, but his signature shows no time travel telltales."

"Quantum signatures! How delightfully primitive!" Q chortled. At
this point, Marrissa knew why Q had mentioned the anti-time anamoly
incident. She got the feeling that Q's intentions in bringing this man here
were not malignant, though.

Martin looked askance at Q and continued, "He is quite sane, but is
confused. He was able to relay facts that he shouldn't know about this crew.
He claims he knows this information from reading 'fanfics' back in his own
time. Thus, he is still only partially convinced that this is not some odd
dream. He is also somehow convinced that you are responsible for his...
abduction, Captain. He was unable to tell me where he learned the computer
codes he used during his aborted escape attempt."

"Well, he needed to have some fun." Q responded with that annoying
smirk of his.

"You mean you-?"

"Yes," Q interrupted, "I just gave him, shall we say, a certain
talent for using modern computers."

At this point, the door opened as a Security guard brought in Dave,
who was chanting "Attica! Attica!". At one glance at Marrissa, he screamed
briefly and attempted to flee, but the guard restrained him.

"Have fun!" Q stated before disappearing in a flash of light.

"Mr. Hines," began Marrissa.

"She knows my name! Help me!"

"Mr. Hines, I am not responsible for bringing you here and I bear
you no ill will."

"You're not? Well, then who...?"

"An entity known as Q."

"Q?! Q is just a fictional character... just like the rest of you
are. Oh, I'm having a *great* day."

"Mr. Hines, I realize that the method in which you were brought here
was somewhat alarming, which accounts for your recent behavior. But now that
you've had some time to cool off, I'm willing to let you free on the
Endeavour on your own recognisance until such time as Starfleet lets us know
what to do with you."

"I would suppose that would mean no more trying to break into the
armories?"

"Yes. Also, I would like you to meet at least once a day with
Lieutenant Sussex until you can become acclimated to this time."

Dave looked over at Martin. "Whassup?!" he yelled at him.

"Please stop that." Martin responded. At the looks of the rest of
the senior staff, Martin responded, "He does that every time he hears my
first name. I don't know why."

"Mr. Hines, try to stay out of trouble... for your sake." Marrissa
finished with a bit more edge in her voice than she had intended. "Meeting
adjourned, everyone."

Chapter Six:

As Dave walked out of the briefing room, happy to be doing so under
his own power, a growling in his stomach told him that he was in need of
sustenance. He entered the turbolift. A voice behind him said "Hold the
'lift!"

Dave turned around to see Lieutenant Martin Sussex walking briskly
towards the turbolift. "I was just about to see what a person could eat on
this ship." Dave stated.

"That's a good idea. Computer, the Officer's Mess!"

As the turbolift eased into nearly indetectable motion, Dave
glanced over at Martin and said, "You know, I'm a bit old for a chaperon."

"I'm not here as a chaperon, Mr. Hines..."

"Dave, please. Whenever you say Mr. Hines, I look around for my
grandfather."

"Alright, and if you don't ask me 'what's up' like that anymore, you
can call me Martin. I was just thinking that the only exposure you've had to
this ship, let alone this time so far is a panic-stricken flight, our brig
and a conference room, and that maybe you could use some help acclimating."

"Maybe." Dave conceded as the turbolift doors opened. Martin and
Dave turned left and began walking down the hallway.

"The quartermaster has assigned you quarters on deck six in the
V.I.P. section."

"Wow, I'm important."

"Aren't you happy with V.I.P. quarters?"

"No, it's not that. It's just that I don't plan on making use of
them for long. I figure I'm just one slingshot manuever away from going
home."

"Well, I was hoping not to mention it for a couple days, but I'm
afraid that it's a bit more complicated than that."

"What do you mean?"

"Dave, I checked your records. You were presumed dead after you
disappeared on that day in September, 1998. You were not part of the history
that follows. If you go back, you'll disrupt the timeline, possibly to the
extent that you'd cause a temporal paradox."

"Those are messy."

"That's an understatement. No matter what reason Q had for
transporting you to this timeline, you're stuck here."

Dave fell silent as he and Martin entered the Officer's Mess. A
number of officers were already present, including Jay Gordon and Alexander
Rozhenko.

"Raktajino." Martin told the replicator.

"Do you mean to tell me that I am stuck here on the Star Trek
equivalent of 'Lord of the Flies'?!?!"

Martin's eyes bugged out slightly as he sipped his raktajino. He was
not expecting this to happen as quickly. He needed to get Dave calmed down
and to someplace a little more private.

"Dave, perhaps we'd better..."

"I am not going to be stuck here with the female Captain Bligh and
her constant recitation of titles!" Dave shouted. He was beginning to get
the attention of the entire room, including Jay and Alexander.

"I know! Let's lock warring diplomats in a room together! There's
tactics worthy of my fifth grade principal!"

"Dave..."

"We're out of strawberries?! Start killing the crew!" Dave continued
to rant.

Jay had had enough of this. "That'll be enough, mister."

Dave spun to face him. "Look, it's Whipped Boy! And his sidekick,
the Klingon Kid!"

"Mr. Hines, I said that will be enough!"

"Jawohl, mein fuhrer!"

"Jay..." warned Martin.

"Mr. Hines, we have attempted to be hospitable and you continue to
insult us, particularly my Captain and my friend."

"Do you intend to do something about it? Or are you just pretending
you can zip your fly without three written approvals from Marrissa?!"

"Fine, then we'll settle this the traditional way. Boxing, on the
holodeck, half an hour."

"How about we do this on my turf, instead?"

"However you want to do it, mister."

Dave barked an order to the replicator, which produced a PADD. "Study
up." Dave suggested before leaving the mess.

Martin approached Jay. "Jay, Dave has been under an incredible
amount of stress these last few hours. I'm sure he doesn't mean..."

"Martin, I'm sorry. But there's no backing down now."

Chapter Seven:

"Program Hines One is in use and running." the computer stated
in its friendly feminine tone. Jay stood outside the door to the holodeck
with Alexander and Martin.

"Enter." Jay commanded. The three entered what looked to be a
traditional ring surrounded by thousands of people booing at him. "Cute." he
concluded.

As Jay took off the robe he was wearing to reveal black shorts,
boots, kneepads and elbowpads, a short balding man entered the ring.

The balding man took a microphone and announced, "Ladies and
gentlemen, this is our main event! Already in the ring, hailing from the
U.S.S. Endeavour, weighing in at one hundred and eighty eight pounds, here is
Jay Gordon!!!!" The crowd, programmed to be hostile, booed their hearts out.
A faint chant of "Jay sucks! Jay sucks!" could be heard beginning.

The balding man continued, "...and his opponent!" A few notes on a
bass guitar started and a woman could be heard yelling "Oh, Dave!" as a
voice began singing "I think I'm cute... I know I'm sexy..." as the
announcer finished "Hailing from San Diego, California, Nineteen ninety
eight, and weighing in at three hundred pounds.... the "Heartbreak Kid"...
Dave Hines!!!!" The computer simulated crowd went suitably berserk as Dave
entered underneath the gigantic monitor in one of the most outrageous
outfits Jay had seen in some time. Dave danced his way to the ring as
fireworks went off and some of the computer-simulated women could be seen
swooning. Dave removed the outer clothing, leaving colorful tights and posed
in front of Jay as more pyrotechnics erupted.

Dave took some last kudoes from the simulation, and stared straight
at Jay as a bell sounded. Dave and Jay locked up. Jay used his Starfleet
training to pull Dave into a hammerlock. Dave raked Jay's eyes.

Alexander immediately jumped to the ring apron. "You are
dishonorable!"

Dave's only reply was to kiss his hand and slap his posterior with
it as he moved Jay into a side headlock. As the referee busied himself with
getting Alexander off of the ring apron, Jay pushed Dave into the ropes and
attempted to spear-tackle him on the rebound. Dave moved out of the way and
used Jay's momentum to throw him between the top and middle ropes. Dave
hopped out himself and two began brawling, all semblance of combat style
gone. Within about thirty seconds, the referee had reached ten. As he
signalled the timekeeper to ring the bell. Referees and officials in suits
swarmed out to attempt to separate the two, as well as keeping Martin and
Alexander out of the fray.

The balding man announced to the hostile crowd, "The referee has
counted both men out of the ring, and has ruled this bout a double countout!"
The crowd booed as both Jay and Dave strained against the officials holding
them back.

A frustrated female voice rang out, "Computer! End program!" The
arena, and everything else other than Dave, Jay, Martin and Alexander
disappeared. Suddenly lacking support for their off-balance position, both
Dave and Jay face-faulted to the floor.

Marrissa stood in the doorway. "Mr. Hines, until further notice,
you're confined to quarters." Dave was silent as he stood and stalked out of
the holodeck. "Jay, I'd like to see you in my ready room tomorrow morning at
0900." Marrissa looked back at Jay, and exasperatedly said, "Men!" as
she walked away.

Chapter Eight:

Marrissa viciously pressed the control to open the door to her
quarters. This had not been her day. First, that... thing from the late 20th
century shows up, then Q comes back, then her boyfriend, and even worse, her
first officer lets his hormones do his thinking for him. She thought about
returning to the bridge, but she trusted that Shayna had things well in hand
up there. Besides, Martin had a point. Her worrying about the Nexus wasn't
going to stop it, and she needed to rest. Maybe a nice bubble-bath would
relax her.

Marrissa took off her outer uniform jacket and was preparing to take
off the turtleneck when she saw a flash out of the corner of her eye. She
quickly turned to see Q standing there in ludicrously old-fashioned pajamas
and a nightcap.

"Need someone to tuck you in?" asked the omnipotent entity.

"Q! What are you doing in my quarters?!" asked Marrissa.

Q smiled that extremely annoying smirk of his. "Well, Risa..." he
began.

Anger flashed in Marrissa's eyes. "Do *not* call me that."

Q chuckled. "Well, can't an old friend come to read you a bedtime
story, make sure you've washed behind your ears, and give you a goodnight
kiss?"

Marrissa took a deep breath before continuing. This was the same type
of scorn she had heard whispered behind her back by those in Starfleet who
didn't know her. Once she had worked with someone, she was usually able to
put together a relationship of mutual respect, but jealousy amongst those
whom she hadn't worked with sparked rumors of nepotism and worse which had
supposedly contributed to her rapid rise through the ranks.

"I am not a child, Q."

Something almost inperceptible changed in Q's face, and he changed
from benevolent trickster to the near omnipotent judge that the Enterprise-D
first encountered.

"Really? Sad, then. When I first met you, I had such high hopes for
you. But now, instead of that vast potential, what do I see? Your little cat
and mouse game with Jay, your obsessive attitude towards your ship and your
inability to interact civilly with a visitor. You're becoming just like
Jean-Luc at his worst. A pity." With that parting shot, Q vanished.

Marrissa seethed for a second. Q's accusations weren't really fair,
but there was an element of truth in them. She had been overworking herself
lately, and she didn't know what was going through Jay's head with their
relationship sometimes. One thing she would do though was to see if perhaps
she could get along better with their visitor, Mr. Hines. She would go see
him tomorrow.

But for now, the intrusion of an omnipotent entity into her quarters
had changed her mind about the bubble-bath. Marrissa curled up on her bunk
and quickly fell asleep.

Chapter Nine:

Marrissa walked down the corridors of her ship feeling better than
she had in days. Getting the full night's sleep had done her a lot of good.
She would have to remember to thank Martin for his concern. When she reached
V.I.P. Quarters, Suite 13, she pressed the chime for admittance.

"Yo!" came the voice from within.

The computer interpreted that as an invitation to ingress, so the
doors parted for Marrissa. Dave was lounging in a chair before the computer
panel grinning to himself. He also looked a great deal more chipper than he
had on the previous day.

"Mr. Hines," Marrissa began.

Dave looked up and saw Marrissa. "Ahh!" Then Dave shook his head and
tried again. "Captain?"

That's definite progress, thought Marrissa.

"You seemed to be happy about something."

"Oh, yeah!" Dave swiveled the monitor around, and showed Marrissa a
screen proudly proclaiming "Welcome to the Dave Hines HomePage!" with Dave's
picture repeated over and over again in the background.

"HomePage?" Marrissa asked, confused. Then she remembered. "Oh, yes.
Your so-called 'Internet'. After World War III, a surprising amount of data
was recovered on that from old computers that somehow survived. What has been
found kind of stands as an 'online museum' to that era that everyone can
visit."

Dave scrolled the screen down to his counter and was a little
depressed to see that the number was not much higher from what he remembered
back in 1998. Turning to Marrissa, he began, "Look, ah, Capt-"

Marrissa interrupted. "Mr. Hines, you are not in my command, and I'm
not on duty. I do prefer Marrissa."

"Oh. Okay. Dave, then. Marrissa, I just wanted to apologize for
yesterday. I was... um... having a really bad day."

"I know. I spoke with Martin before coming to see you. Effective
immediately, you are no longer confined to quarters. Our current assignment
lasts for another couple of days, after which we'll be returning to Earth,
so you should be back home within a week. Until then, here's a communicator
pin, standard issue to all aboard. The computer can let you know how it
works."

"Hmm." Dave said noncommitally, accepting the pin and attaching it
to his t-shirt.

"You don't sound too pleased."

"It's just that... I really don't expect there to be much left on
Earth for me after nearly five hundred years..."

Consulting a PADD she had brought with her, Marrissa responded,
"Well, Martin has done some research and has found some living descendants
of your first cousins, and..."

"Thanks anyway, but I wasn't that big on family when I was back home.
I'm a bit of a lone wolf."

"That's too bad. I've always felt that family, whether by blood, or
adopted, was one of my most cherished treasures."

"Yeah. I know, I've read all about it."

"I was a bit curious about that. You claim to have read my history
in what you refer to as 'fan-fics'?"

"Yeah. Short for fan fiction. From my best estimate, this is the
fourth 'epoch' of your storyline, in which..." Dave trailed off. "I can't
remember!"

"What do you mean?"

"I remember all of your stories up to a certain point... now in your
time. That's it! I can't remember anything that happens after now!"

"Maybe that's Q's doing, to make sure you can't change what happens
with foreknowledge of events."

"Maybe... hey, maybe he'll erase my memory of the end scene in 'The
Only Constant' too!"

"What are you talking about?"

Just then, the intercom blared in Jay's voice, "Captain to the
bridge!" as the ship rocked. Marrissa realized that they were under attack!
Unfortunately, the next thing Marrissa realized was that she was in a
transporter beam.

Chapter Ten:

"Get those shields up, Mr. Lochard!" Jay barked from the command
chair.

"Trying, sir." Ross Lochard responded. "No good. They hit the rear
shield generator. Damage control teams have been alerted to the area."

"Tell them this has emergency priority. Mr. Rozhenko! Keep the front
of the ship pointed towards the enemy vessel!"

"Aye, sir." Alexander responded.

"Commander! I have identification on the enemy vessel." began Ross.
"It's Trakce. The ship's name is the Gilkarn."

Jay thought for a moment. No one he knew personally.

"Sir!" Ross exclaimed. "The Trakce have beamed two personnel from
this ship to their's! Checking... they took Mr. Hines and..." Ross rechecked
his readings, "...and the Captain, sir."

"Mr. Lochard, I want them back. Try to target the Trakce shield
generators. Gordon to Engineering."

"Sutter here, Commander." Although most of the former "Kids Crew"
knew each other quite well, they fell back to standard Starfleet protocol in
situations like this.

"Lieutenant, the Trakce vessel we are engaging has kidnapped the
Captain and our guest. Send whoever is most expert in Transporter systems
to Transporter Room One."

"That would be Lieutenant Sachs, sir, and she's on her way."

Jay pondered what his next action should be. Calling up a sensor
schematic on the Captain's viewscreen, he saw that the Trakce were jamming
all frequencies, ruling out a call for help. In any case, the battle would
already be decided by the time help arrived, and Jay was always a firm
believer in the theory that universe helps those who helped themselves.

His only choice at this point was to wait, and have a little faith
in his remarkable crew. Though he did know one thing: if those Trakce harmed
one hair on Marrissa's head, they would answer to him.

---

Marrissa felt disoriented. She recognized the sensation of being
transported, but the phase inducers must have been barely within tolerance
levels, and way below Federation standards. As she opened her eyes, she
found herself and Dave in a brig. Dave was sitting down, and shaking his
head, not being used to the sensation of being transported at all. Looking
out through the forcefield, she saw an alien bridge, being manned by aliens
distinguished by colorful hair ribbons. She knew this enemy quite well.

"Ah, the little princess has joined us. I do hope you'll be
comfortable." said a voice from the command chair. As the chair swiveled
around to give Marrissa a look at her enemy, she gasped. She recognized this
Trakce and thought him to be long dead.

"Ath Ressel." she said in an amazed voice.

Chapter Eleven:

"Not quite." said the enemy leader. "But I am glad you take the time
to remember your victims. I am Ath Dralnok, brother of the Ressel you
killed."

"I did not kill Ath Ressel."

"You do not admit that you caused him to fail in his mission?"

"I didn't let him capture me, if that's what you mean."

"Yes, and the Trakce Central Authority executed him for that failure.
Therefore, I hold you responsible. And worse, you have acted on several
occassions to deny the Trakce their manifest destiny of expansion. Did you
know, Captain, that Trakcean children are taught to fear you?"

"No, I was not aware of that."

"Because of this, I was ordered to take you for Trakce once and for
all. It was a simple matter. When Ressel held you, he implanted a
subcutaneous transponder set to only go off a few minutes ago, thus avoiding
detection. When we came to where your ship was at the time, it was a simple
matter to locate you."

Dave, who was busy trying to control feelings of nausea, finally
spoke, "Mommy, make the bad man stop talking."

Ath Dralnok looked at him. "As for the large one, he was a special
prize. Our transporter beams aren't as focused as yours, so he was caught in
the fringe of the transporter effect. His quantum signature is interesting.
We shall subject him to scientific tests."

Marrissa knew what the Trakce considered as "scientific tests", and
knew that Dave had no hope of survival if they "tested" him.

Just then, the helmsman shouted, "Ath! The Earther's ship is
approaching quickly!"

"Idiot!" Dralnok roared. "You said that they would not be able to
track us if we used the anamoly's emanations as cover!"

"Apologies and mercy, A-..." The helmsman was cut off as the Ath
pressed a control on the bridge and the helmsman simply disintegrated.

"Communications, signal for assistance. Relief pilot, take over."
ordered Dralnok.

Suddenly, the ship rocked, and Dave and Marrissa noticed the brig
forcefield shut off. In their arrogance, the Trakce had failed to remove
the duo's commbadges.

"Picard to Endeavour! Beam Mr. Hines aboard!"

As she turned to Dave, he tossed something at her and said, "Catch."
The world dissolved around her. The next thing she knew, she was standing in
the Endeavour's transporter room, holding an extra commbadge. She saw Shayna
Sachs at the controls.

"Shayna, lock on to a human life sign over there, and beam him over
here."

"I can't, sir. The Gilkarn's shields are up again, and..."

Marrissa didn't wait for Shayna to finish, as she raced out of the
transporter room and towards a turbolift.

---

Back on the Gilkarn, Dave smiled to himself as Marrissa disappeared.
Shouting, "I like this part!", he raced out of the brig, and clotheslined
down Ath Dralnok. "That's for having a brig on the bridge!"

Dave turned towards the rest of the crew and smiled.

One of the Trakce soldiers was fumbling for his disruptor, but
Dralnok screamed, "Not on the bridge, you idiot! Take him down with hand-to-
hand combat!"

The Trakce couldn't quite get a handle on Dave's combat style,
though as he leapt around the bridge, hopping on consoles, and occassionally
yelling things like "Whee!" or "I'm being a bad little bunny!".

However, Dave's luck couldn't hold out forever. A Trakce underling
caught his leg and caused him to trip, smacking his chin on a panel.

In the background, Dave heard Dralnok yell, "No! You've doomed us
all!"

Chapter Twelve:

"Captain on the bridge!"

Marrissa entered her bridge, and saw Jay move to the first officer
seat, and state, "You have the conn, Captain."

"Thank you, Commander. Report!"

Ross checked his station, and reported, "The first Trakce ship, the
Gilkarn has spiralled down into the Nexus. A second one is approaching... and
firing, Captain!"

"Return fire! Anything else?"

"Aft shield generators are still offline. We are keeping our front to
the second ship." Jay completed.

"Execute attack pattern Marrissa Zeta Theta Three Kappa!"

"Aye, sir."

"Incoming phaser fire!"

The ship shuddered.

"Direct hit on their primary hull!"

"Sutter here! We're venting some plasma! Don't go to warp for a few
seconds until I can lock it down!"

"Captain!", Ross shouted. "The Gilkarn has reappeared on our
sensors, directly aft! There's no way we can protect our unshielded area!"

"Captain, the second ship is launching torpedoes!"

"So is the Gilkarn!", Ross added.

"Can we use the tractor beam to repulse one of the torpedoes?"

"No, it's offline.", Ross responded.

Marrissa knew she only had one option left. She opened the intercom.
"All hands! Brace for impact!"

The world went white around her.

Chapter Thirteen:

Marrissa was surrounded by white, as far as the eye could see. Before
her, she saw a being whose face was being obscured by the strength of the
light behind him.

"Well done, my good and faithful servant," said a familiar and
sarcastic voice. Marrissa groaned inwardly as Q stepped out of the light. She
recognized this same approach from an experience her father once told her
about.

"Sorry, Q, but I don't particularly believe that you're God, either."

"Pity. Perhaps some angels would... no matter. We need to... chat."

"Q, this is hardly the time. My ship..."

"Your ship, your crew," Q interrupted. "Tell me something, do all
mortals have such pedantic concerns, or just Picards?"

"Q!" Marrissa was rapidly losing patience.

"Don't worry, 'Rissa. All time is stopped right now. You're not even
aging. All I ask is a few moments of your time."

"Then get on with it, Q!"

"I told you before that the Continuum had its eye on you. Well,
we'd like to make you an offer."

"An offer?" Marrissa asked skeptically.

"I'll be blunt. We'd like you to join the Q."

"Me? A Q?"

"Think of it, Marrissa. You're worried about your ship? Wipe out
those two Trakce ships without so much as a thought? Wipe out the entire
Trakce race! Romulans, Cardassians, whomever would threaten your family,
friends and crew, all gone! All you have to do is accept, and we'll wipe
those two ships out and head for the Continuum."

Marrissa was tempted... for about half a second.

"No, Q. Like I said, you aren't God, and I'm not prepared to be,
either. You like to think of yourself as omnipotent, but humanity has
something that you don't, and I don't want to lose it. Thanks for the offer,
but I'd rather be human."

"Even if it meant your death, the death of your family, your crew,
and even Essex?"

"Yes, even then."

"As you wish."

The world again flashed around her, and if the Bridge crew of the
Endeavour thought it a little odd that Marrissa was smiling in a life and
death situation, they were too busy to comment.

Chapter Fourteen:

"The second ship's torpedoes should impact in five... four...
three..."

Marrissa knew that her ship was going to be hurt. She briefly prayed
for a miracle.

The front torpedoes impacted the shields, taking them down by fifty-
five percent.

"Thrusters!" Marrissa ordered. "Turn us around!"

"Aye, sir" responded Alexander.

"No time, Captain!" said Jay. "Torpedoes will hit in 2...1... they
missed us!"

"That's odd," said Marrissa.

Before she could give another order, the Gilkarn's torpedoes impacted
the other Trakce ship. As the Trakce's shields were programmed to allow
Trakce weapons through them, the torpedoes hit the second ship unimpeded.

"The second ship is completely helpless, sir." Ross reported.

"Hail the Gilkarn, Ross."

"They are responding, Captain."

Instead of the scowling visage of Ath Dralnok, the screen lit up to
show the smiling face of Dave Hines. He was wearing a plethora of Trakce hair
ribbons.

"Hey, guys! I'm the king of the Trakce! Look at all these ribbons!"

Marrissa exasperatedly shook her head.

"You do know, Mr. Hines, that the Trakce consider that sort of thing
to be highly sacreligious."

"Oh, you're just jealous, Miss I-don't-care-about-titles."

"Mr. Hines, exactly what happened to the Trakce?"

"I accidentally tripped on a control, and they all disappeared."

Marrissa remembered a previous encounter with the Trakce. "Ah,
their suicide equipment."

"Personally, I think they just forgot to pay their existence bill."

Marrissa sighed. This man specialized in making no sense whatsoever.
A beeping sound from Marrissa's chair panel attracted her attention.

"Mr. Lochard," Marrissa ordered. "Lock torpedoes on the Trakce vessel."

"Hey, now!" said a panicked Dave. "It was a joke! You can take a
joke, right?" Dave's eyes went wide and he started pushing buttons at random.

Alexander reported, "Sir, he's turned on the tractor beam... He's
snared an asteroid..."

Dave yelped in surprise as the Gilkarn shook beneath him. He fell to
the floor.

"The asteroid has hit him." Alexander finished with a bemused grin.

"Torpedo passing the Gilkarn," Ross Lochard reported, "and hitting
the third Trakce vessel."

Dave had picked himself up and heard this. "I knew about them." he
insisted. "I did."

Ross politely cleared his throat. "Direct hit to their computer core,
Captain. They've lost everything but minimal impulse, tractors and life-
support. They're moving to give the second vessel assistance."

Jay Gordon was consulting his screen. "Captain, the Gilkarn is also
moving towards the second Trakce vessel."

Marrissa looked up at the central viewscreen again. "Mr. Hines, what
are you doing?"

"You'll see..." came Dave's cryptic response.

"He's firing disruptors," Ross reported. "Scoring strength."

As the Endeavour's crew looked on, Dave proceeded to carve words into
the Trakce vessel's hull. When he was done, the second Trakce vessel bore the
inscription, "We lost to one guy in one of our ships." Marrissa felt the
beginnings of a migraine as a red liquid materialized in the second vessel's
path and the vessel cruised through it. She had a sick feeling that the
liquid was strawberry juice.

Suddenly, the sound of one person clapping rang through the bridge.
In his traditional flash, Q arrived.

"Bravo." he said in a sarcastic voice. Then Q, Marrissa, and Dave all
disappeared in a flash.

Jay took over. "Shayna, get some engineering and security personnel
over to the Gilkarn. I suspect we'll get the Captain and Mr. Hines back in
short order."

Chapter Fifteen:

"I would suppose congratulations are in order."

Dave was a bit dumbfounded by his new surroundings, so Marrissa
spoke up. "You tried to trick me. If I had accepted your offer, Dave would
have been wiped out of existence!"

"Oops, I forgot to erase that from your memories. Here you go." Q
snapped his finger, and a flash appeared briefly over Marrissa's and Dave's
heads. "Now then, we'll want to make this brief. Since you're not in a
crisis situation, time is passing."

Dave now spoke up, "Why did you bring me to this time?"

"Too bad Wesley isn't available, he would help in explaining it. No
matter. I'm sure you both have heard that Wesley is... shall we say...
'special'." At Dave's and Marrissa's nods, Q continued. "Well, the Q have
determined that the two of you also fit in that description."

"How?" demanded Marrissa.

"You are just so impatient, Marrissa. Remind me not to bring your
Christmas present too early. You'll both find out... in time."

"Pardon me," began Dave, "but couldn't I have been special back
home?"

"Not for too long. Permit me to demonstrate." A vision appeared
before Marrissa and Dave. Perhaps, more accurately, a window into hell
appeared before them.

A single madman in power had gained control of a nuclear weapon and
launched it. Automatic response systems thought deactivated kicked in and
launched a depleted, but adequate stockpile. Tens of millions died in the
initial assault. Hundreds of millions more died in the anarchy that followed.
Dave choked back a sob as the ruins of his home and his school appeared.

The smile was gone from Q's face as even the omnipotent entity seemed
somewhat ashen. "I did what I could." he said in the faintest of whispers.

A cry of rage welled up from inside Dave, and faster than Marrissa
thought he could move he struck Q with a right cross directly on the chin.
Surprisingly, Q allowed it and fell down.

"You..." Dave choked, "everything I knew is gone! What do I do now?!"

Marrissa laid a hand on his shoulder. "You build something new."

Q was back up. "You mortals do seem to be good at that." He snapped
his fingers and Dave and Marrissa were gone again.

Chapter Sixteen:

Dave reappeared on the bridge of the Gilkarn as Marrissa reappeared
on the bridge of the Endeavour. Since the two ships were still in contact
with each other, they saw each other appear.

Martin was on the bridge of the Gilkarn and steadied Dave as he
faltered a bit. "Are you alright?"

"I'll be fine," Dave replied, wiping his eye and sitting in the
Captain's chair.

Shayna entered the bridge of the Gilkarn. "Good news! I tapped into
the computer banks of this thing, and they've accumulated a good deal of
data on the Nexus as well. I'm transmitting it now."

Back on the Endeavour's bridge, Ross responded, "Thanks, Shayna. We
are receiving." He paused. "Captain, the computer says we have enough data
to complete our mission with the addition of the Trakce data."

Marrissa settled down in her chair. "Then it looks like we're going
home to talk things over with Starfleet, and then coming back to stop this
thing from hitting Essex!"

"One problem, Marrissa," Jay said, "what do we do with the Gilkarn?"

"We take her with us! They abandoned the ship... sort of... and that
makes it mine under maritime law!" Dave suggested.

"Nice try, Dave, but the legal system no longer works that way."

"Well, the idea of bringing her back with us is appealing." Jay said.

"The Trakce diplomatic corps would blow their tops over that one."
Marrissa replied.

"And if they had diplomatic ties with the Federation, that would mean
something." Dave rejoined.

"They don't." confirmed Jay.

"Then it looks like the Starfleet Engineering Corps gets a new toy
to reverse-engineer until the diplomats sort the whole thing out." Marrissa
remarked. "Shayna, set the transponder codes so we don't get attacked by our
side on the way in, then set course for Earth. Endeavour out."

On the Gilkarn, Dave tugged his shirt down, sat in the middle chair
and confidently said, "Engage!"

Shayna simply looked back at him like he was a lunatic and continued
to operate the navigational console.

Martin leaned close to Dave and whispered, "She's kind of cute, isn't
she?"

Dave considered for a moment and responded, "I really hadn't noticed.
She's a little young for me."

The sun glinted off of the Endeavour and the Gilkarn as they made
their way home.


Epilogue 1:


Ensign McLees was bored. The Endeavour had just left on a classified
mission, and a civilian's runabout was about to depart. He hated civilian
boats. "Docking control to Sol," he began.

A testy voice responded, "That's S.O.L."

(Writer's note: The story of the Endeavour continues in "Generations
2: Generations Ahead" by Anne-Lise Pasch.)

McLees decided it wasn't worth the effort of arguing. "We're seeing
some peculiar energy readings from your ship."

A different voice responded, "We... um... dropped the toaster."

In the background, another voice hissed, "That's stupid!"

The first voice said, "Sorry!"

McLees considered asking to leave early and report to sickbay for a
migraine treatment as the runabout shimmered, and seemed to reform into a
large cartoonish dog bone.

"Now departing," reported the S.O.L.

McLees left to go find his supervisor.

Aboard the runabout, Dave whooped in happiness. A reward for helping
to capture a Trakce ship, as well as a contract to be interviewed by the
Federation Historical Society went a long way. He now owned a civilian
runabout with his own special touches.

"Steady as she goes, Gypsy!" he ordered. He turned to two other
robots that he had created with the aid of the replicator. "How about a
movie, guys?"

The two robots, a red one and a golden one, began screaming.

"You told us we wouldn't have to put up with those anymore, Dave!"
screamed the red one.

"No, Tom. I meant a *good* movie. How about those Star Wars prequels?
Never got to see those."

"Fine with me! No more bad movies!" whooped Crow, the other robot.

"Gypsy," Dave ordered a larger purple robot. "Second star to the
right and straight on 'till morning!"

"Dave, never quote Star Trek VI again!" shouted Tom.

"Sorry. Sorry."

The Satellite of Love flew through space.

Epilogue 2

Time passed. After an incident with the Nexus and Q, Jay finally
proposed to Marrissa, and Alexander proposed to Clara. The wedding on Essex
was the social event of the season. Dave was pleased to find a request to
attend in his messages, as well as a request to do something else.

At the reception, Dave was finishing a song he had learned from his
time. "...and time goes by... so slowly... and time can do so much... are
you still mine? I need your love... I need your love... God speed your
love... to me..."

Jay and Marrissa looked into each other's eyes with love as they
danced to the song.

"And, now to get this party rocking for our happy couples, here's
something a bit more up-tempo! 1-2-3!"

The background vocalists sang, "Good Love! Good Love!"

After the song, Dave said "Best of luck, Jay, Marrissa, Clara and
Alex!" The party raged long into the night.

THE END