Star Trek: Icarus – Simulacrum

Author's Note: This story follows my earlier "Star Trek: Icarus," but can be read as a standalone as well. Set a century after TNG, it follows the seven-person crew of the experimental science vessel USS Icarus as they explore strange new worlds in the Galactic Centre. It's my idea of what a new Trek miniseries might look like, and follows the primary universe canon but not extended canon (and also considers Star Trek V to be, shall we say... apocryphal). Feel free to drop a review!

Captain's Log, Stardate 136489.8.

It has been a month since Icarus entered the Galactic Core. We've returned to our communications relay at the edge of the Core for a scheduled mission report, and have received authorization from Starfleet Command to investigate a possible inhabited M-Class planet. Much to my relief, Starfleet Command has seen fit to allow me to remain in command of this mission, despite my disturbing experiences with the temporal paradox.

Captain Zia Rashid catches herself staring at her reflection in the mirror for a long moment as she ties her hair above her head. She blinks, briefly straightens her dark purple dress, then steps out of the bathroom into the dining room of her condo. Swirling, abstract paintings adorn the wall alongside alien sculptures, and the soft piano of Bill Evans plays from overhead speakers. Outside the wall-length window, the Damascus city lights shine in the clear night.

She sits at the table and gazes at one of the paintings. After a moment, she calls, "Do you need a hand with anything, Omar?"

"No need!" A tall man with dark eyes emerges through the doorway, carrying two plates of sushi. He sets one in front of her. "This one's for you." He smirks. "I think. Unless it tastes like hologram. In which case it's mine."

She smiles. "It'll be a pale imitation of your legendary Tanaka family recipe."

He places his plate across from her and sits, lighting a candle at the centre of the table. "Well, it should be identical on the molecular level to the sushi I prepared here. Assuming Pon's got your replicators working properly. But, you know, it's still missing the most important secret ingredient."

"Which is?"

"Love."

She smirks. "You're ridiculous."

He pours a glass of wine, and then pours a glass for her from a second bottle. They raise their glasses and he says, "Happy anniversary, habibi."

"Happy anniversary." Their glasses clink together and they each take a sip.

Omar leans back in his chair. "It's pretty convincing, this holo-link system. I forgot for a second that you were half-way across the galaxy." He takes another drink of wine and raises an eyebrow. "It'd be interesting to see how realistic it is for… other purposes."

She chuckles. "I wish. But the holodeck is booked for nineteen hundred hours. Plus, holo-you can never compare to the real thing." She cocks her head. "Still, might almost be worth it to get a quickie in. It is our anniversary, after all. And it's been a long time for me."

"Yeah, I suppose it's been significantly longer for you than it has for me." He shakes his head. "You know, I'm never going to get used to that whole temporal displacement thing. Do you realize that you're not younger than me anymore? I'm married to an older woman!"

"Only by a couple of weeks."

"Still." He takes a maki roll with his chopsticks and dips it in soy sauce. "And I suppose that, from your perspective, it's not even our anniversary. It would have already happened."

She looks down. "I thought of that while I was stranded on Icarus." She pauses. "Anyway, as far as I'm concerned, today is our ten-year anniversary. The time I was alone on the ship… it doesn't count."

"I suppose not." He regards her with concern. "Zia, are you sure you're alright?"

She stares into his eyes. "Honestly… yeah. I mean, for now. I'm glad we're continuing the mission. I'm confident I can do it. And I think I need to do it."

"Are you sure? You seem… I don't know. There's something about you."

"Maybe it's just the hologram you're seeing. It's probably about to become sentient and fall madly in love with you." She grins. "And hey, it probably has less baggage, not having seen the end of the universe and everything. And technically it's a younger woman. Maybe you should go for it."

"Hah." He eats another maki. "Did I tell you I'm working on a new piece? It's inspired by your experience in the distant future, and I'm hoping to have it ready for the Bolian Exhibition. It's called 'Heat Death.'"

"Oo." Rashid purses her lips. "Can I see it?"

"It's not ready yet. But I'll give you a hint: it's black. Many shades. The detail is all in the brushstrokes."

"I can't wait." She eats a piece of maki. "Mm. It's close. Very close. But you know, I swear I can taste the difference. It's almost the real thing, but not quite."

There is a beep, and the computer says, "It's eighteen hundred hours and fifty eight minutes."

Rashid looks down. "Listen, Omar, this has been really great. And I'm really sorry I couldn't be home…"

"Shh. You're a Starfleet captain. I know what it's like." He grins wryly. "I'm thinking about starting a support group, actually."

They stand and embrace. She buries her face in his shoulder, tears dripping into the holographic recreation of his tunic. "I love you so much, habibi."

"I love you too, Zia. Ten wonderful years."

They hold each other silently, and kiss tearfully. The computer says, "It's nineteen hundred hours."

They pull apart, and he holds her at arm's length. "You're going to be alright?"

"Yes. Thanks. This was nice." She stares into his eyes. "Talk to you in a couple weeks?"

"Definitely." He hugs her again. "Goodbye, Zia. Be careful out there."

"Goodbye, Omar." After a long moment, she says, "Computer, end program."

Omar and her condo disappear, leaving only her food and wine on the table in the empty holodeck. She takes her plate and glass, and the table vanishes as she walks out the archway.

Pon is waiting for her outside. Seeing the captain's dress, she ventures, "You look nice."

Rashid raises an eyebrow. "Thanks…?"

"Let it not be said that I'm not making an effort to get along better with my shipmates and their pointless social niceties."

"Ah. Well, I appreciate the effort. Sorry I went overtime with the holo-link."

"No apology necessary. I'll just be talking to my family, and frankly, I would have been just as happy to use the neural interfaces for the less immersive experience, but the kids insisted. Apparently they attempted to make braised howl-fungus."

"That sounds… delightful?"

"That's one word for it," Pon scoffs. "I mean, I love howl-fungus as much as the next Tellarite, but it's best eaten raw and howling. Who were you talking to in there? Husband?"

Rashid nods. "Yeah."

"Take my advice: get a few more. Then you can play them off each other. They become a lot less needy."

She chuckles. "I didn't realize that polyandry was common on Tellar."

"It's not. The Traditional Culture League has been giving me crap for years. Those people can suck my prangs." She sighs. "Anyway, best not to keep the kiddies waiting. By the way, Commander Sparks says we made an interesting discovery about this Class M planet. I guess there's a special briefing at nineteen hundred thirty. Which is a convenient out for me. I'll see you there."

"See you there, Commander." She watches as the Tellarite takes a deep breath, then passes through the archway into the holodeck. Rashid returns to her quarters and finishes her sushi while changing into her red command uniform.

She sits on her bunk and sips her wine while gazing out at the dense starscape of the Galactic Core. After a long moment, she leaves her quarters for the turbolift. It rises a few decks, then stops and the door opens.

"Good evening, Zia," comes Dr. Alomar's rich baritone as he steps into the lift next to her.

"Good evening, Tomas. How are Q'ar and the kids?"

"They're well. My husband, of course, was very excited to see me. But Ximena and Ao'Thyra… let's just say that they're at the age where hearing about their father's exploits doesn't entirely hold their attention." Rashid chuckles.

The door opens at the bridge, where the crew sits around the briefing table, an astrometric chart suspended in the space above. Alomar sits next to Sparks, and Rashid stands at the head of the table. "I hope you've all made the most of our contact with home," she smiles, "because this next phase of our mission promises to be quite fascinating. Commander Sparks and I have cross-referenced our probe data on the nearby M-class planet with the Starfleet database and have made a very exciting discovery. Isaiah?"

"Thank you, Captain." Sparks points to one of the planets in the holographic star chart, and it enlarges. "We've been analyzing some of the EM signals emanating from the planet. At first, they didn't seem to match anything in our database, but after conferring with Starfleet Command, we've determined that the signals are Iconian!"

The crew glances among each other, and Rashid adds, "For those of you who have only a vague recollection of astro-archaeology class, the Iconian civilization thrived approximately two hundred thousand years ago. By all accounts, they were a powerful empire whose influence extended throughout much of the galaxy until they were overthrown by a coalition of their enemies. Their homeworld, which is in the former Romulan Neutral Zone, was destroyed by orbital bombardment, and they are now believed to be extinct."

Dr. Susan Sorensen looks puzzled. "Why didn't we initially detect that the signals were Iconian when we initially received the probe data?"

"I was curious about that myself," Rashid tells the science officer. "The reason is that most information pertaining to the Iconians is strictly classified. It goes back to the Dominion War, apparently. The Iconians had a sort of long-range transporter technology which allowed them to transport anywhere in the galaxy instantaneously. At the time, Starfleet Command was quite concerned about the Dominion getting any information about the technology."

"Interestingly enough," Sparks adds, "the first joint Starfleet-Dominion operation was actually to destroy an Iconian transporter gateway in the Gamma Quadrant shortly before the war. Since then, there has been the odd discovery of Iconian ruins, but no sign of functioning Iconian technology. So, needless to say, Starfleet is quite excited about this discovery."

"Is there any sign of life on the planet?" Alomar inquires.

"No sign as of yet," Rashid answers. "We'll need to get closer to get more accurate readings. But the general level of EM activity does suggest a functioning society."

"What do we know about the Iconians?" Avala asks. "Should we be concerned that they'll be hostile?"

Sparks turns to her. "Actually, to help answer that question, I've been able to get in touch with an old acquaintance who served on two of the major Iconian-related incidents on record. I thought he'd be able to provide some firsthand insight. He's standing by now, and I suggest we put him through without further delay."

"He doesn't strike me as the sort of person one keeps waiting." Rashid sits near the head of the table, then taps a console. "Activate holo-link."

At the seat at the head of the table, an ancient, grizzled Klingon materializes, wearing battle armour and a wide baldric bedecked with various medals. He slowly looks around the bridge, his jagged fangs bared.

"Dahar Master Worf," Sparks addresses him in Klingon. "We are honoured by your presence. Allow me to introduce Captain Zia Rashid and the crew of the USS Icarus."

"It has been some time since I have been aboard a Starfleet vessel," Worf says. "Things have changed."

"Icarus represents the next generation of Starfleet research vessels," Rashid tells him, "designed for travel in the Galactic Core by our own Dr. Pon. It's equipped with an experimental superspace inversion matrix which allows us to sustain a warp field despite the intense gravimetric stresses of the Core, as well as state of the art matter projection technology which allows us to temporarily replicate any instrumentation we need and to repair any damage."

Worf glares at her for a long, awkward moment. "You are the captain?"

"Yes, sir." She meets the Klingon's gaze.

"And you are prepared to face the Iconians? To face the demons of air and darkness?"

"Well, we're not sure if there will be any living Iconians there, but…"

"I have been to Iconia," Worf tells her. "I have seen their technology. Even now, it is still beyond our comprehension. Captain Picard believed that they may have been a peaceful race, misunderstood by the ones who destroyed them. But I have done battle in an Iconian structure, and I have no doubt that it was built by warriors. The walls had known battle before."

"I understand that the USS Yamato was destroyed by an Iconian computer program," Rashid says. "We've taken steps to counteract it, but is there anything you can tell us about it from firsthand experience?"

Worf strokes his long grey beard. "It was like a disease, spreading from one body to the next. Even to Commander Data. It nearly destroyed the Enterprise until we reinitialized the main computer."

"Who was your engineer?" Pon scoffs. "All it took was reinitializing the main computer? That would be the first thing I would try."

Worf slams his fist on the table and bellows, "You would dare dishonour the name of the Enterprise crew?"

"Hey, I've read Geordi La Forge and yes, he's one of the defining engineering minds of his time and all that. But, I mean, come on, Geordi. It's a malicious computer program. What's the first thing you try?"

"He solved engineering problems which would turn your mind to paste!" Worf stands. "It is fortunate that I am not physically present with you, Tellarite!"

"Oh, really? What are you going to do, old man?" Pon rises to her feet as well as Rashid and Sparks gesture frantically at her to stop. "Why don't I turn the safety protocols off and we see what happens?"

They storm around the table to face each other, and Rashid follows close behind Worf, shouting at Pon to sit down. The Klingon and Tellarite glare at each other for a moment, Worf's hand raised to strike Pon, who faces him warily, fists raised.

Then Worf's snarl turns to a grin, and he begins to laugh. "I can see that the heart of a warrior beats within you!" Pon lowers her fists, and Worf claps her on the shoulder. "But do not be so foolish as to underestimate the Iconians."

Rashid glares at Pon, who shrugs and sits down. Rashid returns to her seat, and Worf says to her, "You should remember my warning as well. The Iconian Empire may be gone, but even on their dead worlds, traces of their power remain, like embers of a fire."

"I appreciate that, sir," Rashid replies.

"And if you encounter any threats, you should heed your tactical officer's advice." He faces Avala. "Is that you?"

"Yes, sir," the young Andorian replies. "Lieutenant Vanda Avala."

He eyes her. "I have found that human commanders can be infuriatingly slow to act decisively when confronted with potential danger. But also remember that the perspective is very different from the command chair."

She smiles slightly. "Thank you, sir. I will bear that in mind."

Worf turns to Sparks. "Send me a report of your mission when you are finished. I am curious to know what you discover." He hesitates for a moment. "And, Commander…"

"Yes, sir?"

Worf leans forward. "When you served on Deep Space Nine, did you ever encounter a Trill officer named Dax?"

He nods. "Yes, sir. In fact, Captain Dax came by quite often. He said he spent the best parts of two lifetimes there and liked getting back whenever he could."

"He…?"

"Yes, sir. Captain Calban Dax."

Worf looks perplexed. "Well, if you see him, tell him to contact me." He stands. "I wish you success on your mission! Qapla'!"

"Thank you, sir," Sparks replies. "Qapla'!"

Worf vanishes. Rashid turns to Pon. "He's a Dahar Master!"

"Klingons don't respect you unless you stand up to them. And if you don't provoke them a bit, they get bored."

"I thought he was adorable," Avala opines.

"Alright, well, let's make sure that we're ready for that computer weapon of theirs."

"On it," Pon says. "I'll take a look at the old Enterprise logs. I should be able to set up a polymorphic firewall to quarantine any invasive programs."

"Good. Ensign Rylek, how far are we from the planet at Warp 3?"

"Two days, eleven hours, sixteen minutes, Captain," the young Vulcan replies.

"Set a course." Rashid looks up. "Computer, bridge setting."

The table disappears, and control consoles appear around the room. The crew's chairs move to their respective stations. Rashid points toward the viewscreen. "Engage."

"Ah."

"Oh, yeah. Just keep doing it, just like that… yeah."

"Ah yeah, that's right."

"Just keep… just keep… yeah. Ahh."

Avala rolls off Sparks and lays beside him, flushed a deep shade of blue. He wraps his arm around her and pulls her close. "You like that?" he grins.

"Yes, sir." She puts a hand on his chest, her antennae close to his face. "Mm, you know I did."

"I'm glad you came by. I was thinking about you that whole shift." He kisses her neck. "Can I get you something from the replicator?"

"Nah, I'm alright." She is silent for a moment, and her antennae retract. "Do you find it a bit weird that Rylek and Susan are best friends all of a sudden?"

"Rylek and Susan…? Well, I mean, they did a mind meld. That's a pretty personal experience."

"Yeah, but it's just… I don't know. The other night he apparently went over to her quarters and she showed him this ancient human video program, Doctor Who."

Sparks nods. "Classic."

"He said it was illogical. And yet he keeps spending all this time with her. I've known him for a long time and this is very un-Rylek. What do you think?"

"What do I think?"

She rolls over. "Yeah. I mean, don't you think it's weird?"

"I don't know… as XO, I don't think it's really appropriate for me to comment on the private business of our shipmates."

She smirks, pushing him gently. "You're so by-the-book. 'I'm Commander Sparks. I'm a human. Look at all my rules.'"

"Hah. Come here." He pulls her to him and they kiss.

"We are approaching our destination," the computer tells them. "You should probably get to the bridge."

"I hate that Tellarite behavioural subroutine Pon installed on the computer!" she says. "It's always arguing with me. Why would I want the ship's computer to argue with me?"

"I gather the captain felt like it was keeping her company during the weeks she was alone. I think you can disable it for your own interactions with it, but I could swear it doesn't want me to figure out how to do that." He sits up. "But we should get to the bridge."

"Oo, I'm so excited! Our first planet here in the Galactic Core!" She gets out of Sparks' bed and dresses. Putting her comm badge on, she says, "So… the usual? I'll go now, you take the next lift?"

"Yeah. It's not that I feel like we have anything to hide. It's just… you know."

"I know." She grins. "Rules."

Sparks watches her leave, then dresses and leaves his quarters. He takes the turbolift to the bridge.

"Just in time, commander," Rashid greets him. Avala, seated at the tactical station, gives him a knowing look as he takes the ops station.

Rashid leans back in the command chair. "Ensign Rylek, take us out of warp, and set a course for the planet, three quarters impulse."

"Aye, captain," Rylek replies.

There is a flash of light, and Icarus streaks into view near a blue-green giant with wide rings. It banks toward a small, purple and white orb illuminated on all sides by the bright starlight of the Galactic Core.

The planet grows larger on their viewscreen. "I'm picking up a lot of EM activity on all frequencies," Dr. Sorensen announces from the science station. "It's interfering with our readings on the planet's surface. I'm trying to compensate."

"I'm getting a lot of objects in orbit," Avala reports.

"Objects?" the captain inquires.

"Mostly artificial satellites. It looks like a lot of them are still active." She peers at her readout. "Also there seem to be some super-dense metal spheres at a higher orbit. I can't tell what they are."

Sorensen cocks her head. "That's very strange. I've never seen anything like that occurring naturally."

"Maybe they regulate the orbits of the other satellites," Rashid speculates.

"It's possible." Sorensen taps her console. "Starting to get some sensor readings on the surface of the planet. It's about sixty-five percent ocean coverage. Nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere, quite habitable. Most of the land surface appears to be urban. Lots of vegetation, some animal life. Mostly invertebrate, I think, but it's kind of hard to tell. But I'm getting no sign of humanoid life."

"And yet, everything else suggests a functioning civilization," Alomar observes from the environmental station.

"The lights are on but nobody's home," Rashid muses.

"Captain," says Avala, "there's a probe launching from the surface. It's heading toward us."

"Yellow alert. Raise shields." Rashid taps her comm badge. "Pon, do you have the computer countermeasure ready?"

"Yes, sir. I've made a copy of the Iconian program the Enterprise encountered and reprogrammed it to disable the probe's software and isolate our systems. Ready to go on your command."

The ops console beeps. "It's trying to tap into our main computer," Sparks reports.

"Pon, activate the program."

"Aye, captain."

On the viewscreen, a bluish sphere streaks towards them, then turns a dull grey colour and continues past them in a straight line.

"The probe's been disabled, sir," Sparks tells her.

"Avala, get it in a tractor beam; I'd like to take a closer look at it. Rylek, take us in a little closer. Slowly."

The ship moves toward the planet. The yellow-white sun breaks over one planet, and a large green and white continent comes into view.

"Bring us into a high orbit," Rashid tells Rylek. "I'd like to drop some probes into the atmosphere to assess the suitability of sending an away team –"

"Captain, I'm getting a power surge from the planet's surface," Avala tells her, tension in her voice. "Some kind of gravimetric field…"

Suddenly the ship begins to shudder, and the lights on the bridge flicker.

"Warning!" the computer says. "Structural integrity field failing."

"They've created a gravimetric singularity inside the ship!" Sparks announces urgently.

"Get us out of here, Rylek," Rashid orders. "Avala, hail them."

"No response."

Rylek says, "I have insufficient power to break the ship free of the gravitational field."

"Pon! We need more power to engines!"

In Engineering, Pon frantically slams her hand on a console as sparks fall from the ceiling. "Captain, I don't know what the hell this singularity is, but I'm going to have to shut down the warp core before we lose plasma containment."

"Can you remodulate the shields to disrupt the gravimetric field?"

"Our shields are having no effect," she growls. "Gah! It's overloading the EPS relays."

"Warning!" the computer repeats. "Structural integrity failing. The ship will implode in ninety seconds."

"Divert all power to structural integrity!" Rashid shouts as the bridge shudders.

"Main power is offline!" Sparks calls as the bulkheads groan. "I'm diverting auxiliary power!"

Rashid looks around the room. "We're out of options! We need to abandon ship. Everyone to the shuttlebay."

The consoles on the bridge flicker in and out of existence as they rush to the turbolift, and the six of them crowd inside. "Deck 6!" Rashid calls, and the lift descends.

"Captain!" Pon calls over the comm. "I'm going to eject the core and the SIM."

"There's no time, Pon! You need to get to the shuttlebay."

"I just need to do get the SIM drive powered down! If I don't do this, we'll never be able to get home."

"Damn it," Rashid mutters. "Deck 5!"

The turbolift stops. She turns to the crew. "I'm going to help her. Get to the shuttle! We'll use an escape pod and meet you afterwards."

"Captain…" Sparks begins.

"Go!"

She rushes out of the lift into Engineering, where Pon is furiously working at a console next to the warp core. She looks up at Rashid and shouts over the din, "I designed an emergency subroutine for this type of situation. It ejects a module containing all the ship's critical systems, including the matter projectors."

Rashid climbs down a small ladder to the warp core, nearly falling as the ship lurches under the gravitational forces. "Then you're going to use the matter projectors to rebuild the ship from scratch? Is that even possible?"

"Pretty much has to be, doesn't it? But if I don't set a trajectory away from the planet and launch the module at a high enough velocity, it'll get pulled right back into the singularity."

The ship rocks, and a loud groan echoes through its hull as the arrowhead-shaped saucer section begins to implode, crumpling in on itself.

Rashid accesses a control console. "Shit. Structural integrity in the saucer section has failed. The escape pods have been destroyed." She looks up. "Do you still have transporter functionality?"

"Yeah, the matter projectors don't work without it. Why?"

"You and I are going for a spacewalk. I'm setting the coordinates now." There is a loud bang, and the lights flicker again. "Get that trajectory set, then get into an environmental suit!"

"Aye, Captain!" She slaps her palm on the console. "Trajectory set. Launch in forty-five seconds."

She rushes to Rashid, who pulls two environmental suits from a storage locker. They both frantically put on the suits, then Rashid calls out, "Computer! Engage transport program Rashid sigma three."

The ship dissolves around them, and they materialize in space between the ship and the planet. Icarus continues to crumple in on itself, two of the four nacelles twisting towards the centre of the ship as a small module launches from the ship's underbelly away from the planet. Then the ship's stern section collapses, the remaining nacelles breaking from their struts to collide with the crumpled wreck of the saucer section. As they watch, it continues to compact into a roughly spherical shape.

"I guess we know what those metal spheres are now," Rashid says to Pon over the intercom as they drift.

Pon activates her suit's built-in tricorder. "I'm scanning for the shuttle, but there's a lot of interference… wait! There they are!" She rotates and gestures toward the planet, where the sleek shuttlecraft is flying low in the atmosphere, pursued by a pair of small, oval-shaped satellites. Flashes of blue energy streak from the satellites to the shuttle.

"Rashid to Icarus-1! Come in, Commander!"

Sparks' response over the intercom is garbled. "…. Good to hear your voice, captain… Under attack… Need to make an emergency landing…"

"Acknowledged, Commander. We're going to make planetfall. Stand by for rendezvous instructions and be careful – the Iconians don't seem too well-disposed towards intruders." To Pon, "Have you ever done an orbital drop, Commander?"

"Never in a suit. Did a gal'ach free jump once though, so this should be a breeze," Pon replies as they use their suits' thrusters to dive toward the planet.

"Is that where they beam you out just before you hit the ground?"

"Sure is. Best done naked, too." The vast purple sea looms below them, interspersed by white clouds, as they enter the upper atmosphere of the planet. "Auto-entry protocols engaged. Looks like we might be going for a swim."

"I'm reading a sub-orbital platform not far from our location. We should try to make landfall on that." A proximity alert sounds in Rashid's helmet, and she looks up to see a pair of satellites approaching them. "Shit. We've got company. Full power to thrusters."

They dive deeper into the planet's atmosphere, and their environmental suits begin to burn, leaving a trail of fire as they streak through the sky. Energy from the satellites crackles around them.

"Tell me, Commander," Rashid shouts over the roar of the atmosphere. "You said you consolidated all of the ship's key systems in that module. Did you put your mud in it?"

Pon's voice crackles over the interference. "I've told you it's very rare mud, right?" she shouts back. "I consider it necessary!"

There is a flash of blue light around Rashid, and an alarm goes off, barely audible over a deafening hiss.

"My suit's been breached!" she calls to Pon. "Shit! AAAAAHHHHH….."

Rashid's suit burns downward toward the ocean as Pon's continues to hurtle toward a white, circular platform topped by green. "Captain!" Pon calls. "CAPTAIN!"

TO BE CONTINUED...