Featuring the cast and crew of the Federation Starship,USS Antiwesley (NCC-2001) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Somewhere,deep,really deep in the heart of space....
Norman stirred in his sleep. He had been sleeping listlessly recently, and Dr.Voluptura had yet to find a cure to his problem. A dark,ominous figure loomed in the shadows,watching,waiting..
MEANWHILE... On the Bridge...
Servix noted a light flashing on her console. The sensors had indicated that something had been in the Captain's quarters for a moment,but was no longer there. Neither was the Captain,for that matter.
"HELM! All stop!" Servix yelled from her chair.
"Wha?" Ramirez woke up from his nap.
"STOP! Make the ship not move anymore."
"Ahhh..." he nodded and the ship lurched to a halt and floated dead in space.
The intercom bleeped.
"*INSERT RANDOM GERMAN SWEARWORD HERE*! What do ye think ye be doin' to my wee bairns down here?" came the Chief's cry over the speaker.
"She told me to stop the ship." Ramirez looked up at Servix.
"The Captain has been taken off the ship." Servix stated matter-of-factly to no-one,as Ramirez and O'Reilly had taken to arguing.
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Somewhere Else...DEEP in the heart of space...
Norman woke up and found himself staring out across a body of water.
"Oh geez. What's happened to me now?" he muttered under his breath.
"Computer? End Program." Nothing happened. "Great. What am I supposed to do now?"
"Well,for one,you could come out from the cold and warm up. I imagine it's very cold outside in those pyjamas." came a voice from behind him.
Norman turned around to see a man peering out from behind a door. The door led to a small house. He was in somebody's back yard.
"Good,perhaps I can use your comm-system to contact Starfleet.." Norman began to say and noticed the man's puzzled look.
"Well,perhaps the cold's already gotten to you,come on in anyways." the man motioned for Norman to enter.
Norman stepped into the warm house. A fire blazed in the corner fireplace,and a small screen was on,showing a program about a walking,talking snowman.
Norman gazed at the screen. "AH...television." he walked over to the screen and stared for a minute. "Haven't seen one of these in a while..."
"Been away then?" the man offered Norman a cup of hot tea.
"Yes...you could say that. I know this may sound silly,but when am I?" asked Norman.
"When? Hmm. December 24,2002. And I suppose you want to know where?"
Norman nodded. "North America. Earth. Wisconsin." the man replied.
Norman pondered this for a second. How in the heck did I get back this far in the time? he asked himself. And more to the point,what was he doing here?
"You're not from around here,are you?" the man sat down and looked at Norman.
"Well,last I saw,I was from...someplace far away."
The man nodded. "Well,wherever it is,you're certainly ill-prepared for the trip back. Why don't you rest and warm up,I'll see if I can't scatter up something to help you stay warm with." The man got up and walked out.
Norman began to panic. What was he doing some 300 years in the past? How did he get here? How can he get back? He put his head in his hands and sighed.
"You know,worrying never gets you anywhere. Sometimes,it's just best to go with the flow and let it ride. When the time comes,things will be just the way they should be." the man entered the room.
Norman sighed again. "You see,it's more than that. I'm a long way from home, I don't know if I can ever get back to them,and I just don't know what to do. My training didn't cover this."
"Sometimes,any amount of knowledge can prepare you for anything. Best to just sit back and let things happen. In the end,if things were done right,it'll all work out."
"But my friends,my home,my ship..." Norman stopped himself.
"Your ship? My friend,running away from something won't solve it. Face it head on. Accept your problems as your friends. Embrace them. Beat it from within..."
"So,what you're saying is that I should just sit back and let it fix itself?"
The man nodded. "Time tends to fix itself. It tends to repay debts. I know that fact all too well. Speaking of which,here's some clothes. They should fit,as I can't fit into them anymore." the man said,patting his stomach.
Eric nodded. "And here's a watch,I don't need it much anymore,as time's not all that important anyways. My friends always said I always saw time flow differently for me..." he sighed.
Eric went to the bathroom and got dressed. If this was some elaborate prank by the crew,it was pretty big. He looked at himself in the mirror and smiled. If he was stuck here,he'd make the best of it. He put the watch on and snapped the band into place. He went back out to the room. The man was sitting there, reading while he was waiting for him.
The Christmas tree glowed bright in the corner of the room. When he was younger Eric's family carried on the traditions of the eariler Christmases. Far too soon,Eric grew out of the traditions and it became a day like any other day for him. He thought to himself that it might be a good tradition to re-start again. With his new family of course...
The man put down the book. "You look so glum,so empty." the man asked.
"Well,a long time ago.." Eric was interrupted by the man.
"In a galaxy far,far away?" asked the man.
Eric grimaced. "You...could say that." the man sighed as Norman didn't get the joke.
"I was given one of the greatest repsoniblilties a man of my status could be given. And there was an.." Eric searched for the right word.
"Incident?" asked the man,as if he knew what was going through his mind.
"Yes,an incident, in which a lot of people died,and I survived only because I ran. Well,I didn't really run,but the rest of the world thought I did."
"Did you do what you thought was best?" asked the man.
"At the time,I did. If I would have stayed,the Bor..I mean the bad guys probably would have won. They didn't,fortunately,and the lesser of two evils was chosen. I was de-railed. Demoted. I sat behind a desk for 6 months. And WHY? Because they saw me as a coward."
"Now,now son. Getting angry about it isn't going to do any good. It's Christmas.. time to forgive and forget. Time to celebrate the good times. Forget about the bad times. You did what you thought was right. You did what you thought was good. That's all that can be asked of you.."
"You're right. Not much you can do about it.." Norman replied.
"Seeing as how you're from "a galaxy far,far away" I suppose so." the man laughed and got up and walked to the kitchen. Norman giggled.
"Right." said Norman winking.
"Say... I never did get your name." the man asked as he re-entered the living room.
"Sorry... Norman,Eric Norman." came the automatic response.
"Nice to meet you,Eric. Now,I've packed a small lunch for you,and made up a little map to get you to town. I'd invite you to stay longer,but I've got to sleep,and go to work in the morning." he opened the door.
"I can't thank you enough,um..ah.." he said as he walked through the door.
"My name's not important. The fact that I helped is more than enough. Night." he shut the door. Eric looked out over the lake and sighed. The moon was rising and it would give him plenty of light to travel by. The town was only a couple of minutes away,and a good walk would do him good. He got down to the end of the driveway and looked back. The lights in the house turned off,and a small display of lights flashed in the window.
"Christmas. Of all the times." he sighed.
"Captain." a voice came out from above. "Ready to go home?"
"What?" he looked up.
"You have been given a great opportunity. Not many people are given that."
"Who are you?"
"You'll come to know me soon enough. Time to return home. Think of this as a first lesson,Captain Eric Norman. We shall meet again....soon."
The voice faded out and Norman collapsed.
BACK AGAIN....DEEP in the heart of space...
Norman awoke in his own bed,wearing the clothes he had been given by the man.
"Captain!" came the cry from the chair beside his bed. Servix had been sitting there doing a crossword puzzle on her PADD.
"Servix? How long was I gone?"
"Only 30 minutes. We scanned the area where you disapeared and found residual undulating chroniton particles. I knew it was a matter of time and you'd return. Where were you?"
"In the past,listen...I met this guy and he gave me these clothes,and this watch,and..and.." he looked down at the watch. It had stopped working.
'Just let it flow and it'll all be worked out...' he heard at the back of head.
Norman took off the watch. He turned it over. It read: 'To Anti, with love.' His jaw dropped. Servix looked at it and mumbled "Fascinating..."
The Antiwesley started back up on it's journey through space. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SOMEWHERE in future...Not so DEEP in the heart of space.
Admiral Eric Norman turned away from the Guardian of Forever.
"Did you see what you wanted to,Admiral?" the keeper of the Guardian asked.
"No,I think I saw what I needed to see. It answered a lot of questions. I know the truth. He was right. Letting time flow can solve most anything."
The keeper nodded."You're lucky. It very rarely answers. You've joined an elite. Kirk. McCoy. Spock. Picard. Harriman."
"Harriman? You mean they let that menace near this?" Norman looked at the Guardian.
"Goes with being a Captain of destiny,after all.. they let you near it."
Norman sighed. To be in the company of some great people,was an honor itself. Kirk and Picard. The luckiest men in the universe,some said. Norman had almost gotten a posting on an Enterprise once,but time and fate told him different.
The Antiwesley was a fine ship. He was glad to keep it as his ship. He would never trade it for any other.
"Time heals all. Remember that, Mr.Servix.."
The Keeper pulled back her hood. "You're one to talk about time..."
Norman smiled and looked up.
"Norman to Antiwesley. I'm ready to beam up... Energize."
Norman disapeared into the sparkle of a transporter beam.
Servix turned back to face the Guardian.
"As I have since time immemorial,I stand to show you the gateway to the past, and show you a possible future." the Guardian stated.
"That you have. That you have." Servix nodded and went back to her shack.
The dust began to settle again as the Guardian fell back into slumber.