Alright people, here's chapter one!
"So, Lieutenant, how do you feel?" Riker asked as they stepped up on the platform.
"Good", Lieutenant Kate Bloom answered. "It's better to go hands-on on your first day then linger around in the background."
Riker grinned.
"Sounds like you and I will have a lot of fun together", he said, then nodded at O'Brien by the controls. "Energize."
The blue light surrounded them for a few moments before they found themselves standing in a dark storage-room. Data immediately picked out his scanner.
"We are inside the factory, Commander", he said. "I am able to read the signs of multiple life-forms moving around us."
"Are you able to see if anyone's kept in some sort of prison?" Riker asked.
"Negative, Commander", Data answered. "I can only guess that those life-forms that are remaining in one point might be held captive."
"Alright, let's aim for those", Riker decided after checking the readings the android was talking about. "Lieutenant Bloom, you're with me. Data, Worf, you head to the laboratory and shut it down. Phasers kept on maximum stun."
"Aye, Commander", Worf said with a nod. He and the android made for the door, leaving the two others to hide behind a number of barrels. They could hear turmoil rising outside when their two companions were discovered.
"Now", Riker mouthed and darted out. Kate followed instantly, following him out through the door and through the corridor leading right. On either side of them they soon encountered thick doors, all of them marked with a number and a small window.
"One-way glass", Kate said after running a quick scan on it. "It looks like one of those old isolation-chambers on Earth; all padded and secure, except for those ropes hanging from the wall."
"Are you able to tell what they're made of?" Riker asked.
"No, it's not some sort of material that I'm familiar with", Kate responded. "But then I'm not able to get a clear scan through the door."
Riker nodded.
"Data's scan showed five people standing still in this area, so we might have five people to bring with us back up."
"Well, in my opinion we should start by finding them", Kate suggested with a dry smile. They decided to take one side of the corridor each, looking in through every window on every door. After Riker had found two women on his side and Kate one male on his they started to guess that that was how it was organized; males to the right, females to the left.
"O'Brien, we've got another one", Riker said in his combadge. "Beam up directly to sick-bay."
The blue alien vanished in the transporter's light, just like the two others had done before.
"Riker", Kate called. She had continued to move up on her side and was now gesturing towards two of the doors.
Inside Riker saw one male in each room, both of them tied to the ropes. One of them, the seemingly younger one, was twitching slightly in his sleep while the other was completely still.
"Well, that's five", Riker said and used his phaser to unlock the first door. He then noticed the look on Kate's face.
"I think I know them", she said after a while. "I don't know how, but they look very familiar."
"Once we get them back up to the Enterprise they will be alright", Riker remarked and cut the ropes with his phaser, releasing the younger man. "O'Brien, another!"
Meanwhile, Kate had gone in through the next door and cut the ropes of that man as well. She tried to remember where she had seen him before, but it was almost like her memories were blocked by something.
"Lieutenant!" Riker said as he came in through the door. "Head up with him; if he knows you he will need you when he wakes up."
"What?" Kate said with a frown. "But you might need…"
"Data just contacted me, they're done", Riker said. "Now you head up with this man and we will follow."
Kate sighed, then rose and tapped her combadge.
"Enterprise, two to beam up to sick-bay."
A few moments later she stood by a bed in sick-bay on which the man was now lying.
"His heart rate is very low", Doctor Crusher said as she examined him. "Much like the others he's also dehydrated and famished. Whatever they did in that factory it was nothing good."
The other man she had recognized was on a bed on the other side of the room. He was still shaking.
"How is he?" she asked.
"Not as bad as the others", Doctor Crusher answered when she saw who she was indicating at. "Once we've stabilized him we should be able to move him to his own quarters."
"Thank you", Kate said. "Please inform me of when that happens."
"Lieutenant, do you know these men?" the red-haired doctor asked as Kate was about to head out of sick-bay.
"I don't know", Kate answered.
The door to her quarters chimed and she looked up from her computer.
"Come."
"Lieutenant, is everything alright?" Riker said as he stepped inside.
"I think so", Kate answered, then glanced back down at her screen. "Hey, have you ever heard of something called the Force?"
"No, I haven't", Riker answered. "Why?"
"Well, I've run some scans on those ropes we saw in the cells, and all I find is that they are filled with something called the Force", Kate said and pointed at the screen. "Every single type of search I do I get this result."
"Here, let me try", Riker said and typed in the criteria needed for a new search. The next moment a long line of substances popped up in front of them.
"Are you sure you were searching for these things correctly, Lieutenant?" Riker asked.
"Yes, look", Kate said and typed the same kind of search as Riker had just done. Once more the list showed up. Kate frowned.
"That's strange. Earlier it did not work at all."
"Maybe you need some rest", Riker suggested with a slight smile. "You've had quite a first day here."
"Yeah, maybe you're right, Commander", Kate admitted. "I am feeling rather tired."
"Well, then I should not be keeping you", Riker said. "The Captain has requested that you attend the meeting at o-eight hundred hours tomorrow. He needs you to report as well."
"Then I'll see you there, Commander. Good night!"
The door closed behind him and she headed into the lavatory to prepare for bed. She then closed down her computer without a single look at the screen, not wishing to see if something had happened, dimmed the lights and crept down beneath the covers. She was instantly asleep.
She was not sure if she was dreaming or not when she woke up and walked out to the main room once more. On the couch sat a tall and muscular man, obviously waiting for her. For some reason she was not surprised to see him. He had brown hair, graying, reaching past his shoulders; some of it was swept up in a tuft on the back of his head. His beard and mustache were of the same color and also turning grey and his eyes clear blue. He wore a beige tunic, kept together by a broad belt at his waist, matching trousers and high, dark boots.
"Kate", he said with a smile as she approached. "Oh, child, you've grown so much. You look just like your mother did when I met her."
She did not answer; she simply sat down on the other couch.
"We haven't got much time and I know that you must have a lot to ask me, but now is not the time. Your mother and I have kept this from you your whole life in order to protect you but that is not something we can do anymore."
He moved over so that he was sitting next to her. A mixture of feelings were shining in his eyes; pride, joy, guilt and sadness.
"Remember this, Kate", he said and took her face in his hands. "Your mother and I love you and we would never have left you if it had not been absolutely necessary."
He placed a soft kiss on her forehead and the room seemed to be filled with a white light.
She opened her eyes and found that she was in her bed and her alarm-clock was going off. Muttering to herself that she had overslept once more, as the clock was already half past seven, she quickly got up and got dressed. She ordered a bagel from the replicator and was out of her quarters not even ten minutes after she had woken up.
"Good morning, Lieutenant", Riker greeted her as she walked into the conference-room. "I hope you slept well?"
"I did, thank you, Commander", Kate said and sat down in an empty chair next to Doctor Crusher. Moments later Captain Picard walked in and took his place at the head of the table.
"Well then, let's hear what we have", he said.
Over the next half-hour the team that had been in the factory the day before re-told everything that had happened to the others in the room. The Captain was specifically interested in what Data and Worf had found down in the laboratory.
"There were several containers of white blood cells, Captain", Worf explained.
"We are still studying them, but so far we have found nothing that indicates what the factory was after", Data continued.
"Midi-chlorians", Kate said. Everyone else turned towards her.
"They were looking for midi-chlorians, a microorganism connected to the Force."
"I'm sorry, Lieutenant, but there is no such thing as midi-chlorians", Doctor Crusher said.
"Yesterday I would have said the same thing, but…"
Kate grimaced and massaged her head for a few moments.
"I dreamt of my father last night and he told me the truth, about all of this", she continued. "He told me about the factory, about the Force, about the Jedi, about…"
"Wait, Jedi?" Riker said with a frown.
"Lieutenant, would you mind explaining what the Jedi are?" Picard asked.
"They are keepers of the peace in another part of the universe known as the Galactic Republic", Kate answered. "Since an early age they are trained to use the Force, an invisible force that exists in all living beings but thanks to the higher level of midi-chlorians in Jedi it can also be wielded by them."
"Lieutenant, forgive me for saying this but that's absurd", Riker said. "What you are talking about can only exist in fairytales."
"It's real, Commander", Kate protested.
"Lieutenant Bloom, we have to keep all of this within the boundaries of what we can tell is real", Captain Picard remarked. "If you are able to show us that what you're saying is true we can take that into consideration, but right now we can't."
Kate reluctantly nodded and for the rest of the meeting she focused on a single point on the table in front of her. When she was about to leave the Captain stopped her.
"Lieutenant, a word?"
"Yes, Captain?" Kate said.
"I am going to give you one day to prove that this Force exists", Picard said. "One day and no more."
"What? But… I thought you did not believe me."
"Everyone who has made a great discovery was not believed to begin with", Picard pointed out. "What you are suggesting does indeed sound like something that can only exist in stories and fairytales, but we have run into a dead-end when investigating this factory. We need more theories to go by and if your theory about the Force ends up being true, we need to know more about it right away."
Kate could not help but smile and she had a feeling that if he had not been such a respected Captain she would have hugged him.
"Thank you, Captain."
"Now, remember that I will only give you one day, so mark this time", Picard said as they headed out through the door.
"I will", Kate said, then hurried off through the corridor.
