"So?" Tom said, excitement burning in his eyes, "We've got to do this." He swayed from foot to foot, his gaze looking from Benjamin back to Travis, not sure who to look at. He could hardly contain his excitement.
Benjamin wrinkled his nose, as he usually did when thinking about something. He leaned forward resting his elbows on the table, folding his hands together. It wasn't that he was opposed to the idea of exploring the civilization. But First Contact was a very touchy subject and something that not all Captains would be either prepared for or in favor of. It was rare for all five to unanimously agree to something. Not just rare, more like statistically impossible.
"Well, gentlemen," Benjamin sighed, "You have a very interesting proposal. But I hope you realize entirely what you're asking for. First Contact is not something I am willing to discard and knowing Captain Janeway, she might just have a very different, less strict construction of the rules, having had spent time in the Delta Quadrant."
Tom bit his lip, "I'm sure she'll agree."
"We'll still have to talk it over," Benjamin sighed, "But in the meantime, do not be going off on your own adventures." He darted his eyes back and forth from Travis to Tom, "And I'll talk to the other captains… dismissed."
ဝ
A group of people had made a trip to the surface. It was a team of 10 people, T'Pol, Malcolm, Jim, Spock, Worf, Data, Kira, Odo, Chakotay, and Tuvok, to pick out a Christmas tree for Ten-Forward.
T'Pol had a lot on her mind. That was a given if you were a Vulcan experiencing an emotion. Repeatedly. She wasn't prepared for the effects of it either. The blood coursing through her veins, her heart trying to beat its way out of her chest, the heat in her face. All of these symptoms of a… human emotion and she nearly hated herself for it. Nearly. And the worst part of it, she didn't know what to do about it. At least, nothing definite. She had a plan. If you could call it one.
ဝ
Odo and Malcolm trailed the group, Odo scanning the horizon and Malcolm brandishing a phase pistol. His arm swept the area slowly as if he was pointing towards some enemy.
"Do you enjoy carrying that weapon?" Odo asked, nodding slightly to the pistol.
Malcolm threw a glance sideways at him, before shrugging, "It's protection."
"Hmm," Odo hummed.
"Why do you ask?"
"I've always felt that the person who is happy to carry a weapon shouldn't be the one to carry it."
"I'm not trigger happy," Malcolm sighs, "But there is, of course, an adrenaline rush to having a weapon."
"Well," Odo continued, "Just make sure you don't shoot one of our men." He kept a hesitant glare on the phase pistol. Wanting to make sure everyone stays as safe as possible.
Malcolm shook his head, continuing to sweep the area. Malcolm preferred silence and intended on keeping true to that preference, however, one question nagged at his curiosity, "Are you from the Delphic Expanse or…"
"No, I'm from the Alpha Quadrant."
"The Alpha Quadrant?"
Odo sighed, not really sure how to go about articulating this. Malcolm would have no reference to what the quadrants were anyway, "The galaxy has been divided into quadrants, I'm from the Alpha Quadrant, while Earth and Vulcan and so forth are in the Beta Quadrant."
"Are there more than those quadrants?"
"Yes, as far as we know, there is the Delta and Gamma Quadrant."
Malcolm nodded, resting back into silence.
ဝ
T'Pol took in a deep breath, scanning the group for a specific person, finally seeing them. She weaved her way through the group, slowing down when she found them.
"Mr. Spock?" She asked, standing next to both Spock and Jim.
"Yes?" Spock asked, turning his attention to Vulcans.
"I require advice…"
"On?" Spock asked.
T'Pol weighed her words carefully, "Emotions."
Spock raised an eyebrow, "Emotions?"
"Yes."
"And why have you come to me for such a topic?"
"I want a Vulcan opinion," T'Pol replied, "And… a rumor suggests that you have experience with this particular subject."
"What rumor is this?"
"That you and Captain Kirk are in a romantic relationship."
Jim's head darted to the side, eyeing T'Pol with curiosity and frustration, "What did Dr. McCoy tell you?"
"That is irrelevant," T'Pol replied, "Is the rumor false?"
Jim and Spock looked to each other, not sure how to respond to the accusation before Jim sighed, "We wanted to keep it a secret."
"We do not want people from the future to tell us what happens in our relationship."
"If they let what happens slip then it could harm our relationship."
"Logical," T'Pol replied, before remembering what this conversation was supposed to be about, "Would you be able to advise me?"
"What is the situation?"
ဝ
"Okay," Benjamin said, "It looks like we have a few things on the schedule today." He sat at the head of the table this time, being the captain on duty. The rest of the captains sat around the other end of the table.
"First things, first," He said, standing up, he could no longer force himself to stay seated, he liked to pace, "Is the Christmas tree ready?"
"Yes, sir," Jim said, "We decontaminated it and ourselves, but there was some type of… poison ivy. I've had the team stop by sickbay to get checked for anything."
"Have you been checked?" Benjamin asked, narrowing his eyes.
Jim tensed his jaw, "I'm fine."
"Have you been checked?"
"No, sir."
"That's where I want you to go, right now," Benjamin replied, pointing to the door.
Jim took in a deep breath, "Yes, sir." He got up and left.
"Okay, next, Tom Paris and Travis Mayweather have discovered that there is a town out North East from here."
"We have the sensors up?" Jean-Luc asked.
"No," Benjamin shook his head, "They saw city lights in the distance long after the sunset."
"Are we for sure," Kathryn asked, "That it's a city?"
"No, but it is a plausible answer, the answer I'm choosing to believe."
"We should arrange a team," Jean-Luc responded, "To investigate."
ဝ
"Are you feeling better?" Julian asked. He had an arm around Garak's waist, just in case. He had just been released from sickbay.
"I've felt fine this entire time," Garak sighed.
"Have you, now?" Julian replied sarcastically, shaking his head, "Garak. I may not be able to decipher you in most situations, but this is not one of those situations. You're just insufferably egotistical."
"Is that what you think?" Garak questioned, sincerity in his voice.
"Yes, Ga-" Julian and Garak collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
ဝ
Garak woke up with his head on the table. He felt… different. To say the least. For one, he didn't feel the nagging cold that he usually felt. He was warm from the shoulders down, but his neck was a little breezy. He seemed lighter than usual. The world seemed less colorful as if someone had tried to paint the rainbow with only so many colors.
He reached a hand up to his head, jumping when he felt his temple. He looked at his hands, causing him to jump more. The skin on his head was warm; and his skin? Tan. Not gray.
"What…?" He didn't have time to think about anything, however, because the person sitting next to him woke up.
"Captain Kirk?" Hoshi Sato said, pausing when she heard her voice. She put a hand to her hand, feeling her face. She opened her mouth to ask a question, but Garak interrupted her.
"Cap- No," Garak sighed, forgetting his predicament "I hardly believe Kirk was a Cardassian."
"Cardassian?" Hoshi asked, "Garak?"
"I don't presume we've met," Garak said, "How do you know my name?"
"Mr. Garak, I don't know who you're seeing, but I am Captain Sisko," Benjamin said.
Garak took a minute to ponder his words, not really sure what to say to that, "It would seem that we're in the same boat then, Captain."
ဝ
"What the hell is going on?" B'Elanna said, her voice deeper than she expected, manly-er than she expected, she looked down to see herself in an Enterprise uniform. An Enterprise NX-01 Command Uniform. And much to her surprise, she didn't feel like a woman anymore.
She looked around and saw three captains, Captain Sisko, Captain Picard, and Captain Janeway. Each too preoccupied with themselves to notice each other.
"Captain?" She asked, directing the question to Kathryn.
Kathryn looked up, "You're seeing this too? Good. I'm sure Captain Janeway won't be happy when she realizes who's in here right now. She doesn't seem to like me."
"Captain Picard?" B'Elanna asked.
"Mon Capitaine? No," Kathryn smirked, shaking her head, "It's someone a little more quirky."
B'Elanna twisted her face in confusion, not really sure what she was getting at.
"My, my, my, Captain Archer, I thought you were smarter than that."
"Captain Archer?" She looked down at herself, finally seeing the name tag, "That's who you're seeing?"
"Yes…" Kathryn replied, "Who are you?"
"Chief Engineer of Voyager, B'Elanna Torres. Who are you?"
"The one, the only, Q."
"Q?"
Q opened his(Kathryn's) mouth to speak but was cut off by someone else talking.
"What is going on here? Why am I here?" Jean-Luc asked, fear in his rose voice. He had stood up and was standing opposite of Q.
"Who are you?" B'Elanna asked, figuring that was the most helpful question she could ask.
"I am Seven of Nine, why am I here? Why did I go unconscious."
"Calm down, Seven," B'Elanna said, taking a step closer to her, "It's me B'Elanna. We're all in the same position. Calm down. We all fell unconscious. We all woke up in someone else's body."
"B'Elanna?"
"I'm here."
Seven looked over and saw Kathryn, she lit up, "Captain?" She said.
"Oh, moi?" Q replied, "I'm not Janeway. Q."
"Q?" She asked, tensing up, remembering what he had said to Kathryn during the baseball game.
"The one the only."
"You did this," She threw the accusation easily.
"Please," Q sighed, "You think I would waste my time with this parlor trick if I had my powers?"
Seven wanted to speak, but B'Elanna threw up a hand, "Don't start this now, we have bigger problems." Q relaxed, taking a step back. Seven held her hands behind her back, only to be startled by the lack of metal on her left hand.
"Who am I?" She asked, suddenly realizing that she no longer had implants.
"Captain Picard."
Seven opened her mouth to state her complaints, but she was cut off by Benjamin who stood up with a hand to his head, "Chakotay? Wait, why do I sound-" He opened his eyes to the room full of captains.
"Captain. Oh, um, Captains? I don't know. I'm sorry. What am I doing here?" Sisko asked, "Why does my voice sound like that?" He looked down to his hands, "Why-"
"Calm down," B'Elanna said, outstretching a calming hand, "We've all went through it. We don't know much, but we do know that people have been waking up in other's bodies," While she didn't know if that was true, there was something about the calming effect of knowing you're not the only one go through something as traumatic as this, and she was hoping to play on that, "Who are you?"
Sisko took a deep breath, "Hoshi Sato."
"Sato," B'Elanna replied, "I'm B'Elanna, that's Q," She pointed to Kathryn, then to Jean-Luc, "And that's Seven of Nine."
Hoshi opened her mouth to respond when Q started speaking, "So," He said looking down at Kathryn's body, "This is what it's like to be a woman."
ဝ
Kira woke up to a raging headache. Confusion singing in her brain, over 2000 people screaming the same thing in her mind, well a spectrum of the same thing.
"The hell?" She said, but her own words caused a spike in the confusion, her voice was different and accented. She put a hand to her head, shocked to find a handful of soft, curly hair.
But, she didn't have much time to think about it because the person across from her stirred.
Q groaned, putting a hand to his head.
"Q!" Kira said, knowing now just what was going on.
"Q?" Q asked not having any idea what Kira was getting at. Then he heard the voice, "Q. Q. Q? Q. Q!" His voice raising.
Kira could literally feel his confusion and disgust. Q slapped his face with both hands, hoping that they could tell him a different story, but they didn't, "This can't be happening." Q pinched his arm in a pitiful attempt to wake up from this nightmare.
"I would rather die, then spend a minute in this body."
"You're not Q," Kira said, not sure if it was a question or an answer.
"Captain Kathryn Janeway," Kathryn replied in Q's voice, "And I assume you're not Deanna Troi."
"Major Kira Nerys," Kira said, "Deanna is a telepathic person, I take it."
"Betazoid."
ဝ
The first thing Jadzia saw when she came too was the blurry outline of Data, a vague silhouette. The image was distorted. Something was off, wrong. The first thing she heard was, "You are awake." His voice on the verge of relief. The sound seemed clearer, more defined than ever before.
Data gave his approximation of a smile before leaning down to place a quick kiss on Jadzia's lips. Jadzia raised her eyebrows, sitting up. "I don't believe, we've been formally introduced, but that certainly was an interesting greeting," Jadzia said flirtatiously, her voice different, but she hardly had the time to find out why.
"Geordi?" Data asked confused.
Jadzia looked behind her to see if Mr. LaForge had walked into the room, turning back when she found the room completely empty, "Geordi?" She repeated.
"Geordi, are you okay?" Data asked, moving to put a hand to her head.
"I'm not Geordi, Data, I'm Jadzia Dax.
"You do not look like Jadzia Dax."
Jadzia looked down to her own hands to see a green outline. She had figured that this view had been due to whatever caused her to go unconscious, so it hadn't really bothered her. But something like the strain of a headache seared through her mind and on her temples. She lifted a hand up to the pain to feel the cold metal of the visor.
"I may not look like her," Jadzia said, "But I certainly am her."
ဝ
Geordi woke up, the familiar painful lull that usually hung around his temples was gone. He felt wrong. Different. Not right. Something was off. He opened his eyes, confused. Then it hit him. The colors filling his vision, both overwhelming and underwhelming at the same time. He felt no physical difference, no headache or pain, but there was something about seeing this that mentally took a toll.
Now, he didn't believe in the Christian constructs of heaven and hell, but something was eerily familiar about waking up suddenly fixed of all disabilities. So familiar, that the first thought he toyed with was that he died.
"My head," He heard from across the table, "It… It's so quiet."
Geordi looked and was met with the bright face of Kira Nerys.
"What's going on?" Geordi asked, "My voice!" He looked down confused.
"I do not know," Kira said, gasping at her strange voice, she put a hand to her hair, "What? My hair… My voice."
Geordi chuckled, "You think that's bad, imagine being blind your whole life and waking up with vision."
"Geordi?" Kira asked.
"Yes…? Who are you?"
"Deanna."
"Thank god!" Geordi sighed, "This has been so… weird."
"I know," Deanna nodded, she was about to say something else, when the third person of their party started to stir.
"This should be fun!" Deanna said sarcastically, eyebrows raising. She turned to face Quark as he slowly came to.
ဝ
Jean-Luc woke with a headache and a heavy feeling resting over his arms, face, neck, and torso. Before even opening his eyes, he rose a hand to his temple, his fingers brushing against the cold metal of a Borg implant.
His eyes shot open, icy cold fear stabbing through his body. It was this same, goddamned recurring nightmare. He just needed to wake up, but something told him that that wasn't going to happen.
His breaths got quicker and more frantic. He felt panic sear through him, "No, no. No." He just kept repeating his words, he didn't actually listen to them, he couldn't hear that his voice was too different, his paranoia wrapped too deeply.
Jonathan woke up next to Jean-Luc's panic attack. His first reaction was to jump to his feet and restrain Jean-Luc. But something about him felt off, different. Strange enough for him to be taken aback.
He looked down, to find a woman's body in a Voyager uniform, "What in the-" His voice drifting off as he realized that his voice was no longer his typical timbre, but the sound of a gruff woman's. He wanted to delve into it but was drawn back to Jean-Luc's panic.
Jonathan took a second to recall the name of the Borg drone standing in front of him, "Oh! Um, Seven!" He leaped to his feet, putting a hand on her shoulder.
It took some time for the words and contact to register in Jean-Luc's head. Something about the calming nature brought him back. He just fell to the floor, resting his head on the forearms of his folded arms. Jonathan collapsed next to him. Trying to be as supportive as possible.
After some time he looked up, "I'm sorry, I just… Why does my voice sound like this?"
"I don't know about you, but I woke up in this body. I'm not really Lieutenant Torres, I'm Captain Archer if you could believe that."
"I think I can."
ဝ
Jim felt different. Cold different. Heavy different. Scaly different. He opened his eyes, shocked to find something he didn't know how to explain other than new colors. New shades and new lights. The new colors overwhelming, his hand shot to his temple.
His fingers met an icy plate, causing him to freeze in confusion, "What in the-" He paused when he realized that his words weren't in his typical tongue. His voice was a weird tone, something he couldn't specifically pick out.
He wanted to say more but was distracted by the movement on the ground next to him. He kneeled down to the man how came around.
"Dr. Bashir, I presume?" Jim asked.
"Dr. Bashir!" Julian repeated in outrage, "I look nothing like that hu-man, I am so offended tha…" His voice faded as he heard it, "Oh! I sound like Julian!" He threw his hands in the air, clearly upset, but it was nothing compared to the frantic hysteria he reached when his hands touched his ears, "My ears. My ears! They're small!"
Jim decided to ignore the last comment, opening his mouth, "I seem to be in the same situation, Mr…" Jim gestured, hoping Julian would say just who he was.
"Quark. Mr. Quark."
