Naruto: Infinity Divide
Blanket Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Star Trek
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
At last we've reached the graduation of the Think Tank! This is the beginning of a new arc and starts after a year long time skip. Here is chapter 35. Enjoy!
Port = Left
Starboard = Right
[ ] Signifies a foreign language
For those of you keeping track; here is an updated timeline:
Stardate/Year/Starfleet Battles Timeline
Stardate 2230. = 2230 = Y120 Spock Born to Amanda Grayson & Sarek
Stardate 2233. = 2233 = Y123 James T. Kirk Born
Stardate 2236. = 2236 = Y126 Constitution Class Launched
Stardate 2248. = 2248 = Y138 Shizuka Nadeshiko Born
Stardate 2254. = 2254 = Y144 NCC-1371 U.S.S. Republic (CA) Ensign James T. Kirk
Stardate 2254. = 2254 = Y144 Naruto Born to T'Ara and Sovar
Stardate 2263. = 2263 = Y153 Talok Born to T'Ara and Sovar
Stardate 2265.-2270 = 2265-2270 = Y155-Y160 NCC-1701 U.S.S. Enterprise (CA) 5 year Mission (TOS)
Stardate 2265. = 2265 = Y155 Naruto's kahs-wan
Stardate 2267. = 2267 = Y157 Naruto enters the Vulcan Science Academy
Stardate 2267. = 2267 = Y157 Naruto and T'Lyra's koon-ut-la
Stardate 2271. = 2271 = Y161 Naruto and T'Lyra enter Starfleet
Stardate 2272. = 2272 = Y162 V'Ger Incident (Star Trek I)
Stardate 2272. = 2272 = Y162 End of Naruto's first semester/Naruto and T'Lyra return to Vulcan
Stardate 2272. = 2272 = Y162 Subcommander Kurenai promoted to her first command, the RIS Scimitar (K5R)
Stardate 2273. = 2273 = Y163 Cadet Cruise aboard NCC-1802 U.S.S. Darwin (GSC)
Stardate 2274. = 2274 = Y164 Naruto graduates Starfleet Academy
Last time:
U.S.S. Darwin, Ship's lounge
"So in the end it was all for naught." said Alison as she sat with her friends Naruto and T'Lyra. "The Stasis Field Generator Project is all but terminated. They asked me to do a case study but I've washed my hands of this mess. I don't like using my skills to develop weapons for anybody."
Naruto nodded in understanding and said, "It seems that the previous development team must have been quite corrupt to have gone through all those credits in a mere six years."
"I will never fully understand the concept of human greed." T'Lyra stated.
Alison grouched, "Greed runs rampant I'm afraid-and it isn't limited to humans. As advanced as our civilization has become some of the most basic things like war and greed still run strong. It doesn't make much sense in this day and age."
"Have you considered applying your knowledge about Stasis Fields towards other applications Alison?" asked T'Lyra.
Alison raised a delicate eyebrow and asked, "Such as?"
Naruto saw where his mate was going with this. "There are medical applications such as stasis beds. Senva's company EpiCenter Pharmaceuticals mentioned the idea as one their 'dream projects.' It would certainly be worth looking into."
The redhead smiled. "….And with you two backing it I could still work at the Vulcan Science Academy. I'll get with Senva when I get back to Vulcan."
"Sounds like a plan." said Naruto.
….
Chapter 35
Stardate 2274.090 Starfleet Academy, San Francisco, Planet Earth
Personal Log of Naruto M'Fau, Stardate 2274.090: My fellow Think Tank Cadets and I have finally graduated Starfleet Academy. I am now ranked as a Lieutenant (Junior Grade). I completely skipped over the Ensign rank due to graduating in the top three in my class. Doctor Shelly Wilson and Samui Schrodinger also received this honor. Rear Admiral Harold Pye presided over the ceremony for the Think Tank and personally pinned our rank pins upon us which was a great privilege. I finished the New Light Cruiser design in the last six months and the construction of the Fast Cruiser NCC-1602 U.S.S. Wolverine has finally begun. It evokes a great deal of satisfaction in me to see a ship I designed going into production. The Wolverine is scheduled to be completed in three years in 2277. Having completed our Academic courses we are now officially ready to join the fleet….
The Command Team of the Think Tank was talking together and Naruto was reflecting on his performance so far and wondering what the future held. 'Soon I'll be assigned to shipboard duty. I wonder who will be with me and what ship I'll be on.'
"A credit for your thoughts?" asked Samui. The beautiful blonde augment girl was immensely pleased to have graduated in the top three. She gave a genuine smile to Naruto and said, "We haven't done too badly for a bunch of nineteen and twenty year olds."
The blonde Vulcan nodded in agreement. "No, we have not. I have to wonder if the Think Tank will be kept together or spread out through the fleet. A lot of talk has been generated by our superiors on the subject."
Rafi came over and said, "I know right? The fact they are discussing it so openly makes me wonder." Rafi motioned to M'rella who was walking up with a sway in her hips. "What do you think M'rella?"
"Hmmm…." purred the beautiful Caitian girl. "I personally hope we stay together. We have all become such good friends that I'd hate to be separated."
"I'm forced to agree." said Shar. "Our particular class is so small that keeping our tight knit little group together shouldn't present any problems." The Andorian turned to Naruto. "What do you think would be the logical answer my friend?"
Naruto pondered for a moment and said, "Logical arguments could be made for both keeping us together and separating us. You also have to take into account that the Admiralty doesn't always follow the precepts of logic."
Shar nodded. "Good point."
"I guess we'll just have to wait and see." said Rafi.
….
Stardate 2274.093 Starfleet Headquarters
Academy Commandant Rear Admiral Harold Pye was sitting in with his fellow Admirals discussing what to do with the Think Tank. With him was his old friend Admiral Wallace and Admiral Barnes. "It's come to my attention that the much lauded Think Tank has graduated with flying colors." said Barnes. "They are the best and brightest group of Cadets to have come out of Starfleet Academy in decades. Now the question is; what do we do with them?"
Admiral Wallace scratched his goatee. "They did a superb job during their tour of duty on the U.S.S. Darwin. Any one of them could have received their commissions at the end of that cruise but they all chose to go back to the Academy to complete their educations. It's safe to say that they would excel on a Galactic Survey Cruiser or a Heavy Cruiser."
"That's assuming we keep them together as a group." said Admiral Barnes. "It might be better to spread them out through the fleet than put all our eggs in one proverbial basket."
Admiral Pye drummed his fingers and said, "One of the greatest strengths of the Think Tank is their cohesiveness as a group. Keeping them together when they enter the fleet might be in the best interests of all parties concerned."
"What about the U.S.S. Gettysburg that is being fitted out?" asked Admiral Wallace.
Barnes was puzzled. "You mean the 'optimized' Heavy Command Cruiser?*①"
Admiral Pye touched a few buttons and a holographic image of a brand new Constitution II Class Cruiser appeared. "The new NCC-1728 U.S.S. Gettysburg is considered somewhat experimental at this point….It might be the ideal ship for the Think Tank to be on." said the Commandant. "It's as close to cutting edge as a Constitution II Class Cruiser can get. It has more weapons, more power and better shielding. It will be ready to leave dock in three weeks and the Think Tank is ready to ship out." He thumbed through the ship's roster. 'Besides, some of the command crew they already know from their cadet cruise on the U.S.S. Darwin.'
….
Tranquility Base Shipyards, Luna Orbit, FRD-8, Bridge, NCC-1728 U.S.S. Gettysburg
CHAOS! That was the only word that fit the situation in the head of the newly minted Captain Asuma Sarutobi. Other than his Chief of Security Shizuka Nadeshiko and his Chief Engineer Sassaav everyone on the ship was new to him and half of the people aboard were just there to finish construction before they moved to the next job. Worse still Starfleet had yet to assign the rest of the department heads and there were very few junior officers to take up the slack.
Shizuka came onto the bridge and weaved her way around the enlisted workers before she said to Asuma, "I have good news and bad news sir."
Asuma cringed. "What's the good news Lieutenant Nadeshiko?"
"The full complement of Marines is aboard and the ship's crew master got them set up in their appropriate quarters." said Shizuka.
Captain Sarutobi grinned slightly and said, "That's excellent news Shizuka. What's the bad news then?"
"Every last one of them is green." growled Shizuka. "Every. Last. One. Worse still they reported in with no combat equipment and we don't have any to give them!"
"Have you filled out a requisition form for what we need to equip them Lieutenant Nadeshiko?" asked the goateed Captain Sarutobi.
Shizuka pulled out a tablet and said "Everything we need is on here sir. All it needs is your signature."
Asuma's eyes nearly popped out of his head as he read the requisition form. He asked incredulously, "What are you equipping Shizuka; an entire legion of troops?"
The Vulcan security Chief shook her head curtly. "We were always under armed on the Darwin. I'm not letting it happen on the Gettysburg."
….
Down in Engineering, Chief Engineer Sassaav was watching over the construction crews as they installed some new plasma conduits to the warp engines. The first installation had been faulty and now the crew was doing it all over again. Luckily he was blessed with the presence of T'Lyra Tolaris who had recently been promoted to Petty Officer First Class. Her sidekick Brea Mathiun was aboard as well. 'I can trust T'Lyra and Mathiun to get the job done right.' thought the big Andorian as he oversaw the work being done. Amidst all the madness Sassaav was actually pretty happy despite his grouchy demeanor. He was on a brand new vessel that would be finished within three weeks and all things considered everything was right on schedule in engineering….
….
Stardate 2274.095 Starfleet Academy, Naruto and M'rella's Quarters
M'rella got up early as usual and checked her messages. Everyone in the Think Tank had been on needles and pins wondering where they'd be assigned. For the last five days since they graduated they'd been in a proverbial limbo wondering about their orders. It was then that she saw a message from Starfleet Command: Notification of Transfer. Opening the message she saw:
Notification of Transfer:
Name: M'rella
Rank: Ensign
Serial Number: xxxx-xxxx-xxxx
Orders: Ensign M'rella is hereby transferred from Starfleet Academy to the Heavy Command Cruiser NCC-1728 U.S.S. Gettysburg effective immediately. Report to Starfleet Academy Shuttle Landing Pad 16 at 05:00 as of Stardate 2274.096 for transport.
Starfleet Command
….
A certain blonde Vulcan was awakened by a very excited M'rella whose assets were barely staying in her kimono like robes given she was bouncing around in excitement so much. 'What arousing visuals to wake up to.' he thought absentmindedly.
"Naruto!" said the Caitian beauty in exhilaration. "I got my transfer orders! Get up; let's see if you got yours."
The blonde soon was up and sitting at the work desk the two roommates shared. He said aloud, "Notice of Transfer….NCC-1728 U.S.S. Gettysburg….That's the new Constitution II Class ship that is being built with heavier combat in mind." 'T'Lyra said she's working on the Gettysburg's fitting out process over Luna. It seems this was planned in advance.'
The Caitian girl sweat dropped. "You would know off the top of your head what ship it is Naruto."
Naruto replied, "I work with the Starfleet Bureau of Design and Repair part of the time. I have to keep up with ship proposals and new construction to do my job."
Soon the entire Think Tank was discussing being assigned together in the Dorm F mess hall. Everyone was going to the U.S.S. Gettysburg. They were all in a celebratory mood but there was no time to party. The entire Think Tank had to pack up all of their belongings and be ready to go in the morning….
….
The next morning at 05:00 the Think Tank was at Starfleet Academy Shuttle Landing Pad 16 as ordered. Two heavy shuttles landed there and announcements were made that they would be departing for the U.S.S Gettysburg and to have all transfer orders ready to present. As it was Kloene was fighting to stay awake and presented his orders before stumbling aboard and sitting down beside Naruto. The big Orion said to the blonde Vulcan, "Wake me up when we get there." and then he immediately fell asleep.
Naruto watched the viewport as the shuttle lifted off and the blue skies of Earth soon gave way to the stars and velvety blackness of space. Earth's moon Luna soon came into view and before long the telltale glints of objects in orbit of Luna became visible. Naruto looked at the various Fleet Repair Docks and space stations in orbit over Tranquility Base Shipyards and noted the shuttlecraft ahead of them was on course for a particular repair dock: FRD-8 which held within it the U.S.S. Gettysburg, their new home.
….
Stardate 2274.096, Shuttle Bay, NCC-1728 U.S.S. Gettysburg
The pair of heavy shuttles with the Think Tank aboard landed in the Gettysburg's shuttle bay without any problems and everyone unloaded their gear. The blonde Vulcan felt his mate's warm psychic presence aboard the ship as he disembarked. 'T'Lyra is already on board the ship; excellent. I cannot wait to see her.' The members of the Think Tank were pleasantly surprised with their Junior Officer's quarters aboard the Gettysburg. Each one of them had individual quarters instead of having a roommate. They really weren't given time to unpack and in two hours all of the ship's officers*② were to report to the ships observation deck for their assignments.
Captain Asuma Sarutobi came out to greet his officers and gave a short speech on the expectations he had for the ship and crew. The goateed man was pleasantly surprised to see the members of the Think Tank among his crewmembers. He remembered Rafi, Samui and M'rella in particular because they were often on the bridge of the U.S.S. Darwin. He also remembered Naruto and Kloene because the pair cleaned house in the Chess Championships on the Darwin. Lastly he remembered Doctor Shelly Wilson very well for patching him up after an amazingly acrobatic fall on the Darwin's bridge. Coming out of his brief reminiscing, Asuma introduced the senior staff which was only Sassaav and Shizuka at the time. Though he didn't show it; the Captain was rather embarrassed that they didn't have a First Officer, Head of Sciences or a Chief Medical Officer….
….
Naruto was soon looking over his duty schedule. 'I'm going to be serving in Command, Sciences and Engineering as needed. The only sections I'm not assigned in are Medical, Communications and Security. I suppose the best thing to do would be to familiarize myself with the ship's layout as I'm going to be everywhere.'
That was when Naruto saw the lovely visage of Lieutenant Shizuka Nadeshiko come strolling up to him. She smiled warmly and said, "Welcome aboard the Gettysburg Lieutenant Naruto. You don't know how glad I am to see you again. I've missed you."
"Thank you; I am glad to see you in good health Lieutenant Nadeshiko." said Naruto.
"After you and T'Lyra get moved into your quarters together come have dinner with me." said the Earth raised Vulcan with a wink. They heard her name called and Shizuka's relaxed and friendly posture became ridged and stern. She said, "Duty calls Lieutenant Naruto. Until later then."
'It seems S'Loren is as emotional as ever.' thought Naruto. 'I think I'll head down to engineering to greet my mate properly assuming she has the time.'
….
The blonde Vulcan came off the turbolift onto the main Engineering Deck and looked about for his mate T'Lyra only to be noticed in turn by Chief Engineer Sassaav. "Well, well! Naruto, I see you made it to Lieutenant Junior Grade." said Sassaav as he slapped the whisker striped blonde on the back. "Well done."
"Thank you for your praise Chief Sassaav." responded Naruto. "It is good to see you again."
"You must have come down to inspect the warp field projections." said the big Andorian. Naruto didn't get a chance to respond as Sassaav led him over to a projection of the ship. "With the primary hull having an emergency warp engine the parameters are a bit different but I think we have a pretty good compromise…."
'Chief Sassaav is as presumptuous as ever….' thought Naruto.
T'Lyra watched from the deck above where she was inspecting the seal on a plasma conduit. 'It seems the Chief has kidnapped my mate.' she thought with a mental smile. She psychically called him and asked, 'Where are your quarters my love? I'll find you after I get off duty.'
Naruto mentally sighed. 'I had hoped to greet you properly but it seems that I'm occupied. My quarters are in E-89 on the Starboard side.'
T'Lyra said with a mental raise of her eyebrows, 'So you finally made it out the crew areas up into the Junior Officer's deck. I'm right below you in F-91A. We'll get things cleared with the ship's crew master and I'll move in soon. Back to work Naruto.' she added with a mental smile.
Naruto was soon helping Chief Engineer Sassaav fine tune the warp field on the Gettysburg. Naruto found a number of irregularities that he couldn't leave alone until they were fixed and that ended up taking up the rest of his morning….
….
Officer's Mess
Lieutenant (JG) Samui Schrodinger and Ensign Rafi flagged down Naruto as he came in for some lunch. "Over here Naruto!" said Rafi enthusiastically.
Samui growled, "Show some decorum Ensign Rafi. We're in the fleet now!"
Rafi pouted. "It's just Naruto…."
Naruto came over with a Terran vegetarian dish he couldn't quite identify from the replicator in hand and sat down with his friends Samui and Rafi. "Hello Samui, Rafi. I trust your morning was productive?
Samui nodded. "Yes, we unpacked and got our quarters arranged. I'm assuming you did the same?"
"Actually I went to engineering and was drafted by Chief Engineer Sassaav into correcting a few problems with the warp field." replied the hybrid.
Rafi and Samui sweat dropped. "You might want to arrange your quarters while you still have time." said Rafi. "On that note, we're going to check out the bridge after lunch. Do you want to come with us?"
Naruto said, "Certainly I will join you. I'm finished with my tasks in Engineering and will unpack this evening."
….
Deck E, Naruto's Quarters
That evening; Naruto was unpacking his gear after a long day of exploring the U.S.S. Gettysburg with his friends Samui, Rafi and M'rella. Now he was eagerly awaiting his lovely mate T'Lyra's arrival….
He heard a knock on his door and found T'Lyra there. She was dirty from work but had fresh clothes in a bag from her quarters. T'Lyra said, "I thought I'd come shower over here." Naruto pulled her into his quarters and locked his door before kissing her passionately against the wall. She opened her mouth and their tongues dueled as they caressed each other's bodies heatedly….
"It has been three whole months since we've been together…." panted out Naruto as they came up for air.
"Let's make up for lost time then…." whispered T'Lyra in return.
….
Stardate 2274.117, Bridge, NCC-1728 U.S.S. Gettysburg
After three weeks of what could only be considered a frenzy of activity later the U.S.S. Gettysburg left Fleet Repair Dock 8 for her Shakedown Cruise. That same day Commander Mabui Kumo reported in as First Officer. She was a very competent and respectful officer in her late twenties and Asuma had high hopes for her. Her previous service had been in staff positions and she was highly praised by her former superiors. Mabui looked very professional as well. Her unusual light gray hair contrasted with her mocha complexion and green eyes giving her an exotic appearance. She had a cool headed, unflappable style of command. Commander Kumo was aboard the bridge when the Gettysburg launched.
Doctor Shelly Wilson was their acting Chief Medical Officer and in Asuma Sarutobi's opinion she was doing an outstanding job. The ship's sick bay was up; well supplied and running smoothly. Between Shelly and Doctor Gregory Hammond from the Think Tank everyone was being taken care of in a professional manner with a high level of excellence.
As far as the Chief Sciences Officer was concerned; Captain Sarutobi was in a bit of a quandary. He had a full Lieutenant named Wanda Hardy that was barely adequate in charge as acting Chief Sciences Officer. Immediately subordinate to her was Lieutenant (JG) Naruto M'Fau who was a far better officer and scientist. Worse still; Wanda was jealous of Naruto's skill and was constantly locking horns and competing with him. For his part Naruto simply considered Lieutenant Hardy a particularly illogical annoyance….
….
Ship's Log, Stardate 2274.148: Captain Asuma Sarutobi reporting. NCC-1728 Gettysburg has gone through its first month of the Shakedown Cruise with remarkably little trouble. We've only had 83 issues so far -all of which were minor in nature which is quite remarkable for a brand new cruiser. We are now in the Gamma Charybdis System investigating transmissions of an unknown nature. The last ship which was in this vicinity was the U.S.S. Attila NCC-532*③ that disappeared as of four years ago as of Stardate 2270.150. Looking at the history of the Attila she was under the Command of a new Captain named Douglas Ramsey who I was acquainted with at Starfleet Academy. I remember him mainly for being fearless. There was a massive search for the U.S.S. Attila before it was finally assumed destroyed….
Naruto was at the sciences station monitoring the transmissions in tandem with M'rella at the communication station. Mabui was in the Command chair and asked, "Lieutenant Naruto have you had any luck? We've been trawling for the source of the signal for several hours now."
The blonde hybrid answered, "I'm triangulating the position of the signal's source Commander Kumo. I have been on duty for less than 60 minutes and the previous data we gathered is useless so I was forced to start over."
Mabui thought to herself, 'Lieutenant Hardy's four hour search was a huge waste of time then. We need to straighten out this issue with Sciences as soon as possible. Naruto is clearly the better choice but busting ranks with Hardy is something that won't look good on a new Captain's record….'
M'rella reported, "I've matched the signal strength to your specifications Naruto. You should be able to make the calculations now."
Naruto replied, "Excellent. I'm projecting the location on screen now."
The screen lit up with a triangle showing the various signal strengths of the transmissions and inside the triangle was a point where the source of the transmissions was. Mabui sa to Rafi, "Ahead one half impulse power towards the object making the transmissions Ensign Rafi. Naruto, get a sensor lock as soon as possible."
"Aye, Commander." chorused the two junior officers.
10 minutes later the object was on screen at maximum magnification. It was just a small object in space made of metal. "All stop" ordered Mabui. "Naruto; see if you can identify the object."
"It appears to be a Federation Type I probe." said Naruto "It is modified in several ways but I am unable to ascertain the purpose in the modifications. The only way to examine it further would be to bring the probe aboard."
Mabui rubbed her chin and said, "Captain to the Bridge!"
Within a minute Asuma came on to the bridge with a purpose in his step. "Report Commander Kumo."
Mabui stood up from the command chair so Asuma could take his seat. "It appears that we are dealing with a modified Federation Type I probe."
"Could it be from the Attila?" asked Captain Sarutobi.
"We won't be able to tell until we bring it aboard sir." answered Mabui.
"Let's bring it into the shuttle bay for examination then…." said Asuma.
….
The battered probe was soon brought into the Gettysburg's shuttle bay where Naruto and Kloene immediately started their examination. After a cursory assessment Kloene said, "It's definitely from the U.S.S. Attila. It's been modified with external memory modules probably to act as a log buoy."
Naruto looked up from the probe and said, "The memory modules are intact. I would advise removing them so we can view the messages recorded on them."
"Make it so." said Asuma.
The probe's contents were soon being displayed on the viewscreen of the Gettysburg's bridge….
….
PLAYBACK….
"We're entering the Gamma Charybdis system now Captain Ramsey." said Lieutenant Rafi as she adjusted their speed slightly. "We're continuing to get odd readings from the asteroid belt."
PLAYBACK PAUSED….
….
"What on Earth?" Rafi practically screeched. "How am I on the screen and a full Lieutenant?"
Mabui said calmly, "Let's watch the entire playback and then we can discuss it Ensign Rafi."
"Aye, Commander." said Rafi in a haunted tone.
….
PLAYBACK RESUMED….
Captain Ramsey grinned. "I think Commander Naruto has you a bit spooked Rafi. It's probably just radioactive decay. Trust me, there will be no trouble. Once we test and calibrate the sensors on Charybdis IV we'll be out of this system anyway."
"Sorry sir." said Rafi. It was obvious that the Trill girl was very worried. Naruto came onto the bridge and said, "The sensors are ready for calibration Captain. It should take one standard hour once we are in geosynchronous orbit over Charybdis IV."
"Excellent Commander." said Ramsey in an upbeat tone.
That was when the first asteroid 'shower' hit the Attila at warp speeds….
….
Auxiliary Control
The U.S.S. Attila was spinning wildly out of control and Samui had lost all contact with the bridge. She took over the auxiliary helm controls as another asteroid shower slammed into the Attila causing a massive explosion aft. Stabilizing the ship, Samui said, "M'rella, get me damage reports. We've lost contact with the bridge and I'm assuming command!"
"Damage reports are flowing in from everywhere Lieutenant Commander Schrodinger." said M'rella. "Our warp power is offline!"
The emergency turbolift from the bridge opened and the half frozen Rafi came tumbling out. She was badly shaken up. Naruto was right behind her. He said hoarsely, "Blow the warp engine and go to sublight engine evasion. We stumbled into a covert Jindarian*④ mining operation. They mean to destroy u-" Naruto fell forward showing his back was horribly burned and some of his ribs were showing. Green blood was everywhere. On top of that his body was partially frozen from exposure to open space….
"NARUTO!" screamed Samui.
….
It was a nightmare. Naruto shielded Rafi with his body from certain death when the bridge blew and pushed her into the turbolift. Everyone else up on the bridge was killed. The Attila's saucer section limped away from the slaughter and eventually made an emergency landing in the ocean of Charybdis IV. A third of the crew was lost and the U.S.S. Attila sat silently at the bottom of the sea….
….
PLAYBACK END….
….
"What the hell did we just see….? asked Rafi. How could we possibly be aboard the U.S.S. Attila four years ago?" The Trill girl was very shaken up seeing herself possibly dying.
Naruto suggested, "We may be looking at a U.S.S. Attila from another timeline. I can think of no other logical explanation that members of the Think Tank would be aboard that vessel."
Samui looked positively spooked. Seeing Naruto die on screen was horrible.
Mabui said, "Whether the Attila is from an alternate timeline or not we need to go to Charybdis IV and see if we can mount a rescue. The coordinates of the ship's crash landing site are in the readout."
Captain Sarutobi nodded and said, "Plot a course for Charybdis IV. Hopefully we'll find something."
….
Planet Charybdis IV, Ocean, NCC-532 U.S.S. Attila
"….Rafi…. Rafi; are you awake?" asked a child's voice.
Rafi cracked her dark brown eyes open only to find a pair of ice blue eyes staring into her own in the low light of night. The Trill woman groaned and said "What time is it Siegfried?"
The platinum blonde haired, whisker faced boy said, "Ummm….the wall chronometer says zero-two-zero-six Rafi."
"02:06 means it's time for little boys and girls to sleep Ziggy." said Rafi tiredly.
"But I'm awake." said Siegfried. "I want to play." He had a gleam in his eye as his chakra crackled.
Rafi sat up in her bed and picked up the very precocious three year old boy. He looked just like Samui except for the Vulcan features and three whisker marks on each cheek that he'd inherited from Naruto. She held him close and said, "You are so full of mischief little boy. If I hold you for a little while will you go to sleep?"
Siegfried rubbed his eyes and yawned. "But I'm not sleepy Rafi."
The young Trill woman laid back down and held the boy as she rubbed his back. Before long he was sleeping peacefully in Rafi's arms….
….
….Samui had died in childbirth. She left behind her and Naruto's beautiful baby boy who she named Siegfried after her own Father. His full name was Siegfried Naruto Schrodinger. Samui didn't even realize she was pregnant when the U.S.S. Attila went down. Now Acting Captain Rafi was taking the rambunctious toddler to the daycare section that was converted on the Attila. After the forced landing couples started pairing off to prove to themselves they'd survived which resulted in a miniature population explosion. The 118 remaining crewmembers managed to have 51 children between the ages of a few months to three years old. 'I never signed up to run a ship full of children.' thought Rafi dourly. Then she smiled down at the little boy walking beside her excitedly. 'He gets cuter every day."
….
Planet Charybdis IV, Orbit, NCC-1728 Gettysburg
The entire bridge crew was on high alert when Naruto looked up from the sensor station and said, "I found her. The U.S.S. Attila is showing life signs."
Captain Sarutobi sighed in relief. "It looks like we have a rescue to conduct. M'rella, open hailing frequencies and contact the Attila."
….
The contact between the two ships was awkward at first. Acting Captain Rafi of the Attila remembered Captain Asuma Sarutobi from her cruise on the U.S.S. Darwin but was shocked to see her fellow Think Tank comrades alive and well again….not to mention a four year younger version of herself.
"We believe that your Attila is from a different timeline from our own Lieutenant Rafi." explained Asuma. "Nevertheless you are a Federation ship in need of assistance and the Gettysburg is here to help you."
Lieutenant Rafi replied, "We'd basically given up hope. Your help is welcome." She looked at Naruto and Samui and said with a gleam in her eye, "I have a surprise for you two." Then she smiled and added humorously, "Ensign Rafi, I'm happy to make my acquaintance."
Samui groaned at the other Rafi's sense of humor being as bad as their own Rafi and wondered about the surprise. Then she thought about her own counterpart. 'Did the other Samui Schrodinger die in the crash?' wondered the blonde bombshell.
….
The Hospital Ship NCC-948 Refuge was on its way to help with the survivors from the Attila and salvage ships were on their way as well to see if the Attila's saucer could be raised. In the meantime the Attila's refugees were being brought aboard the U.S.S. Gettysburg for safety.
Lieutenant Rafi beamed aboard the Gettysburg with a little boy holding her hand and saluted Captain Sarutobi. "Welcome aboard the U.S.S. Gettysburg Lieutenant Rafi." said Asuma. Asuma saw the whisker marks on the little boy and asked, "Is this your son?!"
The older Rafi chuckled and said, "He's my ward." She turned to the little blonde boy and said, "Ziggy, make your introductions to Captain Sarutobi."
The little boy nodded and he said, "I'm Siegfried Naruto Schrodinger and I'm three years old. I'm happy to meet you Captain Sarutobi."
Asuma's eyes nearly fell out of his head but he retained his composure….barely. "It's nice to meet you young Siegfried. Welcome aboard the Gettysburg."
….
POSTCRIPT:
*① Heavy Command Cruiser. The U.S.S. Gettyburg is the first of this new Constitution II Sub-Class. It is externally almost identical to the refitted Enterprise with the addition of two forward phasers. Internally there are a lot of improvements though. It can be seen on Memory Beta.
*② Ship's officers and crew: The number of officers and crew are tough to make a call on. This is one of the areas that is really foggy in Star Trek and is widely different by the source. According to TOS there were a total of 428 Officers and crew aboard under Kirk's command but there are no listings of how many were officers that I can find. Mr. Scott's Guide to the Enterprise (An admittedly non canon source) says the refitted Enterprise has 72 Officers out of a crew of 500. Given the U.S.S. Gettysburg is a Command Cruiser the Star Fleet Battles reckoning is 450 so sticking with the ratio from Mr. Scott's Guide to the Enterprise that gives us 65 officers and 385 crew. I'm really not 100% sure on this but unless I find a definitive source I'm rolling with these numbers. The main thing story wise is the Think Tank is a good chunk of the junior officers but certainly not all of them.
*③ Google: "Federation Saladin NCC-500 destroyer" to see this ship's appearance.
*④The Jindarians are a humanoid race that have been in space, flying huge ships built from hollow asteroids, for 100,000 years. They care little about borders, governments, and wars and just travel from system to system, mining asteroid belts. They push aside any competition using their warp augmented railguns to fire thousands of cubic meters of gravel and rock at opposing ships.
There was originally going to be a major love scene between Naruto and T'Lyra in this chapter but it just didn't seem to fit the mood of the chapter well so I dropped it and left things to the reader's imaginations. Okay, this chapter is a turning point for several reasons. We finally are out of the Academy Arc and in space for real now. We also have the (sort of) beginnings of a harem. Who all will be in the harem? Not sure at this point but it won't be huge. Next chapter we'll see everyone's reaction to little Siegfried. See you next time. Blue out. 5/18/18