Chapter One: Open Portal
Fifteen-year-old Jake Sisko tossed and caught a baseball one-handed as he walked through the Deep Space Nine corridors beside his father. He couldn't keep the grin off his face; Commander Sisko had been promising him a game in the holosuite for days, and had finally been able to make time. He was on duty again in only an hour; in the interests of spending as much of that time as possible with his son, he had opted not to change out of his Starfleet uniform.
As they entered the bar, Jake cast surreptitious glances toward the gaming tables, and Sisko wished once again that the entrance to the holosuites wasn't located in Quark's. It hadn't mattered as much when Jake had been younger, but now he was beginning to be curious about the gambling, and definitely attracted by the girls.
Fortunately it was early yet; only a handful of patrons stood playing with one dabo girl attending them. After another quick look in their direction, Jake hurried to catch up with his father as he strode purposefully toward the counter.
Seeing the commander enter, Quark hurried out to meet him. In the week since he had acquired the program, he had been having second thoughts about the deal he had struck. Out of range of the strange man's influence, it had occurred to him that it hadn't been good business sense to accept even a free program without first finding out what it contained. Perhaps also feeling a niggling disquiet about the man's reasons for wanting Sisko to be the first to use the program, he had put off contacting the commander, telling himself that the stranger had not set a time limit, but only said that Sisko must be the first.
But on seeing Commander Sisko himself walk into the bar, he pushed those doubts aside, thinking only of the profit when he was free to start charging for use of the program.
"My dear Sisko!" he exclaimed, greeting the commander with a toothy smile.
Sisko frowned. "'My dear'? You only call me that when you want something, Quark; what is it?"
"You wound me, Commander!" Quark protested.
Sisko shook his head. "Out with it, Quark," he insisted. "Jake and I want to get on with our ballgame."
"Yeah!" Jake agreed enthusiastically, tossing the ball once more but stopping at a glance from his father; an ill-thrown baseball had once cost Sisko quite a bit of latinum when it smashed a bottle of expensive liquor.
"Ah, but I have something better — a new program especially for you."
"For how much?" Sisko asked suspiciously.
"For you, free," Quark said, waving a hand expansively and trying to hide his wince.
Sisko squinted. "Now I know you're up to something. What's the catch, Quark?"
"No catch," Quark insisted, putting on a wounded expression. "Just a favor to a friend."
Sisko shook his head. "I'll pass for now, thanks; Jake and I will use our usual."
A crafty glint came into Quark's eye. "That will be two strips of gold-pressed latinum."
"Double?" Sisko asked incredulously.
"Unless, of course, you'd prefer to try the new program for free…?"
Sisko sighed, considering. There had to be something in it for Quark that he couldn't fathom, but while he was avaricious, the Ferengi had never been malicious or actively antagonistic to Starfleet; there would be no danger, surely. "It's not an adult program, is it?" he asked cautiously.
"No, of course not," Quark said instantly and with no idea whether or not it was true.
"Jake, do you mind?"
"I guess not," Jake said, trying to hide his disappointment.
"We'll give it fifteen minutes," Sisko said, turning back to Quark. "Then we'll switch to our baseball program…at half price for the time lost."
"Seventy-five percent," Quark countered.
"Fair enough," Sisko agreed. "Come on, Jake, let's see what this new program's about so we can get on with our game without losing any more time."
"All right!" Jake agreed enthusiastically.
They followed Quark through the hall to the back and up the short flight of stairs to the holodeck. Quark stopped before one of the doors and began entering settings into the keypad. "Safeties?" he questioned.
"Full," Sisko replied firmly, "unless you can give me some idea of what this program's about," he continued over Jake's groan.
"Aw, Dad!"
"Sorry, Jake," he added, turning to his son. "I know it seems like full safeties are for sissies, but I'm not taking chances for an untried program. Don't worry; we'll lower them for baseball, so you'll feel it if the ball hits you."
"We brought our baseball; I'd feel it anyway," Jake pointed out. "And weren't you the one who had to see Dr Bashir after our last game?"
Sisko grinned wryly. "I'm not as young as I once was," he admitted ruefully.
"There; you're all set," Quark announced, stepping back from the control pad.
"You set the timer for fifteen minutes?"
"Of course."
Jake and Sisko exchanged a glance. "Well, shall we?"
Jake shrugged. "I'm game if you are." Together, father and son stepped into the holosuite.
As the door slid closed, a scene solidified into view around them. "This looks similar to where I grew up," Sisko remarked, looking around him.
"Louisiana?"
"One of the southern states, anyway."
"Maybe that's why Quark wanted you to try it; to let you go home for a while."
"Maybe, but does that really sound like Quark? He never does anyone favors for nothing, much less insist on them. Anyway, I just said it looked like Louisiana; it could be any planet with similar plants and climate, or even something completely imaginary."
Jake shrugged, not really caring about an analysis of where they were. "Let's see if we can find something going on," he suggested.
"Suits me," Sisko agreed, turning to start down the lane on which they found themselves.
They had been walking for about five minutes when they heard the sound of hooves and the rattle of wheels. Moments later, an elegant coach pulled by four trotting horses came into view. "Hello!" Sisko called, stepping forward with his hand raised in greeting.
The driver continued on without acknowledging him, so close that Sisko was forced to take a hasty step back lest he be run down — though with the safeties on full, it would have done him no harm in any case.
"Observer-only," Jake said in disgust. "That's the most boring kind of program there is."
"Maybe it's just as well," Sisko said slowly. "From the looks of that coach, this is the Old South. We're black, Jake; I'm not sure we want anyone here taking notice of us."
Jake snorted. "Fine favor Quark did us, then. Look, Dad, do we have to stay here the full fifteen minutes?"
"No," Sisko decided. "Computer, end program."
Nothing around them appeared to have changed, and Sisko raised his voice to try again. "Computer —"
"Look, Dad!" Jake exclaimed, grabbing his father's arm in excitement. He pointed to where glowing green letters appeared to hover about two feet above the ground: OPEN PORTAL.
"Be careful!" Sisko warned as Jake, drawn by some strange allure of the glowing letters, reached out and touched them.
There was no sense of contact, but the letters dissolved into a sparkling, swirling mass of green light. It quickly formed an oval ring that rapidly expanded into an apparent gateway that a six-foot man could step through without stooping. The pinpoints of green light were more scattered now, but still dense enough to form a definite barrier. The scene within the gateway was the same as that outside, but somehow the colors seemed sharper, more real.
Irresistibly drawn toward it, Jake stepped forward as if in a trance. "No, Jake!" Commander Sisko cried, springing forward and shoving his son back. He couldn't explain his fear of the strange portal; as merely part of a holoprogram, it should have held no danger. But there was too much that didn't add up in Quark's insistence that he be the first to try it, and something else that went beyond any logical, rational response; perhaps triggered in part by the fact that the portal had appeared only after the computer failed to respond to a command to end the program.
In pushing Jake back, Sisko's hand slipped through the ring, and suddenly he was being pulled by a physical force too strong to resist.
"Dad!" Jake cried, seeing his father being sucked through the swirling portal and suddenly gripped by the same fear that this was more than a holoprogram. Struggling to his feet, he lurched forward in an attempt to either follow his father or grab him and pull him back.
But it was too late. In a split second, the holosuite went dark, and the only sound before Jake's anguished cry was that of Sisko's combadge falling to the floor.
Next chapter coming next week!
I proofread all my stories at least once before posting, but if you see any mistakes I might have missed, please let me know!
Please note that I have internet access only once a week, and may not have time to respond to all reviews/messages. If you have questions regarding my Deep Space Nine alternate history, check my profile first to see if they're answered there. Thanks for your understanding! Barbie
