STAR TREK
DEVENSHIR
"Homicide: 112 "
A novel by James Wolfstar
Based on the hit phenomena "Star Trek" created by Gene Roddenberry and Star Trek: Columbia stories written by Richard Nicholas Mohrmann
Ensign Provance's Quarters Deck Ten, Section Three, Room One
"Ensign Provance's Personal Log Stardate 50989.7: We are enroute to the Tususka system where the sun in the system is collapsing. We are to try an experimental method, which Lieutenant Commander Samit along with the Rikylan science officer Livv created to stabilize the sun's core. We are all of the highest hopes that this will work and save millions of lives."
"Adam, please report to my quarters" Doctor Lisa Manteboro voice ordered through her communicator.
"Understood, Doctor" Adam said, turned off his desktop computer interface, and waltzed out the door. When he arrived at her quarters he pushed the chime pad to announce his presence.
"Who is it?" The doctor asked.
"It's Adam, you wanted me to..." He started to say, but stopped when the door slid open and revealed the doctor wearing only silk lingerie.
"Hello, Tiger" She said and grabbed Adam by his lapels and dragging him into her quarters.
"Hello Lady Luck" He said as the doors behind him closed and locked.
Space
A thirty thousand mile long shock wave raced toward the ship at an alarming speed that would have to potential to wipe out entire systems
Bridge, Deck One
"Captain, sensors are picking up an object bearing 30 mark 90" Informed Lieutenant Sousa from the science station.
"Put it on screen" Captain Daniel Smith-Weiss ordered.
"My God! It's huge!" Commander Katherine Smith-Weiss said.
"Not really" Lt. Sousa explained "the shock wave may be big by your standards, but since space is infinite it would appear much smaller to an alien species"
"How do you know it's a shock wave?" Katherine asked.
"I served on the U.S.S. Starlight for seventeen years and I've encountered several shock waves in my time. Note the ripples on the end of the beam." Lt. Sousa explained.
"Thank you for clearing that up Sousa. How long do we have before this shock wave hits us?" Dan asked.
"I don't know according to the computer we have less than five hours and we can't out run it." Sousa informed.
"Sir, we received information from the probe in the Tususka system before the probe was destroyed" Katherine said from her side computer interface.
"Destroyed? How?" Dan asked.
"I don't know maybe the data will tell us" Katherine said and transferred the data to the main screen so that all could see. The viewer showed the Tususka system, it's sun, and an alien warship. Nothing happened for a while, but suddenly the image of the sun began to distort and change.
"Katherine, is something wrong with the probe?" Dan asked.
"No, Sir, it's the sun. It's freezing" Katherine stammered and pointed at the screen. The alien ship was just sitting there while the sun slowly stopped giving off light. Also there were huge ice walls creeping over the star it was if the sun was reverting to an early stage in its life. Then the sun shattered and sent a shock wave that destroyed the planets, engulfed the ship, and destroyed the probe. The image then disappeared.
"Was the probe able to scan the ship?" Dan asked sweat rolling off his face.
"Yes, sir, but the scans seem to be scrambled. Permission to send them down to Engineering?" Sousa asked.
"No, Lieutenant, I will unscramble the data. Send it to my ready room." Dan ordered and departed to his ready room. When he left Sousa punched a few buttons and transmitted the data down to Engineering.
"Sousa, what the hell are you doing?" Livv asked.
"I'm disobeying orders. The captain has been acting strangely lately. I don't trust him. Didn't you notice the sweat when if asked about the scans of the ship? He's afraid. He's afraid of being declared an impostor." Sousa answered.
"Sousa, two things: First stop talking about this impostor thing you could get killed. Second, you're now facing a court-martial" Livv warned then went back down to helm.
"I know, Livv, I know" Sousa said.
Deck Two, Section Two, Main Engineering
Chief Engineer Jonathan Weaver was in his office when he received the data "Great, looks likes it's going to be an "all-nighter" He said and tapped his communicator "All engineering personal report to engineering NOW." After a few minutes the door opened and bunches of people came through the door, Weaver walked around to tell them what they were doing, but then people seemed to be missing. Weaver was a perfectionist who always said that when he wanted everybody, he wanted EVERYONE on the engineering staff to be there, and since nobody had left the ship in a month he determined that some people were not following orders. He went back into his office and grabbed a PADD, and started to take attendance like the engineers were back in Elementary School. Weaver scrolled down the PADD until he got to the only absent: Adam Provance. "Of course, Adam, you're always seem to be late" He muttered to himself and tapped his communicator "Weaver to Ensign Provance. Your presence is requested in Main Engineering."
Deck Eight; Section Nine, Room C Nine Hundred Eighty Seven
"Ensign Provance. Where are you? Answer the communicator" Weaver yelled. Adam jolted up and went to the table by the door where he thought his communicator was. He found his uniform, but it had no communicator. He started to put on his uniform when Lisa woke up.
"Where the hell do you think you're going?" She asked in a commanding voice.
"I'm going down to Engineering. I've been paged" Adam answered as he spotted his missing communicator, put it on, and started walking when he was tackled. Before he could react he was face down on the floor in extreme pain.
"The only place you're going is back in bed." She said and pulled him toward the bed.
"Oh boy" Adam sighed. He got up and went to go face his destiny.
Engineering
Weaver was getting frustrated and furious. Since Ensign Provance wasn't answering his pages Weaver assumed that Adam was dead, or if he weren't dead he would wish he was. He decided to go to where Adam was and drag his butt down to Engineering. "Steve, you're in charge until I get back" Weaver informed and walked out the door and headed towards a turbolift. "Computer, give me a location of Ensign Provance" Weaver said.
"Ensign Provance is on deck eight, section 9, room C987," the computer answered.
"Computer, patch an audio link to the room. I want to hear what he's doing." Weaver said and entered a turbolift "Deck eight"
"Unable to comply with the audio link: proper authorization codes are required." The computer answered
"SHIT" Weaver screamed.
"Computer override safety lockout authorization Weaver-609-Bravo- CR345" Weaver said. The computer obliged and the deck eight corridor was filled with the sound of heavy breathing. "He's getting lucky" Weaver muttered and knocked on the door in a gesture of strength.
"Who is it?" Adam asked.
"It's Lieutenant Commander Weaver. You were paged two times and you never answered. Next time you get paged answer the communicator." Weaver said starting to yell when the door to the quarters opened and showed Lisa in bed with the covers held to her chest and Adam at the door with no shirt on.
"Sorry that I didn't answer you earlier, but I was tied up in other matters." Adam said and got his uniform top on.
"C'mon we have to unscramble some data that the probes in the Tususka system did of a ship. We both know that you are the best linguistic officer on board," Weaver said.
"Why can't you access the probe's database and access its language protocols? Besides this is scrambled data. It isn't a language. It's a grouping of words or figures out of sequential order," Adam asked starting to get angry.
"Because the probe was destroyed," Weaver said breaking the bad news.
"How was it destroyed? It couldn't have been the ship. If it did it couldn't have transmitted the data in time." Lisa informed.
"The sun destroyed the probe and the system and a shock wave is coming towards us which will hit in about four and a half hours." Weaver said shedding darker light on the subject.
"Alright, I'm ready to go" Adam said and started out the door
"See you later, Tiger, ROWWWR" Lisa teased causing Weaver to raise an eyebrow.
"See you later, Sexy, GRRRRR" Adam teased back and finished walking through the door with Weaver following. They were on their way to the turbolift when Adam noticed Weaver smiling. "OK! What is it? Why the big smile?" Adam asked through he probably knew what the answer was.
"You and the Doc getting it on. How long has this been happening?" Weaver asked.
"It's not really any of your business, but we have been 'getting it on' for at least 3 or 4 months.
"No way!" Weaver said, "I thought you would have told somebody. I mean it's a great accomplishment, and also I'm your best friend and you didn't even tell me. That hurts" Weaver teased.
"Oh shut up! It's my social life I can do as I damn well please" Adam teased back.
" Yeah, in more ways than one" Weaver said as they entered a turbolift. "Deck Two" Weaver announced.
"OK that's a little bit funny, but tell me how long has it been since your 'great accomplishment'?" Adam asked.
"It's none of your business" Weaver said sternly.
"You're just embarrassed. Admit it. I'm getting more action than you these days."
"Fuck you"
"Thanks, but I just had that happen to me" Adam said and the turbolift stopped at deck two and the doors opened. As he was walking out Weaver kicked him and caused him to stumble. "What the hell are you trying to do KILL ME?" Adam yelled and started getting up. When he was up he took a swing at Weaver and missed him allowing Weaver to kick him in the back again.
"That just proved my point!" Weaver said.
"What would that be?" Adam asked.
"You're too cocky these days, and you know you are what you eat?" Weaver finished saying and started walking towards Engineering.
"Do you have a death wish, Weaver? You know I'm not going to stand having you insult my sexual preference. I'm as straight as a line. Weaver, if you want to 'get some' I know just the person!"
"And who would that be?"
"Katherine!!!"
"What are you fuckin' nuts? That's the commander you're talking about not to mention the captain's wife."
"You're thinking with your brain again. Think about it. First she has a nice body. Second she has had the uptight husband for years she is bound to be over you like a bad rash...
"And third of all?"
"The captain has been acting strange lately."
"I don't know I'd have to think about it. Right now we have to find out what's in that data!" Weaver said and entered the Engineering doors.
.
Chapter Two
Commander Katherine Smith-Weiss's Personal Quarters, Deck Seven, Section Alpha Three, Room Ten
Katherine reclined in her favorite chair and inhaled the air around her. The thought of her imminent destruction didn't put her at ease. The events on the bridge had all happened so fast that her head was still spinning around like the earth on its axis. Sousa was getting fiery these days and seemed to be increasingly suspicious toward the Captain each day. She wondered if the fact that they hadn't had a shore leave since the Alpha Cignip mission five months ago. She decided to go talk to Dan about perhaps having a shore leave after this crisis is over. Assuming they survive. "Computer, location of the Captain?" She asked the computer.
"Captain Daniel Smith-Weiss is in his ready room," the computer answered.
"Computer transport me to that location" Her quarters disappeared as the ready room filled her field of vision. She turned around only to find the room empty of presence she turned again to leave when Livv's voice appeared in the room over her communicator.
"Commander, I need to talk to you in my quarters" Livv stammered over the communicator.
"What's wrong? Why aren't you at your post?"
"I was concerned with Sousa. He left the bridge and he didn't come back for a while. Naturally I was concerned so I tried reaching him on the communicator. He didn't answer so I went to his quarters. I asked the computer..."
"What's the bottom line?"
"When I found him I knew the reason he didn't answer me. He was dead. Commander there's been a murder aboard this ship and the murderer is..." The sound of screams and struggle filled the communicator then the transmission ceased.
"Oh my god" Katherine whispered and looked about the room trying to see how the computer figured out the location of Dan. She found a discolored section of the wall and pulled it off. Inside was a panel with a golden button on it. She pushed it, out of curiosity, and a section of the wall opened. The wall revealed Captain Daniel Smith-Weiss in suspended animation. "Oh my god he really is an impostor."
"'Oh my god' is right, because that's the next person you're going to see" A voice appeared behind her she spun around and came face to face with 'Dan' "It's check out time" He said raising a phaser and pointing it at Katherine. He then pushed the trigger and it fired. She closed her eyes expecting to be vaporized when she was transported out of the room and onto the U.S.S Columbia registry number NCC-47938. Captain Richard Nicholas Mohrmann, the famed captain walked towards the transporter pad.
"Get away from me!" Katherine screamed and barreled out of the room. Captain Mohrmann tapped his communicator
"Lt. Commander Henshaw, we have a visitor who is in emotional distress. Please find her and bring her to Doctor Packer."
"Understood, Captain" Henshaw answered.
"Captain, we're picking up an object on long range sensors." Commander Joshua Truskowski reported over the communicator at the bridge.
"What is it, Commander?"
"I don't know. I'm running it through the computer... Captain it's a shock wave!"
"Can we stop it?"
"No, Sir, at least not with the weapons we have on this ship now. We can outrun it, but pretty soon it will overcome us, and we will be destroyed.
U.S.S. Devenshir NCC-57834, Bridge
"Sir, we just picked something up on sensors. It wasn't there before. I'm running a scan on it know" Lt. Katy Provance said from CONN.
"Lieutenant, what is it?" Dan asked.
"It's a federation ship, registry numbers NCC-47938, call sign Columbia" Katy answered.
"Acknowledged, fire four photon torpedoes at the Columbia, wide spread" Dan ordered.
"Sir?" Cmdr. Alan Provance asked at Tactical.
"I said fire four photon torpedoes at the Columbia" Dan ordered.
"That's willful destruction of Federation property. I won't do it. That action is a court-martial offense," Alan protested.
"If you don't do it I will put you in my log as a starter of a mutiny. FIRE FOUR TORPEDOES AT THE COLUMBIA" Dan yelled veins popping out of his neck.
"Aye sir. Firing" Alan said and then whispered "God help us all" the torpedoes streaked towards the Columbia and hit her in the battle section three times and the saucer section once.
U.S.S. Columbia
"What in the world was that?" Rich asked Josh as Rich arrived at the bridge.
"The Devenshir has fired four photon torpedoes at us. They have collapsed our shields and are creating hull breaches on decks 13 through 17." Josh answered.
"Is there an official damage report, yet?" Rich asked.
"No, Sir, each department has yet to compile one." Josh answered.
"Do we at least have weapons and life support?"
"Let me check. Yes, and yes. Why? You aren't thinking about firing back? That's as bad as what they're doing!"
" I know, but we can't just let them beat us. Commander Hoffman fire two photon torpedoes and fire short phaser bursts until their shields are down. Then fire that neutralizer we got from the Galena."
"Understood, Sir, but you do realize that by doing so we will drain the last of auxiliary power?"
"Yes, Commander, I do. I also know that we have to stop them dead in the water no matter what it takes. No matter what it takes!"
U.S.S. Devenshir
"Captain, we have projectiles heading towards us," Katy announced.
"Evasive maneuvers Smith-Weiss Delta 3"
"Sir, it's too late they've locked on"
"Attention, all hands brace for impact! I repeat all hands brace for im..." The impacting weapons cut off Dan's words and he was thrown across the bridge and knocked unconscious.
"Alan, damage report coming in. Shields down, communications down and auxiliary power down to 11% efficiency." Katy announced.
"Thank you Katy, anything else"
"Yes there is a pulse coming from the ship. Shall I maneuver away from it?"
"No, Katy, let it hit"
"Yes, Sir" Katy replied puzzled. She counted down the time until the pulse hit. When she reached 0 the bridge shook and then everything went dark.
U.S.S. Columbia
"Captain, I have some good news and some bad news," Josh said
"Go ahead"
"The good news is that the Devenshir is out of power as well as the fact that the shock will come a bit short of hitting us," Josh paused. "The bad news is that if the Devenshir doesn't move 100 kilometers towards us it will be destroyed by the shock wave." At that moment Captain Richard Mohrmann developed a knot in his stomach.
Chapter Three
Earth, North America, Starfleet Academy, Two years ago
Cadet Adam Provance studied his PADD for his upcoming test in his engineering class taught by his friend Commander Richard Mohrmann. He had been studying for hours and was starting to get tired. The test was in twenty hours and he didn't want to fail it. This was his last test before the final and his future career in Starfleet depended on it. He put the PADD down, went to the washroom, and turned the water on. He splashed his face with cold water a couple of times and took a long hard look in the mirror. There were dark rings under his eyes, his hair was uncombed, and he hadn't shaved for a day. The day he had been studying non-stop. This day. He expected some upper class men or even his roommate to burst in through the door and invite him to some killer party, but he wasn't the most popular kid at the academy, nor was he the least. He was the basic nerd who hoped he could one day break out of his shell. He then remembered words he had heard from a lot of people 'How do you expect others to like you if you don't like yourself?' Adam sighed and turned off the light in the washroom and picked up his PADD again "Let's see. Anti-matter to matter ratio is one to one, Warp field coils should be recalibrated every three weeks-"
"You're one piece of work, Cadet," A voice said from behind him. Adam turned his head and saw his roommate, Cadet fourth-class Daniel Smith-Weiss
"Let me guess, killer party at Cadet T'Val's room. You can't miss it. The party to break all parties." Adam guessed.
"Ya, how did you know?"
"Did I ever mention that I had a telepathic grandmother?" Adam asked grinning ear to ear.
"Did I ever mention you're full of shit?" Dan asked also grinning.
"I think at least once,"
"I'll be there shortly. I have to send a message to my folks."
"Okay" Adam said and walked out the door. He was halfway to T'Val's when a Lieutenant Commander ran up to him." Cadet Provance, I have a message for you" She said and handed him a PADD
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NAME: Cadet Adam James Provance
MISSION: Classified (Gamma 4 Clearance required)
INSTRUCTIONS: Report to Admiral McHeil's office at Starfleet Academy at 18:57
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"Excuse me, Commander, would you please escort me to the Admiral's office? I don't want to lose my way." He asked and flashed a million dollar smile at her and hoped that she couldn't resist his so-called charm.
"I would love to, but I have to make an appearance at T'Val's party." She said and started to walk away.
"But there be others"
"I know, but he said he wanted to show me something." She said and started to break into a jog. Adam jogged and caught up with her.
"I don't even know you're name!" He explained hoping she would stop. He was in luck. She stopped and turned around.
"Look I know what you're trying to do. I know that you want to 'walk' with a Lieutenant Commander and then brag to all your Cadet friends that you 'got lucky'. Well, sorry to rain on your parade, but I'm not that kind of girl" She said and started walking again.
"I'm not that kind of guy!" He answered and grabbed her hand to stop her. Her hand was smooth as silk and was as delicate as a rose.
"Fine, You got me. I tell you my name. It's Lisa Manteboro; I assist Doctor Packer with her classes in the Medical wing, room 103. There, are you happy? What else do you want to know?"
"Can we catch a movie at one of those twentieth century theaters?
"Sure, why not, but I get to pick the day. I have a hectic schedule to work around." She said and finished the walk to T'Val's quarters. "By the way, Cadet, you should get going you don't want to keep McHeil waiting." She said and entered T'Val's quarters, but she wasn't entirely through the door when she turned back "I would suggest you run. If an upper class man gives you the 'Warp speed' lecture, tell them to talk to me." She said before finally going into the quarters. A minute later Dan came puffing up.
"Who was that?"
"Who's who?"
"Don't play games with me. The girl you were talking to. The one who gave you the brush-off."
"Nobody, she was just delivering a message to me. That reminds me I have to go. Excuse me." Adam said and proceeded to McHeil's office brushing past Dan. His mouth open in gaping awe.
Admiral McHeil's office
"Cadet Provance, you're late. I was hoping that someone of your stature would be on time or even early."
"I'm sorry, Sir, I got.... tied up in other matters"
"Such as what, Cadet? This had better be a good reason."
"I was talking with a female officer. I was trying to....win favors, so to speak."
"Oh. Cadet, let's get the reason I called you here. The board of Admiral's and I have selected you and two other Cadets to go on a rescue mission to Starbase 167, the Jupiter orbital. An asteroid breaking out of the belt smashed them. The starbase is in need of repair and medical attention."
"You aren't serious?! You're putting hundreds of lives into three Cadets."
"Not exactly there will be three officers at the academy going with you."
"Fine. I get it now! Who's going?"
"I'm glad you asked that. The two other Cadets are Cadet Davis and Cadet Miller. I believe they are in your Engineering class, is that correct? Anyway-"
"Admiral I have a test in that class that's very important to my final grade and my future. What's to be done about that?"
"Don't worry, I've already gave word to Commander Mohrmann that you will be missing the test. He's giving you a grade on how well you do on this mission. Now please don't interrupt me anymore. The three officers are Doctor Packer, Chief Engineer Geordi LaForge, and Lieutenant Commander-" The Admiral was cut off in mid sentence by the doors opening and in walked Lisa.
"Lieutenant Commander Lisa Manteboro reporting as ordered, Sir." She said and stole a glance at Adam.
"Okay, pack up your gear and be at the transporter room in half an hour, and Cadet Provance, be on time" Admiral McHeil said ushering them out the door
"Admiral, you didn't mention something." Adam said gravely
"What would that be?"
"How did the asteroid get through the shields? It's impossible for an asteroid of any size to hit a starbase and damage it if it has shields."
"Cadet, I was hoping you wouldn't ask that. I guess I have to tell you. The starbase's security was compromised from the inside. We have a saboteur. That's why you will be equipped with Type III phaser rifles and you will have environmental suits in case there's a radiation leak. Now I'm serious, get your gear together and get to the transporter room."
Transporter room six
"Lisa, what did T'Val show you?" Adam asked.
"This" She said and pulled a crystal out of her bag.
"That's beautiful! What is it?"
"It's a piece off the orb of prophecy. It was found on a recent archeological dig on Bajor"
"What! How did he get it? The Kai would have wanted it back. She would probably say something about angering the prophets."
"He has his connections"
"Are you saying he bought that off the black market? That's illegal not to mention morally wrong."
"NO!"
"Fine as far as I'm concerned it was a gift. How's that?"
"That is satisfactory, Cadet, and Adam, it is Sir!" Lisa said and got on the transporter pad
"What am I going to do?" Adam muttered and took a place next to Lisa on the transporter.
The transporter chief then activated the controls, which sent the molecules of the people on the transporter pad to the Starbase.
Starbase 167
Adam appeared on the Starbase and looked at the devastation around him. He sighed, opened his tool kit, and started to repair the broken shields.
U.S.S. Devenshir, present
Ensign Adam looked at the damage around him. The last thing he had heard was the Captain telling them to brace for impact. "Ensign Provance to bridge." Nothing. "Ensign Provance to Sickbay." Again nothing. Adam slammed a fist on the control panel. He hoped that the Communication systems were down, or else he would have to live with the fact that everyone on the bridge and in sickbay was dead. He looked around for Weaver and found him underneath some of the panels that had fallen off the walls.
"Weaver, are you okay?"
"I think so. I think my leg is broken" Weaver said and slid out of the wreckage scrapes with covering his face.
"The Comm. systems are down. I least I hope they are. I had hoped I would never see this damage again."
"What do you mean this is your first assignment"
"Not really, you obviously forgot the Asteroid Incident at Starbase 167. I got my first taste of danger, responsibility, and the preciousness of life."
Starbase 167, two years ago, Main Deck
Adam was working on the main shield generator when Lisa came over. "Working hard?"
"Ya, this place is a mess. Whoever did this to the shields sure wanted to be a pain in the ass. I can't figure out what he did. I'm going to spend at least another day fixing it. Why did you come by? Please say it was just to see me."
"Not really I wanted to see if you would go below decks with me?"
"Let me guess you want to 'walk' with me."
"Dream on! I wanted you to help me look for survivors"
"Oh. I guess I can spare the shields for a while. Shall we?"
"Deck Two" Lisa said in the turbolift they started down will suddenly the lift rocked and stopped in mid-transport. "What the hell?" Lisa asked and tapped her communicator "Manteboro to LaForge. What happened Commander?"
"Another asteroid hit. I'm fine, but I don't know about the rest of them. The computer is reading hull breaches all along the station. I think-" LaForge was ending abruptly by the failing Comm. systems
"Great. Just great" Lisa said and looked over at Adam, he was unconscious, his suit was ripped and leg bone was sticking out. "Don't die on me" She whispered and started to cry.
Starbase 167, Engineering
"Computer, what is the status of all the systems?" LaForge asked the Computer.
"Shields are offline, turbolifts offline, weapons offline, thrusters aren't working, Communication systems down, transporters are down, and Life support is down to 85% and is degrading fast" responded the Computer.
"Thank you for adding a ray of sunshine to a cloudy day" LaForge said with sarcasm.
"You're welcome, Commander" The Computer replied. LaForge smiled. Computers will never understand humans. Geordi closed his tool kit and proceeded out of engineering. He got to the end of the hall when huge flames erupted out of the floor nearly burning LaForge alive.
"Damn. The automatic fire extinguisher is out." He said after backing away. He ran back to Engineering, opened the toolkit, and started working on the Communications.
"Why me?" LaForge asked in disgust.
Turbolift, Deck one and a half
"Adam, are you okay? You're in a turbolift with me, Lisa, you have a broken leg"
"I feel like I'm in a hot fire. I want to stay cool." Adam said and started to take off his environmental suit.
"No, Adam, Don't. Do you hear me? You're experiencing radiation poisoning I need to patch that hole"
"I feel sleepy" Adam said and started to close his eyes
"NO, Cadet, you will stay awake until we get back to Earth, that's an order. I hope you're good at following orders."
U.S.S. Columbia, Sickbay, present
"Captain, she's coming to," Doctor Kristi Packer announced. Katherine's eyes fluttered open and saw the smiling face of Captain Mohrmann.
"You gave us quite a fright in the transporter room, Commander," Rich said.
"You would be scared to if your spouse tried to kill you!" Katherine exclaimed.
"True, but you could have thanked us in a more pleasing manner," Lieutenant Commander Henshaw said grimacing in pain due to the cut that Katherine had given him.
"By, the way how did you know that my life was in danger?" Katherine asked.
"We heard of conspiracies in the Federation so we placed operatives on each ship to wash the conspirators out. I'm know that you were in danger because Lieutenants Sousa and Livv were our operatives," Rich explained.
"Gee, it's nice to know that you are mourning." Katherine sarcastically said.
"Believe me, Katherine, we are mourning. Especially Ensign Provance," Henshaw answered.
"Adam Provance? How dare you bring a member of MY crew into this!"
"No, Commander, we mean Ensign AJ Provance. A member of MY crew." Captain Mohrmann announced.
"What?"
"Do you remember the Asteroid incident at Starbase 167?" Rich asked.
Starbase 167, Main Deck
Cadet Craig Davis looked at the hole the asteroid made. The Computer had put a force field around it so that the vacuum wouldn't drain all the air out of the Starbase. Thankfully, the Emergency force fields were working, as they should. He looked over at Cadet Katherine Miller who was diligently working on the thrusters so that they could avoid another asteroid. "Katherine, have you heard from anybody since that last asteroid hit?"
"No, Craig, I haven't. Last thing I heard and saw before the asteroid hit was Lisa talking to that Cadet working on the shields and then them departing to a Turbolift," Katherine explained.
"You mean 'Prince Charming'? The one who's been cuddling up with Lieutenant Commander Manteboro?" Craig asked.
"Yes, that's the one! What's his name again?"
"Cadet Promance... no that's no right. Umm...OH I know Cadet Provance." Craig answered.
Turbolift, between decks
Lisa was starting to get worried. It had been at least an hour since that other asteroid hit. Adam was staying awake as best he could. He would stay up for awhile than start falling asleep. She would engage in friendly conversation to keep him up. She was getting tired as well and she knew that if she fell asleep Adam would die. At that point she decided to act and try to get back to deck one. She got up and tried to pry the door open. "Lisa, what are you doing?" Adam asked behind her in a weak voice.
"I'm going to get us out of here!" Lisa said with determination.
"Sorry, to burst your bubble, but I have a broken leg. I couldn't climb if my life depended on it, which it does. I will only slow you down. If you carried me you will become exhausted, and fall to your death."
"Listen, Cadet, you are coming with me. That's an order. I'm also obliged to do as much as I can to save a fellow crew member."
"Oh so that's the only reason you're trying to save me. It's your duty."
"Cadet, don't ever talk to a superior officer in that manner. I suggest that you stop talking. It is draining the limited life you have left." Lisa said and then started to shiver
"What's wrong?"
"I'm cold. That means life support is failing. Adam, I love you that is the only reason to save your life. At least a far as I'm concerned."
"That's all I wanted to hear," Adam said and hopped to the door "what do I do?"
Chapter Four
U.S.S. Devenshir, Bridge
"Alan, are you okay?" Katy asked rushing over to pick up one of her brothers. His body was limp and didn't respond to her touch. She went down to the captain's chair, pushed on the scarcely illuminated buttons, and called up a damage report. "No" She screamed, ripped the counselor's display from the seat, and through it across the room. She looked down at her feet and saw the Captain lying at her feet. She felt for broken bones in his back and neck, when she didn't find any she rolled him over onto his back. She saw a sight that made her throw up. The Captain's skin was bloody beyond anything she had ever seen. She backed away into the Captain's ready room and saw the real Dan in suspended animation. She got up closer when she was tackled from behind. She pulled her knife with the seven-inch blade and stabbed her attacker. The attacker let go, yelling in pain enabling Katy to turn around and see her attacker. She stared into Captain Smith-Weiss's eyes.
"You're going to die for that, bitch!!!" Dan said and pulled the knife out of chest and stabbed Katy in the back.
"I don't think so," Katy said pulling the knife out and stabbing Dan right between the eyes.
"Bite me" Dan said, pulled the knife out of his forehead, and stabbed Katy in the stomach. She looked at the wound, and then died.
Dan reached the control pad, turned off the suspended animation, and then he shapeshifted into the only person Dan could trust after his four years in that prison. He changed into his darling wife: Katherine Smith-Weiss.
Chapter Five
U.S.S. Devenshir, Engineering
Adam bent over the opened console and examined the cut or loose circuits that were plaguing the ship. The wires made a really bad mess, which Adam was not making him happy. "Weaver, can you come over here and help?"
"Sure, what's the problem?" Weaver asked.
"It's these damned wires. It's a headache trying to figure out how to unravel them," Adam answered.
"I don't think that the two of us can do it. We need to find Kuczewski. He needs to help us." Weaver said and then walked over to a pile of debris and pulled it off. Michael Kuczewski, Assistant Chief Engineer, was lying there with cuts over his face. "Mike, can you hear me? It's Weaver. We need your help with some circuitry."
"Yah, I can hear you just fine. I'm okay except for these cuts on my face. What wrong with the circuitry? Oh ya, I forgot to ask, what the hell happened to the ship?" Kuczewski asked.
"I'm not sure, but I bet the Ensign might!" Weaver said.
"Know what?" Adam asked.
"What happened to the ship?" Kuczewski said before Weaver could.
"I don't know, but the main computer and the voice interface are still functioning. The camera will tell us," Adam said and pressed the padd keys to activate the camera logs. The three of them watched the Captain's bizarre orders, his losing control, then they watched as Katy and Dan fought the knife fight, and finally they saw the thing that scared them all: the fact that a changeling was on board. "Alan" Adam said choking on his sobs. Weaver went over and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"Adam, I know you two were close, but we have to get the communications back on line so we can warn Starfleet about this changeling. Right now, we know that it is Katherine. That means that Katherine is either on the Columbia or she is now dead. No matter what the case may be stay away from here at all costs. In fact don't trust anybody except for yourself. We will keep close eyes on each other while we work, and we will WORK. Is that understood?" Weaver asked. Mike and Adam nodded in unison. "Good. Let's take a look at this mess."
U.S.S. Columbia
Captain Mohrmann sat in his chair on the bridge staring at the speeding shock wave and trying to find out how he could save the Devenshir. He did give the order to disable it. The Columbia's tractor beam had been damaged in the fight and even with all the engineers and available help it would be fixed long after the shock wave hit the Devenshir and dispersed. He knew very well that the Devenshir was in worse shape than they were. He thought about beaming a number of people over, but there wouldn't be a guarantee that they would receive a warm welcome. More so he was unsure if they could fix the Devenshir's engines before the shock wave. He finally decided that he would at least send a message to the Devenshir. "Computer, open hailing frequencies"
"Channel open" replied the computer.
"Devenshir, this is Captain Richard Mohrmann of the Columbia"
U.S.S. Devenshir
"I a* sending this me**age to warn you that the s***k wave will **t you before you're eng**es will be repaired we are willing to send a sm*** t**m to help with repairs. I know that you have no way to answer this message, but if you want us to help you then turn off all lights and them turn **** back on" Rich said and then closed communications. Weaver, Mike, and Adam tapped in to the enviromental controls and managed to flick the lights before the power disappeared.
"Now what do we do?" Weaver asked.
"We wait. However long that may be." Adam responded.
"Listen, we have to compile a list of priorities. I think that we should focus mainly on the warp drive. Then we have to worry about communications. We need to file a Homicide: 112 report to Starfleet."
Mike added.
"What's a Homicide: 112?" Adam asked.
" It's the Starfleet code for multiple deaths aboard a starship caused by a member or members of the crew." Weaver explained.
"But we have a changeling onboard shouldn't that save the Captain from being charged?" Adam asked.
"Yes, but all video recorder logs show that Captain Smith-Weiss killed all those people. We don't know when he was 'real' or when he was a changeling." Mike explained. When he was finished explaining several sparkling lights appeared. After the transporting process ended Weaver, Mike, and Adam saw the engineering team that Captain Mohrmann had promised. Making up the team were Chief Engineer Edmund Hilston, Mark Grin, Lt. Cmdr. Thoman, and AJ Provance. Adam rushed up and shook AJ's hand.
"AJ, I haven't seen you in two years!" Adam said.
"Likewise" AJ replied.
"What the hell is going on here?" Weaver asked.
"It has something to do with Starbase 167." Adam explained
Starbase 167, Deck one and a half
"Adam, I want you to open that control panel and grab as many wires as you can. Then I want you to yank them out and cross circuit the existing wires. Understood?" Lisa asked.
"Ya, I can handle that."
"Good. I'll get you out of this. I promise"
Starbase 167, Deck five
Daniel Smith-Weiss was working when he heard a noise. "Hello? Is anybody out there?" After a few moments Daniel returned to his work. He heard the noise again not a few minutes later. "Okay, joke's over you guys. Let's act like civilized human beings." He walked towards the source of the noise. He found a small room and decided to enter it to find out what the noise was. He stepped through the door and immediately heard the sound of a force field and a damper field going up. He turned around to witness this when he felt a hand grab his mouth and drag him further into the room.
Deck one and a half
"Got it" Adam said as he cross-circuited the wires and made the doors open.
"Good work, Cadet, you may yet have a future in Starfleet after all."
"So have you decided on how you are going to go about getting me out of here?"
"Yes, I will simply give you a piggy back ride."
"Oh, Lisa, you do have a way with words. You make the whole thing sound so simple, but it isn't. You see I weigh 170 pounds. You would have to pull up about 290 pounds. Let's hope that Starfleet's physical training program is as good as it sounds."
Engineering
"Yes. I got it." LaForge said and tapped his communicator "LaForge to repair team. All power has been restored. We can leave whenever the rest of you are ready." LaForge said.
"Understood" said the other members of the repair team.
Deck five
"Computer, disable damper field and force field. Then beam one person to the specified coordinates in the Devenshir's ready room. Pretty soon it will be MY ready room." 'Dan' said with an evil laugh. Dusting himself off he strode out the door and back to the repair team full of lowly solids.
Main Bridge
"Starfleet academy, six to beam up." LaForge said. The transporter beam then surrounded them.
Starfleet academy
Admiral McHeil stood before the transporter pad waiting to congratulate the away team on their success. As the away team was being transported over things started going wrong. Craig, Katie, Dan, Geordi, and Lisa all beamed back with out any trouble, but the transporter chief was having trouble bringing Adam back.
"What's wrong?" Lisa asked.
"I can't get a solid pattern lock on him. Without it I can't reassemble his molecules. He will die." The transporter chief explained.
"Try boosting the gain. The radiation from the station might be interfering with the controls." LaForge suggested. The transporter chief acknowledged and did as was suggested. The people in the transporter witnessed a very strange event. The transporter beam of Adam split into two. The shimmering finally stopped and two different Adam's materialized and then both of them collapsed.
Starfleet academy, Medical bay
Doctor Kristi Packer was examining Adam when Lisa walked in.
"Kristi, how are they doing?" Lisa asked.
"They're doing fine for right now. I've managed to extract the radiation from them they should be back on duty within the day."
"How do you tell them apart? I mean both of them have the same DNA, the same blood, and the same memories."
"By this," Kristi said and pulled back the covers of Adam. There was a scar across his stomach " he got this when he impaled himself on a spike a couple years back. I treated him and he said he didn't want me to use that "skin-closing" device as he called it. He wanted us to sew it right back up. I guess I'm glad I listened to him."
"I love him, Kristi and I don't know how the other Adam is going to get along with that."
"I do" A tiny voice said behind here. Lisa turned around to see Adam struggle to sit up in the bio-bed. "We could persuade Admiral McHeil to assign the other me somewhere where he wouldn't meet you. He would only have memories."
"Yes that's a good idea, but where would we send him? There aren't any ships visiting this region unless they need to be repaired. He needs proper training, or else it would be suicide to send him into the heat of battle." Kristi said.
"Kristi, you got it all wrong. I'm an engineer, not a soldier, damn it. He wouldn't be fighting Jem'Hadar unless they actually decided to take out engineering before the bridge." Adam said.
"I don't know about all this. I guess we should ask the Admiral." Kristi said and tapped her communicator. "Admiral McHeil, would you please report to medical bay?" After a few more moments of discussion the Admiral arrived.
"Yes, what can I do for you, Doctor?" McHeil asked.
"We need your opinion on something? We need to assign the duplicate of Cadet Provance to a starship or starbase where he won't be in a war zone." Kristi explained.
"I have just the place for him to go. That new ship, the Columbia is finished and can leave dry dock when the crew complement is filled up. I need an engineer, and Cadet Provance and his 'twin' are engineers. Kristi, I'm also going to tell you that I want you to be the CMO aboard the Columbia. I hate to lose you. You're the best-damned Doctor I've ever had. The Captain of the vessel will be Richard Mohrmann. He's that child prodigy that taught the engineering class. I'm given him a promotion to Captain and command of the ship. Lisa, I also have a surprise for you. We are building another ship, the Devenshir, and we are almost done. When she's built I want you to be the CMO for that ship." Lisa shot a wary glance at Adam who tried his best to return it back. "Don't worry, Lisa, you can continue you're relationship. Adam will be an engineer aboard that ship. I've promoted Daniel Smith-Weiss to Captain and have given him control of the ship. Also, Adam, you new rank is Ensign with all the duties and privileges." Admiral McHeil stopped talking and exited the room. When he returned to his office he left a message with his secretary not to be disturbed for another eight hours. After that call was placed Admiral McHeil got a bucket, reverted into true changeling form (which was liquid), and slept.
U.S.S Devenshir, Present
"Wait a second! You're telling me that there are two of you in this universe!" Weaver asked.
"Yes, I know it's hard to shallow, but it's true. You can see that clearly." Adam said.
"How's Lisa?" AJ asked.
"That's none of your business! I'm the one in love with her not you!" Adam yelled.
"Okay chill out I was just asking. I've got some news that you find interesting. Admiral McHeil just returned from a Dominion prison camp. He's been there for four years." AJ informed.
"Wait a moment. That means that during the entire Starbase mission Admiral McHeil was a changeling. No wonder Dan was promoted to captain so damn fast. I don't think that that was his real purpose. I think he wanted something else to happen. Something big. I wish I knew what it was." Adam said and then turned to the repair team from the Columbia. "Get back to the ship and ask them to flood this room with enough tachyons to send us back four years. Weaver, Mike, and I are going to take a little time travel trip."
"I am to." A new voice appeared. Adam turned around and there was Lisa. "Where you go I go"
"Understood, but there is a changeling threat. I want to slice your hand with this piece of metal. Lisa did as was asked and her blood didn't revert to changeling form. "Okay. Everybody get ready. Tachyon time travel makes you dizzy, but it's only temporary." Adam said and as soon as he said it the room began to spin and instantly there were in the partially completed engine room. Adam stood up and noticed that the only protecting them from the frozen vacuum of space was an emergency power that seemed to be operating with only enough power to keep the air from rushing into outer space. "It worked." Adam yelled. " We can actually stop everything from happening. My brother won't be dead. Dan won't become a prisoner in his own ready room, and if the part of the data I scrambled is correct then the sun in the Tususka system won't blow up."
"Adam, what do you mean about the Tususka system?" Lisa asked.
"The war ship that the probe saw was a prototype of a starship with Federation and Jem'Hadar technology. Starfleet officials were fooled severely. They thought the Admiral to be a great man considering he was able to get the technology, but he wasn't. The Jem'Hadar willingly gave that technology for some of the high-powered weapons that Starfleet's research and development cooked up. If I'm not mistaken, one of the weapons was one that could destabilize a sun's core by reverting it the early stage of it's beginning. The sun in the Tususka system was affected that weapon. The changeling that took Dan's place knew that once the probe's data was unscrambled that the entire operation would be blown sky high. He asked Sousa to deliver the data to his ready room to unscramble it so that he could delete the data and say that there wasn't anything to report. Sousa disobeyed and sent it to Weaver who in turn sent it to me, and I was able to decipher it before all the power in the ship failed. Anyway by traveling back in time like this we can change everything for the benefit of the Federation." Adam explained.
"How the hell were you able to surmise this just by looking at a bit of data?" Weaver asked.
"Did I ever mention I had a telepathic grandmother?" Adam asked.
"No I think you are full of shit!" Weaver said.
"You also forgot a couple of other thinks Adam. First if we change the fact that the Dominion captures the Admiral then there won't be a Starbase 167 mission and we won't fall in love. Adam, I love you, and I think that you were the best thing to ever happen to me. I don't want that to suddenly disappear. Second, what happens to AJ? He was created by the radiation that you got when your suit ripped. He's going to die that's what. He will have never existed." Lisa explained.
"Lisa, calm down. I already know the consequences of this. I love you to, but I'm willing to let go of that love in order to save thousands of lives. Besides since we time traveled it won't matter because I'll remember my love for you. Second, AJ will not exist I'll give you that, but the only people who will know will be those stupid Time Travel police who have to stick there nose in everybody's business when you even go a second back in time. One day I might just travel back in time and disband them. That would make lots of people happy. Now I think we should get out of here before the people who are building this ship get back and notice us." Adam said as they all walked out of the engine room onto the main platform of Utopia Planetia. The place where Starfleet manufactured the ships. They went to the nearest transporter platform and beamed to the main transporter room of Starfleet academy where they were greeted by armed guards. One of the guards stepped forward.
"We noticed your tachyon surge in the engine room of the Devenshir. We knew that you would eventually find your way here. Admiral McHeil dispatched us to greet you for him and then to take you down to the brig where you will be executed as spies of the Dominion. Follow me please." The guard stopped talking and herding Lisa, Adam, Weaver, and Mike off of the transporter pad and proceeded to take them to the last room they would ever set foot in.
"Wait aren't the condemned honored one last request? It is a law the Federation abides by?" Adam asked.
"Very well. What is your request?" The security guard asked.
"We would like to meet with the Admiral to personally evaluate the situation. We are aware that he is a changeling or pretty soon will become a changeling. I know we are all condemned, but you have to believe us. If a small member of your group would join us when we confront the Admiral, He won't be able to escape. I stake my word as an officer of Starfleet that we aren't shape shifters." Adam said.
"He speaks the truth. I am his girlfriend. I know that he wouldn't lie when his life is on the line." Lisa said and held Adam's hand for reassurance. "To prove this we need a knife." Lisa said and the leader of the security detail drew out a knife and cautiously gave it to Lisa. Lisa sliced her hand with it and handed it to Adam who sliced his. Then Weaver cut his, and finally Kuczewski cut his. "As you can see we are not changelings. We are time travelers from four years in the future who have come back to prevent some back things from happening to our crew, the Federation, and the lives of others, but before we tell you more we need to know you aren't Dominion spies." Lisa said and handed the knife to the leader of the security detail. He cut his hand and passed the knife to the others in his detail. Finally, it came down to one more person who glanced at the knife nervously.
"It's okay, Mike." The security guard said trying to calm him down "It will only hurt for a second." The security officer took the knife moved it towards his hand and when he was about to cut it, he threw it at the other security guard and then disappeared in a puddle through the door.
"Shit! He's going to warn McHeil" Adam screamed and broke into a dead run after the changeling. Lisa and the rest of the security detail followed. When they arrived outside the Admiral's office Adam leaned toward the main security guard "When I open the door I want to fire a level seven phasor blast that should revert the changeling back to its original form. Also I don't want you to let anybody else out until you've cut their hand." Adam whispered and then opened the door stepping out of the way so that the phasor blast could be fired. When Adam and everybody else entered they found out that one of the chairs was the changeling, but the Admiral was not.
"Greeting, Adam. I know you have question, but I assure you that I'm not a changeling." McHeil said, but before he could say anything else his chest was hit by a phasor blast causing his body to melt back to his original form. Adam then pointed the phasor at the puddle and vaporized it.
"How did you know? We fired a blast into the room and the Admiral was still there." Lisa asked
"I had a sixth sense about it. I felt as though he was a changeling. He knew my name. I wasn't even enrolled in Starfleet at this time." He told Lisa and then turned to the security chief. "What's your name? You have done so much to help us I feel as through I should put your name in a log." Adam said.
"My name is Henshaw. My first name is not important to you. Now if there is anything else I can do for you?" Henshaw asked.
"Yes, actually there is. We need to get back to the Devenshir of our time. We can do this by getting to the nearly completed one and flooding it with tachyons to send us back to our own time." Adam said.
"But what about the Admiral? Aren't you at least concerned with his whereabouts?" Henshaw asked.
"We have to leave that in your capable hands. Remember no one is invincible from this changeling threat. Watch your back. If they ask who did this all. I don't mind if you take all the credit. Now we have to get back to our own time." Adam said and left for the transporter pads. Lisa and everybody else followed. Lisa stopped Adam and lured him to the shadows.
"We need to do something before we leave. We need to tell our counterparts that they have to meet each other and form a relationship." Lisa pointed out.
"You have a point there, but I can't remember where I am at this point in time." Adam said.
"You can be so silly at times you live with your parents." Lisa said, "You can't remember where you lived four years ago?" Lisa asked.
"You obviously didn't read my Starfleet record. My parents are dead and if this little time travel didn't work then my brother and sister are dead as well." Adam said.
"How did they die?" Lisa asked.
"I'd rather not talk about it." Adam said and turned to Henshaw. "Can you activate the tachyon burst to affect certain areas of the room? I want you to send everybody else back to the present, but send Lisa and me to two years from now?" Adam asked.
"Yes I think I can do that" Henshaw said and then imputed some commands into the interface that was in Engineering room. " Okay those of you going to your present step in to the northeast corner of this room. Those of you going to your past then stand somewhere else. The party obliged and Henshaw activated the tachyon burst. Again Lisa and Adam felt nauseated and dizzy. Finally after time displacement they arrived in the Engineering room without Weaver and everybody else.
"Well this could be a good thing or a bad thing." Lisa stated. "We could be two years in the future from our last destination or we arrived in our present and everybody else has disappeared."
"That definitely would be bad because that means that we committed the most evil crime according to the Federation constitution." Adam developed a lump in his throat "Murder"
Chapter Six
Starfleet Academy, Two years ago
Lisa and Adam decided that they arrived in the past and that Weaver and Kuczewski arrived in the present. They decided to split up and coax their doubles to meet each other. Adam was sure that he could convince his double because he was certain that his double was still as lonely as he was when he was in the Academy at this time. Lisa, however, wasn't so sure because she knew her double to be stubborn. Adam went to his quarters and rang the door chime. "Who is it?" asked the voice inside the door.
"I have a message from a Lisa Manteboro." Adam said.
"Just a second" Adam (Past) said the door slid open and Adam (Past) almost had a heart attack "Jesus Christ! Who the hell are you?" Adam (Past) asked pulling a phaser on Adam (Present).
"Listen this is hard to explain, but I'm you. I'm from two years in your future. Please put the phaser down."
"How do I know that you're not a changeling?" Adam (Past) asked. Adam (Present) pulled out the knife from earlier and sliced his hand.
"It's your turn." Adam (Present) said
"It's not necessary. You said that you were me wouldn't you know if I was a changeling?"
"I changed the flow of time. I'm the only one unaffected. Just slice your damn hand!!!" Adam (Past) took the knife and instead of slicing his hand he threw the knife into Adam's (Present) chest. Adam pulled the knife out of his chest and threw it down the hall "So where's Adam? You changeling bastard!"
"Okay. I know I stabbed you, but Starfleet has intercepted messages between the Cardassians and the Dominion there's a chemical that allows a certain amount of blood to be drawn. The chemical doesn't work once you have totally pissed the changeling off or until you have caused a significant wound in the changeling." Adam (Past) explained.
'So what's your message from Lisa Manteboro? Who is she?" Adam (Past) asked.
"She's my girlfriend. Actually she's my fiancée. Anyway before I changed history, Admiral McHeil was captured and his changeling double sent a bunch of us to Starbase 167. Anyway during that mission Lisa and I were stuck in a turbolift and I was dying of radiation. We then met that way and became serious, but as I said I changed history and know we need you two to get together and ignite some sparks any way you too can. Listen she likes Italian food, 20th century movies, and flowers. She loves flowers,
Lots of flowers. I know that I'm pressuring you into this, but once we get back to our own time she'll forget all about us. I however have a special gene that we allow me to remember through different timelines." Adam (Present) explained.
"Fine. I'm pretty lonely. I had a crush of this one girl, but my roommate got her. I guess the best man won." Adam (Past) said "but why I'm telling you this is beyond me considering we'll remember all of this."
"Well, know that it's settled do you want to play some poker?"
Lisa Manteboro's quarters
Lisa (Present) pressed the door chime to her double's quarters.
"Just a second" Lisa (Past) said and opened the door. She too almost had a heart attack, but she didn't swear like Adam did.
"Hi! I know this is awkward, but can I please come in?" Lisa (Present) asked.
"Sure my roommate is away on a test mission to some secret planet."
"Listen, there's a cadet around here. I know that you aren't interested in cadets, but this one is special. His name is Adam...
Cadet Provance's quarters
"Royal Flush. Read it and weep." Adam (Present) announced. The smell of artificially created smoke filled the room.
"You are such a cheater!" Adam (Past) declared.
"Am not. I am just one lucky basta..." Adam (Present) was cut off by a warning klaxon
"This is NOT a drill. Repeat this is NOT a drill. Everybody report to the weapons locker and grab phaser rifles. We're being invaded." Admiral McHeil announced over the intercom.
"SHIT! We've got to haul ass." Adam (Present) and (Past) exclaimed as they dropped their cards and ran out the door like two bats out of hell. They got to weapons locker and grabbed some Type III phaser rifles. Adam reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a device that looked strange to his past counterpart.
"What's that?" Adam (Past) asked.
"This is Heaven. It's a handheld photon launcher. I managed to steal one from Starfleet R&D back in my own time. Just say it. I'm a criminal. Slap my wrist, what ever floats your boat." Adam (Present) said. They rushed to the transporter pad as both Adam primed their rifles and Adam (Present) primed Heaven. "Let's kick some ass. Or as the Klingon's would say 'Today is a good day to die.' They activated the transporter and appeared in a field. In the distant they could see the troops of Jem'Hadar and Cardassians advancing on the troops of Starfleet. Adam (Past) watched as Adam (Present) aimed Heaven and let loose a volley of Photon Torpedoes. The Jem'Hadar and Cardassian soldiers fell as far as the eye could see. Adam (Present) aimed through the scope and let loose another volley of Photons Torpedoes. To their surprise the soldiers kept on going. Adam (Past) saw two women who was somebody who looked exactly the same except one looked older. Adam (Past) wasn't a fool he figured that they were either twins, or that the younger one was the Lisa Manteboro from his time. She was stunning, and he was struggling to remain focused on the invasion. He someone managed to focus his attention and he someone managed to fire a couple of phaser blasts. He kept on firing. He wanted to be with this Lisa even he barely knew her. He wanted to save this planet. His phaser pack went out and he hurried to put another one on. He looked over at his future self. Adam (Present) seemed to be okay. It had seemed that he had thrust into this kind of battle before. Adam (Present) didn't seem to know that Earth was invaded. Adam (Past) wiped the sweat from his brow and kept on firing. The Jem'Hadar seemed to be losing numbers, but that didn't seem to stop them from almost overtaking the cadets. A Jem'Hadar ran up and attacked Adam (Present). He struggled and tried to subdue the soldier, but then the Jem'Hadar grabbed Adam's phaser rifle and delivered a heavy blow to his head. Adam crumpled to the ground while Adam (Past) just stared. If the future version of himself couldn't stop the Jem'Hadar then what chance did the rest of them have? More Cardassians and Jem'Hadar poured over the Starfleet cadets. Adam kept on firing. He poured all his strength into firing. He strained to keep himself for becoming frightened. He strained to keep Earth to the federation. To keep Lisa alive. To keep Adam alive. His second pack ran out, but before he had time to change it a Cardassian soldier was right on top of him. Adam struggled to get his arms and a place where they could fight. He grabbed the Cardassian's neck and jerked it to the side as hard as he could. He heard a SNAP and then the Cardassian fell dead right on top him. He had never taken a life before, but somehow in a strange way it felt comforting. He finished reloaded his phaser rifle and fired and reloaded until the soldiers were all dead. Adam dropped his phaser rifle, slumped to the ground, and started crying.
Starfleet Academy Medical bay, 1400 hours
Adam (Present) regained consciousness and opened his eyes. There were a lot of people around his bed. He primarily noticed his fiancée. He noticed that she had a tear in her eye. Obviously the situation had been grim at one point. He noticed Admiral McHeil as well as Commander Mohrmann. Next he noticed two people who he hadn't seen since high school. He noticed the one with red hair first, Alyson Rosenberg. He noticed the blond next, Sarah Summers. Seeing them both here made him slightly uncomfortable. He had sexual relationships with both of them in college. A fact that he never told to both of them or his soon-to-be wife. They also showed signs of crying. He finally noticed his past self. He just there and stared with a stone face. He too had red eyes as if he was crying. It was an unnerving sight. 'What the hell happened that made almost everybody cry' Adam thought to himself, but he eventually asked it out loud.
"The doctor gave us a grim report at first. She said that you might be in a coma for a long time. She also said that you were hanging onto life by a thread." Lisa said.
"Well I'm alive. I guess that's a good thing. Lisa we need to go back to our real time." Lisa nodded and whispered to McHeil. Adam and Lisa transported to the Devenshir Engineering room. Lisa walked over to a control panel and activated the tachyons. Adam felt dizzy. He opened his eyes after a while and saw Weaver and Mike.
"Thank God you guys are alive!" Adam exclaimed. Weaver looked at Adam funny.
"Of course we're alive. Why wouldn't we be?"
"Oh, we were just worried when we appeared in the past. We weren't sure if the time travel was successful or if we had killed you two." Adam explained and started to shake. His eyes rolled back and he grabbed his head and started screaming "NO Go away!" Adam crumpled to the ground.
"What's wrong with him?" Weaver asked.
Lisa grabbed her medical tricorder and ran it over Adam. "He's gone into shock. I have no idea as to what is causing it. Maybe it's a traumatic experience that he had in the past. Computer scan Ensign Provance's records for any experience that might cause him to go into shock."
"The two experiences are the death of the parents, and the Invasion by the Dominion/Cardassian forces." Replied the Computer.
"The Invasion occurred two years ago. I am surprised that he hasn't had a previous experience. Computer, has Adam ever gone into epileptic shock?" Lisa asked.
"The only other occurrence is after the Invasion. However he was unconscious at the same time. Also according to the Starfleet images Lisa was standing to the left and to right of Adam. Error. Impossible. No being can exist in two places at once." The Computer then fell silent as Adam woke up
"Adam, are you okay?' Lisa asked.
"Yeah I think so. It's just a daymare. I guess that's what the term should be."
"Computer, what's wrong?" Weaver asked. No answer "Computer, give me the time." No answer. Weaver ran over to the control panel. He tapped a few buttons, but only got static for each button he pushed. "Let's go up to the bridge. Maybe they could answer a few questions." Weaver opened the doors to the Jefferies tube. All four of them crawled up the levels until they reached the first level. Weaver opened the hatch and crawled out. As soon as Weaver's head popped out he had phaser rifles trained on him. "What the hell is this?" Weaver demanded as hands forcefully pulled him out along with Kuczewski, Lisa, and Adam.
"You have been accused of tampering with time. Although we don't believe this has happened we have received orders from Temporal Investigations to place you under arrest and to hold you until they arrive and are able to give you a trial." Captain Alyson Rosenberg stated as she rose from her chair. Adam's jaw dropped.
"Alyson you're the Captain. I thought that it was Dan." Adam said with a puzzled look on his face.
"Would somebody please tell me what the hell is going on here!?" Weaver screamed "what's this about tampering with time? I've been in this time forever. I think that I would distinctly remember traveling through time and when was Lieutenant Smith-Weiss ever Captain."
"Actually only 2% of all time travelers remember their adventures. Only those who possess a certain gene can remember fluctuations in the space/time continuum. I'm one of them. I dragged all three of you with me to change time. At the time you remembered the way time was and the way we were making it. As soon as we traveled to the present time was altered, but to all of you time had stayed the same. It's really quite interesting how it works. About Smith-Weiss he was Captain in MY original timeline. I haven't seen Alyson since college." Adam explained.
"I've heard enough. You guys tampered with the timeline and somehow the Computer has shut it down. I have no idea why you had to chance time, Ensign, but as far as I'm concerned you wanted to have a little fun. Now Commander Henshaw take them to the brig". Alyson ordered.
"Henshaw? Lt. Cmdr. Henshaw?" Adam shouted, "You were there when we traveled in time. Tell them what happened. Tell them dammit." Adam screamed as the security officers led them away. Adam's frantic was silenced by the closing of the bridge doors. As soon as Adam was out of range Alyson turned to Henshaw "Mind telling me what that was all about?"
"Two years back my men and I detected a surge of tachyons coming from this ship. We got to the transporter pad when Adam and everybody else beamed on there. They explained that Admiral McHeil was a changeling or soon would be. I was a bit skeptical about the whole thing, but I helped them anyway. When we reached the Admiral's office, Adam shot the Admiral and then vaporized the puddle he had turned into. He then sent the other two to the present while he and the girl advanced a couple to convince their doubles to meet each other or something like that. That's the last I talked to them until I came a board the ship."
"Interesting! Bring Adam to my quarters. I want to talk to him. Commander Livingston you have the bridge." Alyson ordered and left the bridge. She stepped up to the doors and instinctually thought that they would open automatically. She continued walking and walked right into the doors. "Damn!" Alyson cursed and opened the doors manually. She then went to her quarters and lit a few candles and some archaic flashlights since the emergency lighting didn't go into her quarters. She sat down and inhaled the scent around her. She had been working for a while and a thought had happened recently. Adam's recent strange behavior, the message from Temporal Investigations, the Computer shutting down. She closed her eyes and waited for Adam to arrive. She was just about to go to sleep when the sound of knocking woke her up. "Come in" Alyson and waited as Adam opened the doors.
"Hello, Alyson. I hope you've had a change of heart about me." Adam said and sat down across from the Captain.
"So, Adam, tell me why you changed time. Don't skip any detail no matter how insignificant it may sound."
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