Warp Power Studios and Theaters Presents:
A J. Michael Shearer Production:
Voyager/Sonic the Hedgehog: Strange Help, Chapter One
Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters, ect. copyright SEGA, Archie Comics and DIC Entertainment.
Star Trek: Voyager copyright Paramount.
The crew of the USS Voyager had discovered a planet that might hold resources they could use and had altered course to investigate, as was standard practice. Their arrival held a surprise for them, in the form of a very large and familiar looking starship that was at the same time very unfamiliar. Chief Engineer B'Elana Torres exited the bridge turbolift and crossed to her station to the sights and sounds of a shipwide red alert and began scanning the new vessel, hoping to gather some information about it.
"Tuvok?" Captain Kathryn Janeway said to her tactical and security officer, looking for a report.
"A defensive field of some sort has been put in place," Tuvok told her. "I cannot tell if there are active weapons or if we are being targeted."
"How about you, B'Elana?" Janeway asked her engineer.
"I'm getting something, Captain," Torres explained, "but the readings aren't making any sense. That ship appears to be Federation, Klingon, Romulan and Borg all at the same time."
"What?" Janeway asked curiously.
"Captain," Tuvok said. "They are hailing us."
"On screen, Mister Tuvok," Janeway ordered. A second later, the face of a bearded middle age human male came on the main viewer.
"Hello, unidentified vessel," the man said in a heavy Irish accent. "My name is Captain Shamus O'Reiley of the Starship Midnight Star. I mean you no harm. I have no functional weapons or engines. How may I help you?"
"Good day, captain. I'm Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation Starship Voyager," Janeway explained. "What can you tell us about the planet below us?"
"Ah, well, the air is breathable. Quite fresh, actually, all things considered," Shamus explained. "There are several thousand varieties of edible plants. And the people have all but broken the light barrier, which is fortunate. Otherwise I wouldn't have been able to build this ship."
"You know they don't have warp technology and yet you built a starship apparently capable of warp travel?" Janeway asked.
"Of course," Shamus said. "It may not show, but the culture here has broken the light barrier several times, most notably in medicine and physics. They just don't have a space program or any ships to attach a PL drive to yet."
"I'd love to discuss this further, captain," Janeway said. "But I would like to do it face to face. When and where can we meet?"
"Ah, well, my ship or yours," Shamus said. "Whenever you're ready. But you'll have to arrange the transportation. I'm short of shuttle fuel and my transporters can't handle the load."
"We'll beam you over right away," Janeway said. "Voyager out. Tuvok, B'Elana, you're with me."
As the three left for the main transpoter room, Neelix also asked to come along, as he had witnessed the whole incident and was eager to meet this new human. When they arrived, the transporter operator had just received his coordinates from the Midnight Star.
"Energize," Janeway ordered. When Shamus materialized on Voyager's transporter pad, he looked startled for a few seconds.
"Oh, I'm here," Shamus said. "You must be Captain Janeway. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, too, Mr. O'Reiley," Janeway said, shaking his hand. "You looked startled for a moment after you materialized. Is something wrong?"
"No, no," Shamus said. "It's just that that was rougher than I remember it. And a tad slower, too."
"I'll have my people look into it," Torres said.
"That's not necessary," Shamus told her. "I had just forgotten why we'd upgraded from these old style transporters."
"Old style..." Torres began to protest.
"You can fill us in on the way to the briefing room, Mister O'Reiley," Janeway said, stopping the engineer.
As they walked, Shamus explained how it was that Voyager had, from his perspective, old style transporters and several other things, as well. When they entered the briefing room, he had just finished explaining his presence in the area.
"That was very informative indeed, Mister O'Reiley," Tuvok said. "But it still doesn't explain why, for instance, you and your brother were here in the first place."
"We'd been exploring this region for possible trading prospects," Shamus explained. "The plan was that this would be our last stop before we began the trip home. And since that would've only taken about eight months at maximum post..."
"What do you mean by `post,'?" Janeway asked. "Earlier, you referred to a `PL drive.' Perhaps you could explain the two?"
"Oh. Of course," Shamus said. "Up until about three hundred years ago, all starships used standard warp drives, like yours. Then, the Borg invaded what was Federation space and nearly destroyed the whole Federation. Just as the Borg was about to finish off the Starfleet force, the whole collective collapsed. When it did, it took the old Klingon and Romulan empires with it.
"When what remained of the Federation realized what was going on, they began studying ways to integrate Borg technology with their own. The first was to combine standard warp power with transwarp coils. Thus the post-light, or PL, drive was created."
"Your ship also scans as Klingon and Romulan," Torres said. "How do you explain that?"
"Unfortunately, the Klingons and Romulans didn't fare as well as did the Federation, which didn't fare so well itself," Shamus explained. "About all that was left between Earth and the home worlds of its former adversaries were massive clusters of space graveyards. So, those were salvaged and used to help rebuild the fleet as well. About all we got were upgraded weapons and cloaking devices."
"It's hard to believe that the Federation would become that opportunistic," Janeway said. "You talk like it's already happened."
"You mean it hasn't?" Shamus asked.
"No," Tuvok said. "To our knowledge, the Federation is still intact, as are the Klingon and Romulan empires."
"That means you're probably not Gemnian, either," Shamus said. "and your friends aren't Lemonite or Emolian."
"You are correct," Tuvok said. "I am Vulcan. Lieutenant Torres is half Klingon and Mister Neelix is Talaxian."
"When did you leave Earth, anyway, Mister O'Reiley?" Janeway asked.
"Late 3350," Shamus answered. "Or was it early 3351? I've been so busy the past several years I can't quite remember. Why, what year is it now?"
"To put it in your terms," Tuvok said, "approximately 2398."
"Seriously?" asked Shamus. "That was a thousand years ago."
"I'm afraid Tuvok is right," Janeway said. "Somehow, there is a thousand-year difference between us."
"I don't see how," B'Elana said. "We haven't passed through so much as an ion storm in two months."
"Perhaps it has something to do with this region of space," Shamus said. "Like I said earlier, the people on the planet have broken the light barrier several times. You'd just have to see their technology to believe it."
"Yes," Janeway said. "You mentioned medicine and physics before. But I take it they don't know much about human medicine."
"There have been a few times when a human doctor would have been nice, I gotta give you that," Shamus said.
"Why don't I take you to the sickbay facilities here?" Neelix asked. "I'm sure our doctor would love to meet you."
"I suppose so," Shamus said. "But then again, I'm almost scared to hear what a doctor would have to say to a person who hasn't been in for a checkup in eight years."
"You really should go see the Doctor, then," Janeway said. "Neelix, why don't you show our guest to sickbay."
"Certainly, Captain," Neelix said. "Right this way, Mister O'Reiley."
Along the way, Shamus asked Neelix about the ship and some of its adventures. The two also found they had some similarities, as well.
"Well, that is very interesting, Mister Neelix," Shamus commented when Neelix had finished a particularly exciting story. "What is it that you do here?"
"Oh, a bit of this, a bit of that," Neelix said. "Officially, I'm the ship's head cook and morale officer, though. And I prefer Neelix. Tell me, what have you done with your life?"
"Mostly, I've been an independent merchant, but the last eight or nine years, I've been here, building my ship. I call her the Midnight Star. And I've been helping the population hold out against a dictator," Shamus answered.
"It sounds like quite a place down there," Neelix said.
"Let me tell you, it is," Shamus told him. "Once, I got a look in one of their crystal mines. The last time I saw a gem as big as the ones they have here, my brother and I had to ship a cobrite from Zandor to Lemonite. The thing was the deepest blue you'd ever seen and must have weighed a thousand karats, cut. The mine I saw there must have had a dozen loose crystals that size within twenty meters of one another."
"Wow!" Neelix said. "I would love to have seen that."
"And what's really amazing is that it seemed to run on a theme of white and clear crystal, too," Shamus said. "I had a scanner with me. Picked up diamond down one corridor, amethyst down another, even found an untapped vein of relatively pure dilihium down there."
"That'll come in handy," Neelix said. "I do believe our dilithium crystals are almost burnt out."
"I'll see if I can clear you guys to get some," Shamus said as they approached sickbay.
"I'm sure Captain Janeway would appreciate that," Neelix said. "Here's sickbay. I'll introduce you to the Doctor."
The Doctor saw them come in and left his office to greet them. At first, he was unhappy about having to do a physical workup on another new crewmember, especially one that probably wouldn't be there for long. When Shamus mentioned that he was used to working with holographic programs, the Doctor seemed to take more interest.
"Yes, Illusion's program is quite similar to yours, Doctor. You may enjoy meeting him," Shamus said. "I don't recall hearing your name, though."
"I don't have one," the Doctor said as he scanned Shamus with a tricorder. "I was originally designed as an emergency system. But when the ship's regular doctor was killed, I was forced to take over full time. I must say, I've developed quite a good deal since then."
"He especially likes to sing," Neelix said as the doctor finished scanning Shamus.
"Perhaps I'll have to hear him perform later," Shamus said. "So, what's the news, Doc?"
"You seem to have lead quite the life, Mister O'Reiley," the Doctor said. "I don't know much about your medical background, but from the scans I just took, you would seem to have some remarkable traits for a human. You've suffered several heart attacks and have lost a moderate amount of weight and yet seem perfectly healthy for someone in his early sixties."
"That's why I was sorta reluctant to come here," Shamus said. "I'm only fifty-five."
Just then, Janeway called sickbay and asked to talk to Shamus. Tuvok and B'Elana had decided to see just what Shamus's ship was like.
"Not a problem, captain," Shamus responded. "May I, Doctor?"
"By all means," said the Doctor. "Just see me when you get back. I want to prescribe a diet and exercise routine."
"OK," Shamus said. "Where should I meet you, captain?"
"Transporter room three," Janeway said.
"Right this way," Neelix said.
"I'll have to have them put us back on the bridge," Shamus said as they walked. "Nepalese else has life support. And the transporter system over there'll overload and that'll be it for all three of us."
Once Shamus had explained the situation to the others, they beamed over and began exploring. The first thing the Voyager crew noticed was that this ship was not as well lit as theirs was. Tuvok examined the tactical advantages onboard while B'Elana looked at everything from an engineering perspective. Of particular interest to both was the transporter system, which would have been capable of transporting eight people, had it been at full operation.
"That is puzzling," B'Elana said, after hearing Shamus's explanation. "Everything seems in order. The system shouldn't overload like that when it detects quantum energy like that."
"Would it help if you could check the system while it's working?" Shamus asked.
"It might," B'Elana answered. "But we don't have anything to test with or anywhere to beam it to."
"Let me get ahold of my partner," Shamus said. "He might have something for us."
Almost as if on cue, Illusion's program came to life on the bridge. The Voyager crew was stunned to see the white haired creature with a big red nose and a single antenna on his head and small wings on his back instead of a being with a more human appearance.
"What is this?" Tuvok asked.
"This is Illusion, my assistant," Shamus said. "He's a holographic representation of one of the life forms on the planet."
"Actually," Illusion said, "if it wasn't for me, there wouldn't be any moogles on Mobius."
"But he's only three feet tall," B'Elana remarked. "How does he manage to reach the consoles?"
"You did notice the ledges just above knee height on all the equipment, right? He uses those," Shamus explained.
"Interesting," Tuvok commented. "If he is representative of the life on the planet, it would be interesting to meet others."
"You may get a chance sooner than you may think," Shamus said as he walked over to a beeping control console near the middle of the room. "I'm getting a hail from the surface."
"By all means," Tuvok said, "answer it."
When the viewscreen came on, it revealed the image of what appeared to be, at least to Tuvok and B'Elana, a well-detailed android built to look like a hedgehog.
"Ah, Chuck, good to hear from you," Shamus said. "What can I do for you?"
"First, I need a bit of a disappearing act," Chuck said. "Robotnik's shipping more parts to his latest power plant. You know what'll happen if he gets them installed. Here are the coordinates for where they're stored."
"Certainly," Shamus told his friend. "Locking on. Now's your chance, Miss Torres. Energizing."
Within a matter of four seconds, the transporter stage on the bridge had been filled by a large metal container originally bound for yet another power plant in an overpolluted city.
"Would you look at this," Shamus said. "An atomic turbine. I needed another one of these. Thanks, Chuck."
"Not a problem, Shamus. Now, what can you tell me about your visitors?" asked Chuck.
"Well, Tuvok and B'Elana here need a little help," Shamus explained. "They got lost and are looking for a way back to Earth, too. They'll need some dilithium from that mine Sonic took me to last year."
"You'll have to talk to Sally about that," Chuck said. "I'll get ahold of her. I'll call back when she arrives."
"I'll keep the channel on standby, as always," Shamus said. "O'Reiely out."
"A holographic moogle and an android hedgehog?" Tuvok asked. "This is an unusual planet, indeed."
"Actually, Chuck's got an interesting background," Shamus said. "I hear he was once a living being. Flesh and blood like us. But then, a mad scientist commandeered his greatest creation and used it to take over the planet. Thus, there are several thousand citizens that have been turned into robotic slaves. The process is called roboticization."
"How is that possible?" B'Elana asked. "I thought the transformation of organic tissue to inorganic metal was only a theory at best."
"Well, like I said earlier," Shamus explained, "these people have broken the light barrier on several occasions. It took a great mind, Dr. Charles Hedgehog's, to be exact, to make practical a technique of transforming the living to the robotic. Unfortunately the device he invented was turned against him and his people before the medical applications it was designed for could be implemented."
"It would be interesting to meet this Hedgehog person," B'Elana said.
"It would, indeed," Tuvok concurred. "However, I am just as concerned with what you intend to do with the turbine you just beamed aboard, Mister O'Reiley."
"Oh, I'll beam it into engineering later so Illusion and I can install it," Shamus said.
"That," Tuvok said, "is theft."
"I suppose it is," Shamus said. "But I legally traded for most of what I used to build this ship."
"Including my program, once," Illusion said.
"True," Shamus said. "But it never gets used. Not enough power to run the program down there."
"What else have you traded?" B'Elana asked.
"Mostly tactical information." Shamus said. "Maps, interior blueprints, that sort of things. In return, the Freedom Fighters down there have given me equal dibs on whatever I need. About all that's left are the nacelles and the PL core, and I'll be good to go. But for right now, I'm mainly interested in getting the transporter working properly."
"I'll need to take the schematics and the sensor data you gave me back to Voyager to examine it," B'Elana said.
"If that's what you need," Shamus said. "It might be better if Captain Janeway was over here when Chuck called back, anyway."
"I do not know if that would be wise," Tuvok said.
"It takes a very specific set of frequency changes to keep a signal of the magnitude needed to reach this far from being detected on the surface," Shamus explained. "I already have it programmed here."
"In that case, I shall stay here," Tuvok said. "It would be in everyone's best interest for me to be here, should something go wrong."
"I'll get ahold of Voyager and tell them Miss Torres is ready to beam over, then," Shamus said, turning back to the control console he had used before. A few seconds later, the viewscreen came on and revealed the bridge of Voyager, with Chakotay in command.
"Good afternoon, commander," Shamus said. "Is Captain Janeway available?"
"She is. May I ask why?" Chakotay asked.
"Mister O'Reiley has arranged for a local leader to speak with the captain," Tuvok said.
"Ah," Chakotay said, looking at the screen on his own bridge. "I'll let her know. Chakotay to Janeway. You have a call on the bridge."
"What is it?" Janeway asked as she stepped from her readyroom to the bridge.
"It's Mister O'Reiley," Chakotay said. "He's arranged a meeting with one of the local leaders and would like you there."
"Is this true, Mister O'Reiley?" Janeway asked.
"In a way," Shamus responded. "One of my contacts on the planet said he'd get ahold of the leader of his faction, since they're in control of a rather large dilihium mine and I hear you need some."
"I'll be right over," Janeway said.
"I think you'll be quite impressed, captain," B'Elana said. "He managed to beam up a sixteen ton generator in four seconds. And that's not all."
"I look forward to it, then," Janeway said. "Is there anything else?"
"I'll need to beam back over to Voyager to examine the data I collected here," B'Elana said.
"Alright," Janeway responded. "Voyager out."
A few minutes later, B'Elana was back aboard Voyager and Janeway was on the Midnight Star in her place. Before she beamed over, Janeway had Neelix brief her on his discussion with Shamus.
As Janeway looked around the bridge of the Midnight Star, she was just as interested as B'Elana said she would be. What interested her the most was the transporter station on the bridge.
"B'Elana was right, this ship looks like it'll be really something when it's done," Janeway said. "What made you decide to put a transporter on the bridge?"
"It's a matter of convenience, really," Shamus explained. "I've never had a ship bigger than three or four compartments including quarters before. And with just me and Illusion running the ship, it would have been inefficient to put it anywhere else."
"Illusion? Is that what you call your hologram?" Janeway asked.
"It's what he calls himself, actually," Shamus said. "Don't know what happened to him, though. His program shut down just as your engineer beamed out."
"It appeared that his holoemitters lost alignment," Tuvok said.
"It's a problem I'll have to figure out," Shamus said. "Fortunately, the emitters automatically realign themselves in this situation. He'll be along soon enough."
"I can't wait to meet him," Janeway said. "What can you tell me about the people I'm supposed to be meeting?"
"The leader of the main faction I've been dealing with is one Sally Acorn, heiress to the throne of the global monarchy," Shamus explained. "She'll probably have her fiancee of sorts with her. He goes by Sonic, due to his rather quick reflexes, and is what passes for the leader of the troops. They will contact us through Sonic's uncle Chuck."
"How long before we hear from them?" Janeway asked. Before Shamus could answer, the console in front of him beeped again and he opened the channel again. At first, the only face on the screen was Chuck's.
"Prompt as usual," Shamus greeted his friend.
"Is that the captain?" Chuck asked of Janeway.
"Yes, I'm Captain Kathryn Janeway," she answered. "May I speak with your leader?"
"Certainly," Chuck said. "You're on, Sal."
When the view on the screen panned over to Sally, Tuvok and Janeway both raised their eyebrows, as neither was expecting her to be a ground squirrel.
"What can we do for you, Shamus?" Sally asked.
"Remember how I told you there was a vein of something called dilithium in that mine we liberated last year?" Shamus asked. "These folks need a couple tons of it for their ship."
"We'll have to check it out for ourselves, of course," Janeway said. "May we have permission to do so?"
"What do you need it for?" Sally asked.
"The same thing Mister O'Reiley does," Janeway explained.
"He never told us that," Sally said. "What do you need it for, Shamus?"
"It's a vital component for the ship's drive core," Shamus said.
"Not weapons or anything?" Sally asked.
"Not weapons or anything harmful," Janeway said. "It helps regulate the fuel flow in out engines."
"Aw, c'mon, Sal," a voice from off camera said. "Can't we just trust them?"
"Sonic, you know better," Sally answered.
"Perhaps if Captain Janeway, our chief engineer and myself could meet you in person, we could work something out," Tuvok suggested.
"Only if Shamus comes with you," Sally responded.
"Not a problem," Shamus agreed.
"Have Shamus pilot the shuttle. He'll know where to land," Sally instructed.
"One hour, as usual?" asked Shamus.
"Yes," Sally answered. "See you then."
"See you then. Star out," Shamus said.
"What will we need on the surface, Mister O'Reiley?" Tuvok asked.
"Let's see," Shamus said as he removed a holstered weapon that looked like a revolver from a compartment and put it on his belt, "disrupters, handunits, and whatever else you usually take on away missions."
"Why weapons?" Janeway asked.
"Self defense, really," Shamus explained as he searched for his scanner. "Usually not much to defend against in the areas the rebels have already taken, but it's a good idea all the same. It's always so hard to know what to expect down there."
"Really?" Janeway said enthusiastically. "I can't wait to get there."
"Nor can I," Tuvok said. Just then, Illusion's program reactivated.
"Gees, what happened?" Illusion asked.
"Looks like your emitters lost alignment when Miss Torres beamed out," Shamus explained. "This is Captain Janeway, also of Voyager."
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Illusion said.
"B'Elana was right," Janeway said. "I would never have expected this. It's a pleasure to meet you, too, Illusion."
"Think you can hold the place together for a couple hours, buddy?" Shamus asked Illusion.
"Not a problem," Illusion answered. "You really taking them down to the surface?"
"Yep," Shamus answered. "See you in a little bit."
"Good luck," Illusion said.
"Thank you," Janeway responded. "We'll need it. Janeway to Voyager, three to beam back."
Meanwhile, Torres was busy discussing what she had learned aboard the Midnight Star with Seven of Nine. Several of the displays in the astrometrics lab had the transporter schematics on them.
"Very interesting indeed," Seven commented. "These systems are on the outer edges of Borg engineering theory. How did this Mister O'Reiley manage to build them on his own?"
"He claims they're standard equipment," Torres said.
"I would very much like to see the actual ship," Seven said.
"The way Mister O'Reiley invites people over, you'll get your chance," Torres said.
"This will take study, but I believe I can solve this problem," Seven said just before Janeway called Torres to the shuttlebay. Once she arrived, Torres was curious as to the nature of the away mission.
"We'll probably be bringing the dilithium right on up with us," Shamus explained. "I think you'll like my friends down there."
"I can't wait to meet them," Janeway said.
"I'm sure they're just as eager to meet us," Torres said.
"Oh, undoubtedly," Shamus said. "Everybody ready?"
"It would appear so," Tuvok said.
"Well then, let's go," Shamus said, as he led the others into the shuttle. "We'll be on the ground in about forty five minutes. It'll be interesting to see just what experience has prepared you for."
"I am sure it will be nothing we can't handle," Tuvok said. "Tuvok to bridge. Launch sequence initiated."
"We'll see," Shamus said. "We'll see."
Forty-five minutes later, the Voyager shuttle landed in a meadow near the foothills of a mountain range. When Torres tried to open the hatch and exit the shuttle, Shamus advised her against it.
"Unless I miss my guess, it's not safe quite yet," Shamus told them.
"Why? Everything looks alright out there," Janeway said.
"Trust me, captain, we'd do better to give my friends a couple minutes to get here first," Shamus explained. Not long after, there was the sound of something heavy sliding across the ground. A few seconds later it hit the side of the shuttle and jarred everyone inside.
"I guess it was for the best that we stayed here after all," Janeway said.
"What hit us, anyway?" Torres asked.
"Well, let's go have a look, OK?" Shamus asked as he opened the hatch. To the surprise of the Voyager crew, there was a large green dragon resting against the shuttle, on its head.
"Is that what it looks like?" Torres asked.
"It would appear to be a dragon," Tuvok replied.
"Exactly," Shamus said. "You OK, Dulcy?"
"Just five more minutes, Ma..." the dragoness mumbled.
"What did she mean by that?" Janeway asked.
"She'll be better in a couple minutes," Shamus explained. "And here come the others. They usually jump just before their large friend here hits something."
"Hey, Cap!" Sonic the Hedgehog greeted his friend. "These the people that want to see the mine?"
"Uh huh," Shamus said. "They're of no threat."
"That's good," Sally said. "Introduce us."
"Captain Kathryn Janeway, USS Voyager," Janeway said. "And these are Tuvok, my tactical officer and B'Elana Torres, my chief engineer."
"Pleased to meet you," Sally said. "I'm Sally Acorn. You've already met Dulcy, and my other friends are Sonic Hedgehog and Bunnie Rabbot."
"What? Antione didn't come this time?" Shamus asked.
"Of course not," Sally said. "You know how he gets. Now, down to business. You said you needed something from one of the mines here?"
"Yes," Janeway answered. "Shamus says there's a mineral here called dilithium. We need about five tons of ore to get enough to power our engines."
"Um, actually, captain, it's not ore," Shamus explained. "It's more like actual dilithium crystal before it's cut."
"Is he serious?" Torres asked.
"Absolutely," Sonic said.
"That is not logical. Pure dilithium is rarely found in nature," Tuvok said.
"Maybe we'd better just show them," Shamus suggested.
"Can we trust them?" Sally asked.
"I think so," Shamus said.
"Are you sure about that?" Sonic asked.
" I wouldn't lie about something like this, Sonic," Shamus answered. "I thought you'd understand that after seven years."
"We've gotta be extra careful with this kinda thing, sugar," Bunnie said. "Y'all should know that by now, too."
"True," Shamus said. "It's a fact I'm all too aware of. It's just that it's not like Sonic to think of things like that."
"It's hard to trust Overlanders with Buttnik wrecking things, ya know," Sonic said.
"Who?" Janeway asked.
"We'll explain on the way," Sally said. "Dulcy, please stay and guard the shuttle."
"Can do, Sally," Dulcy complied.
As the group hiked up one of mountains, the Freedom Fighters explained the planet's situation, including events leading up to Robotnik's takeover. Shamus explained his involvement and how he tried to avoid cultural interference as he went about building his ship. The Voyager crew was obviously confused at several points, as the story became very convoluted.
"An intriguing story, to say the least," Tuvok commented.
"Yes," Janeway agreed. "You'll have to explain more sometime."
"I'd especially like to hear about how you managed to pull off all those feats of engineering," B'Elana said. "And I'm sure Seven would enjoy meeting you."
"Seven?" Sonic asked. "You all have numbers?"
"Actually," Janeway said, "her name was Anika until a race called Borg captured her."
"Interesting," Sally said. "Perhaps we could visit your ship sometime."
"Gladly," Janeway agreed.
"Shouldn't we be there by now?" Shamus asked.
"Another couple hundred yards," Sally said.
"I don't remember it being this far," Shamus said. "I guess that's just the price us old space merchants pay for success, though."
"Here we are," Sally said. "How's that holographic door holding up?"
"Looks good," Shamus said, as he drew the scanner from his belt and studied it for a moment. "The power cells will need some work in a couple months, though."
"That's good to hear," Sally said, as she grabbed the door's remote from her pack. A few seconds later, the holographic rock face in front of the group disappeared and allowed them to enter the mine. After a few feet, Sally activated the voice-controlled lights. Tuvok and B'Elana began scanning with tricorders when their eyes adjusted to the light, as did Shamus.
"Amethyst, quartz, diamond," Tuvok said. "I am even reading a few rare Earth elements that would be useful in our power reactors."
"I'm getting all that, too," B'Elana said. "Plus the largest reading of dilithium I've ever seen. I just can't get a fix on it."
"I can take you right to it," Shamus said, studying his scanner. "Three hundred meters ahead and then to the right."
"Would you look at this," Janeway said as she approached a large crystal embedded in the wall. "This is one of the biggest I've ever seen. What is it?"
"That," Shamus answered, "is one of the smaller diamonds in the mine. Only a hundred and fifty karats."
"If that's small, what's average?" B'Elanna asked.
"Roughly seven fifty," Shamus explained. "But I've seen them as big as two thousand here."
"Really?" Janeway asked. "And there's dilithium here?"
"According to Shamus," Sally answered.
"Right this way," Shamus said. A few minutes later, everyone was standing in an area with a heavy concentration of dilithium crystals.
"They are all as you said they would be, Mister O'Reiley," Tuvok remarked. "Averaging seven hundred fifty karats."
"And naturally almost as pure as if it were already refined," B'Elanna said.
"Check this one," Sonic said from atop a very large crystal.
"Oh my," B'Elanna said. "That's enough to supply half of Starfleet."
"How much do you think you'll be needing?" Shamus asked.
"About six of the average crystals should suffice," Tuvok answered.
"We're willing to trade," Sally said. "What have you got for barter?"
"I'm not sure what we could give you," Janeway said. "Why not come to our ship and discuss it there?"
"It's a start," Sally said.
"How are we to retrieve the crystals?" Tuvok asked.
"So glad you asked, sir," Shamus said as he removed his pack. "I have with me some special devices that my brother and I used to use to mark crates we had purchased. All we'll need to do is choose a few crystals, cut them out with our weapons, attach the tags and beam them back to the shuttle. How many at a time can your transporter handle?"
"I'd recommend only one at a time," B'Elanna said.
"Got a plan?" Sally asked.
"Yes I do," Shamus answered. "I'll give Mister Tuvok the frequency for the cargo tags so he, you and Captain Janeway can go back to the shuttle and get ready to beam the crystals there. The rest of us will stay here and work on getting the crystals set up."
"Sounds good," Janeway said. "Tuvok, lead the way."
While they worked, the members of each team got to know one another a little better. Shamus told B'Elanna, Sonic and Bunnie of several times when he had traded with a person or group and had successfully gotten the better of his trading partners. Sonic and Bunnie had tales of their raids on the factories of Robotropolis. And B'Elanna, of course, had several stories of being in the Maqui.
On the way to the shuttle, Janeway and Tuvok shared stories of their travels with Sally, and later Dulcy as well. In about three hours, both teams had met back at the shuttle and were on their way to Voyager.
"Who'd have thought a dragon would be claustrophobic," B'Elanna remarked of Dulcy once the shuttle had lifted off.
"We don't hold it against her," Sonic said. "She's a good kid when and where it counts."
"True," Shamus said. "And here's something even stranger still. I don't often tell others, but I'm a bit scared of heights myself."
"That sounds like it could make working in space difficult," Janeway said.
"Only when there's a view of a planet or a star," Shamus said. "But I've found ways to work through it. No more of my ship's sensors than are necessary are pointed at the planet, for example."
"Logical," Tuvok said. "And how has your dragon friend overcome her fears?"
"She doesn't usually come on missions that involve going into buildings or caves," Sally explained.
"Besides," Sonic said, "there aren't many she can fit into."
"Oh, be nice," Sally shot back.
"We'll be ready to dock with Voyager in a few minutes," Shamus said. "Are there any protocols that I need to take care of?"
"Just to let them know we're coming," Janeway said. A few minutes later, the shuttle was back in Voyager's shuttle bay and the dilithium was being taken to be processed. The passengers headed for the briefing room to discuss the means of barter for the dilithium and possibly food items.
"I've got a few big debts I need to repay as well," Shamus said. "I'm thinking we can all pay up at once by helping these folks run a raiding mission to their main primate city."
"It sounds good to me," Sally agreed.
"That would violate our Prime Directive by getting us involved in this planet's affairs," Janeway said. "What other options are there?"
"The only other one I can think of would be to trade them weapons and equipment," Shamus said. "If I understand correctly, that would be an even bigger violation of your Prime Directive."
"Does anyone else have an idea?" Janeway asked her officers. None could come up with anything.
"I hear some of your crew used to be rebels themselves," Bunnie said. "We could sure use some outside training."
"We'll have to consider it," Janeway said. "In the meantime, may we have permission to gather food from the surface?"
"That depends," Sally said. "What do you need and how much?"
"Fruits and root crops, mostly" Neelix answered. "And maybe a few other plants. We'll only need a few hundred pounds."
"The crew of a ship this size must be pretty big," Sally said. "Why so little?"
"We have a hydroponics garden on board," Janeway explained. "We can grow some of the food we eat with a small genetic sample."
"Very interesting," Sally said. "We could use something like that for when we finally win this war."
"Consider it a deal," Janeway said. "I'll have a few of my crew get started as soon as you tell us where we can go."
"You'll have to show me this hydroponics garden first, of course," Sally said.
"Not a problem," Janeway agreed. "Dismissed, everyone. Right this way, your majesty."
"I think I'll go see how your friend Seven of Nine is doing with those systems Miss Torres brought over," Shamus said as he and Neelix left the briefing room. "Where does she work again?"
"Astrometrics," Neelix answered. "Come on, I'll show you the way."
"So, what can you tell me about Seven?" Shamus asked.
"I don't really know all that much about her, to tell the truth," Neelix said. "She was part of the Borg collective, assimilated as a child, but that's about all. Judging by your friend Bunnie, I'd say the Borg have been here, as well."
"Actually, that's not Borg technology," Shamus explained. "But it is very similar. They've invented a means of turning living flesh into robotic components. The process was meant for medical purposes."
"Very interesting," Neelix said. "I'll bet Seven and Bunnie would get along quite well."
"Eh, they might," Shamus agreed. A few minutes later, they had reached astrometrics. Seven of Nine had come up with a few answers but was at a loss for how to make them work.
"The problem is that I cannot find a way to bring power to all the systems at once," Seven explained.
"Ah," Shamus said. "That's because this information doesn't account for the fourth reactor I just acquired."
"That would make a difference," Seven agreed.
"Mind if I call up the schematics and see what you've come up with?" Shamus asked.
"By all means," Seven said.
"Let's see what we've got here, then," Shamus said as he keyed in a few codes on the panel in front of him.
"Very interesting," Neelix said in awe when the schematics came up on the screen.
"It has been, so far," Shamus said. "I've cobbled it all together from spare parts from the big city on the planet."
"Have the Borg found this place yet, Seven?" Neelix asked.
"Not yet," Seven answered. "And if this is what can become of spare parts, I hope they never do. Perhaps we should return to the transporter schematic."
"Good idea. Let's see here," Shamus said as he began typing away at the keypad in front of him, "install reactor number four and then dedicate number one and part of two to the transporter, the rest of number two to main power and life support, reactor three to shields, and four gives us partial disrupters. And it looks like you've added a second set of quantum capacitor grids to the transporter."
"Yes," Seven responded. "The single pair of grids you were using in the original design wasn't powerful enough."
"Coming across another set of grids should be no problem," Shamus said. "It's just a matter of time until they're built."
"How so?" Seven asked.
"The culture on this planet has technology capable of turning flesh to metal," Shamus explained. "Quantum capacitor grids are an integral part of the device that does it."
"I see," Seven commented. Just then, Lieutenant Paris called from the shuttlebay and asked Neelix to come for an away mission.
"I suppose that's the food-gathering mission," Neelix said. "It'll probably take hours. Sounds like fun."
"Yeah," Shamus said as Neelix left the room. "I suppose I'd better get back to my ship and get to work on these modifications. Would you mind lending a hand?"
"Certainly," Seven agreed. "And perhaps Lieutenant Torres can spare a few people as well."
"Maybe," Shamus said. "I was going to head by engineering before I went back anyway. I kinda wanted to take a few notes on your drive core, just so I can have something to compare to when I get to building my own."
A few minutes later, Shamus and Seven had entered engineering and found Torres, who was more than willing to spare some crewmembers, and was even willing to lend a hand herself.
"Thank you," Shamus said. "That will be much appreciated."
"Actually, I'm kind of interested in seeing everything when it's all put together over there," Torres said.
"As am I," Seven agreed.
"I'm sure," Shamus said. "One more thing before we head over, though. Mind if I copy your drive core schematics to the Midnight Star's computer? I'll need a reference once I actually begin building mine."
"Sure," Torres agreed. "But do you mind if I ask you something?"
"Not a problem," Shamus answered as he went about making a copy of the warp core schematic and transferring it to his own computer core.
"Where are you going to get the antimatter to power this warp core of yours when it's done?" Torres asked. "We didn't detect any means of producing any, nor are there any natural sources nearby."
"I'm assuming you noticed the placement of the reactors in the schematic of the ship I showed you," Shamus explained. "You see, they were placed around a fifth, large reactor. That's the main reactor core, an inversion reactor that switches between fusion and fission depending on the mass of fuel. Every time it starts with a fresh load of fuel, one of the byproducts is an emission of antimatter about ten to fifteen percent the size of the original fuel mass."
"Very interesting," Torres said, sounding confused.
"Anyway," Shamus said, turning away from the console in front of him, "I think I've got everything I need here. Is everyone ready to head over to the Star and get started?"
Meanwhile, the gathering party on the planet was having a lot of success. They had found several varieties of fruits and vegetables, two varieties of wild grains, and many root crops, including one Neelix claimed was a variation of the Leola root he was so fond of.
"Think they'll let us make a second trip?" Paris asked.
"I hope so," Neelix said. "We may not have another opportunity like this for quite some time."
"We'll have to send down at least one more shuttle just to bring up the crew," Chakotay agreed.
"It sure looks that way," Paris said. A second later, a crewmember came and told them that the shuttles were loaded and ready to take off. Chakotay thanked the young woman and informed Voyager.
"We'd also like permission to gather another load," Chakotay told Janeway and Sally over his communicator.
"Permission granted," Sally replied.
A few hours later, the modifications aboard the Midnight Star were complete and ready for testing. As it was Shamus's first priority after the reactors and life support, the bridge transporter station was what got tested first.
"Is there a redundant program for the Doctor aboard Voyager?" Shamus asked.
"No," Torres answered. "We used it to save his program a few months ago and we don't know how to make another backup."
"We'll just have to risk it, then," Shamus said. "I'll show you how to make a backup when we're done here."
"Is that possible?" Torres asked.
"Certainly," Shamus answered. "But first, we'd better tell your ship what out plan is."
"I'm not sure what the captain would say," Torres argued.
"Let's find out," Shamus said as he opened a channel to Voyager. After explaining his plan and that he would share his technique of backing up the Doctor's holomatrix, Janeway agreed. A few minutes later, the Doctor was standing by.
"I've got a lock on your mobile emitter, Doc," Shamus said, as he entered the proper commands at the transporter control console. "Whenever you're ready."
"I'm as ready as I'll ever be, I guess," the Doctor said.
"Energizing," Shamus said. A transparent blue energy field in the shape of an inverted, four-sided pyramid surrounded the Doctor and he vanished off Voyager's bridge. At the same moment, a similar effect occurred on the transporter stage on the Midnight Star's bridge, with a brighter, light blue concentration where the Doctor's emitter materialized and reactivated. Torres approached and scanned him with a tricorder.
"That was certainly an interesting experience," the Doctor commented.
"Welcome aboard, Doctor," Seven responded.
"Everything seems to be in working order," Torres said when she finished scanning the Doctor. "In fact, I'd say some things even improved."
"How so?" Janeway asked over the open communications channel.
"There appears to be a redundant copy of the Doctor's program in his mobile emitter," Torres explained. "I didn't realize it had that much capacity."
"Very interesting," Janeway commented. "How did it happen?"
"I'm not sure," Shamus answered. "Anyway, I think you should beam him back with your transporter system and see if the second copy of the program holds. I'm sure it'll come in handy."
"I agree," Torres said.
"Let's do it," Janeway said. "Tuvok, beam the Doctor directly to Sickbay."
"Energizing," Tuvok complied. A few seconds later, Ensign Harry Kim reported that ops was detecting two copies of the Doctor's program in the medical database and that the original was running.
"I'd like to test the system on a live person," Shamus said, "but I think I'd better find out what caused the Doctor's program to duplicate like that."
"I agree," Janeway agreed, as the channel to the Midnight Star was still open. "I'd rather not have any duplicate crewmembers running around if I could avoid it."
"Checking," Shamus replied as he checked his console. "Would you believe this? It looks like the quantum capacitors are responsible. They must have copied the Doctor's program and put the copy in his emitter with the original when it passed through. I don't think it'll be a problem for flesh and blood people."
"What do you think, B'Elanna?" Janeway asked
"He's probably right, captain," Torres said. "I'm not familiar enough with the technology to be sure one way or the other."
"We should go ahead with a test on a live person," Shamus suggested. "I'll beam the subject directly to your sickbay so the Doctor can do an examination."
"Who's going to volunteer?" Janeway asked.
"I will," Seven said and then stepped onto the transporter stage.
"The Doctor is standing by," Chakotay reported.
"Targeting sickbay," Shamus said. "Energizing."
Not long after, the Doctor reported that Seven had been received successfully and that there was only one of her. He also said that it would take a few minutes to have a report on her physical and neurological health.
Back on the planet, the away teams were ready to return with their second load of food. As they were on their way up, some flying craft approached the shuttles.
"Should we have been expecting an escort?" Paris asked.
"I don't think so. I'll check with the captain," Chakotay said. "Chakotay to Voyager. Did someone assign us an escort?"
Janeway looked at Sally, who was in Chakotay's seat, nodding no, and then answered "No. Why?"
"We've got about half a dozen flying craft from the planet on out tails," Chakotay explained. Suddenly, the shuttle was jolted forward as a laser weapon hit it from behind.
"We're hit!" Pairs reported. "Shields at maximum. The impulse engine's been damaged. We won't crash, but we can't gain altitude either."
"Weapons?" Chakotay asked.
"They were routed through the impulse engine," Paris answered.
"Options," Janeway ordered.
"We can't fight and we can't outrun them," Paris said. "We'll have to set down someplace and hope they can't find us."
"I've been monitoring the situation, captain," Shamus said. "Have your pilots program the flight pattern and landing coordinates I'm sending into the autopilots. I think I can beam them out through the shields."
"How?" Janeway asked.
"It's simply a matter of modulating the data streams correctly," Shamus said.
"Do it," Janeway ordered.
"Locking on and energizing," Shamus responded. Just as he activated the transporter, there was a loud pop from the stage and a large cloud of smoke rising out of the center.
"What happened?" Janeway asked.
"One of the capacitor grids blew out," Shamus said. "But it looks like everybody's still safely aboard the shuttles. And the good news is that the ruse looks like it's going to work. Once those shuttles set down outside my old lab, the `bots'll give up pursuit in about ten minutes."
"No they won't," Sally said. "They'll be captured as soon as they leave the shuttles."
"How's that again?" Shamus asked.
"Robotnik captured your lab last week," Sally explained. "The Swatbots are still there trying to access the computer core."
To Be Continued. . . .
A J. Michael Shearer Production:
Voyager/Sonic the Hedgehog: Strange Help, Chapter One
Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters, ect. copyright SEGA, Archie Comics and DIC Entertainment.
Star Trek: Voyager copyright Paramount.
The crew of the USS Voyager had discovered a planet that might hold resources they could use and had altered course to investigate, as was standard practice. Their arrival held a surprise for them, in the form of a very large and familiar looking starship that was at the same time very unfamiliar. Chief Engineer B'Elana Torres exited the bridge turbolift and crossed to her station to the sights and sounds of a shipwide red alert and began scanning the new vessel, hoping to gather some information about it.
"Tuvok?" Captain Kathryn Janeway said to her tactical and security officer, looking for a report.
"A defensive field of some sort has been put in place," Tuvok told her. "I cannot tell if there are active weapons or if we are being targeted."
"How about you, B'Elana?" Janeway asked her engineer.
"I'm getting something, Captain," Torres explained, "but the readings aren't making any sense. That ship appears to be Federation, Klingon, Romulan and Borg all at the same time."
"What?" Janeway asked curiously.
"Captain," Tuvok said. "They are hailing us."
"On screen, Mister Tuvok," Janeway ordered. A second later, the face of a bearded middle age human male came on the main viewer.
"Hello, unidentified vessel," the man said in a heavy Irish accent. "My name is Captain Shamus O'Reiley of the Starship Midnight Star. I mean you no harm. I have no functional weapons or engines. How may I help you?"
"Good day, captain. I'm Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation Starship Voyager," Janeway explained. "What can you tell us about the planet below us?"
"Ah, well, the air is breathable. Quite fresh, actually, all things considered," Shamus explained. "There are several thousand varieties of edible plants. And the people have all but broken the light barrier, which is fortunate. Otherwise I wouldn't have been able to build this ship."
"You know they don't have warp technology and yet you built a starship apparently capable of warp travel?" Janeway asked.
"Of course," Shamus said. "It may not show, but the culture here has broken the light barrier several times, most notably in medicine and physics. They just don't have a space program or any ships to attach a PL drive to yet."
"I'd love to discuss this further, captain," Janeway said. "But I would like to do it face to face. When and where can we meet?"
"Ah, well, my ship or yours," Shamus said. "Whenever you're ready. But you'll have to arrange the transportation. I'm short of shuttle fuel and my transporters can't handle the load."
"We'll beam you over right away," Janeway said. "Voyager out. Tuvok, B'Elana, you're with me."
As the three left for the main transpoter room, Neelix also asked to come along, as he had witnessed the whole incident and was eager to meet this new human. When they arrived, the transporter operator had just received his coordinates from the Midnight Star.
"Energize," Janeway ordered. When Shamus materialized on Voyager's transporter pad, he looked startled for a few seconds.
"Oh, I'm here," Shamus said. "You must be Captain Janeway. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, too, Mr. O'Reiley," Janeway said, shaking his hand. "You looked startled for a moment after you materialized. Is something wrong?"
"No, no," Shamus said. "It's just that that was rougher than I remember it. And a tad slower, too."
"I'll have my people look into it," Torres said.
"That's not necessary," Shamus told her. "I had just forgotten why we'd upgraded from these old style transporters."
"Old style..." Torres began to protest.
"You can fill us in on the way to the briefing room, Mister O'Reiley," Janeway said, stopping the engineer.
As they walked, Shamus explained how it was that Voyager had, from his perspective, old style transporters and several other things, as well. When they entered the briefing room, he had just finished explaining his presence in the area.
"That was very informative indeed, Mister O'Reiley," Tuvok said. "But it still doesn't explain why, for instance, you and your brother were here in the first place."
"We'd been exploring this region for possible trading prospects," Shamus explained. "The plan was that this would be our last stop before we began the trip home. And since that would've only taken about eight months at maximum post..."
"What do you mean by `post,'?" Janeway asked. "Earlier, you referred to a `PL drive.' Perhaps you could explain the two?"
"Oh. Of course," Shamus said. "Up until about three hundred years ago, all starships used standard warp drives, like yours. Then, the Borg invaded what was Federation space and nearly destroyed the whole Federation. Just as the Borg was about to finish off the Starfleet force, the whole collective collapsed. When it did, it took the old Klingon and Romulan empires with it.
"When what remained of the Federation realized what was going on, they began studying ways to integrate Borg technology with their own. The first was to combine standard warp power with transwarp coils. Thus the post-light, or PL, drive was created."
"Your ship also scans as Klingon and Romulan," Torres said. "How do you explain that?"
"Unfortunately, the Klingons and Romulans didn't fare as well as did the Federation, which didn't fare so well itself," Shamus explained. "About all that was left between Earth and the home worlds of its former adversaries were massive clusters of space graveyards. So, those were salvaged and used to help rebuild the fleet as well. About all we got were upgraded weapons and cloaking devices."
"It's hard to believe that the Federation would become that opportunistic," Janeway said. "You talk like it's already happened."
"You mean it hasn't?" Shamus asked.
"No," Tuvok said. "To our knowledge, the Federation is still intact, as are the Klingon and Romulan empires."
"That means you're probably not Gemnian, either," Shamus said. "and your friends aren't Lemonite or Emolian."
"You are correct," Tuvok said. "I am Vulcan. Lieutenant Torres is half Klingon and Mister Neelix is Talaxian."
"When did you leave Earth, anyway, Mister O'Reiley?" Janeway asked.
"Late 3350," Shamus answered. "Or was it early 3351? I've been so busy the past several years I can't quite remember. Why, what year is it now?"
"To put it in your terms," Tuvok said, "approximately 2398."
"Seriously?" asked Shamus. "That was a thousand years ago."
"I'm afraid Tuvok is right," Janeway said. "Somehow, there is a thousand-year difference between us."
"I don't see how," B'Elana said. "We haven't passed through so much as an ion storm in two months."
"Perhaps it has something to do with this region of space," Shamus said. "Like I said earlier, the people on the planet have broken the light barrier several times. You'd just have to see their technology to believe it."
"Yes," Janeway said. "You mentioned medicine and physics before. But I take it they don't know much about human medicine."
"There have been a few times when a human doctor would have been nice, I gotta give you that," Shamus said.
"Why don't I take you to the sickbay facilities here?" Neelix asked. "I'm sure our doctor would love to meet you."
"I suppose so," Shamus said. "But then again, I'm almost scared to hear what a doctor would have to say to a person who hasn't been in for a checkup in eight years."
"You really should go see the Doctor, then," Janeway said. "Neelix, why don't you show our guest to sickbay."
"Certainly, Captain," Neelix said. "Right this way, Mister O'Reiley."
Along the way, Shamus asked Neelix about the ship and some of its adventures. The two also found they had some similarities, as well.
"Well, that is very interesting, Mister Neelix," Shamus commented when Neelix had finished a particularly exciting story. "What is it that you do here?"
"Oh, a bit of this, a bit of that," Neelix said. "Officially, I'm the ship's head cook and morale officer, though. And I prefer Neelix. Tell me, what have you done with your life?"
"Mostly, I've been an independent merchant, but the last eight or nine years, I've been here, building my ship. I call her the Midnight Star. And I've been helping the population hold out against a dictator," Shamus answered.
"It sounds like quite a place down there," Neelix said.
"Let me tell you, it is," Shamus told him. "Once, I got a look in one of their crystal mines. The last time I saw a gem as big as the ones they have here, my brother and I had to ship a cobrite from Zandor to Lemonite. The thing was the deepest blue you'd ever seen and must have weighed a thousand karats, cut. The mine I saw there must have had a dozen loose crystals that size within twenty meters of one another."
"Wow!" Neelix said. "I would love to have seen that."
"And what's really amazing is that it seemed to run on a theme of white and clear crystal, too," Shamus said. "I had a scanner with me. Picked up diamond down one corridor, amethyst down another, even found an untapped vein of relatively pure dilihium down there."
"That'll come in handy," Neelix said. "I do believe our dilithium crystals are almost burnt out."
"I'll see if I can clear you guys to get some," Shamus said as they approached sickbay.
"I'm sure Captain Janeway would appreciate that," Neelix said. "Here's sickbay. I'll introduce you to the Doctor."
The Doctor saw them come in and left his office to greet them. At first, he was unhappy about having to do a physical workup on another new crewmember, especially one that probably wouldn't be there for long. When Shamus mentioned that he was used to working with holographic programs, the Doctor seemed to take more interest.
"Yes, Illusion's program is quite similar to yours, Doctor. You may enjoy meeting him," Shamus said. "I don't recall hearing your name, though."
"I don't have one," the Doctor said as he scanned Shamus with a tricorder. "I was originally designed as an emergency system. But when the ship's regular doctor was killed, I was forced to take over full time. I must say, I've developed quite a good deal since then."
"He especially likes to sing," Neelix said as the doctor finished scanning Shamus.
"Perhaps I'll have to hear him perform later," Shamus said. "So, what's the news, Doc?"
"You seem to have lead quite the life, Mister O'Reiley," the Doctor said. "I don't know much about your medical background, but from the scans I just took, you would seem to have some remarkable traits for a human. You've suffered several heart attacks and have lost a moderate amount of weight and yet seem perfectly healthy for someone in his early sixties."
"That's why I was sorta reluctant to come here," Shamus said. "I'm only fifty-five."
Just then, Janeway called sickbay and asked to talk to Shamus. Tuvok and B'Elana had decided to see just what Shamus's ship was like.
"Not a problem, captain," Shamus responded. "May I, Doctor?"
"By all means," said the Doctor. "Just see me when you get back. I want to prescribe a diet and exercise routine."
"OK," Shamus said. "Where should I meet you, captain?"
"Transporter room three," Janeway said.
"Right this way," Neelix said.
"I'll have to have them put us back on the bridge," Shamus said as they walked. "Nepalese else has life support. And the transporter system over there'll overload and that'll be it for all three of us."
Once Shamus had explained the situation to the others, they beamed over and began exploring. The first thing the Voyager crew noticed was that this ship was not as well lit as theirs was. Tuvok examined the tactical advantages onboard while B'Elana looked at everything from an engineering perspective. Of particular interest to both was the transporter system, which would have been capable of transporting eight people, had it been at full operation.
"That is puzzling," B'Elana said, after hearing Shamus's explanation. "Everything seems in order. The system shouldn't overload like that when it detects quantum energy like that."
"Would it help if you could check the system while it's working?" Shamus asked.
"It might," B'Elana answered. "But we don't have anything to test with or anywhere to beam it to."
"Let me get ahold of my partner," Shamus said. "He might have something for us."
Almost as if on cue, Illusion's program came to life on the bridge. The Voyager crew was stunned to see the white haired creature with a big red nose and a single antenna on his head and small wings on his back instead of a being with a more human appearance.
"What is this?" Tuvok asked.
"This is Illusion, my assistant," Shamus said. "He's a holographic representation of one of the life forms on the planet."
"Actually," Illusion said, "if it wasn't for me, there wouldn't be any moogles on Mobius."
"But he's only three feet tall," B'Elana remarked. "How does he manage to reach the consoles?"
"You did notice the ledges just above knee height on all the equipment, right? He uses those," Shamus explained.
"Interesting," Tuvok commented. "If he is representative of the life on the planet, it would be interesting to meet others."
"You may get a chance sooner than you may think," Shamus said as he walked over to a beeping control console near the middle of the room. "I'm getting a hail from the surface."
"By all means," Tuvok said, "answer it."
When the viewscreen came on, it revealed the image of what appeared to be, at least to Tuvok and B'Elana, a well-detailed android built to look like a hedgehog.
"Ah, Chuck, good to hear from you," Shamus said. "What can I do for you?"
"First, I need a bit of a disappearing act," Chuck said. "Robotnik's shipping more parts to his latest power plant. You know what'll happen if he gets them installed. Here are the coordinates for where they're stored."
"Certainly," Shamus told his friend. "Locking on. Now's your chance, Miss Torres. Energizing."
Within a matter of four seconds, the transporter stage on the bridge had been filled by a large metal container originally bound for yet another power plant in an overpolluted city.
"Would you look at this," Shamus said. "An atomic turbine. I needed another one of these. Thanks, Chuck."
"Not a problem, Shamus. Now, what can you tell me about your visitors?" asked Chuck.
"Well, Tuvok and B'Elana here need a little help," Shamus explained. "They got lost and are looking for a way back to Earth, too. They'll need some dilithium from that mine Sonic took me to last year."
"You'll have to talk to Sally about that," Chuck said. "I'll get ahold of her. I'll call back when she arrives."
"I'll keep the channel on standby, as always," Shamus said. "O'Reiely out."
"A holographic moogle and an android hedgehog?" Tuvok asked. "This is an unusual planet, indeed."
"Actually, Chuck's got an interesting background," Shamus said. "I hear he was once a living being. Flesh and blood like us. But then, a mad scientist commandeered his greatest creation and used it to take over the planet. Thus, there are several thousand citizens that have been turned into robotic slaves. The process is called roboticization."
"How is that possible?" B'Elana asked. "I thought the transformation of organic tissue to inorganic metal was only a theory at best."
"Well, like I said earlier," Shamus explained, "these people have broken the light barrier on several occasions. It took a great mind, Dr. Charles Hedgehog's, to be exact, to make practical a technique of transforming the living to the robotic. Unfortunately the device he invented was turned against him and his people before the medical applications it was designed for could be implemented."
"It would be interesting to meet this Hedgehog person," B'Elana said.
"It would, indeed," Tuvok concurred. "However, I am just as concerned with what you intend to do with the turbine you just beamed aboard, Mister O'Reiley."
"Oh, I'll beam it into engineering later so Illusion and I can install it," Shamus said.
"That," Tuvok said, "is theft."
"I suppose it is," Shamus said. "But I legally traded for most of what I used to build this ship."
"Including my program, once," Illusion said.
"True," Shamus said. "But it never gets used. Not enough power to run the program down there."
"What else have you traded?" B'Elana asked.
"Mostly tactical information." Shamus said. "Maps, interior blueprints, that sort of things. In return, the Freedom Fighters down there have given me equal dibs on whatever I need. About all that's left are the nacelles and the PL core, and I'll be good to go. But for right now, I'm mainly interested in getting the transporter working properly."
"I'll need to take the schematics and the sensor data you gave me back to Voyager to examine it," B'Elana said.
"If that's what you need," Shamus said. "It might be better if Captain Janeway was over here when Chuck called back, anyway."
"I do not know if that would be wise," Tuvok said.
"It takes a very specific set of frequency changes to keep a signal of the magnitude needed to reach this far from being detected on the surface," Shamus explained. "I already have it programmed here."
"In that case, I shall stay here," Tuvok said. "It would be in everyone's best interest for me to be here, should something go wrong."
"I'll get ahold of Voyager and tell them Miss Torres is ready to beam over, then," Shamus said, turning back to the control console he had used before. A few seconds later, the viewscreen came on and revealed the bridge of Voyager, with Chakotay in command.
"Good afternoon, commander," Shamus said. "Is Captain Janeway available?"
"She is. May I ask why?" Chakotay asked.
"Mister O'Reiley has arranged for a local leader to speak with the captain," Tuvok said.
"Ah," Chakotay said, looking at the screen on his own bridge. "I'll let her know. Chakotay to Janeway. You have a call on the bridge."
"What is it?" Janeway asked as she stepped from her readyroom to the bridge.
"It's Mister O'Reiley," Chakotay said. "He's arranged a meeting with one of the local leaders and would like you there."
"Is this true, Mister O'Reiley?" Janeway asked.
"In a way," Shamus responded. "One of my contacts on the planet said he'd get ahold of the leader of his faction, since they're in control of a rather large dilihium mine and I hear you need some."
"I'll be right over," Janeway said.
"I think you'll be quite impressed, captain," B'Elana said. "He managed to beam up a sixteen ton generator in four seconds. And that's not all."
"I look forward to it, then," Janeway said. "Is there anything else?"
"I'll need to beam back over to Voyager to examine the data I collected here," B'Elana said.
"Alright," Janeway responded. "Voyager out."
A few minutes later, B'Elana was back aboard Voyager and Janeway was on the Midnight Star in her place. Before she beamed over, Janeway had Neelix brief her on his discussion with Shamus.
As Janeway looked around the bridge of the Midnight Star, she was just as interested as B'Elana said she would be. What interested her the most was the transporter station on the bridge.
"B'Elana was right, this ship looks like it'll be really something when it's done," Janeway said. "What made you decide to put a transporter on the bridge?"
"It's a matter of convenience, really," Shamus explained. "I've never had a ship bigger than three or four compartments including quarters before. And with just me and Illusion running the ship, it would have been inefficient to put it anywhere else."
"Illusion? Is that what you call your hologram?" Janeway asked.
"It's what he calls himself, actually," Shamus said. "Don't know what happened to him, though. His program shut down just as your engineer beamed out."
"It appeared that his holoemitters lost alignment," Tuvok said.
"It's a problem I'll have to figure out," Shamus said. "Fortunately, the emitters automatically realign themselves in this situation. He'll be along soon enough."
"I can't wait to meet him," Janeway said. "What can you tell me about the people I'm supposed to be meeting?"
"The leader of the main faction I've been dealing with is one Sally Acorn, heiress to the throne of the global monarchy," Shamus explained. "She'll probably have her fiancee of sorts with her. He goes by Sonic, due to his rather quick reflexes, and is what passes for the leader of the troops. They will contact us through Sonic's uncle Chuck."
"How long before we hear from them?" Janeway asked. Before Shamus could answer, the console in front of him beeped again and he opened the channel again. At first, the only face on the screen was Chuck's.
"Prompt as usual," Shamus greeted his friend.
"Is that the captain?" Chuck asked of Janeway.
"Yes, I'm Captain Kathryn Janeway," she answered. "May I speak with your leader?"
"Certainly," Chuck said. "You're on, Sal."
When the view on the screen panned over to Sally, Tuvok and Janeway both raised their eyebrows, as neither was expecting her to be a ground squirrel.
"What can we do for you, Shamus?" Sally asked.
"Remember how I told you there was a vein of something called dilithium in that mine we liberated last year?" Shamus asked. "These folks need a couple tons of it for their ship."
"We'll have to check it out for ourselves, of course," Janeway said. "May we have permission to do so?"
"What do you need it for?" Sally asked.
"The same thing Mister O'Reiley does," Janeway explained.
"He never told us that," Sally said. "What do you need it for, Shamus?"
"It's a vital component for the ship's drive core," Shamus said.
"Not weapons or anything?" Sally asked.
"Not weapons or anything harmful," Janeway said. "It helps regulate the fuel flow in out engines."
"Aw, c'mon, Sal," a voice from off camera said. "Can't we just trust them?"
"Sonic, you know better," Sally answered.
"Perhaps if Captain Janeway, our chief engineer and myself could meet you in person, we could work something out," Tuvok suggested.
"Only if Shamus comes with you," Sally responded.
"Not a problem," Shamus agreed.
"Have Shamus pilot the shuttle. He'll know where to land," Sally instructed.
"One hour, as usual?" asked Shamus.
"Yes," Sally answered. "See you then."
"See you then. Star out," Shamus said.
"What will we need on the surface, Mister O'Reiley?" Tuvok asked.
"Let's see," Shamus said as he removed a holstered weapon that looked like a revolver from a compartment and put it on his belt, "disrupters, handunits, and whatever else you usually take on away missions."
"Why weapons?" Janeway asked.
"Self defense, really," Shamus explained as he searched for his scanner. "Usually not much to defend against in the areas the rebels have already taken, but it's a good idea all the same. It's always so hard to know what to expect down there."
"Really?" Janeway said enthusiastically. "I can't wait to get there."
"Nor can I," Tuvok said. Just then, Illusion's program reactivated.
"Gees, what happened?" Illusion asked.
"Looks like your emitters lost alignment when Miss Torres beamed out," Shamus explained. "This is Captain Janeway, also of Voyager."
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Illusion said.
"B'Elana was right," Janeway said. "I would never have expected this. It's a pleasure to meet you, too, Illusion."
"Think you can hold the place together for a couple hours, buddy?" Shamus asked Illusion.
"Not a problem," Illusion answered. "You really taking them down to the surface?"
"Yep," Shamus answered. "See you in a little bit."
"Good luck," Illusion said.
"Thank you," Janeway responded. "We'll need it. Janeway to Voyager, three to beam back."
Meanwhile, Torres was busy discussing what she had learned aboard the Midnight Star with Seven of Nine. Several of the displays in the astrometrics lab had the transporter schematics on them.
"Very interesting indeed," Seven commented. "These systems are on the outer edges of Borg engineering theory. How did this Mister O'Reiley manage to build them on his own?"
"He claims they're standard equipment," Torres said.
"I would very much like to see the actual ship," Seven said.
"The way Mister O'Reiley invites people over, you'll get your chance," Torres said.
"This will take study, but I believe I can solve this problem," Seven said just before Janeway called Torres to the shuttlebay. Once she arrived, Torres was curious as to the nature of the away mission.
"We'll probably be bringing the dilithium right on up with us," Shamus explained. "I think you'll like my friends down there."
"I can't wait to meet them," Janeway said.
"I'm sure they're just as eager to meet us," Torres said.
"Oh, undoubtedly," Shamus said. "Everybody ready?"
"It would appear so," Tuvok said.
"Well then, let's go," Shamus said, as he led the others into the shuttle. "We'll be on the ground in about forty five minutes. It'll be interesting to see just what experience has prepared you for."
"I am sure it will be nothing we can't handle," Tuvok said. "Tuvok to bridge. Launch sequence initiated."
"We'll see," Shamus said. "We'll see."
Forty-five minutes later, the Voyager shuttle landed in a meadow near the foothills of a mountain range. When Torres tried to open the hatch and exit the shuttle, Shamus advised her against it.
"Unless I miss my guess, it's not safe quite yet," Shamus told them.
"Why? Everything looks alright out there," Janeway said.
"Trust me, captain, we'd do better to give my friends a couple minutes to get here first," Shamus explained. Not long after, there was the sound of something heavy sliding across the ground. A few seconds later it hit the side of the shuttle and jarred everyone inside.
"I guess it was for the best that we stayed here after all," Janeway said.
"What hit us, anyway?" Torres asked.
"Well, let's go have a look, OK?" Shamus asked as he opened the hatch. To the surprise of the Voyager crew, there was a large green dragon resting against the shuttle, on its head.
"Is that what it looks like?" Torres asked.
"It would appear to be a dragon," Tuvok replied.
"Exactly," Shamus said. "You OK, Dulcy?"
"Just five more minutes, Ma..." the dragoness mumbled.
"What did she mean by that?" Janeway asked.
"She'll be better in a couple minutes," Shamus explained. "And here come the others. They usually jump just before their large friend here hits something."
"Hey, Cap!" Sonic the Hedgehog greeted his friend. "These the people that want to see the mine?"
"Uh huh," Shamus said. "They're of no threat."
"That's good," Sally said. "Introduce us."
"Captain Kathryn Janeway, USS Voyager," Janeway said. "And these are Tuvok, my tactical officer and B'Elana Torres, my chief engineer."
"Pleased to meet you," Sally said. "I'm Sally Acorn. You've already met Dulcy, and my other friends are Sonic Hedgehog and Bunnie Rabbot."
"What? Antione didn't come this time?" Shamus asked.
"Of course not," Sally said. "You know how he gets. Now, down to business. You said you needed something from one of the mines here?"
"Yes," Janeway answered. "Shamus says there's a mineral here called dilithium. We need about five tons of ore to get enough to power our engines."
"Um, actually, captain, it's not ore," Shamus explained. "It's more like actual dilithium crystal before it's cut."
"Is he serious?" Torres asked.
"Absolutely," Sonic said.
"That is not logical. Pure dilithium is rarely found in nature," Tuvok said.
"Maybe we'd better just show them," Shamus suggested.
"Can we trust them?" Sally asked.
"I think so," Shamus said.
"Are you sure about that?" Sonic asked.
" I wouldn't lie about something like this, Sonic," Shamus answered. "I thought you'd understand that after seven years."
"We've gotta be extra careful with this kinda thing, sugar," Bunnie said. "Y'all should know that by now, too."
"True," Shamus said. "It's a fact I'm all too aware of. It's just that it's not like Sonic to think of things like that."
"It's hard to trust Overlanders with Buttnik wrecking things, ya know," Sonic said.
"Who?" Janeway asked.
"We'll explain on the way," Sally said. "Dulcy, please stay and guard the shuttle."
"Can do, Sally," Dulcy complied.
As the group hiked up one of mountains, the Freedom Fighters explained the planet's situation, including events leading up to Robotnik's takeover. Shamus explained his involvement and how he tried to avoid cultural interference as he went about building his ship. The Voyager crew was obviously confused at several points, as the story became very convoluted.
"An intriguing story, to say the least," Tuvok commented.
"Yes," Janeway agreed. "You'll have to explain more sometime."
"I'd especially like to hear about how you managed to pull off all those feats of engineering," B'Elana said. "And I'm sure Seven would enjoy meeting you."
"Seven?" Sonic asked. "You all have numbers?"
"Actually," Janeway said, "her name was Anika until a race called Borg captured her."
"Interesting," Sally said. "Perhaps we could visit your ship sometime."
"Gladly," Janeway agreed.
"Shouldn't we be there by now?" Shamus asked.
"Another couple hundred yards," Sally said.
"I don't remember it being this far," Shamus said. "I guess that's just the price us old space merchants pay for success, though."
"Here we are," Sally said. "How's that holographic door holding up?"
"Looks good," Shamus said, as he drew the scanner from his belt and studied it for a moment. "The power cells will need some work in a couple months, though."
"That's good to hear," Sally said, as she grabbed the door's remote from her pack. A few seconds later, the holographic rock face in front of the group disappeared and allowed them to enter the mine. After a few feet, Sally activated the voice-controlled lights. Tuvok and B'Elana began scanning with tricorders when their eyes adjusted to the light, as did Shamus.
"Amethyst, quartz, diamond," Tuvok said. "I am even reading a few rare Earth elements that would be useful in our power reactors."
"I'm getting all that, too," B'Elana said. "Plus the largest reading of dilithium I've ever seen. I just can't get a fix on it."
"I can take you right to it," Shamus said, studying his scanner. "Three hundred meters ahead and then to the right."
"Would you look at this," Janeway said as she approached a large crystal embedded in the wall. "This is one of the biggest I've ever seen. What is it?"
"That," Shamus answered, "is one of the smaller diamonds in the mine. Only a hundred and fifty karats."
"If that's small, what's average?" B'Elanna asked.
"Roughly seven fifty," Shamus explained. "But I've seen them as big as two thousand here."
"Really?" Janeway asked. "And there's dilithium here?"
"According to Shamus," Sally answered.
"Right this way," Shamus said. A few minutes later, everyone was standing in an area with a heavy concentration of dilithium crystals.
"They are all as you said they would be, Mister O'Reiley," Tuvok remarked. "Averaging seven hundred fifty karats."
"And naturally almost as pure as if it were already refined," B'Elanna said.
"Check this one," Sonic said from atop a very large crystal.
"Oh my," B'Elanna said. "That's enough to supply half of Starfleet."
"How much do you think you'll be needing?" Shamus asked.
"About six of the average crystals should suffice," Tuvok answered.
"We're willing to trade," Sally said. "What have you got for barter?"
"I'm not sure what we could give you," Janeway said. "Why not come to our ship and discuss it there?"
"It's a start," Sally said.
"How are we to retrieve the crystals?" Tuvok asked.
"So glad you asked, sir," Shamus said as he removed his pack. "I have with me some special devices that my brother and I used to use to mark crates we had purchased. All we'll need to do is choose a few crystals, cut them out with our weapons, attach the tags and beam them back to the shuttle. How many at a time can your transporter handle?"
"I'd recommend only one at a time," B'Elanna said.
"Got a plan?" Sally asked.
"Yes I do," Shamus answered. "I'll give Mister Tuvok the frequency for the cargo tags so he, you and Captain Janeway can go back to the shuttle and get ready to beam the crystals there. The rest of us will stay here and work on getting the crystals set up."
"Sounds good," Janeway said. "Tuvok, lead the way."
While they worked, the members of each team got to know one another a little better. Shamus told B'Elanna, Sonic and Bunnie of several times when he had traded with a person or group and had successfully gotten the better of his trading partners. Sonic and Bunnie had tales of their raids on the factories of Robotropolis. And B'Elanna, of course, had several stories of being in the Maqui.
On the way to the shuttle, Janeway and Tuvok shared stories of their travels with Sally, and later Dulcy as well. In about three hours, both teams had met back at the shuttle and were on their way to Voyager.
"Who'd have thought a dragon would be claustrophobic," B'Elanna remarked of Dulcy once the shuttle had lifted off.
"We don't hold it against her," Sonic said. "She's a good kid when and where it counts."
"True," Shamus said. "And here's something even stranger still. I don't often tell others, but I'm a bit scared of heights myself."
"That sounds like it could make working in space difficult," Janeway said.
"Only when there's a view of a planet or a star," Shamus said. "But I've found ways to work through it. No more of my ship's sensors than are necessary are pointed at the planet, for example."
"Logical," Tuvok said. "And how has your dragon friend overcome her fears?"
"She doesn't usually come on missions that involve going into buildings or caves," Sally explained.
"Besides," Sonic said, "there aren't many she can fit into."
"Oh, be nice," Sally shot back.
"We'll be ready to dock with Voyager in a few minutes," Shamus said. "Are there any protocols that I need to take care of?"
"Just to let them know we're coming," Janeway said. A few minutes later, the shuttle was back in Voyager's shuttle bay and the dilithium was being taken to be processed. The passengers headed for the briefing room to discuss the means of barter for the dilithium and possibly food items.
"I've got a few big debts I need to repay as well," Shamus said. "I'm thinking we can all pay up at once by helping these folks run a raiding mission to their main primate city."
"It sounds good to me," Sally agreed.
"That would violate our Prime Directive by getting us involved in this planet's affairs," Janeway said. "What other options are there?"
"The only other one I can think of would be to trade them weapons and equipment," Shamus said. "If I understand correctly, that would be an even bigger violation of your Prime Directive."
"Does anyone else have an idea?" Janeway asked her officers. None could come up with anything.
"I hear some of your crew used to be rebels themselves," Bunnie said. "We could sure use some outside training."
"We'll have to consider it," Janeway said. "In the meantime, may we have permission to gather food from the surface?"
"That depends," Sally said. "What do you need and how much?"
"Fruits and root crops, mostly" Neelix answered. "And maybe a few other plants. We'll only need a few hundred pounds."
"The crew of a ship this size must be pretty big," Sally said. "Why so little?"
"We have a hydroponics garden on board," Janeway explained. "We can grow some of the food we eat with a small genetic sample."
"Very interesting," Sally said. "We could use something like that for when we finally win this war."
"Consider it a deal," Janeway said. "I'll have a few of my crew get started as soon as you tell us where we can go."
"You'll have to show me this hydroponics garden first, of course," Sally said.
"Not a problem," Janeway agreed. "Dismissed, everyone. Right this way, your majesty."
"I think I'll go see how your friend Seven of Nine is doing with those systems Miss Torres brought over," Shamus said as he and Neelix left the briefing room. "Where does she work again?"
"Astrometrics," Neelix answered. "Come on, I'll show you the way."
"So, what can you tell me about Seven?" Shamus asked.
"I don't really know all that much about her, to tell the truth," Neelix said. "She was part of the Borg collective, assimilated as a child, but that's about all. Judging by your friend Bunnie, I'd say the Borg have been here, as well."
"Actually, that's not Borg technology," Shamus explained. "But it is very similar. They've invented a means of turning living flesh into robotic components. The process was meant for medical purposes."
"Very interesting," Neelix said. "I'll bet Seven and Bunnie would get along quite well."
"Eh, they might," Shamus agreed. A few minutes later, they had reached astrometrics. Seven of Nine had come up with a few answers but was at a loss for how to make them work.
"The problem is that I cannot find a way to bring power to all the systems at once," Seven explained.
"Ah," Shamus said. "That's because this information doesn't account for the fourth reactor I just acquired."
"That would make a difference," Seven agreed.
"Mind if I call up the schematics and see what you've come up with?" Shamus asked.
"By all means," Seven said.
"Let's see what we've got here, then," Shamus said as he keyed in a few codes on the panel in front of him.
"Very interesting," Neelix said in awe when the schematics came up on the screen.
"It has been, so far," Shamus said. "I've cobbled it all together from spare parts from the big city on the planet."
"Have the Borg found this place yet, Seven?" Neelix asked.
"Not yet," Seven answered. "And if this is what can become of spare parts, I hope they never do. Perhaps we should return to the transporter schematic."
"Good idea. Let's see here," Shamus said as he began typing away at the keypad in front of him, "install reactor number four and then dedicate number one and part of two to the transporter, the rest of number two to main power and life support, reactor three to shields, and four gives us partial disrupters. And it looks like you've added a second set of quantum capacitor grids to the transporter."
"Yes," Seven responded. "The single pair of grids you were using in the original design wasn't powerful enough."
"Coming across another set of grids should be no problem," Shamus said. "It's just a matter of time until they're built."
"How so?" Seven asked.
"The culture on this planet has technology capable of turning flesh to metal," Shamus explained. "Quantum capacitor grids are an integral part of the device that does it."
"I see," Seven commented. Just then, Lieutenant Paris called from the shuttlebay and asked Neelix to come for an away mission.
"I suppose that's the food-gathering mission," Neelix said. "It'll probably take hours. Sounds like fun."
"Yeah," Shamus said as Neelix left the room. "I suppose I'd better get back to my ship and get to work on these modifications. Would you mind lending a hand?"
"Certainly," Seven agreed. "And perhaps Lieutenant Torres can spare a few people as well."
"Maybe," Shamus said. "I was going to head by engineering before I went back anyway. I kinda wanted to take a few notes on your drive core, just so I can have something to compare to when I get to building my own."
A few minutes later, Shamus and Seven had entered engineering and found Torres, who was more than willing to spare some crewmembers, and was even willing to lend a hand herself.
"Thank you," Shamus said. "That will be much appreciated."
"Actually, I'm kind of interested in seeing everything when it's all put together over there," Torres said.
"As am I," Seven agreed.
"I'm sure," Shamus said. "One more thing before we head over, though. Mind if I copy your drive core schematics to the Midnight Star's computer? I'll need a reference once I actually begin building mine."
"Sure," Torres agreed. "But do you mind if I ask you something?"
"Not a problem," Shamus answered as he went about making a copy of the warp core schematic and transferring it to his own computer core.
"Where are you going to get the antimatter to power this warp core of yours when it's done?" Torres asked. "We didn't detect any means of producing any, nor are there any natural sources nearby."
"I'm assuming you noticed the placement of the reactors in the schematic of the ship I showed you," Shamus explained. "You see, they were placed around a fifth, large reactor. That's the main reactor core, an inversion reactor that switches between fusion and fission depending on the mass of fuel. Every time it starts with a fresh load of fuel, one of the byproducts is an emission of antimatter about ten to fifteen percent the size of the original fuel mass."
"Very interesting," Torres said, sounding confused.
"Anyway," Shamus said, turning away from the console in front of him, "I think I've got everything I need here. Is everyone ready to head over to the Star and get started?"
Meanwhile, the gathering party on the planet was having a lot of success. They had found several varieties of fruits and vegetables, two varieties of wild grains, and many root crops, including one Neelix claimed was a variation of the Leola root he was so fond of.
"Think they'll let us make a second trip?" Paris asked.
"I hope so," Neelix said. "We may not have another opportunity like this for quite some time."
"We'll have to send down at least one more shuttle just to bring up the crew," Chakotay agreed.
"It sure looks that way," Paris said. A second later, a crewmember came and told them that the shuttles were loaded and ready to take off. Chakotay thanked the young woman and informed Voyager.
"We'd also like permission to gather another load," Chakotay told Janeway and Sally over his communicator.
"Permission granted," Sally replied.
A few hours later, the modifications aboard the Midnight Star were complete and ready for testing. As it was Shamus's first priority after the reactors and life support, the bridge transporter station was what got tested first.
"Is there a redundant program for the Doctor aboard Voyager?" Shamus asked.
"No," Torres answered. "We used it to save his program a few months ago and we don't know how to make another backup."
"We'll just have to risk it, then," Shamus said. "I'll show you how to make a backup when we're done here."
"Is that possible?" Torres asked.
"Certainly," Shamus answered. "But first, we'd better tell your ship what out plan is."
"I'm not sure what the captain would say," Torres argued.
"Let's find out," Shamus said as he opened a channel to Voyager. After explaining his plan and that he would share his technique of backing up the Doctor's holomatrix, Janeway agreed. A few minutes later, the Doctor was standing by.
"I've got a lock on your mobile emitter, Doc," Shamus said, as he entered the proper commands at the transporter control console. "Whenever you're ready."
"I'm as ready as I'll ever be, I guess," the Doctor said.
"Energizing," Shamus said. A transparent blue energy field in the shape of an inverted, four-sided pyramid surrounded the Doctor and he vanished off Voyager's bridge. At the same moment, a similar effect occurred on the transporter stage on the Midnight Star's bridge, with a brighter, light blue concentration where the Doctor's emitter materialized and reactivated. Torres approached and scanned him with a tricorder.
"That was certainly an interesting experience," the Doctor commented.
"Welcome aboard, Doctor," Seven responded.
"Everything seems to be in working order," Torres said when she finished scanning the Doctor. "In fact, I'd say some things even improved."
"How so?" Janeway asked over the open communications channel.
"There appears to be a redundant copy of the Doctor's program in his mobile emitter," Torres explained. "I didn't realize it had that much capacity."
"Very interesting," Janeway commented. "How did it happen?"
"I'm not sure," Shamus answered. "Anyway, I think you should beam him back with your transporter system and see if the second copy of the program holds. I'm sure it'll come in handy."
"I agree," Torres said.
"Let's do it," Janeway said. "Tuvok, beam the Doctor directly to Sickbay."
"Energizing," Tuvok complied. A few seconds later, Ensign Harry Kim reported that ops was detecting two copies of the Doctor's program in the medical database and that the original was running.
"I'd like to test the system on a live person," Shamus said, "but I think I'd better find out what caused the Doctor's program to duplicate like that."
"I agree," Janeway agreed, as the channel to the Midnight Star was still open. "I'd rather not have any duplicate crewmembers running around if I could avoid it."
"Checking," Shamus replied as he checked his console. "Would you believe this? It looks like the quantum capacitors are responsible. They must have copied the Doctor's program and put the copy in his emitter with the original when it passed through. I don't think it'll be a problem for flesh and blood people."
"What do you think, B'Elanna?" Janeway asked
"He's probably right, captain," Torres said. "I'm not familiar enough with the technology to be sure one way or the other."
"We should go ahead with a test on a live person," Shamus suggested. "I'll beam the subject directly to your sickbay so the Doctor can do an examination."
"Who's going to volunteer?" Janeway asked.
"I will," Seven said and then stepped onto the transporter stage.
"The Doctor is standing by," Chakotay reported.
"Targeting sickbay," Shamus said. "Energizing."
Not long after, the Doctor reported that Seven had been received successfully and that there was only one of her. He also said that it would take a few minutes to have a report on her physical and neurological health.
Back on the planet, the away teams were ready to return with their second load of food. As they were on their way up, some flying craft approached the shuttles.
"Should we have been expecting an escort?" Paris asked.
"I don't think so. I'll check with the captain," Chakotay said. "Chakotay to Voyager. Did someone assign us an escort?"
Janeway looked at Sally, who was in Chakotay's seat, nodding no, and then answered "No. Why?"
"We've got about half a dozen flying craft from the planet on out tails," Chakotay explained. Suddenly, the shuttle was jolted forward as a laser weapon hit it from behind.
"We're hit!" Pairs reported. "Shields at maximum. The impulse engine's been damaged. We won't crash, but we can't gain altitude either."
"Weapons?" Chakotay asked.
"They were routed through the impulse engine," Paris answered.
"Options," Janeway ordered.
"We can't fight and we can't outrun them," Paris said. "We'll have to set down someplace and hope they can't find us."
"I've been monitoring the situation, captain," Shamus said. "Have your pilots program the flight pattern and landing coordinates I'm sending into the autopilots. I think I can beam them out through the shields."
"How?" Janeway asked.
"It's simply a matter of modulating the data streams correctly," Shamus said.
"Do it," Janeway ordered.
"Locking on and energizing," Shamus responded. Just as he activated the transporter, there was a loud pop from the stage and a large cloud of smoke rising out of the center.
"What happened?" Janeway asked.
"One of the capacitor grids blew out," Shamus said. "But it looks like everybody's still safely aboard the shuttles. And the good news is that the ruse looks like it's going to work. Once those shuttles set down outside my old lab, the `bots'll give up pursuit in about ten minutes."
"No they won't," Sally said. "They'll be captured as soon as they leave the shuttles."
"How's that again?" Shamus asked.
"Robotnik captured your lab last week," Sally explained. "The Swatbots are still there trying to access the computer core."
To Be Continued. . . .