Chapter Six
Rachel's Choice
(Rachel)
I made my decision. I turned to Crayak. "I'm no leader. You know that. Jake's the natural leader. I'll go to Voyager, under Jake's command."
Crayak's "body" seemed to shake violently, as if he were enraged by my choice. The moment passed.
Crayak's eye turned to me. "Very well, then. But some of your morphs will not be available to you."
"What?! Why? That's so not fair!" I yelled.
"Actually, it is," Crayak countered, "Late in the 21st century, ships emitting heavy radiation from their engines were constantly leaving Earth. The radiation killed many animals, causing many species to become extinct. Therefore, any morphs of now-extinct animals are now invalid for you to use."
Oh, that was the catch. Now I saw the point. If I had made the other choice, all of my morphs would have been available. It was just a question of Crayak's preference. It wasn't fair, but hey, I was tough. I could deal even without some of my morphs. But no one can do anything without a sense of direction.
"Crayak, I need a map of the galaxy, including Earth as well as Voyager's current position." I requested.
The Drode sneered. "What's the matter, Rachel? Are you lost?"
"Shut up, lizard breath," I scoffed.
Apparantly the Drode was about to say something snide, because Crayak looked at him and said, "Drode, when are you going to learn that enough is enough? You just don't know when to quit."
Crayak created my map as the Drode whined, "Are you turning against me?"
Crayak laughed. "No, but the thought has crossed my mind to kick you out in the behind. You tend to be very annoying."
I knew that, of course. But since Crayak thought he was annoying, a thought came to me. What if I could turn them against each other? I saw the beginnings of a plan. I turned to the map.
Voyager seemed to be opposite from Earth, on the other end of the galaxy. The wa Voyager was going, it would take way too long to reach Earth. I got an idea to get the ship home quicker, but I would have to ask Marco about it. He's the Star Trek nut, not me. He would know.
Crayak looked at me. "I hope you're done."
"No! Wait-"
FLASH!!!!
I found myself among several Starfleet uniforms. Red, yellow and blue uniforms were piled up around me. I was in a laundry room. I picked out a clean security uniform. The computer didn't recognize me as an intruder! Then the alarms flared.
I heard Janeway's voice a minute later. "Janeway to security team Delta. Meet me in Main Engineering."
The voice seemed to come from me! I looked down and saw a comm badge on my "borrowed" uniform. But whose uniform was this?
"Computer, identify me."
There was a beeb, and a voice replied, "Security member Ensign Sheryll Meska, number three of security team Delta."
I strode over to the wall-mounted replicator. "Computer, replicate a fully charged hand phaser."
Another beeb,and a hand phaser materialized on the replicator tray. I took it and placed it in my belt. "I hope I look like Ensign Whatever," I muttered to no one, and left the room.
Rachel's Choice
(Rachel)
I made my decision. I turned to Crayak. "I'm no leader. You know that. Jake's the natural leader. I'll go to Voyager, under Jake's command."
Crayak's "body" seemed to shake violently, as if he were enraged by my choice. The moment passed.
Crayak's eye turned to me. "Very well, then. But some of your morphs will not be available to you."
"What?! Why? That's so not fair!" I yelled.
"Actually, it is," Crayak countered, "Late in the 21st century, ships emitting heavy radiation from their engines were constantly leaving Earth. The radiation killed many animals, causing many species to become extinct. Therefore, any morphs of now-extinct animals are now invalid for you to use."
Oh, that was the catch. Now I saw the point. If I had made the other choice, all of my morphs would have been available. It was just a question of Crayak's preference. It wasn't fair, but hey, I was tough. I could deal even without some of my morphs. But no one can do anything without a sense of direction.
"Crayak, I need a map of the galaxy, including Earth as well as Voyager's current position." I requested.
The Drode sneered. "What's the matter, Rachel? Are you lost?"
"Shut up, lizard breath," I scoffed.
Apparantly the Drode was about to say something snide, because Crayak looked at him and said, "Drode, when are you going to learn that enough is enough? You just don't know when to quit."
Crayak created my map as the Drode whined, "Are you turning against me?"
Crayak laughed. "No, but the thought has crossed my mind to kick you out in the behind. You tend to be very annoying."
I knew that, of course. But since Crayak thought he was annoying, a thought came to me. What if I could turn them against each other? I saw the beginnings of a plan. I turned to the map.
Voyager seemed to be opposite from Earth, on the other end of the galaxy. The wa Voyager was going, it would take way too long to reach Earth. I got an idea to get the ship home quicker, but I would have to ask Marco about it. He's the Star Trek nut, not me. He would know.
Crayak looked at me. "I hope you're done."
"No! Wait-"
FLASH!!!!
I found myself among several Starfleet uniforms. Red, yellow and blue uniforms were piled up around me. I was in a laundry room. I picked out a clean security uniform. The computer didn't recognize me as an intruder! Then the alarms flared.
I heard Janeway's voice a minute later. "Janeway to security team Delta. Meet me in Main Engineering."
The voice seemed to come from me! I looked down and saw a comm badge on my "borrowed" uniform. But whose uniform was this?
"Computer, identify me."
There was a beeb, and a voice replied, "Security member Ensign Sheryll Meska, number three of security team Delta."
I strode over to the wall-mounted replicator. "Computer, replicate a fully charged hand phaser."
Another beeb,and a hand phaser materialized on the replicator tray. I took it and placed it in my belt. "I hope I look like Ensign Whatever," I muttered to no one, and left the room.