Disclaimer: I don't own Star Trek. If I did, then I would be very rich, my
name would be Gene Roddenberry, I would be a zombie back from the dead, and
I would have no need to write fanfics.
I would like to thank the little people, aka my leprechaun friends, and the reviewers, aka, you guys. I would also like to thank my sister's snow fairies, that give the poor, overworked schoolchildren in the world delays and cancellations off school.
Also, Kate, I'll get to the medical records this chapter and later, too. It's in the plot, actually. Dr. Crusher doesn't know she's half Vulcan b/c the medical files haven't gotten to the Enterprise yet, but she will soon, cause she took scans. The crew of the Flagship of the Federation have better things to do than wait around for a crewmember's files to come by subspace.
I've been trying not to move so fast with the plotline. I need my Twin!! Help me Twin!!
And now, on with the fic!
At exactly 08:00, Zandile entered the shuttlebay to find Captain Picard waiting for her outside the shuttle she had piloted to the Enterprise less than 24 hours before.
"Good morning, Ensign," greeted Picard, who sounded way too perky for 8:00 in the morning. "Nice ears, good haircut, all you need now are the eyebrows and a Romulan uniform, and you could fool anyone."
"Good morning captain," said Zandile, sounding more like a cadet that had pulled an all- nighter than someone who had gotten a full 8 hours of sleep. Just give me a week or so, and I'll have Romulan eyebrows, too. Thought Zandile.
"Well, are you ready depart, Ensign? The Klingons will be at the rendezvous point near the neutral zone in 3 days, and we'll need almost that long to get there. We don't have much leeway time."
"Yes, sir."
Captain Picard gestured for Zandile to enter the shuttle first. "Start the preflight procedures while I give last minute orders to Commander Riker." Said Picard, disappearing from view. Zandile looked out the front window and noticed Commander Riker in the shuttlebay control room. Captain Picard was climbing the ladder up to the control room so he could give Riker orders.
Zandile started tapping buttons on the pilot's console. There was a noise as the engine started warming up. Zandile started diagnostics of all major and minor systems, per Starfleet protocol. Captain Picard came back on board and closed the bulkhead door just as the diagnostic results were coming back.
"All systems go, Captain, we are ready for launch." Said Zandile.
"Captain, you have a go for launch, have a safe trip." Came Riker's voice over the comm system.
The shuttlebay doors opened.
"Ensign, engage." Ordered Picard.
The shuttle zoomed out of the shuttlebay and into the blackness of space.
After a half-hour of silence since takeoff, Zandile couldn't stand it anymore. She broke the ice, and said, "Captain, why did Starfleet want you to bring a bodyguard? I mean, what happened last time you went to Romulus?"
Picard snapped out of some sort of a trance/ daydream. He sopped gazing off into space (literally) and turned to face Zandile. "Last time I went to Romulus, it didn't turn out very well. I never really got along well with the Romulans. Last time I came back lucky to be alive, let alone in one piece. I also have a few personal enemies in the Romulan Empire." He paused for a moment, thinking about what to say, and continued.
"Don't get me wrong, though. I have made friends with a few Romulans in my lifetime. And, I don't think for a second that all Romulans are bad. There are a lot of Romulans that are innocents, or even victims, like in the case of the rebels that Spock was helping."
"Oh, wow. I never knew that. Not really. I know about the Romulans, because of classes we took at the Academy. I never had any real world dealings with them, though, because my last posting was on a ship that worked on the other side of the quadrant. When I was a kid, I lived on Deep Space 12 for awhile. We never had dealings with them there because DS12 is near the Klingon border, not the Romulan's." Silence again took over the cockpit.
A few minutes later, Captain Picard, looking at Zandile's ears, said, "Dr. Crusher certainly did a number on those ears. I thought she was only going to show you how to put them on yourself. I thought she knew the Klingons wouldn't want a guest on their ship looking like a Romulan."
Zandile suppressed a weird look and opened her mouth to answer. She struggled with herself for a moment, and said, "Um..." How do I tell him? She thought to herself.
"Umm, Captain, those are my real ears. The hairstylist merely uncovered them. Dr. Crusher didn't do anything."
Captain Picard raised an eyebrow, which, combined with his expression of shock, was a very strange look for the captain. "Ensign, I thought you were human. Your parents were Tamara Rey- Carsen and Marshall Carsen, right?"
"Actually, Marshall is my stepfather. My real father is a Vulcan. Oh, please don't look like that, Starfleet knows I'm half Vulcan."
"I didn't know," said the captain, sounding slightly offended. He continued, "Now that I think of it, I got a transfer file, a duty record, and a personal file from Starfleet on you, but I never saw a medical file. Did Dr. Crusher mention anything?"
"As far as I ever knew, she had all the files. She didn't say anything when I went to sickbay yesterday. We should check on it when we get back to the ship. Starfleet has had problems with my records before, because I move so much."
The captain nodded in understanding. "Why did you never tell anyone?"
"I grew up amongst humans. I was raised human. I didn't have any Vulcans around telling me to meditate or do logic problems. When I was little, my classmates would tease me... ...All I ever wanted to do was fit in when I was a kid. I grew up hiding my ears and plucking my eyebrows, and I got used to it. No one treats me differently."
"I see," said the captain, "people see Vulcan ears, and immediately assume you have no emotions, that you don't express those emotions, and they treat you differently."
"Exactly."
"Then no one on the crew will learn your parentage from me."
Zandile grinned. She had only served on the Enterprise for two months, and this was the most she had ever spoken with Captain Picard, but she felt she knew her captain well already.
There you have it. The next chapter is already in the works. I'm trying to move slower with the plotline, put more detail in, etc. Please review! Your comments are very helpful! Reviewers rule!!!
I would like to thank the little people, aka my leprechaun friends, and the reviewers, aka, you guys. I would also like to thank my sister's snow fairies, that give the poor, overworked schoolchildren in the world delays and cancellations off school.
Also, Kate, I'll get to the medical records this chapter and later, too. It's in the plot, actually. Dr. Crusher doesn't know she's half Vulcan b/c the medical files haven't gotten to the Enterprise yet, but she will soon, cause she took scans. The crew of the Flagship of the Federation have better things to do than wait around for a crewmember's files to come by subspace.
I've been trying not to move so fast with the plotline. I need my Twin!! Help me Twin!!
And now, on with the fic!
At exactly 08:00, Zandile entered the shuttlebay to find Captain Picard waiting for her outside the shuttle she had piloted to the Enterprise less than 24 hours before.
"Good morning, Ensign," greeted Picard, who sounded way too perky for 8:00 in the morning. "Nice ears, good haircut, all you need now are the eyebrows and a Romulan uniform, and you could fool anyone."
"Good morning captain," said Zandile, sounding more like a cadet that had pulled an all- nighter than someone who had gotten a full 8 hours of sleep. Just give me a week or so, and I'll have Romulan eyebrows, too. Thought Zandile.
"Well, are you ready depart, Ensign? The Klingons will be at the rendezvous point near the neutral zone in 3 days, and we'll need almost that long to get there. We don't have much leeway time."
"Yes, sir."
Captain Picard gestured for Zandile to enter the shuttle first. "Start the preflight procedures while I give last minute orders to Commander Riker." Said Picard, disappearing from view. Zandile looked out the front window and noticed Commander Riker in the shuttlebay control room. Captain Picard was climbing the ladder up to the control room so he could give Riker orders.
Zandile started tapping buttons on the pilot's console. There was a noise as the engine started warming up. Zandile started diagnostics of all major and minor systems, per Starfleet protocol. Captain Picard came back on board and closed the bulkhead door just as the diagnostic results were coming back.
"All systems go, Captain, we are ready for launch." Said Zandile.
"Captain, you have a go for launch, have a safe trip." Came Riker's voice over the comm system.
The shuttlebay doors opened.
"Ensign, engage." Ordered Picard.
The shuttle zoomed out of the shuttlebay and into the blackness of space.
After a half-hour of silence since takeoff, Zandile couldn't stand it anymore. She broke the ice, and said, "Captain, why did Starfleet want you to bring a bodyguard? I mean, what happened last time you went to Romulus?"
Picard snapped out of some sort of a trance/ daydream. He sopped gazing off into space (literally) and turned to face Zandile. "Last time I went to Romulus, it didn't turn out very well. I never really got along well with the Romulans. Last time I came back lucky to be alive, let alone in one piece. I also have a few personal enemies in the Romulan Empire." He paused for a moment, thinking about what to say, and continued.
"Don't get me wrong, though. I have made friends with a few Romulans in my lifetime. And, I don't think for a second that all Romulans are bad. There are a lot of Romulans that are innocents, or even victims, like in the case of the rebels that Spock was helping."
"Oh, wow. I never knew that. Not really. I know about the Romulans, because of classes we took at the Academy. I never had any real world dealings with them, though, because my last posting was on a ship that worked on the other side of the quadrant. When I was a kid, I lived on Deep Space 12 for awhile. We never had dealings with them there because DS12 is near the Klingon border, not the Romulan's." Silence again took over the cockpit.
A few minutes later, Captain Picard, looking at Zandile's ears, said, "Dr. Crusher certainly did a number on those ears. I thought she was only going to show you how to put them on yourself. I thought she knew the Klingons wouldn't want a guest on their ship looking like a Romulan."
Zandile suppressed a weird look and opened her mouth to answer. She struggled with herself for a moment, and said, "Um..." How do I tell him? She thought to herself.
"Umm, Captain, those are my real ears. The hairstylist merely uncovered them. Dr. Crusher didn't do anything."
Captain Picard raised an eyebrow, which, combined with his expression of shock, was a very strange look for the captain. "Ensign, I thought you were human. Your parents were Tamara Rey- Carsen and Marshall Carsen, right?"
"Actually, Marshall is my stepfather. My real father is a Vulcan. Oh, please don't look like that, Starfleet knows I'm half Vulcan."
"I didn't know," said the captain, sounding slightly offended. He continued, "Now that I think of it, I got a transfer file, a duty record, and a personal file from Starfleet on you, but I never saw a medical file. Did Dr. Crusher mention anything?"
"As far as I ever knew, she had all the files. She didn't say anything when I went to sickbay yesterday. We should check on it when we get back to the ship. Starfleet has had problems with my records before, because I move so much."
The captain nodded in understanding. "Why did you never tell anyone?"
"I grew up amongst humans. I was raised human. I didn't have any Vulcans around telling me to meditate or do logic problems. When I was little, my classmates would tease me... ...All I ever wanted to do was fit in when I was a kid. I grew up hiding my ears and plucking my eyebrows, and I got used to it. No one treats me differently."
"I see," said the captain, "people see Vulcan ears, and immediately assume you have no emotions, that you don't express those emotions, and they treat you differently."
"Exactly."
"Then no one on the crew will learn your parentage from me."
Zandile grinned. She had only served on the Enterprise for two months, and this was the most she had ever spoken with Captain Picard, but she felt she knew her captain well already.
There you have it. The next chapter is already in the works. I'm trying to move slower with the plotline, put more detail in, etc. Please review! Your comments are very helpful! Reviewers rule!!!