Chapter Four - Explanations
Allison left the six people in Sickbay, much as Scotty had escorted a few of the first time-travelers fifteen years before. And then she was jogging down the corridor, catching the nearest turbolift and riding quickly up to the bridge.
The ride was almost too short, and she stepped down to take the conn. Kristian got out of her chair and headed back up to his station as she sat down. "Status report," she ordered.
It was Kristian who reported this time. "Shortly after your beam-out and our jump to warp, the alien ship exploded due to self-destruct. We are now on course for the Mutara sector. Estimated time of arrival: forty-nine minutes."
"Thank you, Commander." She hit the intercom to Sickbay. "Steve, how're those people doing down there?"
"Well, the Vulcan guy will be okay. Just a simple case of exposure to cold. The others are all perfectly fine. I guess they found a better way to transforming them, because they're almost in perfect condition."
"Thanks. Let me know when the Vulcan man begins to regain consciousness."
"Yes, Captain. Sickbay out."
~~~~~~~
"This is impossible, you know," Nick finally said.
Sam looked over at him. "Why's that, little cousin?"
"Because Star Trek's fiction."
"Hate to disappoint you, but it isn't," Steve interrupted the young Andorian. "This is all quite real."
"Okay then..." Karin said. "Then where are we?"
"You're on board the U.S.S. Yel'Hal-tor. Roughly translated from Golic Vulcan, that means 'star trek'. I'm sure you can see the irony."
Nick blinked. "Ooookay...so this ship exists. But there's no Enterprise, right?"
"Wrong again. In fact, we're on course to intercept the Enterprise in the Mutara sector. Sound familiar, anybody?"
"The Wrath Of Khan!" Cheryl said quickly, like she was in a contest.
"Exactly," Steve said. "From what you know as Star Trek, we are about halfway through The Wrath Of Khan. We've lived this ever since halfway through the Enterprise's first five-year mission. In fact, we served on the Enterprise with Captain Kirk for almost three years."
"Captain Kirk's real, too?" Kat asked. She didn't know much about Star Trek - at least not as much as some of the others - but even she knew about Kirk.
Steve smiled. "Actually, he's an Admiral now, but yes. He's very real."
"Cool," Monica said. "And I'm guessing Spock and McCoy and all them are real, too?"
"You got it," Steve affirmed. "Actually, McCoy taught me almost all of my medical knowledge. Each of us was taught by at least one of the Enterprise's senior officers. For example, Allison learned a majority of her skills, both in technical areas and other areas, from Spock."
"Spock? Spock as in the half-Vulcan Spock, son of Sarek and Amanda?" Karin said disbelievingly.
Steve grinned. "Yes, THAT Spock. But I'll leave the explaining to the captain, if you don't mind. Allison has such as way with people, you know."
~~~~~~~
When the Yel'Hal-tor finally arrived in the Mutara sector, Allison already knew they were too late. A battle-marked Enterprise drifted in space near a small, Earth-like planet. The nebula that should have been there was nowhere to be found.
Upon their arrival, they were hailed by the Enterprise. Allison reluctantly put the transmission onscreen. A stone-faced Admiral Kirk greeted her. "I'm sorry we're late, Jim," Allison said softly.
"I am too," he said. "I take it you know what's happened?"
Allison nodded. "I'm truly sorry, JT."
Kirk sighed heavily, sounding incredibly weary. "You did your best. Enterprise out." His image blinked off the screen.
"What happened here, Captain?" one of the ensigns asked, confused and frightened by the sudden air of sadness in the air.
"Captain Spock gave his life in the line of duty today, ensign," Kristian said.
All the time-travelers on the bridge glanced at each other and shared a nearly-unnoticeable smile. They alone knew what was coming next.
The silence was broken by the sound of the intercom. "Sickbay to Captain."
Allison hit the button. "Captain here, go ahead Steve."
"You wanted to know when the Vulcan man woke up? Well, he's getting there."
"I'll be done shortly. Captain out." She closed the channel and headed for the turbolift. "Kristian, you have the conn."
"Aye, Captain."
~~~~~~~
Allison was at the Vulcan's bedside before he even completely regained consciousness. When he did, he blinked open his eyes and looked up at her. His reaction was instantaneous.
"What the hell?! You...you're dead!"
She grinned. "Nice to see you, too."
"Uh...indeed." His gaze seemed to be fixed on her ears. "Uh...why are your ears..."
"Pointed?" she supplied.
"Yeah..."
"Check your own," she directed gently.
His hands immediately flew up to his own ears, and he felt the points on them. There was silence from him for a minute. "Why are OUR ears, then?"
"You remember that little show called Star Trek...?" she said.
"...Oh, SO not amused."
"No, I'm being serious."
He looked up at her. "I know. Still not amused."
She finally decided to throw all pretense of caution aside. "You're being illogical, Damian."
"...No, just unamused, I think, Allison." He gave her a wry grin.
She smiled. "It wasn't really meant to be funny, you know." She was glad that he recognized her. It spared her a lot of explaining.
"Good to hear," Damian said. "Now, I'm assuming that sooner or later I'm going to get an explaination, amusing or not."
Allison shook her head, smiling. "Well, I think the first order of the day is getting you cleared from Sickbay. Then we'll talk. Hey, Steve!"
Damian blinked. "Steve, Steve... I know that name... He was one of the others who disappeared, wasn't he?"
While he was pondering, Steve came in from the next room. "You rang, Captain?"
Allison grinned. "Damian, meet Super Hurricane. Steve, this is Damos."
Damian's eyes lit up in recognition. "SH! Ah, yes, that's right... couldn't remember, it's been so long since everyone vanished and the board went down..."
Allison raised an eyebrow sharply in surprise. "Board went down...? My boy, I think YOU have some explaining to do as well."
Steve jumped into the conversation again. "Well, I'm assuming you want him out of Sickbay, right?"
"Yeah. Since he's conscious, can he leave?"
"I see no reason why not..."
"Good. Come on Damian, let's go for a walk." She got up and waited for him to get up as well.
"Works for me," Damian said, then sat up and got to his feet. He almost fell over. "Whoa...that's weird..."
Allison slapped her forehead. "Oh yeah, I forgot...you'll probably be slightly disoriented at first. After all, you just got about 15 kilograms lighter and four times stronger than your usual self. Sorry."
Damian glared at her. "Thanks for telling me BEFOREHAND."
~~~~~~~
It only took Damian a few minutes to get reoriented, then he and Allison set off to walk down the corridors. More than once, Allison caught Damian staring at the alien crewpersons that they were passing by. A Sulamid here, an Andorian there, a few Tellarites every now and then, and three kinds of Denebians wandering the halls. Allison looked over at him as they passed near one of the Horta crewmembers, and saw him staring at it disbelievingly.
"What're you staring at? You'd think you'd never seen a Horta before," Allison said, amused.
"Remember what I was saying earlier about not being amused?" he groaned.
"Hard to forget, nowadays," she answered immediately.
"Good day, Captain," it said, its Horta 'voice' running through a boxy translator set deeply into its silicon-based back. The translator had a Lieutenant's insignia emblazoned on it. It ruffled his fringes a little in its version of a wave.
"And a good day to you as well, Lieutenant Sarahn. Carry on."
"Yes, Captain." The Horta shuffled down the corridor, making grinding noises as he went.
Damian watched him until he was far down the hall, then looked over at Allison. "Would you mind telling me exactly WHY rocks can talk and move on this ship?"
Allison grinned. "Don't worry, everything will be clear. Come on, let's go to the Observation Deck."
~~~~~~~
The Observation Deck of the Yel'Hal-tor was much more impressive than the one on the Enterprise. An entire wall was made of transparisteel, giving an excellent view of the stars in front of the ship. The room was curved, so there was a side view as well. Off to the starboard, the two Vulcans could see the battle-scarred Enterprise, and the beautiful Genesis planet.
"Nice view, but you expect this to surprise me?" Damian asked. "After what I've seen in the last twenty minutes..."
"Just had to make sure you believed me. You can never tell these days, what with being in the 23rd century and all...crazier things have happened."
"Oh really. What kind of things?" he wondered out loud.
"Do you really want to know?"
"Not particularly."
"Well, anyway..." She waved her hand around a little. "This is my ship, the Yel'Hal-tor." She winked. "Roughly translated from Golic Vulcan, it means 'star trek'." Damian groaned at the pun. "Go ahead, be that way. But this is the best ship in the 'Fleet. Even better than the Enterprise. We've got foldable warp nacelles, saucer-and-stardrive seperation..."
He raised an eyebrow, clearly not knowing what she was talking about. He motioned for her to make it simpler.
"Moveable engines and detachable parts of the ship."
"Ah. Why didn't you just say so?"
"It's no fun!" she teased him.
"Well, I must say, it's nice to finally meet you, Allison... even though I didn't expect it to ever happen after you vanished for ten years, and as a..."
"Vulcan?" she said.
"That's the one," he confirmed.
"You'd better get to know what being a Vulcan is like. I get the feeling you're going to be one for quite some time."
"Oh joy. Don't think I'm being perfectly calm about this, by the way, I'm just that far into a state of shock that I've come out the other side and it's trying to catch up."
"I know. We all went through that 15 years ago."
"...15 years? You don't look any older than me, and I'm 26!"
She raised an eyebrow. "Well, THANKS. But I just so happen to be 30."
He stared at her in disbelief, and she sighed. "Guess I'd better start explaining in detail..."
"Yes, that'd be a good idea."
"Well...it all started way back in 2001, at a Star Trek convention..."
Allison left the six people in Sickbay, much as Scotty had escorted a few of the first time-travelers fifteen years before. And then she was jogging down the corridor, catching the nearest turbolift and riding quickly up to the bridge.
The ride was almost too short, and she stepped down to take the conn. Kristian got out of her chair and headed back up to his station as she sat down. "Status report," she ordered.
It was Kristian who reported this time. "Shortly after your beam-out and our jump to warp, the alien ship exploded due to self-destruct. We are now on course for the Mutara sector. Estimated time of arrival: forty-nine minutes."
"Thank you, Commander." She hit the intercom to Sickbay. "Steve, how're those people doing down there?"
"Well, the Vulcan guy will be okay. Just a simple case of exposure to cold. The others are all perfectly fine. I guess they found a better way to transforming them, because they're almost in perfect condition."
"Thanks. Let me know when the Vulcan man begins to regain consciousness."
"Yes, Captain. Sickbay out."
~~~~~~~
"This is impossible, you know," Nick finally said.
Sam looked over at him. "Why's that, little cousin?"
"Because Star Trek's fiction."
"Hate to disappoint you, but it isn't," Steve interrupted the young Andorian. "This is all quite real."
"Okay then..." Karin said. "Then where are we?"
"You're on board the U.S.S. Yel'Hal-tor. Roughly translated from Golic Vulcan, that means 'star trek'. I'm sure you can see the irony."
Nick blinked. "Ooookay...so this ship exists. But there's no Enterprise, right?"
"Wrong again. In fact, we're on course to intercept the Enterprise in the Mutara sector. Sound familiar, anybody?"
"The Wrath Of Khan!" Cheryl said quickly, like she was in a contest.
"Exactly," Steve said. "From what you know as Star Trek, we are about halfway through The Wrath Of Khan. We've lived this ever since halfway through the Enterprise's first five-year mission. In fact, we served on the Enterprise with Captain Kirk for almost three years."
"Captain Kirk's real, too?" Kat asked. She didn't know much about Star Trek - at least not as much as some of the others - but even she knew about Kirk.
Steve smiled. "Actually, he's an Admiral now, but yes. He's very real."
"Cool," Monica said. "And I'm guessing Spock and McCoy and all them are real, too?"
"You got it," Steve affirmed. "Actually, McCoy taught me almost all of my medical knowledge. Each of us was taught by at least one of the Enterprise's senior officers. For example, Allison learned a majority of her skills, both in technical areas and other areas, from Spock."
"Spock? Spock as in the half-Vulcan Spock, son of Sarek and Amanda?" Karin said disbelievingly.
Steve grinned. "Yes, THAT Spock. But I'll leave the explaining to the captain, if you don't mind. Allison has such as way with people, you know."
~~~~~~~
When the Yel'Hal-tor finally arrived in the Mutara sector, Allison already knew they were too late. A battle-marked Enterprise drifted in space near a small, Earth-like planet. The nebula that should have been there was nowhere to be found.
Upon their arrival, they were hailed by the Enterprise. Allison reluctantly put the transmission onscreen. A stone-faced Admiral Kirk greeted her. "I'm sorry we're late, Jim," Allison said softly.
"I am too," he said. "I take it you know what's happened?"
Allison nodded. "I'm truly sorry, JT."
Kirk sighed heavily, sounding incredibly weary. "You did your best. Enterprise out." His image blinked off the screen.
"What happened here, Captain?" one of the ensigns asked, confused and frightened by the sudden air of sadness in the air.
"Captain Spock gave his life in the line of duty today, ensign," Kristian said.
All the time-travelers on the bridge glanced at each other and shared a nearly-unnoticeable smile. They alone knew what was coming next.
The silence was broken by the sound of the intercom. "Sickbay to Captain."
Allison hit the button. "Captain here, go ahead Steve."
"You wanted to know when the Vulcan man woke up? Well, he's getting there."
"I'll be done shortly. Captain out." She closed the channel and headed for the turbolift. "Kristian, you have the conn."
"Aye, Captain."
~~~~~~~
Allison was at the Vulcan's bedside before he even completely regained consciousness. When he did, he blinked open his eyes and looked up at her. His reaction was instantaneous.
"What the hell?! You...you're dead!"
She grinned. "Nice to see you, too."
"Uh...indeed." His gaze seemed to be fixed on her ears. "Uh...why are your ears..."
"Pointed?" she supplied.
"Yeah..."
"Check your own," she directed gently.
His hands immediately flew up to his own ears, and he felt the points on them. There was silence from him for a minute. "Why are OUR ears, then?"
"You remember that little show called Star Trek...?" she said.
"...Oh, SO not amused."
"No, I'm being serious."
He looked up at her. "I know. Still not amused."
She finally decided to throw all pretense of caution aside. "You're being illogical, Damian."
"...No, just unamused, I think, Allison." He gave her a wry grin.
She smiled. "It wasn't really meant to be funny, you know." She was glad that he recognized her. It spared her a lot of explaining.
"Good to hear," Damian said. "Now, I'm assuming that sooner or later I'm going to get an explaination, amusing or not."
Allison shook her head, smiling. "Well, I think the first order of the day is getting you cleared from Sickbay. Then we'll talk. Hey, Steve!"
Damian blinked. "Steve, Steve... I know that name... He was one of the others who disappeared, wasn't he?"
While he was pondering, Steve came in from the next room. "You rang, Captain?"
Allison grinned. "Damian, meet Super Hurricane. Steve, this is Damos."
Damian's eyes lit up in recognition. "SH! Ah, yes, that's right... couldn't remember, it's been so long since everyone vanished and the board went down..."
Allison raised an eyebrow sharply in surprise. "Board went down...? My boy, I think YOU have some explaining to do as well."
Steve jumped into the conversation again. "Well, I'm assuming you want him out of Sickbay, right?"
"Yeah. Since he's conscious, can he leave?"
"I see no reason why not..."
"Good. Come on Damian, let's go for a walk." She got up and waited for him to get up as well.
"Works for me," Damian said, then sat up and got to his feet. He almost fell over. "Whoa...that's weird..."
Allison slapped her forehead. "Oh yeah, I forgot...you'll probably be slightly disoriented at first. After all, you just got about 15 kilograms lighter and four times stronger than your usual self. Sorry."
Damian glared at her. "Thanks for telling me BEFOREHAND."
~~~~~~~
It only took Damian a few minutes to get reoriented, then he and Allison set off to walk down the corridors. More than once, Allison caught Damian staring at the alien crewpersons that they were passing by. A Sulamid here, an Andorian there, a few Tellarites every now and then, and three kinds of Denebians wandering the halls. Allison looked over at him as they passed near one of the Horta crewmembers, and saw him staring at it disbelievingly.
"What're you staring at? You'd think you'd never seen a Horta before," Allison said, amused.
"Remember what I was saying earlier about not being amused?" he groaned.
"Hard to forget, nowadays," she answered immediately.
"Good day, Captain," it said, its Horta 'voice' running through a boxy translator set deeply into its silicon-based back. The translator had a Lieutenant's insignia emblazoned on it. It ruffled his fringes a little in its version of a wave.
"And a good day to you as well, Lieutenant Sarahn. Carry on."
"Yes, Captain." The Horta shuffled down the corridor, making grinding noises as he went.
Damian watched him until he was far down the hall, then looked over at Allison. "Would you mind telling me exactly WHY rocks can talk and move on this ship?"
Allison grinned. "Don't worry, everything will be clear. Come on, let's go to the Observation Deck."
~~~~~~~
The Observation Deck of the Yel'Hal-tor was much more impressive than the one on the Enterprise. An entire wall was made of transparisteel, giving an excellent view of the stars in front of the ship. The room was curved, so there was a side view as well. Off to the starboard, the two Vulcans could see the battle-scarred Enterprise, and the beautiful Genesis planet.
"Nice view, but you expect this to surprise me?" Damian asked. "After what I've seen in the last twenty minutes..."
"Just had to make sure you believed me. You can never tell these days, what with being in the 23rd century and all...crazier things have happened."
"Oh really. What kind of things?" he wondered out loud.
"Do you really want to know?"
"Not particularly."
"Well, anyway..." She waved her hand around a little. "This is my ship, the Yel'Hal-tor." She winked. "Roughly translated from Golic Vulcan, it means 'star trek'." Damian groaned at the pun. "Go ahead, be that way. But this is the best ship in the 'Fleet. Even better than the Enterprise. We've got foldable warp nacelles, saucer-and-stardrive seperation..."
He raised an eyebrow, clearly not knowing what she was talking about. He motioned for her to make it simpler.
"Moveable engines and detachable parts of the ship."
"Ah. Why didn't you just say so?"
"It's no fun!" she teased him.
"Well, I must say, it's nice to finally meet you, Allison... even though I didn't expect it to ever happen after you vanished for ten years, and as a..."
"Vulcan?" she said.
"That's the one," he confirmed.
"You'd better get to know what being a Vulcan is like. I get the feeling you're going to be one for quite some time."
"Oh joy. Don't think I'm being perfectly calm about this, by the way, I'm just that far into a state of shock that I've come out the other side and it's trying to catch up."
"I know. We all went through that 15 years ago."
"...15 years? You don't look any older than me, and I'm 26!"
She raised an eyebrow. "Well, THANKS. But I just so happen to be 30."
He stared at her in disbelief, and she sighed. "Guess I'd better start explaining in detail..."
"Yes, that'd be a good idea."
"Well...it all started way back in 2001, at a Star Trek convention..."