Disclaimer: "Ranma ½", "Star Trek" and other genres belong to their respective owners.
Note: This is a semi-fusion, crossover story.
Part 6
September 28, 3004: Earth, Kenya ("ST-Earth").
Captain Ranma Saotome, UFP-SF, sat his bouquet of flowers on a gravesite. It was within a cemetery set aside for the royalty and other honored figures of this African nation.
"Well, Nyota-chan," Ranma began. "I kept my promise. I promise you that as long as I am in this world, I will visit you on your birthday. So, this may be the last time I will pay you a visit."
With that, Ranma took out his violin. It was a six-stringer made from real wood, and it was given to him by the one woman who insisted on being his friend…and then some. Ironically, there would have been a time when Ranma wouldn't be caught dead with such an artifact. However, it has since become something special to him.
As he prepared to play his instrument, he thought about how he first acquired it…
Personal Log: Stardate 5027.1. In an effort to raise the morale of the ship, Lt. Janice Rand, Chief Yeoman, thought that it would be a good idea of starting a "band" of sorts. Of course, this smells of Usagi's willingness to inject herself in everything, but I have no proof of it. So, in order to start things off, the command crew would "volunteer" themselves in forming a band. That way, other crew members would be encourage to participate in a talent show that was being planned by "you-know-who".
So guess who gets the short end of the stick? Life was much simpler when I was just fighting Ryouga or something.
I tried to get out of it, but the Captain insisted that I participate. I countered by saying that I don't have any money to purchase an instrument of my own.
It can never be said that the gods are not willing to allow their entertainment get squandered over the details of the matter.
"Here you go," Lt. Uhura, ship's communications officer, said, as she handed a violin case over to Ranma.
"What's this?"
"It's my old violin, silly," Uhura beamed. "I've had it ever since I graduated from the Academy."
"So, why are you giving this to me? Don't you need it?"
"I'm going to use my guitar for the show. You can use it."
"But…I don't know how to play it."
"Well, let me teach you. The show isn't until next month, and I'm sure you can play something by then."
"What makes you think I can even play it? Thanks, but no thanks."
"I see. I guess Usagi is right after all."
"What was that?"
"Well, Usagi did say that you're not talented enough to even try to learn. In fact, she said to give you this instead."
Uhura gave Ranma a tambourine.
"I told her that she's wrong about you, but I guess she's right after all."
Ranma frowned.
"Well, tell dumpling head that I'll make her eat her words."
And so Ranma took the violin case, and stormed out of the Recreation room.
As Uhura sat down, Usagi phased her head through the bulkhead.
"So, Saotome took the bait?" Usagi asked. Using her alien training while talking took some concentration.
"Yeah. I wish you would manipulate Ranma like that."
"Ranma just needs to be pushed in the right direction. His ego can be the size of a blimp at times."
"Yeah. I'll make sure that he'll get his lessons."
"Right."
And with that, Usagi phased back into the bulkhead.
Over the course of a few weeks, Uhura taught Ranma the fundamentals of the violin. Under normal circumstances, it would take the Security Chief a while to get it. However, under the threat of being considered a looser, Ranma took to the lessons by storm.
Meanwhile, the Enterprise receives a distress call from the science colony on Triacus. Using standard procedures, Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, Dr. McCoy and Chief Saotome beams down to the surface, only to find that all the adults were dead.
Well, except one.
"You got to help us…"
"Dr Starnes, hold on!" Kirk says. "Bones!"
Dr. McCoy goes over to the dying man.
Meanwhile, Saotome and Spock are surveying the planet, among other things.
"You know, Usagi is something else," Ranma lamented, as he examined the scene. Trained in criminal investigations, Ranma was trying to deduce the cause of the deaths.
"That she is," Spock replied, not really getting what Ranma meant. "Here, I have a reading. Sensors are picking up…the children."
According to the manifest, the colony had children present. Somehow, they were being holed up in a cave.
"It's okay," Ranma said, as he raised his hands. "We mean you no harm."
The children merely stared at the pig-tailed martial artist.
"The captain needs to be informed."
Ranma nodded.
A short time later, the kids are taken up to the Enterprise to be examined. Meanwhile, Uhura is continuing her lessons.
"That's wonderful!" Uhura exclaimed, as she hugged Ranma.
Ranma blushed. Uhura smelled like a banana smoothie. Since food was the aphrodisiac of a Saotome, Ranma was getting…well, enthused about being around his teacher.
At the same time, Usagi was complaining about getting headaches.
"When did this happen?" Dr. M'Benga said, as he examined the Operations Officer in Sick Bay. M'Benga was the assistant chief medical officer from Africa.
"Since those kids came aboard," Usagi replied. "It's like hearing some sort of static."
"Well, there is activity in the frontal lobe," M'Benga replied. "You can either ride it out, or I can prescribe you a suppressant."
"I'll take the suppressant, even though it will nullify my telepathic abilities for a while."
And with that, Usagi took the shot. She hated it, but she's has work to do.
As the day went by, there were scattered reports of unusual activities. Wherever the kids went, the crew members in the vicinity acted bizarre, sometime violently so. In one case, two of Scotty's crewmembers attacked the Engineering chief. In another incident, two security personnel were saved at the last minute when they were almost beamed into space. Luckily, Usagi was manually recalibrating the instruments when everyone else thought that they were still orbiting around the planet.
"Hold it!' Usagi ordered, as she overrode the transporter sequence.
"What's going on?" Ranma said, as he called back from the transporter room.
"We're not orbiting Triacus! I repeat: WE ARE NOT ORBITING TRIACUS!"
And that's when the serious of the situation was finally setting in.
Later…
"Saotome, report," Captain Kirk asked. The command crew was in a staff meeting.
"There have been at least a dozen unusual activities involving the crew," Ranma said. "In every case, the kids are involved somehow."
"Then it can be logically concluded that the kids are involved."
"Duh, you think?!" Ranma replied sarcastically.
"Gentlemen, please," Kirk says. "As long as the kids are together, they are refusing to talk. We have to deal with that."
"I think I have a plan…"
A short time later…
"Hi! My name is Ranko, would you like to be friends?"
Peter Sternes, the son of Professor Sternes, was taken back. Being 14 years old, he was just hitting puberty. Unfortunately, there were no other kids his age. Now, suddenly, this cute red-headed girl wanted to be friends with him.
"Uh, what?"
"I just want to know if you want to be my friend."
"Well, I guess so…"
"Great! Let's get some ice cream!"
And with that, "Ranko" yanked Peter's arms, dragging the boy with him.
During the afternoon, Ranko got to know Peter. Both were sports enthusiasts, so they talked about the latest games. Sadly, Peter's father didn't have that much free-time for him, being responsible for the entire colony. Worse, he and the kids hated the planet, since they had to leave their homes.
"I know what you mean," Ranko replied. "My Pops and I had to leave home for ten years, before I could see my mom again."
"Really?"
"Really. I know he wanted to make me into a well-rounded martial artist, but some of the things I had to go through were horrible. I would trade it all just to have a normal life."
Peter nodded. As he stared into space, a tear was shed.
"Peter, what's wrong?"
"Nothing. Now I have nobody, except my friends and our guardian angel."
"'Guardian Angel'?"
"Yes. Come, let me introduce you to him."
A short time later, in the Gym…
"What's she doing here?" asked one kid.
"She's a friend," Peter says. "I want her to meet our guardian angel."
The rest of the kids looked at each other and nodded. Then, they formed a tight circle, and began to chant.
Suddenly, a being made out of light appeared. However, Ranko's senses told her that the being was not a creature of light.
"WHAT HAVE WE HERE?" the ghostly figure asked.
"I want you to accept her as one of us," Peter asked.
The figure looked at Ranko closely.
"I'M AFRAID THAT YOU HAVE BEEN TRICKED, DEAR PETER."
The kids turned to look at Ranko. Then they began to chant again…
Ranko suddenly screamed in pain, as her curse was forced to activate. When it was all over, Ranma calmed down.
"SEE? I TOLD YOU!"
"You lied to me!" Peter yelled.
Ranma gritted his teeth, as he stood up.
"The only thing I lied to you about is my identity. That's all. Everything else was the truth."
"Oh yeah? Prove it."
Ranma thought for a moment and smiled.
"You used illusions, right? Show me a…c-c-cat."
Peter and the kids began to chant…
A short time later, Kirk, Spock, McCoy and a Security crew were standing outside of the gym. Cautiously, they entered the gym.
All around the gym were signs of damage. However, the kids inside were unharmed.
Ranma was on the lap of a little girl, while purring contently. The others were petting Ranma. Peter goes to Kirk.
"I'm…sorry for what we did," Peter says with shame.
"Captain, over here," Spock says.
Kirk goes over to where an ethereal being was huddling in fear. He appeared to have claw marks all over his body.
"Why can't I leave?" the entity wailed.
"Apparently, Mr. Saotome may have affected your ectoplasmic constitution by his…actions," Spock said, as he examined the entity. "I theorized that the only way for you to 'heal' is to be returned to your natural environment."
"Yes, please! To be trapped in this corporeal existence is maddening!"
"Spock, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"If you mean return the entity back to the planet, then yes I am."
And with that, the entity was allowed to return to Triacus. Of course, a hazard warning buoy was placed in orbit around the planet, so that no one else would fall prey to the entity. As for the kids, they would be sent to a Starbase to be examined before being allowed to live with their next of kin.
A week later, all was normal aboard the Enterprise. Ranma continued to practice the violin under Uhura's watch. He especially had to be ready, since they were to take on a special guest…
Personal Log: Stardate 5630.7. Captain Kirk recently received special orders to ferry a Federation ambassador back to his home planet of Madousa, along with his companions Dr. Miranda Jones and ship designer Larry Maverick. You'd think that this would be a normal thing to do. Ha! Fat chance! Kallos, the ambassador, comes from a race that is supposed to be so ugly, that one look at them will drive a person insane. And his companions were weird as well. Dr. Jones is supposed to be a trained telepath, who originally studied on Vulcan, and Mr. Maverick was getting all jealous of Kallos. Who'd be jealous of a guy who has to be carried around in a metal box? And who'd want to that frigid Dr. Jones? Usagi told me that Jones, though human, was trained on Vulcan, and thus reflects this logical nonsense. How and why Usagi could be so flighty, after living on Vulcan for years, is any body's guess.
Regardless of all that, I still had a talent show to perform. Wish me luck!
With the Madousan ambassador on board, the talent show took on greater importance. Up first was "The Four Quads", an act that featured Hikaru Sulu (keyboard), Pavel Chekov (bass), Montgomery Scott (drums, bagpipes) and Usagi Tsukino (light-string guitar, vocalist). The ambassador's entourage sat up front, while Usagi sang:
My Love for you… is like gold,
It never, it never, it never gets old,
Though I Journey, to the Stars,
My heart is never, never far…
(A/N: Hey, I'm NOT a song writer, you know!)
Usagi then sang a slow ballad, using a Celtic theme about honor and tradition. Of course, this is where Scotty did his thing with his bagpipes.
When the set ended, the band bowed.
"Thank you! Thank you!" Usagi yelled. "We'll be signing autographs at the end of the show-"
"Oh, brother!" Ranma said, as he checked his violin. He was determined to prove Usagi wrong!
Finally, it was Ranma and Rand's turn. They had paired up, with Ranma on the violin and Rand on vocals. Thankfully, the two used a simple enough song for them to use okay.
"Not bad, Saotome," Usagi said, as Ranma and Rand left the stage. "You win the bet."
"I win the bet? What are you talking about? I was okay, you know!"
"The bet was about whether or not you will play well. Well, you did."
"So, what do I get out of this then?"
"How about…a new technique?"
"I can go for it."
"Great! See if you can get a week off. You'll need it."
"Yeah, right. I'll get it in a day!"
"We'll see. We'll see."
Afterwards, it was Uhura and Mr. Spock playing a duet featuring a flute and harp respectively. Dr. McCoy played a folk music with his banjo. The night ended with Captain Kirk doing his rendition of "Rocket Man".
Afterwards, there was a gathering between the guests and the command crew.
"That was an enjoyable show, Captain," Dr. Jones said, as she sipped her wine. As a telepath, she could channel Ambassador Kallos' thoughts from his quarters, since all Madousans cannot speak like humanoids can.
"Your quite welcome, doctor," Kirk replied. "I didn't know that you were an experienced telepath."
"With training, and a well-developed brain, humans can learn basic telepathy. My cerebral cortex is far more advanced than that."
"Well, Lt. Commander Tsukino is also a trained telepath," Spock interjects.
"So I heard," Jones replied derisively. "She must be gifted for one so undisciplined."
"SNORT!" Usagi said, while laughing at one of Scotty's jokes. She accidentally blew some soda through her nose.
"She's alright," Dr. McCoy said, as the four of them looked at Usagi's antics. "You got to hand it to her for being human after all she's been through."
"I see. Well, if you excuse me…"
With that, Kallos/Miranda departs the gathering.
"You were SO great!" Uhura said, as she chatted with Ranma.
"Ah, it was nothing," Ranma said nervously. He was getting some weird vibes from the Communications officer.
"You know, maybe it's the wine talking, but…would you like to have a 'night cap' with me?"
Ranma thought for a moment. He was still inexperienced when it came to women. And after what had gone on with Miramanee, and then there's Akane to consider…
"Okay. Let's go."
As the two left the gathering, Usagi smiled at the departure. Perhaps someone like Uhura, Usagi thought, will provide some stability in the Security Chief's life.
"Usako, are you coming?"
Usagi turned to her beau.
"I'm coming, Spock."
And the two concluded their evening.
The next day…
"Good morning," Ranma said, as he kissed Uhura on the cheek from behind.
Uhura purred softly in acknowledgement.
Ranma got up and stretched. Then, he turned to the Uhura's clock.
"Damn, I'm going to be late," Ranma said, as he got his clothes on in a hurry. "Say, you want to have lunch later?"
"Hmmm, I can't, Ranma," Uhura said, as she pulled her bed sheets over her body. "I have a staff lunch to attend."
"Oh."
"But, I'm free for dinner."
"Great! See you then."
And with that, the two shared a kiss.
When, Ranma stepped out of Uhura's room, he could see Usagi stepping out of Spock's.
"Good morning, Commander," Ranma said, as he caught up with Usagi.
"'Morning, Chief," Usagi said. "Had a good evening?"
"Yep. And you?"
"Always."
And just when Ranma thought that he would have a good day…
"YAHHHHH!"
Ranma and Usagi looked at each other, before running down the hall. There, in front of Ambassador Kallos' quarters was Larry Maverick. Ranma had been getting reports from his security team of Maverick's behavior towards the Madousan, which is why Ranma had him "shadowed". When Ranma and Usagi got to Maverick's position, they could see that he was acting spastically.
"Get away from me!"
"Okay, buddy, calm down," Ranma said. "We just want to talk."
"You don't understand! How can that thing love her? How can Miranda love it?"
Now, normally, someone brandishing a phaser was someone who was not to be trifled with. However, Ranma Saotome was not just "someone". So before Maverick could blink, Ranma quickly disarmed him, and delivered a solid right cross.
"Was that enough?" Usagi said sarcastically.
"Hey, he was pointing a weapon. Fair's fair."
Then, Ranma used the ship's intercom to get more support.
Later, at Sick Bay…
"Well, Mr. Maverick was attempting to assassinate the ambassador, but must have looked at Kallos in the attempt," Ranma said, as he handed Captain Kirk his report.
"Well, it seems that the case is closed," Kirk said, as he read the details.
"I must add that it's a good thing Usagi was there to 'catch' Maverick," Dr. McCoy says. "Apparently, the sight of Kallos was elevating Maverick's stress levels at a dangerous rate."
"So, what will happen to Mr. Maverick?" Ranma asked.
"He will be sent to Vulcan to administer his acquired insanity," Spock says.
"It is too bad that jealousy is still a factor in humans."
"Am I dismissed, sir?" Ranma asked.
"If there is nothing further to report, then yes," Kirk says.
And with that, Ranma leaves.
Later, that evening…
"So, Mr. Saotome," Uhura coos, "Are you…fine about all this?"
"Hmmm?" Ranma looks up from his plate full of food.
Uhura chuckles at the sight.
"Never mind."
And with that, the two eat in silence. There will be plenty times ahead to sort out their feelings for each other, if those feelings lie beyond the bed room.
Tbc