DISCLAIMER: I don't own Star Trek: Prodigy, Start Trek: Voyager, or any of the characters. No profit is earned. I am just writing this for fun.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I just watched the episode Crossroads. Talk about a wrong turn. I know the producers need to keep the show and the action going, but that was a bit ridiculous. The crew's normal awkwardness was increased and the 'bad timing' element was ramped up to new comedic heights in order to ensure that misunderstandings abounded and were the only possible outcome. I decided to do something about that. Hence the following story.
Twenty Percent Less Awkward
Ensign Asencia wasn't entirely sure what she was looking for as she trudged through the falling snow, trying to ignore the cold. She doubted the missing Barniss Frex would be out in this weather, but orders were orders. He wasn't answering his comm, much to the admiral's annoyance, and it was possible he was out here in the cold wind looking for a ship to take him back to Federation space. They needed to find him before he managed that and caused even more delays. To that end, she was wandering a junkyard claiming to be a depot in a snow storm, looking for the telltale blue uniform. After almost an hour of searching, she'd had no luck, but she had just found a diversion.
Her attention had been caught by a nearby conversation. A young female in a hooded coat was trying to get to a Federation starbase. She watched the Klingon the young alien woman had approached move toward her, intent on violence. Stepping between them, Asencia met his gaze unflinchingly, just as she had been taught. Klingons, an old friend of her family had once told her, only respected strength. "Show any weakness before one and they'll walk all over you." It was a somewhat bigoted view, but Asencia had found the advice invaluable at times. The Klingon glared at her a moment before he noticed the Starfleet uniform and backed down. The Klingon walked away, muttering angrily in his own tongue.
"Starfleet," she heard the alien mutter. "Thank you, officer."
"More like ensign. Asencia."
"Gwyn." The woman lowered her hood to show a face that was both younger and more familiar than she had could have expected.
"Gwyndalla?" Asencia blinked in surprise. It hadn't even occurred to her that she might find their guest's missing daughter here of all places. The girl's face froze in surprise and she grew wary.
"Do I know you?"
"No, but I know your father. He's on our ship." The girl took a step back, suddenly looking fearful. "He's been looking for you."
"I'm sure he has been," Gwyn answered. She started to take another step back, but instead she stopped, gathering her resolve and looking around suspiciously, almost as if expecting an attack.
"I know you're in trouble," Asencia began, "but-"
"If my father is aboard your ship," Gwyn interrupted, 'you're the one in trouble." She shook her head, looking conflicted. "How? How did he escape? Zero said he couldn't hurt anyone anymore."
"What?" Asencia was brought up short by the alien's words. "I…"
"I may be able to help you, but you have to tell me everything." Taking her arm, Gwyn pulled her into a sheltered spot between two ships. "Is your crew safe? Has he hurt anyone?"
"Ah… No. No of course not. Why would you assume that? We found him locked in stasis in an abandoned mining facility." She wasn't sure what was going on between father and daughter, but there were things Gwyndalla needed to know. "I can take you to him." The look of suspicion that blossomed on the woman's face simply confused her more. "I don't know how to tell you this, but your father isn't well."
"Oh, believe me," Gwyndalla assured her, "I know. A person who's well doesn't do the things he's done." She shook her head. "Whatever he may have led you to believe, is most likely a lie. If he's claiming to be sick or injured, I can almost guarantee that he's more capable than he lets on. Your ship is in danger as long as he's there. Now, please," she said, looking as earnest as anyone Asencia had ever seen, "let me help you."
This conversation, Asencia realized, had taken a decidedly bizarre turn. She took a second to gather her scattered thoughts. "I think we should talk to the admiral. I have a feeling she's going to want to hear this."
OOOOOOOOOO
Rok-Tahk was getting frustrated. She had been trying to find a ship, or at least talk to someone about a ship, but the people in the depot's terminal were either ignoring her or shying away. Granted, she was bigger than many of them, but treating her like some snarling beast because of her size and strength was just unfair. The latest person she called out to, a nice-looking woman, gasped and gave her a frightened look before rushing away. Rok didn't try speaking to her again, knowing it would just cause trouble.
With a put-upon sigh, the young Brikar girl stopped to think. She needed to be more assertive, or at least more difficult to ignore. Taking a deep breath and scanning the crowd for someone who looked like a good prospect, her eyes settled on a blue-skinned alien in a somewhat familiar red uniform. There was a glint of gold on his chest where a Starfleet commbadge was typically worn. Barely believing her luck, she deliberately stepped into the alien's path.
He stopped, looking affronted, and started to go around her. "Starfleet?" The word stopped him in his tracks. "You're with Starfleet, aren't you?"
"I am. Commander Tysess of the Dauntless. Do you need something?"
"Yes. I need to warn you about a threat to the Federation." The Brikar child sounded earnest, but she also sounded ridiculously young. He was prepared to dismiss her, but she plowed on. "I know where the Protostar is, but it's not safe to go near it right now. The bad man that captured it, and took the crew away booby-trapped it."
"Booby-trapped it?" Commander Tysess had been in a variety of odd situations over his long career with Starfleet, but having an alien child tell him that a bad man had stolen a Federation starship and booby-trapped it was definitely a first. He shoved his doubts aside and decided to hear the girl out. "Tell me everything."
The girl nodded eagerly. "Jankom has spent more time studying the device. Just a sec. Jankom! Over here." A short pudgy Tellarite trotted over to join them. "This is Commander Tysess from the Dauntless. He wants to know about the weapon."
The young Tellarite sighed. "Jankom has never seen a more frustrating piece of technology. We've tried taking it apart, beaming it out, even just blasting it. It adapts to whatever we do. I think even the Borg would be jealous."
"Troubling," Tysess said, frowning. They were being suspiciously short on details, but if there was even a chance that these children had a lead on the missing ship, he needed to hear them out. "What does it do?"
Rok started to answer, but Jankom put a hand on her arm. "Hang on, kid. Maybe we shouldn't discuss that with so many people around."
"A reasonable point. Come with me, we'll speak to the admiral."
OOOOOOOOOO
"Janeway to away team." The voice stopped Dal in his tracks. He knew that name. He knew that voice. He approached the imposing woman nervously.
"Captain Janeway?"
She turned to face him. "I prefer vice-admiral Janeway. Is there something I can do for you?"
"Ah… Um. Whooo. I didn't expect… but I was on my way to…" He broke off, frustrated that he was feeling so awkward around her. Being so close to his goal, and knowing how easily he could screw it all up was nerve-wracking, but he needed to make her listen and believe.
"Try stringing a few words together," she suggested patiently, "and we'll start from there."
Dal took a deep breath, centering himself as best he could. "Have you ever wanted something so bad, but you're afraid if you say the wrong thing you'll mess it up?"
The woman's face softened a bit. "Often, but fear of failure has killed more dreams than anything else, so I usually go for it."
Dal smiled ruefully. "I should have known you'd say that." He took a deep breath. "Okay. My name is Dal R'EI. I have a lot to tell you, and I need to do it in the right order or it won't make sense, but I guarantee it'll be worth your time to hear me out."
She considered a moment, then nodded. She had little else to do till her crew located Frex.
"Until a few months ago, my friends and I were slaves, being kept at a place called Tars Lamora." She started a bit at the claim and the name. "The guy that ran the place, called himself the Diviner. I think he told everyone outside that it was a prison for hopeless cases, worst of the worst or something, but that was a load of crap. He did take criminals, but he also bought people, including a lot of kids. My friend Rok is younger than me, but she's been there years. She can barely remember her parents." He shook his head, pressing on before she could respond. Even on an alien face it was easy to see the anger building there. "I wanted out, and I was willing to do just about anything. Didn't have any luck, though, until I found a ship."
"A ship?" Janeway asked, suddenly feeling a touch of hope. Whatever had happened at Tars Lamora was in the past and she couldn't change it, but if he meant the Protostar, this story was indeed worth her time.
"I didn't know what kind it was or who built it or anything. I just knew it was my ticket out of there. It was hidden in the deepest part of the mine, damaged and abandoned, but it was my best hope. I got a few others together and we managed to make her fly with a lot of hard work and an insane amount of dumb luck. We escaped."
"This ship? What is it?"
"The USS Protostar." He pushed on hastily, trying to get the next part out before he lost his nerve. "So…, technically, we stole a Federation starship, but we stole it from the guy who stole it from Starfleet, so that's something, right?" He looked so nervous as he admitted this that, under other circumstances, she might have found it funny, but she had bigger worries at the moment.
"You said abandoned," Janeway felt her chest tightened. "What happened to the crew?"
He spread his hands. "I don't know. I wish I had better news, but hey, at least there were no bodies. That's good news, right?"
"It is," she admitted. "Where is the Protostar now?"
"Close, but there's a problem." He broke off and she watched him visibly gather his courage. "A few actually. Um, ya see, the guy that captured the ship and original Starfleet crew? The Diviner? He hates Starfleet. Not real clear on why, but he wanted the ship back, real bad. He had this weapon, ya see, and a plan to use the Protostar to attack the Federation. Guy chased us all over the place, and we had no idea why. If it wasn't for your hologram, I think we'd have been long dead."
"My hologram?" She blanked for a moment, before remembering the training program she had consented to having made. "Ah, the training program."
"You should be proud of her," Dal pushed on. "How many computer programs do you know that could turn a bunch of dumb desperate kids into a starship crew?"
"I'm looking forward to the logs," she said, for lack of anything better to say. This was one of the most surreal conversations she had ever had and that was saying something.
"Not sure I am," Dal admitted, running his hand through his hair. "We did a lot of dumb things." He shook his head as if to clear it. "Not important. The Diviner forced us back to Tars Lamora by threatening to kill the other prisoners. We managed, with a lot of careful planning, to get the better of him, barely. This is one of the problems I mentioned. He's the only one that likely knows where the missing crew is."
"Why is that a problem? Did he escape?"
"No, and he's not dead, but he won't be telling anyone anything, probably not for a long, long time."
"You should have told me about that," a familiar voice interrupted. Dal turned to see his first officer watching him with a conflicted expression. "You should have told me what Zero did."
Dal faced her, his back straight, but with head bowed. "I'm sorry. Not telling you was my decision. Zero felt bad enough over hurting you… he…"
"What happened to me was an accident, and my father," she broke off for a second before sighing. "He brought it on himself. I'm not angry with Zero, captain, but you should have told me." She tried to glare at him, but looked away after only a few seconds. She honestly didn't know what she'd have done in his place.
"What is going on here?" Janeway asked before turning to Asencia. "Ensign, report."
"This is Gwyndalla, our guest's daughter. Admiral, we have a-"
"GUEST!?" Dal near shouted, looking alarmed. "That's not possible. We left him alone on Tars Lamora when we evacuated the prisoners."
"That's where we found him," Janeway confirmed. "I take it you know why he's in his current state?"
"Their shipmate, Zero," Asencia supplied, "is a Medusan." Janeway frowned in confusion for a second before the pieces clicked together.
"Oh."
"It seems he used Zero to…" Asencia grimaced, "punish uncooperative prisoners. Zero couldn't stop him."
"I see." The picture that was coming together of their guest's former life was starting to make her blood boil. She looked at Dal. "I take it this Zero showed himself to the Diviner during your last confrontation with him?"
Dal nodded. There was a lot that was going unsaid, and he knew the Starfleet types might not approve, but he'd stand by his crew and their actions as all the details came out.
"That would do it," Dr. Noum nodded as he and Commander Tysess joined them. "Nothing ravages a sapient mind quite like a Medusan doing a striptease."
"Really," Zero huffed as he approached, having spotted Rok and Jankom and followed, "how crude."
Janeway winced. "Doctor, please. That's hardly appropriate."
She looked around and saw that the rest of her away team had joined her and there were several people hanging back, watching the gathering nervously. "Is this your crew, captain?"
Dal looked around, counting them off. "Gwyn, Rok, Murf, Jankom, and Zero. Yeah. This is everyone."
"In that case, perhaps we should continue this discussion aboard the Dauntless." She looked at Dal. "Don't worry about the Diviner. I believe we'll be moving him out of sickbay and into the brig."
THE END