A meeting of chance a meeting of faith, both impact the lives they touch equally. The forces at work in the universe rarely give second chances, or grant wishes. If you find yourself given such a blessing, cherish it, embrace it. For it can be taken away as quickly as it was granted. For a commander Data, of the enterprise ncc1701-E, His life was about to change, with what would be the end, of his mortal existence.
Had he been human, he might have hesitated, and contemplated saving his own skin. He didn't even think, as he placed the portable transportation device on his captain, his father figure, Jean luc Picard, sending him safely to the enterprise. The last nanoseconds of his existence, he hoped that his cat spot, and her children would be taken care of and that his crew would live on without him, in a better world.
His mind started to grasp all the possibilities of existence, and grew beyond it's limits. He evolved, he changed. It was as if he was floating in a pool of energy, in a dream like state.
He opened his eyes, upon hearing voices, which turned a faces he recognized.
"Hello data!" the female said.
"Amanda?" his mind racing at the possibilities.
"I don't know how he got this far, it's inconceivable" a voice which he identified as the Q who had visit the enterprise quiet often "Especially for a mechanical being, Jean Luc could have reached it, but he held back".
"Data is special" Amanda declared.
"Yes, but he is stuck, he isn't fully ascended, as the primitives in the alterran realities like to call it. Ever talk to one of them? They think their all powerful because they changed their flesh bodies for ones made out of energy. What a bunch of crock. Did you also know that your reality is fiction to them?"
"Yes, there are a lot of realities which have the federation and it's galaxy as fiction." admitted Amanda.
"What do we do with him?" posed the young Q, the son of Q and Q.
"How about a test? One worthy of my teacher of the humanities"
"what are you thinking?" accused Amanda fully aware of Q's antics.
"Your project my dear Amanda, the wish you want to grant, I say we use him to help." proposed Q
"Good idea, do we give him his old body back?" asked the young Q.
"no, I say we also help him towards his dreams as well, since he will be instrumental in changing the course of one galaxy." quickly slipping "I also owe him one"
"Without his android abilities he is very vulnerable" pointed out Amanda.
"Please Amanda, I am more creative then to give him a plain human body," he snapped as data's soul convulsed and dissipated.
"It is done," Q declared.
"We should have briefed him on the mission" critiqued Amanda
"No, let him figure it out." seeing the face of Amanda turn into a frown " besides, it's more fun that way"
-
Data woke, he was laying down in a corridor. He quickly stood up, trying to figure out where he was.
"Curious, I can't seem to access my diagnosis subroutines," He walked what seemed to be a small freighter of sorts. He noticed a strange alien walking along the strange ship's corridor..
"Greetings, I seem to be lost." he said to the alien who's reactions was anything but friendly as he was grabbing for his weapon. Data quickly shortened the gap between them, grabbing the aliens arm, putting him in a hold.
"I am sorry, but It seems your not the cooperative type!" he Vulcan neck pinched the alien, putting him in a safe place. He then took what appeared to be a holster and a gun. He started to inspect himself. He was curiously dressed in what he would call, 20th century garb. A shirt, leather jacker, jeans, and sneakers. He heard a cry and yells from the adjoining room, in a strange language. He slammed the door open to find what appeared to be a male human who was chasing a semi clad female who ran towards him, with tears in her eyes. Upon further inspection he noticed that she had been abused, and with the shape of her clothes, the man had other intentions in mind. She also had a collar on her neck, which meant one thing 'Slave'.
The Male had noticed him, started yelling in some strange language, going for what appeared to be a weapon. Data didn't think as he drew his weapon and shot the man in the shoulder, the wound causing him to fall on the floor.
"Interesting," he noted "the weapon appears to be a plasma based, similar to early earth weapons but far more compact and advanced."
The woman was in shock, as he placed her on the bed. He proceeded to look for anything that would indicate a key. He didn't find one.
"Stay here" he said to her handing his weapon, "for your protection". She seemed to understand and kept the gun on the man, who was swearing. She shot him in the head, several times.
"I had hoped to not kill anyone," remembering his own incident with the man who had kidnapped him and his death, he understood. He saw an assortment of weapons, He picked what appeared to be a shotgun variant , with a pistol for his secondary weapon. He noted two cylindrical objects.
"strange," he pushed the button on one, a beam of energy raced up to form what appeared to be a blade. "Interesting". He deactivated the energy blade weapon and placed it on his belt, taking the other one as well. The woman had been more productive, it seems, as she had found the keys to the collar and freed herself. She handed the key to him seeming to thank him. He nodded moving towards the door.
"Lock it when i leave," he advised, opening then closing the door behind him. Hoping the earlier noise from the weapons did not attract any unwanted attention. He quickly walked across the hall, noting the two grunts who had found the body.
"damn" he cussed, getting the attention of the grunts, who turned and fired. He got hit in the chest by the blasts of hot plasma. He felt pain, this was new to him. He proceeded to fire back, getting a clear head shot on one, the other ducking for cover. He followed suit. Quick yells where heard, "there are more of them, I need to quickly put them down"
He jumped forward, faster then any human could, surprising the grunt who had called for backup. Using the metal box the grunt had used for cover for support, he did a flip over the it , while firing at the shocked slaver in the chest, putting him down. He heard noises of people, in the back ground.
"not too far away" he summarized. He went towards the noise as he saw a door. He pressed on the pad, finding it locked.
"whoever they are, their behind this door," He had to get to the other side. Inspiration hit him as he took out the energy blade Sword. A snap and a hiss, he cut the locking mechanism.
"Very useful" he placed the weapon back on his belt, as he tried to open the door.
"hmm. It appears i have also fried the opening mechanism" He decided to do it the old fashioned way, he placed his hands on the door and pulled it off it's hinges, making a tearing noise which echoed across the ship.
"oh oh" He sighed as he had obviously alerted more of the crew. He got hit in the back with two more of the energy weapon discharges as he turned towards the people firing at him using the door as a shield. He kicked the door at them, falling backwards, taking out his weapons in the same process fired on them. One was got shot in the gut, with the shot gun weapon, his stomach exploded, leaving. The other, who got hit in the nether regions, crawling away, rather painfully.
He went down the now open corridor when he realized he was in pain, this was unusual for him. He decided to ignore it and move on. Sneaking behind the boxes and other things placed in the area. He heard crys of people form behind one door, He found that the door was not electronically locked but was closed with a mechanical bar. He removed it and was to open the door but was promptly grabbed by a large alien and tossed into the wall. What ever this thing was, it was strong. It grappled data by the shoulders, trying to grab for his throat. Data came to the conclusion that with his physical condition and the strength of the alien, there was one thing he could do. He kicked it in the gonads, as the results where apparent, the aliens face turned a nice shade of pink as he started to let go. Using the alien as a stepping stool he jumped off of him pushing him to the door making a thud. Data slammed into the Alien in order to Immobelize it, as it appeard to be recovering, this made a deep indentation in the door.
This apparently was not enough as data went to the last resort, he picked up the guns and riddled the alien with holes. The alien fell with a thud as his blood started oozing out on the floor filling the area with it's stench. He forced the door open, discovering the dark, occupied room. The room reeked of human feces and unwashed people. He saw a young girl, next to an older woman, holding a new born child, and another child huddled together. He put his weapon aside .
"It is ok I am here to help" He brought out the electronic key, he had stashed in his pocket and opened the young girl, who appeared to be surprisingly healthy, for the living conditions they where enduring. She said something, he didn't understand as he grabbed her arms, unlocking her slave color. She said seemed to thank him.
"Your welcomed" he sighed as he gave the key to her pointing to the others, then motioning to the key. She seemed to understand as he quickly left the room.
"We need weapons" he told himself, as the pain was getting to him. He found the bodies of the slavers and took what he could carry, rushing back to the room. He handed the the few he thought would be able to help the weapons he had scavenged. The slaves cheered as they followed him, a loose battalion of troupes, headed out to fight for their freedom.
The route took them to the heart of the ship, or what he would refer to as the bridge, there where a few bodies, some dead, others dieing along the way. They lead into what appeared to be a lounge, the door was open and he could see what appeared to be a bridge area, it was more like a cockpit of a runabout then a starship. The slaves went inside and where obviously happy about something.
Data's head started to spin as he was loosing footing. The older woman he had freed helped him sit down on one of the couches in the lounge. She seemed to ask if he was okay, and for the first time in his life, he didn't know. None of his self diagnostic programs where working. He had no clue as to what was happening. She seemed to bark and yell at the others who brought what seemed to be medical equipment. He being and Android would not need such things, he was puzzled at the action. The older lady helped him lay down as she took off his top. She looked at the injuries he had suffered with worry and slight surprise. He was drifting in and out of consciousness, as he was familiar with sleep, he knew what it felt like.
She seemed to say something then pointed to herself "Shmi" then to the young girl "Jayed" , he understood the gesture and spoke a word, his name "Data" as he slipped into what he knew to be as sleep.
What would follow would change the course of events. Time was derailed, all due to the wishes of an old dieing man, forty even years in the future. It was a new beginning, a new hope, a course that hopefully would lead to a better future. But nothing is given on a silver platter. One must earn true happiness.