ENLIST

Doppelgänger Orbit
USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)
Stardate 2261.5

- 0940 hours -

"Bones, seriously, what's with the salt shaker?" Miri asked, half complaining and half just curious, "You keep waving that thing around like-"

"It's a scanner head," Doctor McCoy said, finishing his third and final set of physical exams for his patient. If there were any remaining cancer cells somewhere in her body, the mutation cycle would start again, and he didn't want to have to subject her to another round of surgeries if he didn't have to.

"What does it do?" Miri asked.

"It takes detailed sensor readings for my tricorder."

"What's a tricorder?"

McCoy held up the small metallic device sitting on the desk next to her, keeping the readout display facing him. "It's a machine that uses three different senses to gather information. Sight, sound and smell."

Miri raised a brow, "It can smell me?"

McCoy chuckled, and touched a key on the tricorder to change the scanner's mode. Since he was finished with the active scan anyway, he decided to switch to the passive chemical scan - for Miri's amusement - at which point the low-pitched hum from the scanner head became a series of soft clicks. "It analyzes chemical traces in the air," he explained, "Just like the receptors in your nose. Except it's thousands of times more sensitive. Hell, if I programmed it right, it could tell me what you had for breakfast yesterday."

"Cool..." She smiled fondly at the thought. Of course it was just a fancy gadget to her, but in the broader context... it was a fancy gadget on a space ship, just like the big glorious space cruisers on those TV shows and DVDs she used to watch, in those early years before running for her life came to consume all her free time. Just a reminder of those easier days-that time of peace and innocence-made her giddy with joy. "So Bones, tell me again: how far are we from Earth?"

"Five thousand kilometers, give or take," the tricorder picked up none of the chemical traces of the cancer tissues from before. It picked up something else, though, something it couldn't quite identify and therefore broke down into a list of chemical constituents: oxygen, carbon, phosphorous, hydrogen, nitrogen, and water vapor. The way it was configured it almost looked like an explosive compound. "Have you been handling firearms lately?"

"Not since you zapped me up here. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, nothing..." he tapped another key and the scanner head started to emit an oscillating high-pitched whine.

"What's it doing now?" Miri asked.

"Ultrasound." McCoy passed the scanner over her shoulders and torso, where the most intensive surgeries had removed kilograms of tumors from her chest and abdomen. "I'm making a map of your insides."

Miri folded her arms self-consciously. And maybe just to distract herself from the examination asked, "How far are we from your Earth?"

"I don't remember... hey Ramsi," McCoy waved Doctor Ayash over to the biobed from across the room, distracting the junior surgeon from the all-consuming task of lasering an errant hangnail off his thumb. "How far are we from Sol right now? What was it Spock said?"

"Six hundred and twenty light years," said Doctor Ayash. Using a translator instead of his own rendition of English, his accent had all but vanished. "It's very far from Federation, but pretty close in galactic terms."

"How long a travel?"

"Don't know. Two months, perhaps, with a skilled navigator."

"I'd like to go there some day." she smiled, her mind light years away, "Maybe even move back to Gaza? Who knows, maybe I might find a copy of myself out there?"

"You're not bothered by that prospect?" McCoy put the scanner away and returned the tricorder to his medical kit, "I don't think I would be comfortable with the idea of having a clone living a whole other life on some other planet."

"Why not?" Miri grinned, "I think that would be neat. Like if there were two of me. We could get a lot of work done."

"Young people and their adaptability..." McCoy chuckled, and as his last act as her surgeon, compared the tricorder readings with her chart displayed on the console screen next to her biobed. "Well, Ramsi?"

Doctor Ayash came to her side and looked at the chart. He nodded in approval, and said to her with a look to match, "Looks like you are having clean bill of health. We can officially set you free."

"Thanks to you and Bones. I was terrified that one day I was going to change into one of those... those..." Miri banished the thought and strategically changed the subject to something a little less terrifying, "So what's your Palestine like, Doctor Ramsi? Don't tell me we're still fighting the Zionists after all these years."

Doctor Ayash smiled warmly, almost patronizingly, "Not exactly."

"Well you must have overcome them somehow or else you wouldn't be here, right?"

Ayash looked at his feet, embarrassed, "There is much history to go through, but I should say that on Earth right now, there is no more Palestine."

Miri's expression dropped a little. Not that she had ever particularly cared about the outcome, but it was growing more and more important for her to place her identity in the scheme of a much larger universe than she was used to. "You mean we lost."

"Not exactly."

"Ugh. Every time you say that phrase 'Not exactly' I know something weird is about to happen."

Ayash chuckled, "I not suppose you know what an Augment is?"

Miri flinched, "Is that... uh... kind of bird?"

"No... bear with me, okay? I am having to try to skip some of the details, so try to keep up."

"Okay..."

"There was a man in the Israeli Government, a few years after your time, named Ehud Jabez. He was intelligent, charismatic, extremely effective leader. He used his intellect to engineer political change all over middle east, installing people he could trust into positions of power, including the Palestinian Authority and even his own government. To make things easier, he unified Israel and Palestine as a single country, divided it into four Federalized districts, two Palestinian and two Jewish. He abolished the racist policies of the extremists and brought both peoples together in peace... for a time."

"What went wrong?"

"As we finding out some years later," Ayash went on sadly, "Jabez was what we came to call Augment: a product of genetic engineering from the Cold War when NATO countries were trying to create race of super-soldiers. Jabez was one of dozens of augments who simultaneously seized control of a few powerful governments. Along with Uday and Qussay Hussein, Pierre DeVries, Pervez Musharoff, Barrack Obama, Khan Noonien Singh, many many others. They took control of the almost the whole world and divided it up between them like game of Risk, and in short order started fighting amongst themselves. When the dust finally settled, most of the world was ruins, the augments were either killed or vanished. After Zionist movement collapsed, the Jihadists ran out of things to complain about, Israel remained Federalized, and it having been peaceful ever since."

Miri took this all in, patiently and sagely, like the passionate history student she had once been before circumstance promoted her to Admiral of a fleet of ragtags. "So you mean that entire fifty year struggle for freedom was... what? A historical joke?"

"If it is joke, it was as our expense. I thinking that as a people - both the Palestinians and the Jews - we spent the majority of human history as race of sheep. We have wandering around looking for some good shepherd to lead us. Sometimes it was God images, other times just political leaders. Most of them lead us like lambs to slaughter." By stunning coincidence, the sickbay doors opened as Commander Spock walked into the room, busily studying a palmcomp display while at the same time navigating his way towards Doctor McCoy, "And then we meeting the Vulcans," Ayash nodded at Spock.

The science officer paused, noted his sudden focus of attention, then moved slowly to the Doctor's side. "Can I help you, Doctor?"

"As I have just explaining to the young lady here," Ayash gestured at Miriam, "How mankind having reached a state of clarity thanks to the Vulcans. You see, Miri, an American scientist tested a new star drive for the first time, and a Vulcan space ship noticed the test and following him back to Earth. They make first contact with our people, and finding the planet in chaos, they offering us... I guess you could say 'humanitarian aid' to help us rebuild. It changed everything, our society, our values-"

"Doctor Ayash is, of course, quoting the conventionally accepted history of First Contact, as taught in many European high schools," Spock said, "In truth, humanity remained in a generally barbaric state for another five decades. In point of fact, many regions actually regressed even deeper into authoritarianism and poverty, achieving no significant political or economic progress until the early twenty second century."

Miri looked back and forth between Spock and Ayash, sensing a field of tension beginning to stretch between them.

"We were making some progress," Ayash began.

"You were making mistakes," Spock corrected, "The same silly and illogical mistakes your species had always made."

"Now wait a minute..."

"The former Eastern Coalition degenerated into the so-called 'Post Atomic Horror,' a collection of peasant states enforced by drug-addicted mercenaries and ultra conservative jurists using a quasi-Confucian legal system. Even the most enlightened efforts to achieve public order were sabotaged by vested political interests of neighboring partisans."

Bones chuckled, "Like the Tokyo Incident. I almost forgot about that."

"What was Tokyo Incident?" Ayash asked, remembering the name but not the details.

"In 2075, the United States government was implicated in an plot to detonate a thermonuclear warhead near the Vulcan Embassy in Tokyo, apparently in an attempt to sabotage relations between the Vulcan government and the Japanese Empire."

"Why?"

"Because Japan was the central member of the Eastern Coalition," McCoy said, "And arguably the most gruesome member of the Post Atomic Horror. Supposedly it was some cockamamie scheme to get the Vulcans to cut their support to ECON members and lean more towards the Americans. Of course, they got caught red handed and the whole plan backfired."

"Resulting in a new policy, which forced any remaining governments to renounce membership in both WESCON and NATO or face a termination of interplanetary aid," Spock said, "This resulted in the collapse of both organizations, and catalyzed the formation of the United Earth Treaty Organization in 2105, which eventually become the United Earth Government. The social elites who had prospered under WESCON were largely marginalized and continued to denounce Vulcan as an obstructionist power even after Earth joined the United Federation of Planets."

Doctor Ayash looked shocked and disgusted, "That's completely untrue..."

"One second, though," Miri asked, just to make sure she understood correctly, "Most of the people on this ship are from western countries. Like Bones is from America, isn't he? I mean... well, it seems like everything turned out well in the end."

Spock nodded, almost professorial in what was quickly turning into an impromptu history lesson. "It does represent some historical irony. Starfleet, for example, was founded by the embittered elements of those same social elites, mainly in an attempt to compete with the more successful exploration programs of the United Earth government. Indeed, in 2151, Captain Jonathan Archer - commander of the first Enterprise -publicly accused the Vulcan High Command of sabotaging Starfleet's first deep space mission. He was either unaware or unwilling to consider that the Vulcan Space Command had previously provided direct material support to three previous UESPA missions and various elements of the Earth Cargo Service, support that opened the Sol Sector to the galactic economy some thirty years before Starfleet was founded."

"When did all that change?" Miri had her attention focussed completely on Spock now. Not so much because of his superior authority, but only because Spock's version of the story was more compatible with what she already knew about humanity.

Spock almost smiled. "Ironically, it was our illogic that was humanity's salvation."

"What?"

And Ayash looked even more puzzled, "What?"

"At some point, not long before contact with Earth, the Vulcan government came to be dominated by a kind of petty autocracy, not unlike the old Earth systems of the twenty first century. Socially, we had begun to embrace obedience under the banner of logic and order, and in the end we failed to recognize the logic of disobedience towards errant authority figures. Our failure to recognize these problems nearly destroyed us, first during the Syrranite Revolution, and again thirty years later in the Second Romulan War. To some extent, those problems remain unsolved today."

"And that saved humanity?" Ayash asked, astounded, "Really?"

"It is difficult to explain in detail, Doctor. It is ironic that humans could finally banish the creeping elitism in their own society only after witnessing the havoc it had caused in ours. Both cultures made the logical choice to abandon privilege in exchange for survival, and the result was the total collapse of the existing class structure in both societies. And even then, humans proved more successful at this than Vulcans."

Ayash took a small step back and thought this over, "That is interesting perspective..."

"But there's always rich and poor in a society," Miri said, "Even when nobody has any money. Somebody always has more than the person next to him."

"True," Spock nodded, "But in a meritocracy, a person is only as valuable as his gifts, not his birthright. The Captain of the first Enterprise, for example, is widely believed to have gained his command through family connections to Starfleet's upper echelons. Several more experienced command officers - many with thousands of hours of deep space experience - were rejected without explanation."

Ayash snickered, "Not unlike the Captain of this Enterprise..."

"If you are referring to Captain Kirk, I'll remind you that his mastery of this vessel comes with the blessing of several command officers far more experienced than you."

"Same difference... but still, he is much less experienced than John Archer was."

Miri asked before Spock could get too far, "Who is Captain Kirk?"

"The commander of this vessel, and a source of controversy within Starfleet. His service record has placed him increasingly at odds with some of the more conservative figures of Starfleet's chain of command."

"He is also youngest Captain in Starfleet history," Ayash added, "Hell, he was not even active duty officer when disabling that Romulan doomsday weapon."

Drifting into earshot, Doctor McCoy sidled into the conversation in his usual abrupt manner, "He's a hero is what he is. I don't care how young he is, it took some major cojones to pull of that little stunt on the Vengeance..." and exchanging palmcomps with Spock added, "Hell, he nearly gave his own life just to save all of ours."

"If you are ask me," Ayash said, "Spock should have getting command."

"Then it is fortunate, Doctor, that no one asked you. I have no present ambitions to command this or any other vessel." Spock looked at the palmcomp, then nodded with satisfaction. Turning to Miri he added, "Now that you have been medically cleared, I shall have had the duty officer arrange quarters for all of you, but since we do not know the details of relationships I leave it up to you, Miri, to see to berthing accommodations."

Miri squinted at him, and Doctor McCoy promptly translated, "He's saying we need you to help pick rooms for the Onlies."

"Oh... sure, I can help with that. But before I do, there's something else I wanted to ask about."

"And that is?"

Miri smiled nervously, "I... um... well, I know I'm not exactly the best and brightest, and I know astronauts are supposed to be some kind of geniuses, but I was thinking maybe about joining the crew here? Perhaps becoming a doctor like Mister Ayash?"

Spock tilted his head slightly, "Your medical qualifications do not seem adequate for that task... however, if your desire is genuine you may be able to pass the physical and mental requirements for cadet training."

McCoy snorted, "You've got to be kidding me..."

"Trainee duties are not overly complicated, Doctor, and Enterprise does have facilities adequate for field training." For a moment or two, he actually looked Miri in the eye, probed her resolve for any cracks or pretenses. Finding none, he concluded safely, "If you are willing to learn, we are willing to train you."

"I am, Sir. Completely. Ever since I was a little kid I always used to dream about being an astronaut."

"This may not live up to your expectations. A life in Starfleet can be difficult, dangerous, frightening, and often surreal. Much of what you may encounter on this ship will certainly exceed the grasp of both your knowledge and your imagination. Are you prepared for that?"

Miri smiled, "I'm on a space ship, Mister Spock. This is already way beyond my knowledge. And don't underestimate my imagination."

"Then I will arrange to have the duty officer meet with you tomorrow evening. Until then, your first duty as cadet will be to see to quartering arrangements for the other refugees by 1400 hours tomorrow."

"Uh... sure... y-yes sir, Commander!" Miri jumped off the table and saluted.