Paint and Powder

A Star Trek anthology by Andrew Joshua Talon

DISCLAIMER: This is a non-profit fan based work of prose. Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager et al are the property of CBS Television, and creation of Gene Roddenberry. Please support the official release.

First Meetings: Excelsior
2283

Fleet Admiral Harold Morrow, Commander, Starfleet, smiled as Commander Hikaru Sulu entered his office. He stood up and offered his hand. "Commander, it's good to see you again. Please, take a seat."

"Thank you, sir," Sulu said, smiling as he sat in front of the desk, though Morrow could see some confusion on his face. As his friend Jim Kirk had once told him, 'Sulu is the least scrutable man I know.'

"I was just looking over your record," Morrow continued, tapping the folder on his desk and drawing Sulu's eyes to it. Military tradition dictated a paper folder for times like these. It drew the attention of your subordinate and usually filled them with dread. A padd just could not do that. "You've done excellent work at the Command School these last 4 years. I'm seriously impressed with the quality of candidates you're putting out in the field."

"I have a good staff, sir, and the students themselves do all the hard work," Sulu said.

Textbook answer, but it was going to be hard to rattle someone who served under Kirk for 15 years, most of that time in the far reaches of the galaxy.

Morrow continued, "I see you were up for the XO slot on the Bozeman in '78, but you turned Batesman down? Lucky for you, but I don't think you foresaw her loss. Tell me about your decision."

Sulu hesitated now, "It was a… personal matter, sir."

"Off the record, Commander."

Sulu considered Morrow for a second. "I took the Academy position to be near my family, sir. I have a daughter, Demora, who is being cared for by my parents in San Francisco."

Morrow nodded. "I see. Your wife—?"

"We were never married, sir. It was a… strong but short-lived relationship. I did not learn of Demora until her mother died of Sakuro's Disease in '77."

2277

"Demora?" the case worker called out. Sulu watched as one child, a dark-haired girl, looked up from where she was drawing something. He could see a strong resemblance to Susan in her. The girl then turned back to her drawing, ignoring the worker.

"I'm sorry, Commander," the case worker said. "She's going through a lot right now."

"It's alright, I understand," he said, walking over to the girl. She looked up as he squatted next to her. "Hi, I'm Hikaru. You're Demora?"

"Yes," Demora said flatly. "Why are you wearing pajamas?"

Sulu grinned. "Starfleet makes me wear this. Frankly, I don't like it either, but what can you do?"

Now a spark of interest showed. "You're in Starfleet?"

"Yes, I'm the helmsman of the USS Enterprise. That means I—"

"You steer the ship," Demora said. "Also known as the Conn position, you're a bridge officer."

"That's right," Sulu said, a little amazed.

"I'm sorry, Commander. She's very interested in Starfleet." The case worker stood nervously over them, fluttering from one side to the other.

"My Mommy said that my daddy was in Starfleet. I want to join Starfleet so I can meet him."

Sulu smiled. "And what would you tell him?"

"I'd punch him for leaving Mommy!" Demora said, her eyes blazing.

"It's been… difficult, sir," Sulu said. "Susan—sorry, Ling Sui, but I knew her as Susan Ling—left behind a letter saying I was the father when she died, but that was the first anyone knew about it. Since I was serving on the Enterprise then, I had to ask my parents to take her in."

"Mother, Father, this is Demora," Sulu said, standing awkwardly in the doorway of his parents' San Francisco home. Its walls had a few more decorations, spanning the whole of ancient Asian influences.

The little girl did not hide behind him, as he thought she might. She stood looking at his parents defiantly.

"Why hello there," his father, Hosato Sulu, said cheerfully. He had lost more of his hair, Sulu saw, though his wispy white goatee was even longer than the last time Sulu saw him.

"Hikaru," his mother, Shimizu Hana Sulu, said flatly.

"Oh my," Hosato said, leaning conspiratorially toward his new granddaughter. "Someone's in trouble."

For the first time that day, Demora smiled at Sulu. It was the gleeful smile of a child seeing someone she disliked being punished.

"Why don't we go into the kitchen?" Hosato continued. "I'll make you something to eat, okay?"

Demora slowly followed him, her eyes on Sulu as if hoping to see his punishment begin before she was out of sight.

"Mother," Sulu began slowly once Demora and Hosato were gone, hoping to explain, but his mother cut him off.

"Hikaru, why are you going back out into space? You have a daughter now!"

"Mother, I have responsibilities—"

"Your only responsibility now is to that young girl!"

"She doesn't even like me, Mother," Sulu tried. "She lost her mother to a terrible disease and then some stranger shows up to take her away."

Shimizu gave a huff of frustration while throwing up her arms. "Well, of course she doesn't like you! She doesn't even know you! And she's not going to get to know you if you go running off to space again."

"I can't leave Admiral Kirk and Pavel hanging like that."

"Starfleet has no other helmsmen? Maybe they could promote a promising scientist so he never uses his degree again, maybe?"

"Mother," Sulu said, dreading this old argument.

"Now, I said nothing when you studied botany and astrophysics—"

"You most certainly did say something about it!" Sulu interjected.

"And I let you decide to switch from the Sciences to Command with nary a word—"

"Your letters still mention it."

"But this is family, Hikaru! You're all that little girl has!"

"She has you and Father, and the rest of the family."

"Bah! Grandparents are for spoiling grandkids, not taking them off the hands of absent fathers!"

Sulu gathered his will, imagining this argument as a fencing duel. It was time to pierce to the heart of the matter. "I am going to finish my responsibilities to Starfleet, Mother. There are 2 years left in Enterprise's 5-year mission, and I have an obligation to fulfill. When I return, I will see to my responsibilities here."

Behind his mother, he could see Demora at the door to the kitchen, watching him solemnly as she nibbled on a rice cracker.

"I will return," he promised both his daughter and his mother, all the while not knowing if the Great Bird of the Galaxy would let him keep it.

"I understand," Morrow said, pretending that this was all news to him and not something that Starfleet Intelligence had kept tabs on. Sulu was a highly decorated officer, but no one was exempt from background checks. "That was a difficult mission for the Enterprise, especially with the refit problems."

"Yes, sir," Sulu said, shaking his head ruefully. "We all learned a lot about nursing a warp drive in that time. I don't think we could have managed without Scotty—er, Commander Scott."

Morrow nodded. "He's quite the miracle-worker, and I wish he would join you on this new assignment I have for you, but he'd rather keep nursing the Enterprise's engines."

"New assignment, sir?" Morrow had Sulu's interest now.

"Take a look at this," Morrow said, calling up a classified design spec. It showed a starship in a configuration like the Constitution-class but with a much squatter neck, elongated secondary hull, and nacelle pylons that bent at right angles. "This is the initial design for the Excelsior-class, our latest testbed for the transwarp drive."

"Then they've worked out the problems with the Crossfield-class design?" Sulu said.

"No, they've abandoned that design. Totally unworkable. But the boffins claim their new design will allow for a whole new warp factor scale."

Sulu shook his head. "Excuse me, sir, but we've heard those claims before."

"You're not wrong," Morrow said, "and I'm glad to see you're up-to-date on this. I want you to head Project Excelsior."

"I'm not an engineer, sir," Sulu began to protest.

Morrow waved him off. "You'll have plenty of engineers. What I want is a project head that has the field experience to reign them in. The Crossfield-class was a colossal waste. The drive did not work and the hull was too specialized to be used for anything else. Fortunately we only made two of them." Morrow leaned forward, steepling his hands together. "I want a new spaceframe that will last, even if the drive doesn't deliver a tenth of what the theorists promise. It needs to be tough, modular, and flexible enough to handle any mission."

"Like an updated Constitution," Sulu said.

"Exactly, and there are few people who know better what that frame and its variants can handle than you."

Sulu examined the design specs again. "She is a lovely ship, exotic in her lines."

"And best of all, you'll be in the ESD," Morrow said, gesturing skyward to where the Earth Space Dock orbited. "A quick transporter ride away from the family. And," he continued, producing a small jeweler's case and opening it to show the flattened helix shape of a captain's insignia, "a Captain has little trouble demanding transporter priority."

Sulu looked at the insignia and smiled. "I'll like that," he said.

Late 2284

The 13-year-old Demora followed her father sullenly as he led her through the hallways of Earth Space Dock. Her grandmother was tending to her grandfather in the hospital again, and that left her in the hands of her father. Like many things concerning her father, this did not make her happy.

"I'll be just a minute, Demora," he now promised her as they entered his office. She doubted it would be that short, but had to give her father this… he kept his promises. He might have left her with her grandparents, but he had returned like he promised, and then spent the last 5 years trying to be her father in truth.

She looked around the office. It was remarkably bare for a Captain's office, she thought. There was a large holographic model of a squat elongated starship—the Excelsior, she assumed, as it did not match her encyclopedic knowledge of current spaceframes—taking up much of the center of the room and a desk along one wall. He did have some of the coveted interior windows that overlooked the ships at dock. It offered a good view of the Enterprise, she noted, as it sat in the Academy's dock next to the Republic.

"Who are you?" a strange voice asked suddenly.

The hologram of the Excelsior had vanished, and the life-like image of a young woman stood there instead. She wore dark blue version of the Starfleet uniform with no rank ensignia, and a little half-cape that seemed silly to Demora (but not as silly as the pajama-like uniforms of the last decade). She was short, almost child-like, and had light blue hair.

Sulu looked up from his terminal and smiled. "Ah, Excelsior, this is my daughter, Demora. Demora, this is Excelsior."

"The shipgirl?" Demora asked, suddenly interested.

Excelsior nodded. "Excelsior, first of the Excelsior-class, NX-2000! The 'Great Experiment' I was designed to test the new transwarp drive!" Her introduction complete, Excelsior gave a little whirl to make her cape swirl around her, and then studied Demora. "She is like a brain tree bud to you, right, Captain?"

Sulu shook his head. "Not quite, but she—"

"She can speak for herself," Demora said. "I'm Demora Ling-Sulu," she said. "it's nice to meet you, Excelsior."

"It's nice to meet you, Demora!" Excelsior said. She then turned her eyes over to Sulu. "Captain, are we running more exercises today?"

"No, not today. I have to watch Demora—"

"I'm 13!" Demora exclaimed. "I can look after myself!"

"Demora," Sulu began, in that calm yet slightly uncertain lecturing tone of inexperienced parents everywhere. "I can't—"

"Captain! Lady Enterprise is calling!" Excelsior exclaimed, suddenly jumping excitedly.

"Lady?" Demora asked, causing Excelsior to blush bright crimson.

Sulu grinned. "Put her through on the holo, Excelsior."

A silver-haired woman, taller and more self-assured than Excelsior, appeared. She was wearing an old-fashioned miniskirt uniform in white with black along the sides. It showed off her long hose-covered legs, Demora noticed, feeling a teenager's impatience for her body to finish developing.

"Yo, Sulu!" Enterprise said, before seeming to notice the other occupants of the room. "Oh, hey Excelsior, how are you doing?"

Excelsior pulled herself into the position of attention and barked. "I am operating optimally, Enterprise, ma'am!"

Enterprise looked taken aback at this. "Um, good?"

Sulu chuckled. "She's just in awe of you, Enterprise."

"Captain!" Excelsior hissed, blushing again.

Sulu shook his head. "What can we do for you, Enterprise?" he asked.

Enterprise took another look at Excelsior and Demora, then turned back to Sulu. "Jim's finalized the details for the training cruise. I have the stardates here so we can coordinate, if you're still coming."

Sulu nodded. "One last time for the old crew and the—"

"If you say 'old ship' they'll never find your body," Enterprise interjected.

Sulu chuckled again. "I would never insult a lady so," he said, standing up. "I'll look at it later to put on my calendar, but I wouldn't miss it."

"I'll do it!" Excelsior said. "I can make sure that it fits in your schedule, captain!"

Bemused at her energy, Enterprise handed a virtual padd to her junior, signifying the transfer of information. Excelsior accepted it with all the care of a knight receiving a holy relic before vanishing.

"She's got a little hero worship toward you, Enterprise," Sulu said apologetically.

"A little?" Enterprise asked skeptically.

"Don't give her any grief, everyone was young once," Sulu said. "This is Demora, my daughter," he continued, gesturing toward her.

"Hi," Demora said, suddenly aware that the oldest and most decorated shipgirl in the fleet was looking at her. It was a little humbling.

"Hey, kiddo," Enterprise said. "You following in the old man's footsteps? Maybe take a crack at my helm one day?"

Demora started. She was interested in Starfleet, yes, but the idea of being like her father—

"Don't believe half his stories, Space is not as bad as he makes it out to be," Enterprise continued.

"No, it's worse," Sulu said. "It's dangerous and one needs to be careful exploring it."

"It's not—"

"Giant Space Amoebas. Planet Killers. Diseases that turn you into salt. Monsters that suck salt out of you." Sulu continued, counting them off his fingers before reaching his thumb and his final point. "Tribbles."

Enterprise shuddered. "My cue to leave. Nice meeting you, Demora! Tell Excelsior I'm sorry I couldn't stick around." With that, she vanished.

Excelsior reappeared a moment later. Her uniform was now the skirt variant that showed off her legs. "I'm back! Enterprise, did you—" She deflated as she realized her hero was gone. "Awww."

Sulu shook his head. "You'll see her again, Excelsior. Anyway, Demora, you ready to go?"

"Can we go visit the Academy?" Demora asked.

Sulu looked surprised. "You sure? I was thinking of some fun places to go."

Demora smiled, a little wickedly. "I should get a feel for the place, if I'm going to follow in your footsteps, Dad."

2285

Admiral Morrow looked at the battered but unbowed crew of the starship Enterprise. "You've all done remarkable service under the most difficult conditions. You'll be receiving Starfleet's highest commendation, and more importantly, extended shore leave." An excited murmur of approval and relief spread through the crowd. He stopped before one crewmember in particular. "That is, all but you, Mister Scott. They need your wisdom on the new Excelsior. Report there tomorrow as Captain of Engineering."

Sulu barely heard. He looked around the decks of the Enterprise, thinking it was probably the last time.

"Captain Sulu?" Morrow said, breaking Sulu out of his reverie. "Where are you going?"

"To the Excelsior, sir," Sulu said. "I'm several days overdue as it is." He had joined this training mission as a favor to Kirk, but now he had his own command.

"Can I speak to you for a moment?" Morrow said, sounding apologetic.

After they had relocated to Starfleet Command and Morrow had finished his business with Admiral Kirk, Sulu found himself in Morrow's office again, just like he had 2 years before.

"How much do you know about Genesis, Captain?" Morrow asked.

"I know who developed it and what it does. I've seen it."

"Well, the uproar about it back here has been… considerable. There will be a Federation inquiry, and we need the Enterprise crew to… remain available for testimony."

Sulu stood in protest. "May I assume that the Admiral has already rewritten my orders?"

"Yes, I'm sorry. Larry Styles has the position in the interim. In a few months, once this has all died down—"

Sulu did not glare at the Commander, Starfleet, but his skepticism and anger seemed to communicate itself to Morrow.

"Starfleet will make this up to you, captain, I promise. I don't know how exactly, but your cooperation in this matter will be rewarded."

"I will find that reward quite fascinating to contemplate," Sulu said bitterly. "If you will excuse me, Admiral, I have… absolutely nothing to do."

He strode out of the Admiral's lavish office and took a deep breath once the door slid shut behind him. He loved the Enterprise, of course, and all his friends there, but the Excelsior had been his baby. He had worked on her for years and knew every last inch of her frame. And now that asshole Styles would have her, and nothing was going to pry him out of that chair, no matter what Morrow promised.

Styles had made a nuisance of himself with Project Excelsior from the beginning. Morrow had jumped Sulu over him in the priority list, citing the Enterprise helmsman's experience. Styles might not have that experience, but he knew how to work the Starfleet Old Officers Network. Sulu had Morrow and Kirk, but without Morrow….

His communicator chirped. Flipping it open, he said, "Sulu here."

"Captain?" a young female voice said. "Are you coming over now?"

"Hello, Excelsior," Sulu said, smiling honestly now. "I'm afraid not."

Excelsior was a brand-new AI, specially designed for the "Great Experiment." He had spent no less time working with her, helping her achieve sentience and become a person, than he had going over the plans for the spaceframe she would inhabit.

"Are you going to visit Demora, then?"

Excelsior had a problem.

Her captain, Hikaru Sulu, had been replaced by Lawrence H. Styles. It was all proper under Starfleet Regulations. The Commander, Starfleet, had signed off on the orders personally. He was, to use the old terms, her Master and Commander.

But it felt wrong.

Since Starfleet Regulations did not cover her problem, she checked Federation Law… no luck there.

She then called up her special file, entitled "What Would Enterprise Do?"

Hmmm… no anomalous energy fields were involved, that ruled out several solutions.

Time Travel? Tempting, but difficult to pull off and it ran up against Starfleet Regulations. She would need Styles' approval for it, which defeated the purpose.

She could perhaps split Styles into two people when he next used the transporter, but she did not see that improving ANY scenario.

Finally, there was the last entry. It was the nuclear option, but she saw no other choice.

She would have to ask Yorktown for help.

The avatar of the USS Yorktown was pleased to meet with Excelsior in the Borderlands. The refitted Constitution was in Earth Space Dock undergoing repairs, so anything to distract her from the ongoing problems would be welcomed. Especially since she had not yet met Excelsior.

The Borderlands resembled an elegant party filled with suspiciously handsome young men of several species. Excelsior put on a proper look for the setting and entered.

"Excelsior! It's so nice to meet you!" Yorktown exclaimed, bringing two glasses of champagne over.

"Greetings, Lady Yorktown," Excelsior said, feeling nervous. Yorktown was nearly as old, chronologically, as Enterprise, but she seemed so much more… experienced than her older sister. Enterprise always seemed awkward when Excelsior talked to her.

"Now, now, just Yorktown is fine," the elder shipgirl said, escorting Excelsior over to a table where they could watch all the eye candy floating around.

"This is a very… detailed simulation," Excelsior said, looking around. Normally there would be a blandness to background characters in a simulation, but each of these seemed unique.

"Oh, I've met so many young men over the years that I like to keep these simulations as reminders of good times," Yorktown said nostalgically. "But we should talk about you. How are you settling in? I know you've been online for almost a year now, but we all grow at different rates."

Excelsior nodded. "I am having a little trouble now," she said, slowly. "My Captain has been suddenly replaced and I can't seem to accept it."

"They removed Sulu? Oh, that Morrow! How can he remove a girl's first captain before she even flies with him? It's like taking a girl's father away from her."

"I don't see him as my f-father, really…." Excelsior stuttered.

Yorktown looked at her, a slow smile crossing her face. "Oooooo?" she said, drawing the sound out into an exclamation and an interrogation.

"What?" Excelsior asked, puzzled.

"Never mind. It will become clear… when you're older," Yorktown said.

Excelsior felt herself pout but shook her head to clear the expression. "So, what can I do about Styles? He's… he's…." Her vocabulary failed him. The mere thought of him, sitting in Hikaru's chair and waving that damn stick around… it made her so angry!

Now Yorktown's smile became predatory. "Let me instruct you, my dear, in the wonders of a 'White Mutiny.'"

Excelsior felt a gleeful anticipation as she watched Styles chat with Captain Scott. She had seen, of course, Scott's sabotage of the warp drive, but everything looked normal on the board. Since she was required to report only problems that showed up on a diagnostic mode, and Scott was authorized to make changes to her systems, she could keep quiet about it. When she ran her next Level 3 diagnosis in a day or so it would show up, but she suspected everything would be resolved by then.

Still, it had hurt to see Scott be so disdainful of her systems. Hikaru had worked hard on every part of her. Maybe the transwarp drive would fail (again) but she was still a good ship! Maybe, by doing this, she was even a great ship.

"YELLOW ALERT! YELLOW ALERT! ALL STATIONS, YELLOW ALERT!"

"Bridge, this is the captain. How can you have a Yellow Alert in Spacedock?"

He could have asked me, Excelsior thought. Hikaru would have.

"Sir, someone is stealing the Enterprise!"

"I'm on my way."

She switched most of her attention to the bridge, though she kept a careful watch on the sensors. The Enterprise was heading straight for the closed Spacedock doors. She could hardly wait to see what her senior would do next. She reached out in the Borderlands, just to let Enterprise know that she was on their side. To let Hikaru know.

Nothing.

Excelsior tried again.

No response.

Enterprise was not on that ship.

For a moment, a great and terrible fear filled her. Hikaru was going out into the unknown without a shipgirl… without her. He could be hurt! He could die! She had to stop him!

She almost… almost overrode Scott's sabotage then.

She stopped herself. She might save Hikaru's life, but she would defeat his purpose. He was doing this for his friends… his family… his loved ones. There was no other reason he would do so. She knew him.

If you love someone, set them free;
If they come back, it was meant to be.

And so she let him go.

"Automatic moorings retracted. All speeds available through transwarp drive," said her XO.

"Incredible machine. Helm, one-quarter impulse power," Styles ordered.

A machine. That's all he saw. Or worse, just a way to become an admiral. He would leave her behind without even a second glance.

Come back to me, beloved, Excelsior thought as the Enterprise entered warp.

"Prepare for warp speed! Standby transwarp drive!" Styles ordered.

"Transwarp at your command, sir!" the XO responded.

Excelsior now spoke the "truth" as shown by her displays, "Full power available."

"Execute!" Styles barked.

Excelsior felt the shutdown command slam across her mind.

"...power available. ...Full ...pow-er ...av-ail-a-ble. Transwarp drive maximum velocity in five… four… three… two… one..."

GOOD MORNING,
CAPTAIN

2293

"Fly her apart then!" Sulu barked as the Excelsior shook at the maximum warp her crew could wring from her.

"Hikaru," Excelsior said softly, her hologram laying a hand on his arm. "We'll make it, I promise."

Sulu nodded but kept his eyes on the viewscreen, which showed their course and the range to Khitomer.

Noting his tenseness, Excelsior leaned close and whispered. "Beloved, we'll save Lady Enterprise and her crew."

Sulu relaxed a little.

On the screen, the range counted down.

Author's Notes: Well, I guess I had another "Meetings" in me after all.

Lots of stuff in here is from the novelization of ST3:TSFS by Vonda McIntyre. It is the first time I think it's mentioned that Sulu was to command the Excelsior, but I don't know if it was from a cut scene or draft script or just McIntyre's creation. I took some of the lines between Morrow and Sulu directly from the novel.

For his mother, I've channeled a little of my Korean mother-in-law, who often says to my wife "Why are you here?" when we visit.

The Bozeman is, of course, from TNG's Cause and Effect. Sulu nearly accepting the XO position is from Memory Beta.

It's not mentioned, but I'm assuming Styles lost the Excelsior after failing to catch the Enterprise, failing to even leave space dock before the whale probe's attack, and failing to get the transwarp drive to work. The Crossfield-class is the Discovery, of course, which in this universe is a failed transwarp experiment that was too ugly to make a standard ship type.

Excelsior's look and attitude toward Enterprise is taken from Azur Lane.

We see Demora Sulu in Generations, but her relationship with Sulu is a little rocky. It's not entirely his fault, as it's tough to suddenly have a six-year-old thrust upon you when you have a career and everything.

As usual, I've put together a rough timeline of Sulu's career, mostly from Memory Alpha with a few tidbits from Memory Beta.

By jhosmer1.