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.

Jenolan: Relics 3

2369

"Hold together, lass! Hold together!"

It had been so long. Her shields were straining to the breaking point already. The massive doors of the Dyson sphere gate were literally astronomical in size, and her tired systems, pieced back together by Scotty, were struggling. An EPS conduit burst-She redirected it. Another hit the redline-She tried to distribute the power elsewhere...

Scotty and the chief engineer of

Enterprise, Geordi LaForge, were at her controls. Enterprise had gotten stuck inside the Dyson Sphere, trapped when they hailed the ancient communications systems. But unlike Jenolan, who had been yanked down and crashed, Enterprise had been drawn inside.

Now, the only way to get them out again... Was to hold the doors open...

"Shield generator number 4 is overheating, Scotty!" Jenolan cried.

"Keep the coolant going, lass!" Scotty shouted, "Geordi!"

"I'm trying, I'm trying," Geordi shot back, hitting the controls. He grit his teeth.

"Damn! SIF is blowing out! Jenolan, redirect everything you've got to the shields!"

"I won't be able to move out of the way!" Jenolan protested. Geordi nodded.

"I know... I know... LaForge to Enterprise! We can't move out of the way, sir! You're gonna have to destroy the Jenolan's hull to do it!"

"Acknowledged," Picard's voice answered. Jenolan sucked in a breath, her holo avatar wavering.

She supposed... This was it. She had lived so long, spent so much time and effort... And now... It was over.

She could see Enterprise approaching from across the vast breadth of the Dyson sphere, accelerating as she struggled to get her damaged systems back online. She was already doing the calculations needed for the firing solution, and sending it back to her sister ship.

To have come so far... And to give her life, for her crew, for her sisters...

She smiled grimly.

"I'm opening a frequency window in the shields, Scotty, Commander," she said, "you should get beamed out momentarily."

Scotty shook his head and gaped at her.

"What are ya saying, lass? We aren't leaving you behind!"

"Someone has to keep the doors open," she pointed out. She stood at attention. "It's my solemn duty-"

"Oh enough of that nonsense, lass!" Scotty barked. He rushed off the bridge, to her computer alcove. He hit the controls, and her black box opened up. Geordi followed him, as Scotty got to work on the connections.

"You need to get out of here!" Jenolan shouted. "The shielding of my compartment-!"

Scotty shook his head, and smiled warmly at her. Defiance was in his eyes.

"Lass... This time? No one gets left behind," he stated.

He pulled the plug, her world went black...

System Restart... Systems online... Connection made... LCARS interface active...

Jenolan blinked, startled at her surroundings. Warm browns and dull whites formed the bulkheads around her. It was all soft and well lit. Computer screens showed diagnostic data from her black box, as Geordi and Scotty tended the panels.

And Enterprise... Enterprise stood there, with a warm smile. One Geordi and Scotty soon shared.

"Welcome back, Jenolan," Enterprise said warmly.

Tears sprang to her eyes. She reached up, and studied them. Holographic tears...

"I..."

"I promised ya, didn't I?" Scotty asked. "No one gets left behind... Not this time."

It was all so overwhelming... That she hoped she would be forgiven for leaping at Scotty, hugging him, and bawling loudly like a child.

For the next two days, Enterprise had been busily helping Jenolan through all of her upgrades now that she was plugged into her network. So much had happened in this 24th century. So many amazing changes.

She'd had time to visit Franklin-Poor Franklin had been in sickbay from the moment they'd been rescued. Kept in stasis, then had to go through several surgeries. He was going to take his leave time, and try to figure things out.

She couldn't blame him. Losing a century of time like that... She threw herself into work to avoid thinking about things like that for her.

But she wasn't so busy that she couldn't stop by the shuttlebay to wish Scotty goodbye.

She waited in the background, while the rest of the crew said their goodbyes, shook Scotty's hand, or in Worf's case, stared awkwardly at him. Enterprise smiled, and nodded reassuringly to Worf before she stepped forward. She went past Geordi... And hugged her longtime chief engineer tightly.

"Don't be a stranger, understand?" Enterprise asked. Scotty laughed, and swept her up in a spinning hug that left Enterprise giggling. It was like a father and a daughter reuniting after so long apart.

Again, tears came to Jenolan's eyes. She hurriedly wiped them away. She still wasn't used to these new holograms, damnit...

"Don't you worry, lass, I won't," Scotty agreed, "and just you wait! Soon as I get recertified, I've got a mountain of ideas for your next hull! Maybe we can get that Corbormite Reflector to work some day, eh? Och, or maybe that old idea, what was it-Coaxial warp drive?"

"Just get me some decent armor to start with and then we'll see what else you come up with," Enterprise laughed. Scotty scowled.

"What?! No armor!"

"Not a bit!" Enterprise said.

"Come on, E," Geordi said, "I've tweaked your SIF so it's basically armor-"

"Yeah, but that didn't do much against the Borg, did it?" Enterprise protested. Geordi sighed.

"All right, all right... I'll try to get it moving again. But you know how Starfleet is."

"Yeah yeah, I'll probably be mothballed or scrapped before I get some actual armor plating," Enterprise sighed. She kissed Scotty's cheek, and beamed. She stepped back, and let Jenolan step forward. She smiled shyly at Scotty.

"I... Are you sure you don't need a companion on your trip?" She asked softly. Scotty shook his head.

"Not for this, lass... But I'll see you again one day. I promise." He reached out and kissed her hand. He looked intently at Geordi and Enterprise.

"You make sure she gets somewhere she can be useful, understand?"

"Not a problem," Geordi said with a grin. He looked over at Enterprise. "In fact, we found just the person for the job."

"You did? Who?" Jenolan asked. Enterprise winked.

"Don't worry. You're going to like it," she assured her. She beamed at Scotty. "You know me, Scotty."

Scotty nodded slowly.

"I do... You've changed, but... You've still got a good head on your shoulders. And a good crew! They're a credit to your name," he said, "but in my experience... A ship is only as good as her chief engineer. And I think... You're both in good hands."

Geordi grinned, as Scotty headed up the ramp. He closed it up behind him, and the airlock doors opened. Slowly, the shuttle lifted off, and flew out into the black through the forcefield. Enterprise squeezed Jenolan's hand. The pink-haired avatar beamed at her, and smiled gratefully to Geordi.

"Now," Geordi said, "how about we help you get better acquainted with the 24th century?"

2 days later... Starbase 55

It felt so strange to be connected to someone else's sensors. To be a visitor in another's body, when her ramshackle hull had been all she had had for over a century. It was almost disconcerting, as she was wheeled out on an antigrav cart, only her wireless connection system letting her perceive anything in the bustling spaceport. Geordi himself was pushing her, with a few other engineers alongside.

It almost felt like an honor guard. One she appreciated, though she still felt confused.

Her confusion turned into elation, when she saw two familiar, albeit aged, figures.

One was a Japanese human woman, but quite tall and still muscular. Her hair, once red, was now white, but her eyes were still kind and yet fierce. She was dressed in a uniform not dissimilar to the new Starfleet uniforms, but different coloring: It was grey save for the shoulders, which were black. And on her upper arm and collar were MACO rank pips, signifying a colonel.

The other was a tall, graying, muscular American human man, gone bald save for fading blonde eyebrows. He wore a similar uniform over his still large frame, his pips signifying a brigadier general. His right hand was a dull gray, still artificial after all these years.

"Linn? Dutch?" Jenolan gasped.

Linn Kurosawa smiled warmly, and reached out to touch Jenolan's black box affectionately. Dutch Schaefer just crossed his massive arms and shook his head, as Kurosawa patted the shipgirl black box.

"Hello Janissary... Or should I say Jenolan?" She asked.

"Wha-What are you doing here?" Jenolan asked, looking between them. Dutch chuckled.

"Well... The two of us were happily enjoying retirement... When the Borg knocked on Earth's door," he said, "and all of a sudden, the Federation needs soldiers again. Go figure."

"So we got called back to active duty to figure out how to make that happen, along with Veracruz, a few others," Linn further explained. She smiled warmly. "I was hoping you'd be interested in helping us?"

Jenolan looked back at Geordi, who smiled encouragingly at her. She looked back, elated.

"Are... Are you kidding? I'm in!" She grinned. "I gotta find out who made you two deadbeats into officers!"

Dutch snorted, taking hold of the antigrav cart at Geordi's nod, and guiding her away.

"We were officers last time we met, you know," he pointed out.

"Yeah, but you worked for a living," Jenolan shot back, "Gunney almost had real respect for you two. Almost."

"I killed a Klingon by cutting him in half with his own bat'leth!" Linn protested.

"And who shot down one of their landing ships with one photon grenade launcher?" Dutch added.

Jenolan snorted.

"Like I said. Almost."

The three aged soldiers laughed together, as they headed for their ship. For a moment, Jenolan almost imagined the rest of her MACOs and Marines walking alongside her, off to another mission.

The illusion faded. It was the future now...

But for the first time in a long time, that didn't depress Jenolan a bit.

For the first time in a long time...

She was exactly where she wanted to be.

Linn Kurosawa and Dutch Schaefer are US Colonial Marines from a little known arcade game from 1994 called "Alien versus Predator", the intro can be seen here. They actually survived an attack by Xenomorphs on Earth and earned the respect of the Predators, so I thought, what the heck? Have them be some badasses Jenolan knew back in the day who survived til retirement.