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.

Enterprise: "Parallels"

Written by Dramatic_Spoon

"Enterprise. Check for-"

"I've ~KRRK~ already done so. No Siiiiiiighs of any Borg C-C-Cubes in the quad-*" the audio cut out, "-ain Riker."

"How...What? Not possible, no, scan aga-"

The viewscreen was at once filled with Enterprises. Countless copies of them, as far as her damaged sensors could see. If she still had a gynoid, tears might have come to her eyes.

So many lost sisters...

"Captain, We're being hailed...By...by another Enterprise?" Worf frowned.

"What?"

"Captain, sh~KRRKR~ I play it?" Enterprise asked.

"Do it...Maybe it can explain everything."

"This is Captain Riker of the Enterprise...that is the Enterprise that is indigenous to this universe..."

"That must be it, this is a reality where we...they... they stopped the Borg." Riker smiled. A geniune smile, something he hadn't done in...

Well, it didn't matter. It had been too long.

"If we can get them to help us, then we-"

He heard what the local Riker said, and his face fell.

"-A way to return us all to our proper realities. But we nee-"

"NO!" Riker slammed his fist on the armrest, breaking it, "We can't let that happen!"

"Captain, they've sent us a quantum signature...which does not match ours, as best as I can tell."

"Enterprise?"

"I'vvvvvvvvvve compared it to ours. Not a ma-ma-match... and there are ttttoooo many Enterprises to tell exa-*"

"*-tion is to wait to see whi=o~KRRRK~ responds."

"Do it. Mr. Worf, prepare to fire once we know," Riker ordered.

Enterprise stared at her captain, and his wild, desperate eyes.

"Captain?"

"They're going to help us. One of them, any of them...they must have survived. We can turn the tide, we-"

"Captain, the ~KRRRK~chances of us getting a mmmmeans to change the tide is unlikely. The F-F-Federation-"

Riker shook his head frantically, as though seized by a fit.

"THERE IS NO FEDERATION! There's just us..." He glared out at the viewscreen, "and them."

Enterprise tried again.

"Sir, we have no idea about the Quantum fissure, if we are not careful-"

"The more there are, the better chances of finding someone who will help us!" Riker insisted.

Enterprise managed to shake her head, despite the damage to her holoemitters.

"Captain Rikkkeeer, This plan isn't likelikelikely to work."

"Sir, a Shuttlecraft with a matching quantum signature is leaving the native Enterprise. It might disrupt the-" Worf tried, but Riker interrupted.

"Do it! FIRE!"

Without another word, Worf opened fire on the craft.

"Enterprise, open a channel." Riker stood and approached the viewing screen.

"Captain, given our condition and the ddddamage to our syst-*"

"No hits, but we have their attention," Worf replied.

"-*not sure if htey'll get it. Shall I attttempt an~KRRRK~ay?"

Riker nodded furiously.

"Do it."

The battered screen flickered to life. Dead pixels, damage and slapdash repairs obscured the picture, but they all recognized the familiar faces: Troi, Data, Wesley, and others. Those lost to the Borg, or to a more merciful death.

"We won't go back. You don't know what it's like," Riker barked at his counterpart, "The Federation is gone, the Borg are everywhere!"

An explosion rocked the bridge. Riker spun around to see what had happened: another panel smoked as Worf ran to check on it. Enterprise tried to keep it together, but it was just one of countless malfunctioning panels throughout her systems.

"Warnwarnwarning. We will be unaabele to maintain communications with them for much lo-"

Riker reached out a hand, trying to convey his feelings through the motion.

"We're one of the last ships left...Please, you've got to help us!"

"I'm sorry, there's no choice," the Alternate Riker spoke, "If this works, then everything will-"

Captain Riker lost it.

"NO! WE WON'T GO BACK! WE WON'T!"

The screen flickered off as Riker spun to face Worf.

"Are our weapons systems still operational?"

"Yes, Sha-"

"Open fire on the shuttlecraft! Everything we've got! We're not going back!"

Enterprise pulled what power she could for her damaged phaser arrays, and pumped it through. She struck the shuttlecraft, noting how little damage she was doing.

"Again!" Riker shouted.

The local Enterprise fired back, their phasers making her hull shake and her shields flicker.

"Captain, they've Fire-Fired on us," Enterprise warned, "shields won't ho-*"

The ship rocked under the impact as warning systems blared. Her plasma distribution system began to overload, and her relays exploded across her hull.

"Warp breech. Engine core compromisssed...Captain.."

The damaged holomatter emitter flickered to life. Riker stared at his loyal, and finally broken ship as she bowed her head low.

"...I'm sorry."

Everything went white.

Enterprise of the local universe watched as the explosion engulfed the ship. A notice popped up in her Borderlands, and she accepted without a second thought.

She stared back at herself. a broken, bruised, battered version, parts of her distorted by damaged emitters. Her hair hung in unkempt, tangled knots, her left eye missing, revealing a black, dead hole.

Her damaged counterpart smiled.

"Thank you."

With that, she vanished.

The interesting thing about shipgirls is that for many of the crew, the episode of the week is a mystery or a thriller or an adventure.

But for shipgirls? Those episodes... Can be horror stories.