Chapter Text
Holodeck—48 hours before Fregan III
“Not bad!” Angie clapped her hands, pleased at how the ship’s cheerleading squad was shaping up. “I think we’re ready to move up to the intermediate level next time. Guys—we’re really going to be relying on you for our new routine, so be sure you all study the pics I’ll be sending to you and keep up with your exercises.”
“Do you think we’ll be ready for the game against the DS-11 Panthers?” Crysta, a vivacious young Bolian cadet asked as she took a towel and wiped off the sweat.
“Almost.” Angie smiled back, “We’re just about ready to give them a good show. A little more work and we’ll be there. All of you are doing a great job. We’re gonna start doing pyramids next week. Once we get those down, we’ll be in business. Now, if there’s nothing else, go and hit the showers.”
“Angie?”
“Yeah, Lex.” Angie responded, waiting for her Trill friend to catch up with her. “What’s up?”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Sure/” Angie prompted, “Shoot.”
“Okay.” The young Trill ensign took a deep breath before asking, “How can I get Lieutenant Nalo to give me a chance.”
“Simi’s not still mad at you, is she?” The platinum-blonde helmsman queried.
“No.” Lexa shook her head, “At least I don’t think she is.”
“So what’s the problem?”
“It’s…it’s like this…” Lexa stammered, “it’s like no matter what I do…how well I do my job…I can’t seem to get her to notice me.” Letting out a dejected sigh, the young ensign groaned, “I’m sorry. You must think that I’m a shallow self-centered brat. Forget I ever brought the subject up.”
“Hey!” Angie consoled, draping her arm on her friend’s hug and giving her a reassuring hug. “It’s okay—really! My best friend from high school was often a self-centered brat.” Speaking now in a more serious tone of voice, she confided, “I can’t get into specifics, but Simi’s going through a rough stretch right now. Just give her time and keep on busting your butt. She knows how good a job you’re doing.” The light tone of voice returning, she joked, “Take my word for it, if you get Simi really mad at you, you’ll know it.”
Pausing at the turbolift, Lexa smiled warmly, “I better get to my quarters and clean up before I start my shift. Thanks, Ang. I needed that.”
“Any time.” Angie replied, returning her friend’s grin with one of her own. ‘Breakfast tomorrow?”
“Sure.”
“I’ll see you then!” Angie exclaimed as the turbolift closed. “Time for me to grab a shower and get some sleep too.” She murmured as she got a whiff of her body odor. “I think you’d have liked the girls here, Britt.” The platinum-blonde commented, mentally conjuring up an image of her best friend from her youth, a blonde teenager with a sunny smile and innocent face. “We’ve even got a few guys wanting to join up. You know…” she laughed softly, “we could have used them on our squad—especially when it came time for pyramids.”
The door to her quarters sliding open, she entered, commanding as the door closed, “Computer…dim lights.” Stripping off her clothes, the attractive reasonably well-endowed blonde made her way to the sonic shower. After a short time in which she permitted the sonic vibrations to clean off the sweat of the day, she emerged from the shower and slipped on a pale blue chemise. Exiting the bathroom, her eyes widened at the sight of the dark-haired man wearing a Starfleet uniform with captain’s insignia lounging comfortably on her couch.
“Q?”
“Have a seat, my dear.” The cosmic entity requested, patting the sofa, “We have a lot to talk about.”
“About what?” Angie gulped as she complied with the near-omnipotent being’s polite request.
“Something very important.” Q answered, his expression one of rare gravity. “Cataclysmic forces are about to be unleashed. Forces that will devastate and even destroy entire universes. And you—my dear—will be on the front lines.”
“I thought that ended when my…my…” Tears appearing on the normally perpetually happy girl’s face, she sobbed, “My love…” her eyes drifted down to a sketch of her as a teenager and another young teenage girl, both wearing dresses that resembled the ones flappers wore in the 1920s, “when she…”
“Her sacrifice…and yours…delayed it, mon cheri. You closed one door…but there are other doors…other windows. They are still open.” Q explained as he conjured a white handkerchief and handed it to Angie.
“What doors?” Angie asked as she daubed the moisture from her eyes, “Who opened them? And why?”
“These doors were left open billions of years ago by a race that even the Continuum fears.” Q somberly replied. “I can’t tell you everything, my dear—I’m not permitted to. As I told you long ago, there are limits even on my powers. I can give you this ray of hope though: you will not be alone. Your friends on this ship…and new friends…some of whom you might meet very soon…will be there fighting with you and beside you. And I will pop in on you from time to time to see how you are doing.”
“And my mother? My friends?” Angie asked worriedly, “What about them?”
“Don’t worry.” Q answered with a reassuring smile, “They are in a little pocket universe I’ve created for them that I put safely in the past and just to be sure, I also put them into a time loop.” Seeing the look of disappointment on the young blonde’s face, the cosmic being explained, “I had to do that, mon cheri. It was the only way I could guarantee their safety from the storm that is about to come. But to keep them from missing you, I’ve taken the liberty of conjuring up a duplicate of you with all of your memories and characteristics from just before our first meeting They'll believe it's you and that you never left them.”
“Thank you, Q.” Angie sobbed as she leaned forward and kissed her benefactor on the cheek. “I think Britt would go crazy if she didn’t have me to talk to. You’ve done so much for me. Given me a new start...a new life.”
“It was the least I could do for you, my dear.” Q replied with a blush, “You and your beloved helped me at a time when I truly needed help and you both willingly paid a high price to do so. I promised you that I would protect your loved ones and if I’m nothing else, I am a Q of my word.”
“Thank you again.” Angie responded softly as she again daubed her eyes. “So…what happens now?”
“Now, mon cheri.” Q said in a gentle tone as he passed the palm of his hand over Angie’s face, “You sleep.” Smiling warmly at the now slumbering young woman, her head resting on his lap, the cosmic entity picked her up and carried her to her bed. Tucking her in, he kissed the palm of his hand and laid it on Angie’s forehead. “When you wake up, my dear, know that you will embark on the adventure of a lifetime. Your father and beloved would be proud of you.”
Sickbay—24 hours before Fregan III
“Let me guess.” Dr. Vordus snorted as Simi entered the sickbay with a noticeable limp. “You pulled a muscle playing springball in the holodeck again.”
“Yup.” The Bajoran science officer grimaced as she limped to the Denobulan CMO. “I was playing in the 2380 summer Bajoran Open and drew Falo Nerel as my opponent.”
“The same Falo Nerel who won the Triple Laurels four years running?” Dr. Vordus asked with a crooked grin on his face, “The one who led the League in cautions for unsportsmanlike conduct?”
“The very same.” Simi laughed as she sat down on the examination table.
“All right. You know the drill. Stay still while I do my thing.” Vordus replied as he ran a medical scanner over his patient. “Hmmm…”
“Hmmm…what?” Simi asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Looks like you’ve injured your hamstring. Analgesic for the pain.” The doctor explained as he injected his patient with a hypospray. “Nurse? Hand me that subdermal regenerator please?”
“Here doctor.” The Caitan nurse responded as she handed the device to Vordus.
A few minutes later, after he had finished his work, Vordus declared, “That should take care of the hamstring, but I’m putting you on light duty for three days.”
“Three days!” Simi exclaimed, “We’re going to be in the Fregan system in one. I’m supposed to go on the landing party!”
“Commander Xylides will just have to get someone else.” The Denobulan physician answered and then suggested, “What about that new ensign? The Trill? I’ve heard that she’s a planetologist and that she’s itching for something to do.”
“I don’t know…” Simi frowned, shaking her head, “She’s just out of the Academy and this is an important assignment…”
Vordus took a deep breath and exhaled before speaking, “I probably shouldn’t be telling you this, Simi, but I’m going to anyway. That girl thinks that you’ve got it in for her.”
“What?” Simi exclaimed, “That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard! Why would she ever think something like that?”
“From what I’ve heard, you really lit into her when she just came on board.” Vordus patiently explained, “It seems that she was late for orientation because she’d gotten lost and, again, I’m going on hearsay here so I’m not sure how accurate it is—you were very rough on her. And since then, she’s been itching for a chance to prove herself to you, but at the same time she's scared to death of you.”
Racking her memories, Simi recalled, “I think I remember what happened now, Doc. It happened just before I was excommunicated and my family disowned me. I’ll admit I was on a hair trigger—still am somewhat.” But…” she shook her head, “I’m not holding a grudge against her or anything like that. Until now, nothing’s come up where her capabilities would prove useful.”
“Looks to me like something’s come up now.” Vordus prompted, giving his patient a searching look, “Don’t you think so?”
After a momentary pause, Simi nodded her head, “Yeah. Okay. I’ll put her name in for Ilya. But she makes the final decision.”
“That’s fair.” The Denobulan physician agreed with a wide grin, “I guess that’s all—just remember you’re on light duty for the next seventy-two hours.”
“Okay, Doc.” The Bajoran science officer acknowledged, “I’ll take easy. Promise.”
“Good.” The doctor said before offering one final suggestion to his patient as she made her exit, “Oh…one other thing. You might want to clear the air with young Ensign Cato before we arrive at our destination.”
Dya and Luciano—Holodeck—Twelve hours before Fregan III
Wearing an Elasian tunic, cuirass, and greaves and holding a short sword in his hand, Luciano asked the woman before him wearing similar armor and also bearing a short sword in a bantering tone, “So, Dya, is this how a typical Elasian date works?”
“This isn’t a date.” The raven-haired tactical officer chuckled. Her expression now more serious, Dya explained, “Have you read those Lexington logs like you were supposed to?”
“Yeah. Of course I did!” Luciano declared before blushing at the skeptical look on Dya’s face. “Well…okay.” He guiltily confessed, “Maybe glanced at would be more accurate. It’s just that some of the stuff was well…”
“Disturbing? Unbelievable?” Dya prompted.
Nodding his head, the Italian operations officer affirmed, “Exactly.” Then, looking down at the blade he was holding, queried, “Why are we doing this?”
“Remember when Wesley and some of his crew were teleported off their ships and dumped into what they think was a parallel dimension? ”
“A little.” Luciano confessed, “To be honest, it kind of confused me. I wasn’t sure if they were dumped into another universe or another galaxy or what.”
“Don’t feel bad..” Dya laughed, “I don’t think anyone else knows the answer to that either. It doesn’t matter. Wherever they were dumped, they couldn’t use their phasers so they had to improvise using makeshift spears and clubs and relying on traps for food and to defend themselves. We’re doing this in case the same thing happens you’ll know how to used an edged weapon or something like that.”
“What about the others on the landing team?” The young Italian ensign persisted, “Are they going to get the same training?”
“They’ve already had it. Either from me…the Academy…or from someone else and before I’d let them get out of training they had to prove to me that they knew what they were doing—even Lexa. In fact, she completed her course a couple of hours ago.” The Elasian tactical officer declared, “Now it’s your turn. You wanna be on the landing party, you’ll learn how to use that sword.”
“All right!” Luciano grumbled, “Let’s get this over with.”
An hour later, Luciano, sweaty from several practice bouts with his Elasian teacher asked, “So how did I do teach?”
“Not bad for a beginner.” Dya replied, continuing her evaluation. “Your endurance and muscle strength is good as is your reaction time. You have a tendency to telegraph your moves and you fall for feints too easily—but that’s the sort of stuff you’ll learn to look out for in practice.” Her expression now taking on an air of gravity, the tactical officer cautioned, “Combat with melee weapons like swords, knives, and even clubs can get messy—very messy. You have to learn to shut that out and let your muscles and reflexes do their work. Close combat is not the time for hesitation or squeamishness. Save all of that for after the fight is over. Understood?”
Nodding his head, Luciano acknowledged, “Yeah. I understand.”
Dya smiled as she patted the young operations officer on his shoulder, “You did good, Lucky. Hit the showers and I’ll see you for lunch at Babushka’s before our shift begins.”
Returning to his quarters, Lieutenant Commander Tanvir Kumar at once made his way to the replicator and, after ordering a cup of Darjeeling tea, commanded as he sat down on the couch, “Computer, open a subspace channel to my husband.” The image of a dark haired human in his thirties appeared on the monitor soon after. “Hey, Derek.”
“Tanvir! Where are you? You’re supposed to be at DS-11.”
Chuckling, the Indian operations office quipped, “You knew what you were getting when you said, I do, honey.”
“Yeah. I guess so.” Derek responded with a winsome grin, “Deidre was looking forward to seeing you.”
“How is our little imp?” Tanvir laughed.
“She’s doing fine—staying out of trouble for a change.”
“Heh. That’s a switch.”
“She wants to try out for the school gymnastics team.”
“That’s good.” Tanvir nodded his head approvingly, “It’ll give her a way to burn off some energy—provided she keeps her grades up, that is.”
“That’s one of the conditions I demanded when I told her she could try out.” Derek explained, “She has to keep at least a B average and stay out of trouble—no demerits or reprimands.”
“Good.” Tanvir smiled, “She’s a good girl—just a little rambunctious at times. Tell her I miss her.”
“I will” Derek promised. “So…do you have time to talk? It’s been a long time since we’ve spoken to each other.”
“All the time in the world.”
Science Lab:
Silently watching as her newest officer worked studiously at her monitor, Simi coming to a decision, called out to her. “Lexa? Would you come into my office, please?”
“Yes, Ma’am.” Lexa responded with a nervous hitch to her voice, taking a deep breath and then exhaling as she entered her superior officer’s office.
“She looks like she’s marching to her execution.” Simi commented to herself as she observed as the anxious young ensign slowly make her way to her office. “Have a seat.” The Bajoran science chief requested, gesturing to a chair in front of her desk. Waiting patiently until Lexa had taken her seat, Simi gave the young woman an encouraging smile, “I’ve heard good things about your performance from Lieutenant S’kar. He’s a hard man to please—almost as hard as I am.”
“Ummm…” Lexa shifted in her seat, timidly responding, “Thank you, Ma’am.”
Heaving a sigh, Simi, carefully choosing her words, admonished her skittish young officer, “I’ve studied your Academy record, Lexa. You consistently scored in the top five percent of your class academically. The only thing keeping you from graduating at the top of your class was one very important detail.”
“Ma’am?”
“When it came to your leadership classes, you consistently placed in the lower tier. After reading the comments of your instructors and seeing you in action, I find myself in agreement with them. Your main failing is a lack of confidence. That—more than anything else—is what is holding you back. That is why I am recommending you for Commander Xylides’ landing party when we get to Fregan III. You’ve been cleared for access to the classified portions of Admiral Bateson's logs. Study them and be ready to move out once we arrive in system. Any questions?”
“No Ma’am.” Lexa responded as she tried without success to keep from smiling.
“Good.” Simi, keeping a poker face, nodded her head. “It won’t be long until we’ve arrived at Fregan III and you’ve got a lot of prep work to do. Dismissed.”
Chuckling softly as she heard her subordinates enthusiastic “Yes, Ma’am!”, Simi muttered under her breath, "I hope you don't get yourself killed, kid."
Bridge
“Approaching Fregan System, Captain.” Angie reported from her position at helm.
“Drop us to impulse and maintain course to Fregan III.” Captain Rodenko commanded. Turning to his first officer, the Commissar grunted, “Thoughts XO?”
“According to Admiral Bateson’s logs, we should start picking up trace amounts of verteron and chroniton energy along with dark energy now.” Commander Ilya Xylides, the purple haired, lilac-eyed Halenoi first officer commented. “Simi?” the first officer prompted the Bajoran science officer.
“Sensors are picking up slightly increased presence of those particles.”
“Can you trace them to a source?” Boris inquired.
“Affirmative.” The Bajoran science officer responded as she cross referenced her results with the admiral’s log. “The particles all seem to stem from a location on Fregan III.”
“Right.” Rodenko acknowledged with a single nod of his head, “Assume standard orbit around Fregan III, Angie.” Turning to the youthful Trill seated at the science station next to his chief science officer, The Commissar, testing her mettle, quizzed, “Ensign. What are we dealing with on the ground here?”
“Class L planet tidally locked to Fregan, a Class K0 star.” Lexa replied as she read off the details of her scans. “Thin oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere. The temperatures on the nighttime face average approximately minus one hundred degrees Celsius.”
“Environmental suits would be required if we have to beam down to the surface.” .” Lieutenant Commander Kumar, the Punjabi Operations chief remarked.
“Correct.” The Trill planetologist officer affirmed. “Temps on the daylight side are somewhat more hospitable though with average temperatures approximately minus thirty degrees Celsius.
“We’re still going to need more than standard parkas.” Ilya noted receiving an affirming grunt from her captain.
“Da.” Boris nodded, “Full cold weather gear plus portable shelter.”
“And plenty of hot tea”, Angie quipped.
“Anything else?” Ilya inquired, “Life signs? Radiation? Signs of former habitation?”
“No signs of life.” Lexa reported, her Bajoran superior officer giving her a smile of encouragement. “Slightly high levels of radiation with the highest concentration near some ruins my scans have picked up at the terminator. I’d recommend anti-rad injections for the landing party and possibly booster shots.”
“Da. Very good, Ensign” Boris acknowledged approvingly before issuing his next command, “XO? Is your team ready?"
"Always, Sir." Ilya responded with a crooked grin.
"Good." Boris nodded. "Time for you and your people to stretch your legs. Go down there and see if you can find any clues as to where Admiral Bateson might have gone.”
“Aye, Captain.” Commander Xylides responded, “Ensign Cato? Do you think you’re ready to take a walk?”
“Yes, Ma’am!” The young Trill officer exclaimed, blushing slightly as she realized that she was almost shouting.
“Good to see that you’re enthused.” Ilya quipped with a smirk. “Angie? You’re on the team too. Dya? You also and bring a security trooper with you.”
“Aye, Commander.” The Elasian tactical chief replied.
Tapping her comm, the Halenoi first officer issued her next set of orders, “Dr. Vordus?”
“Yes.” The Denobulan CMO replied.
“Report to Transporter Room One for landing party detail. We’ll have cold weather gear available there. Also, we’ll all need anti-radiation treatments before beaming down.”
“Acknowledged.” The doctor affirmed, “I’ll meet you in the transporter room.”
“Ang…Dya...Lexa.” Ilya ordered, gesturing towards the turbolift. “Ready?”
“Aye, Sir.”
“Then let’s get moving. We’ve got some ruins that need exploring and maybe some questions to answer.”