Untitled TOS-era Story Treatment

On exploratory mission in unexplored space, the Enterprise enters orbit of the second planet of the 416 Tausret solar system. Although the planet is technically class-M, it’s barely habitable and looks as though it’s recovering from a nuclear winter. Interestingly, sensor imaging detects clear evidence of orbital bombardment by advanced weapons at some point 1500-5000 years ago. There may have been a civilization here once, Spock says, but no more. They finish taking sensor readings and are about to leave the system when sensors detect an artificial object in a slightly-closer orbit around the star. They check it out, and it’s a derelict starship!

The ship resembles a Starfleet design: a saucerlike hull about the size of the Enterprise’s—only sleeker—and two very long, slender engine nacelles. (Actually, it’s a Centuar-class) Even stranger, when they zoom in on its markings, they see the words United Federation of Planets. The name on the hull is USS Polaris and the registry number has too many digits: NCC-69572. Scotty says that the design looks a lot like projections of where starship technology will be 50 years from now.  Most interestingly, although all the ship’s systems are shut down and it has no gravity or atmosphere, there’s an array of solar panels hooked up to one of the ship’s power umbilicals. (In fact, the sunlight bouncing off the flat surface of the solar panels was what first alerted us to the ship’s presence) The only power utilization on the ship is in a cluster of compartments near the center of the ship. A landing party beams over and finds the power is being used to sustain 130 stasis capsules.

The capsules are beamed back to the Enterprise, and we learn that they’ve been in operation a very long time, centuries at least. Only 7 are still functioning. It’s a mystery: how can a ship from the future have been here for centuries? One of the survivors is the Polaris’s Captain, Jack Shepard. He’s very weak from the long time in stasis, but quickly realizes he’s in a 23^rd century sickbay. When Kirk comes in and introduces himself Shepard suddenly becomes very intense and demands to know the stardate. “4318.2,” Kirk replies.

“You’re sure about that?” Shepard presses. “You’re sure it’s not 4309?”

Kirk repeats the stardate again, gently but firmly. “Four. Three. One. Eight. Point two.”

“Where are we?” Shepard rasps. “Are we in the Shath- the Tausret system?”

“That’s right,” Kirk replies.

“4318.2,” Shepard says, sounding relieved. “4318.2. Then it worked. Thank God it worked.” He collapses into unconsciousness.

 Another survivor, a Vulcan engineer named Storil, is slightly stronger. He tells Kirk that the Polaris is from approximately 70 years in their future. It was caught in a wormhole and emerged 3000 years in the past. The crew of 130 was much too small a gene pool to simply settle on a planet somewhere and start a colony—and anyway, many of them were from different species and couldn’t interbreed without the help of modern medicine—so the Captain decided that everyone would go into stasis and try to wait it out. They had to dump their antimatter pods, since the containment fields would never function for 3000 years, and they vented the ship’s atmosphere so the vacuum would preserve everything. Kirk tells him that Capt. Shepard seemed surprised that the stardate was 4318, and not an earlier one like 4309. Storil raises an eyebrow. “If this is the USS Enterprise, and the stardate is 4318, then his relief is most understandable. I share it.”

Spock, who had been listening, turns and leaves. Later, Kirk meets him on the bridge. Spock has a theory: Storil said that the Polaris was thrown 3000 years into the past. And their scans of the second planet showed that it was bombarded with advanced weapons about that long ago. A barrage of high-yield photon torpedoes would perfectly explain the blast patterns.

Kirk confronts Capt. Shepard, who’s gotten stronger since we saw him last. Shepard doesn’t quite admit to firing on the planet 3000 years ago. But, he explains, the planet you knew only as 416 Tausret II, we knew as Shathis, homeworld of the dangerous, violent Shathis Imperium. According to the history he knows, the Enterprise was never heard from again after entering this region of space, and the Shathians later took credit for destroying it. But that wasn’t the end of it. By his time the Shathians have allied with the Klingons and launched a genocidal war against the Federation, wiping out races they deem to be inferior. The Edosians, Hamalki, and Sulamid are gone. And the Federation is losing the war. What would you have done in those circumstances, Shepard asks Kirk, if you suddenly found yourself 3,000 years in the past with all the power of a starship at your command, back when the Shathians were a simple Iron-Age society?

Not commit genocide, Kirk insists.

I’m talking about preventing genocide, Shepard counters. The Shathians wiped out three races that we know of, and who knows how many more? Their empire extends into areas of the galaxy Starfleet has never explored. We both swore an oath to protect the Federation, he says. So when you have an opportunity to save even one of its member races from genocide at the hands of an enemy, aren’t you duty bound to take it? Even if it means making a hard choice?

Find an alternative. Kirk insists. We can’t defeat our enemies by adopting the tactics of our enemies. That kind of nonsense almost wiped out the human race a couple centuries ago.

Shepard shrugs. What are you going to do, Captain. Court-martial me? I haven’t been born yet. And now that history is going to unfold a lot differently than the way I learned it, me and most of my crew will probably never even be born in the first place. How can the Federation legal system try a man who was never born for a crime that he allegedly committed millennia before there even was a Federation?

Kirk seizes on the first part of this: Yes, history is going to unfold a lot differently than the way Shepard learned it. Who’s to say it’s any better? The Shathians were a major power; who knows what kind of unintended consequences their absence will bring? For the first time, Shepard seems to stop and think. Maybe you’re right, he finally says. But if you’d seen the things I’ve seen, you’d have done exactly what I did. Limited power has been restored on the Polaris, and he returns to his ship.

On board the Polaris, his remaining crew are doing repairs, trying to resurrect systems that have been sitting inert for three millennia. Shepard holes up in his Ready Room, hunched over his computer monitor doing some kind of historical research.

A while later, the Polaris is patched up enough to travel, and her officers meet with Kirk and Spock in the Enterprise briefing room. The former are attired in 24^th century Starfleet uniforms they replicated for themselves (they’re the TNG Season 1 & 2 togs) . Now that the Polaris is spaceworthy again, Kirk says that the Enterprise will escort it to the Yard, a remote and secret Starfleet facility where exotic tech is studied. The Polaris is limited to low warp speeds, so they’ll be taking it slow.

Before they leave, Spock and Storil have a conversation. The other Polaris officers are defiantly supportive of their Captain’s decision; what about Storil? He’s clearly struggling with it, but says that he sees the logic in Shepard’s decision to wipe out the Shathians. Spock says “Three thousand years ago, many Vulcans would also have seen the logic in it. But if our society had allowed them to dominate, instead of turning to the teachings of Surak, Vulcan would not have survived. And you and I would not be having this conversation.” Storil doesn’t reply, but he knows Spock is right.

The Polaris officers return to their ship, and they get underway. Everything is fine for a few hours, but suddenly the intruder alert goes off—someone has beamed into the Engineering section! But there’s no time to react to that because the Polaris veers off and goes to high warp! Obviously its speed isn’t as limited as the Enterprise crew was led to believe. Kirk orders pursuit, but the Polaris is doing Warp 12, they’ll never catch them. Security calls to say the “intruder” that beamed aboard is one of the Polaris officers. Kirk orders him to be taken to the briefing room. When he and Spock get there, we learn that it’s Storil.

Storil tells them that Shepard took what Kirk said about the unintended consequences of destroying the Shathians very seriously. After some research, he realized that in his timeline the Klingons suffered a major setback twenty-five years from now when Praxis exploded. The fallout from that disaster is the only reason the Klingon-Shathian alliance hadn’t already overrun the Federation by his time. But without the Shathian alliance and the subsequent war with the Federation, Praxis’ energy-production facilities might not be taxed enough for the explosion to happen, and the Klingons will therefore be stronger and in a position to pose a grave threat to the Federation in 50-70 years. So Shepard has decided to destroy Praxis himself. The Polaris is fast enough to get there before Klingon patrols can intercept them, and the crew was able to construct a few quantum torpedoes. True, the Klingon defenses will probably destroy the Polaris during the attack, but not before they destroy Praxis.

Kirk is aghast; this will start a war! Storil says that Shepard believes the Klingons will be too devastated by the destruction of Praxis to fight a war. Any military response will be weak and easily repelled by Starfleet, he’s sure of it. What do you believe? Spock asks him.

“I believe Captain Shepard’s conclusions are illogical.” Storil says. “Because of his decision three thousand years ago, a new timeline has been created with events that cannot be accurately predicted. This action will only compound his original error, and will surely cost millions of lives even if the resulting Klingon-Federation war is as brief as he believes it will be. He must be stopped.”

Stopped, yes. But how? The Enterprise can’t catch up, but the maybe the Klingons could intercept if they knew he was coming. Uhura taps into a Starfleet intelligence drone near the Klingon border and learns that the IKS Devisor—Koloth’s ship—is patrolling the area. They’re too far away to directly contact the Devisor, unless they use the drone as a relay. But this will give away the drone’s location, which won’t make Starfleet Intelligence happy. Kirk decides they’ll just have to make it up to them by returning the Polaris intact.

Kirk contacts the Devisor. Koloth is skeptical. Maybe Kirk is just telling him about the Polaris to draw him off his patrol route for some nefarious reason. I’m telling the truth, Kirk insists. And if you don’t listen, then you’ll be responsible for the destruction of Praxis and the deaths of thousands of Klingon civilians.

There are no civilians in the Empire, Captain. Koloth replies. We are all warriors of one kind of another. But he agrees to help. Kirk then turns to Storil. We need a way to disable the Polaris before it can destroy the Devisor, otherwise there could still be a war. Storil identifies a point on the underside of the ship, at the junction of the nacelle struts. If they can hit it with a precise phaser or torpedo strike, it’ll knock out warp power.

The plan works. The Devisor is able to slow the Polaris down enough for the Enterprise to catch up, and some precision shooting by Sulu knocks it out of warp and takes out its weapons. Shepard accepts the inevitable and surrenders. 

Suddenly, the Klingons grab the Polaris with a tractor beam. Clearly this is an advanced Federation vessel, clearly an intelligence coup for the Klingons. Bringing it home would be a huge feather in Koloth's cap.

If you try to leave with that ship I'll blow it up, Kirk warns. 

Koloth says he's not leaving empty-handed. He'll be in enough trouble when his superiors learn he cooperated with Starfleet, even temporarily. 

But you don't have to. Kirk points out. If the Enterprise has the Polaris in tow, they won't be able to stop Koloth from scooping up the nearby Starfleet intelligence drone now that he has a fix on it. 

Koloth begrudgingly agrees and releases the Polaris. The Enterprise takes it in tow, and they leave Klingon space. Kirk doesn’t throw Shepard and his officers in the brig, but he does confine them to quarters. When the reach they Yard, Kirk & Shepard have a conversation. Kirk informs him that Starfleet has decided not to press charges. After all, as he pointed out there are legal obstacles to trying people who will probably never be born.

What will become of us? Shepard wonders.  You will certainly not be allowed to join Starfleet, Spock says. Kirk is more diplomatic. Shepard & his crew have a whole galaxy of possibilities before them. After all, for the first time in 3,000 years they have no idea what the future holds.

I envy you, Shepard says. The Shathian/Klingon war had effectively ended Starfleet’s mission of exploration in his time. Starfleet was aware of peaceful humanoid races living under the Shathian yoke on the far side of their empire, races like the Cardassians and the Tzenkethi. Maybe Kirk will play a role in helping them to join the Federation.

Spock simply raises an eyebrow. Later, on the bridge, he and Kirk talk of the limitless human capacity for self-deception, and Shepard’s complete inability to see that he’d become the very thing he spent his life fighting. Humanity may have come a long way, Kirk says, but that’s one thing they’ll always have to guard against.

Pursuit: A Tale of the Dominion War

Summary: While Sisko beams to the USS Defiant from the pursuing Enterprise to recapture it from the Cardassians, Picard and the crew of a crashed runabout contend with the Jem’Hadar on a harsh desert planet.

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

USS Enterprise

Riker

Troi

Geordi

Ensign Perim

 

USS Defiant

Sisko

Dax

Bashir

O’Brien

Worf

Porter

Jackson

Gleason

Gul Evek

Glinn Telle

14 random Cardassians

882 Cygni V

Picard

Data

Beverly

Cmdr. Shelby

Lt. Barclay

Lt. Daniels

Ro Laren

Kilana (Vorta)

First Talak’Talan

Several Jem’Hadar

OUTLINE

Riker’s Log Entry

USS. Defiant stolen from Starbase 375 when Cardassian/Dominion forces briefly overran the base.

O’Brien and Bashir were able to stow away.

Enterprise is carrying Sisko and his officers, and it’s pursuing the Defiant

Defiant is warping toward 882 Cygni V where there’s a small Dominion force

Enterprise Transporter Room

Sisko, Worf, Dax, Porter, Jackson, and Gleason are waiting on the transporter pad for O’Brien to open a window in the Defiant’s shields so they can beam in.

The word comes through that a window has opened, and Sisko’s team beams in.

Defiant

Sisko’s team materializes in the shuttlebay, and they’re whisked into the Jefferies Tubes by O’Brien and Bashir.

The Cardassians used devices supplied by the Dominion to bypass some of the Defiant’s command lockouts.

O’Brien has managed to keep internal sensors offline so the Cardassians don’t know they’re there, but the intruder control systems are still locked down.

Bashir has fixed it so the sensors will only register the presence of Threat vessels, like Dominion ships, and ignore friendly vessels. So the Cardassians have no idea the Enterprise is following them.

Sisko’s plan is to get to Engineering, lock themselves in, and route command functions there, thus retaking the ship.

882 Cygni V-near the Badlands

Shuttle carrying Picard, Data, Beverly, Cmdr. Shelby, Reg Barclay, and Lt. Daniels is shot down while escaping from the destruction of the USS Rutledge

They land in a rocky desert area

Rocks and dirt are laced w/ kelbonite, which impedes sensors.

They know the Jem’Hadar will be along soon, so they get their stuff together and prepare to vacate the area.

Ro Laren pulls up in a one-person speeder-bike thing and warns them that the Jem’Hadar battalion on the surface has been alerted to their presence and it starting to search for them.

Shelby wants to clap her in irons, but Picard restrains her because he knows they need Ro’s help to get out alive.

Ro and her band of ex-Maquis have been fighting the Jem’Hadar since the Jem’Hadar started exterminating the Maquis.

She was stranded on this planet when the Jem’Hadar showed up and her people had to make a quick getaway, but they’ll be back for her.

The Jem’Hadar have taken over a nearby mining colony, and they’ve commandeered the groundskimmers the miners were using.

The Jem’Hadar force consists of a few dozen soldiers on one-man skimmers coordinated from a larger command skimmer containing a Vorta, the Jem’Hadar First, and four other soldiers.

Picard recognizes that the command skimmer has to have a powerful communications system, since it can communicate with ships in orbit despite interference from the Badlands.

He hatches a plot to capture it.

Defiant

Sisko’s team comes out of the Jefferies tubes and begins to fight their way to Engineering.

On the bridge, Gul Evek is notified of the disturbance and sends everyone belowdecks to fend off the attack, leaving himself alone on the bridge.

882 Cygni

Data has programmed a tricorder to emit human lifesigns.

A Jem’Hadar zeroes in on it, they jump him and use his communicator to call the command speeder, report the “capture” of the Starfleet survivors, and request the speeder to come pick them up.

Defiant

Sisko’s team successfully gets to Engineering, and brings down the emergency bulkheads, cutting the room off from the rest of the ship.

O’Brien gets to work removing the Dominion device from the main ODN trunk.

The Defiant is 15 minutes away from 882 Cygni.

If they don’t retake the ship before they’re within weapons range of the 882 Cygni Dominion force, the Enterprise will destroy the Defiant to prevent it from falling into enemy hands.

882 Cygni

The command speeder pulls up near where Picard and co. are hiding

They successfully take down the Jem’Hadar soldiers, take the Vorta prisoner (she’s Kilana, from DS9’s “The Ship”) and abscond with the skimmer.

Their plan is to hightail it away from the populated area, send a signal, and hope they’re rescued or find a place to hide before the Jem’Hadar catch up with them.

Defiant

O’Brien removes the Dominion device, and Sisko is able to route command functions to Engineering.

They call the Enterprise and signal their success, but then discover that helm control is locked.

They start emergency engine shutdown, but the ship is already locked on course for 882 Cygni V and will enter the planet’s gravity well before it runs out of inertia.

The Enterprise is too busy engaging the Dominion ships in the system to tractor them.

If they don’t regain helm control the ship will crash in 5 minutes.

The only way to do it is to get to the helm console on the bridge.

Sisko orders O’Brien to beam him directly to the bridge. He’ll try to regain control while everyone else works to override the lockout and route helm control to Engineering.

882 Cygni

Picard and co.’s commandeered skimmer speeds across a salt flat, pursued by a dozen Jem’Hadar on one-man skimmers.

The Jem’Hadar’s skimmers are faster, and they’re swarming around the Chariot shooting it up.

Picard and co. are defending themselves as best they can, but they’re outnumbered.

They have managed to send a distress call, but the Enterprise is all tied up fighting Dominion ships.

Defiant

On the bridge, Sisko and Gul Evek grapple for control of the ship.

With the planet’s surface rushing up to meet them, Sisko finally knocks Evek out, and makes it to the helm console, causing the ship to pull up just before it hits the ground.

The Defiant screams over the heads of Picard’s team and their pursuers.

The rush of air sends all the speeders flying.

Picard’s team is all strapped in, so no one’s seriously hurt, but before Picard can free himself, he sees Ro Laren scramble free, jump on one of the unispeeders, and ride off.

Picard and friends are beamed up by the Defiant

The Defiant returns to orbit in time to take out a Jem’Hadar fighter while the Enterprise finishes off the Dominion battleship.

Picard bodes farewell to Sisko before going back to the Enterprise

Sisko makes a crack about Picard not swiping Worf this time.

Enterprise

Shelby wants to return to the planet and hunt down Ro, but Picard overrules her, noting they have to go help Starbase 375 patch itself up.

Riker picks up the tail end of the conversation, and Picard just says that they ran into an old friend before ordering Perim to take them out.

Star Trek: Incorrection

Star Trek: Insurrection was a stupid, stupid movie. And so, way back in the prehistoric mists of the 20th century (1999 to be exact) I wrote this parody. Yes, it's loaded with late-90s humor. But that may just make you love it more.

STAR TREK

I N C O R R E C T I O N

A parody of Star Trek: Insurrection

[FADE IN on the Ba’ku village. The camera moves around the village, showing the people weaving rugs, baking bread, and watering crops. Words that say things like “Starring Patrick Stewart” appear, but the villagers are oblivious to them.]

[CUT TO the interior of the duck blind. The Starfleet and Son’a people are watching the village through a large window. Every now and then one of the guys in the invisible red suits is seen walking through the village.]

Ensign #1: Sir, I’m detecting words appearing out of thin air in the village!

Female Lieutenant: What do they say?

Ensign #1 (looking at his instruments): Associate Producer Patrick Stewart . . . Directed by Jonathan Frakes . . .

Female Lieutenant: Oh no.

Gallatin: What is it?

Female Lieutenant: It’s another one of those Star Trek movies!

[CUT TO Captain Picard’s quarters on the USS Enterprise]

Crusher: Which idiot approved the design for these dress uniforms? We look like the crew of the Love Boat!

Picard: Your Associate Producer likes them very much. Say the greeting again.

Troi: [Alien greeting].

Picard: What?

Troi: That’s what is says here in the script: “[Alien greeting]”.

Picard: Let me see that. (Takes the script out of her hand). I can’t believe it.

[Riker walks in]

Riker: Captain, the Munchkins have arrived, they’re eating the-

Picard: Is Rick Berman trying to make a fool out of me or what?

Riker: Huh?

Crusher: He’s mad because there’s no alien greeting in the script.

Riker: Mike Piller was supposed to make something up. He must’ve forgotten. (To Picard) You’ll have to do it.

Picard: Me? Look, I’m not just “Actor Patrick Stewart” anymore, I’m an Associate Producer! It’s not my job to make up funny words!

Riker: Well, somebody has to do it, and if you walk into that reception and say “[Alien Greeting]” it’s going to be pretty hard for the audience to suspend their disbelief.

Crusher: Are you kidding? The audience already believes that it’s worth eight bucks to see this movie.

Troi: She’s right, they’ll believe anything. Now let’s go, we’re late already

[They leave his quarters and start walking down the hall]

Crusher: I don’t understand why we have to film this scene with those little munchkin aliens, anyway. It’s not like it has anything to do with the rest of the movie.

Riker: Yeah, but it allows us to have some humor at the Captain’s expense.

Picard: You know, I thought we decided that audiences like me as a Bruce Willis-style action hero rather than a comedic buffoon.

[They step into the turbolift]

Picard: Can anyone remember when we used to be on television?

[The turbolift doors close]

Star Trek vs. Star Wars Vignette

Way the heck back in 1997, when I was 19 years old and didn't know any better I wrote this. It was meant to be a piece of a larger story where the Empire from Star Wars invaded the Federation not long after the events of Star Trek:First Contact. Yeah, I know. But cut me some slack, I was less than a year out of high school. Anyway, if you've ever wanted to see Captain Picard in a battle with AT-AT walkers, then here you are:

STARDATE 49603.1  LOCATION: EL ADREL IV

Picard heard it first. The distant scream of ion engines.

He looked up from the phaser cannon he was constructing. "Beverly, I think we'd-"

His combadge chirped. "Data to Captain Picard"

"Picard here."

"Captain, we are tracking a squadron of TIE bombers heading for this location. Since the outpost's defenses are not yet functional, I recommend we evacuate into the forest."

"Good idea." Picard said. "We'll disperse, then meet at the bend in the river. Notify all personnel; Picard out."

The TIEs were almost on top of them now.

Picard collected his phaser rifle and climbed out of the trench he was in.

"Beverly!" He called to the Doctor, who was about twenty meters away putting a shield generator together, "Run!"

Crusher was already on the move, bolting into the woods just as the lead bomber began a strafing run.

Picard followed her, running with all his might. There was an explosion behind him.

The scream of the TIE's engines was deafening.

It dropped another charge.

The world dissolved into a storm of white heat, and Picard was suddenly aware that there was no ground under his feet. He was careening through the air much too fast, almost flying . . .

Wham!

He hit something solid and rough. A tree trunk, he realized, as he fell to the ground. Amazingly, he didn't seem to be seriously hurt. About four meters behind him was a smoking crater. The charge had detonated no more than two meters behind him. He should have been killed.

Another TIE roared overhead, barely above the treetops. Suddenly, a blast of phaser fire streaked up and speared its underside. The unshielded fighter spun crazily out of control, then crashed into the forest canopy and exploded.

Picard craned his neck to see where the shot had come from and saw Worf perched in a tree. "Good shot, Mr. Worf!"

"Thank you, sir!"

"Come on, we'd better get to get to the river!" The entire left side of Picard's body had started to throb painfully where it had hit the tree, and it got no better as he jogged through the woods toward the river's bend.

The TIE's, he noticed, had ceased their attack, at least for the moment.  The only reason he could think of was that the Imperials had met their objective.

The river was about six and a half meters wide and only half a meter deep. It flowed swiftly over the rounded, smooth rocks that littered the bank and the riverbed. As Picard reached the river's bend he saw that most of the fifty or so Starfleet personnel who had been assigned with him to set up the outpost had made it safely. Beverly was treating a few wounded, and Data was giving orders to two security men. When he noticed the Captain walking toward him, he dismissed the guards.

"Report, Mr. Data." Picard said.

"The outpost has been destroyed, sir." Data said. "We have six confirmed dead, four unaccounted for, and seven wounded."

"Have you been able to communicate with any of our ships in the area?" Picard asked.

"The USS Voyager is the only ship in range," Data replied. "However, I have been unable to establish communication. It is possible that the energy fallout from the TIE bombers' weapons is causing the interference."

"If that's true, then it will be at least an hour before it dissipates," Picard said. "See if you can find out what happened to-"

"Sir!" squawked one of the security men.

Just as Picard turned to see what had startled the young men, a sizzling red blaster bolt streaked over his head and crashed into the trees behind him.

Two Imperial scout walkers were coming out of the forest across the river, followed by hordes of stormtroopers.

Aboard the Death Star the door chime to Grand Admiral Hord's office sounded.

Hord looked up from his computer screen. "Enter."

The doors parted and Commander Zahn stepped in and saluted.

"Report, Commander."

"The bomber squadron reports that it has destroyed the Federation outpost on El Adrel, sir. We're entering orbit now."

"Excellent; and our ground force?" Hord asked.

"They have landed and are moving to engage the enemy troops, sir."

"What of the, ah, piece of technology I want captured?"

"No word yet, Admiral."

On the opposite side of the planet, and in a lower orbit than the Death Star, the USS Voyager circled anxiously.

"Captain, the TIE bombers have detonated a series of concussion charges in the lower atmosphere directly above the remains of the outpost." Lt. Tuvok was saying. "The resulting energy fallout makes it impossible for us to establish transporter locks on the survivors."

"That's why they did it," Janeway said. "They're doing quite a job adapting to our technology."

"Sensors show an Imperial ground force headed toward what's left of the outpost," Ensign Kim reported.

"Probably to pick off the survivors," Chakotay observed.

"I'm not about to sit around and let them," Janeway said. "Mr. Paris, can you take us into the atmosphere, low enough so we can punch through that interference and beam up our people?"

"Yes ma'am, absolutely," Paris replied.

"Captain," Tuvok said. "I must point out that when we descend into the atmosphere, the Death Star will likely discern what we are about to do and send several squadrons of TIEs to stop us. We will not be able to lower our shields to beam Captain Picard's party on board without risking serious damage. If Voyager were to be shot down, we would most likely crash onto the people we are attempting to rescue, which would be most . . . counterproductive."

"You're right," Janeway said. "If only we had another starship or two to keep the Death Star's attention-"

Harry Kim interrupted. "Captain, message from the Enterprise! They're warping to rendezvous with us and should be here any minute!"

Janeway smiled broadly. "There's our diversion."

The USS Enterprise streaked toward El Adrel at high warp.

“”In range?” Riker asked urgently.

“Not yet, sir.” Lieutenant Hawk replied. “Five more minutes.”

“Geordi, we need more.” Riker urged.

“We’re doin’ all we can, Commander,” Geordi replied over the intercom. “Push the engines any more, and I guarantee a meltdown.”

“Will, he’s doing his best.” Deanna said softly.

“If the Captain gets killed, that won’t make one bit of difference.” Riker shot back.

Picard fired his rifle at the leftmost scout walker and watched for a second-no longer-as its cockpit exploded noisily, then set his weapon to wide beam and began laying out field bursts to slow the approaching troops. Everyone with a phaser quickly followed suit.

One advantage Starfleet had was that their personal armaments were far more powerful than those of their Imperial counterparts. An Imperial blaster rifle could barely shoot a dent in the heavily armored walkers; with Starfleet phasers, the walkers might as well be made of cardboard.

The second walker exploded, courtesy of Data, and the remaining stormtroopers began fleeing into the woods.

Just then, there was a roar from the sky, and Picard looked up to see a tri-winged Imperial shuttle descending on them, raining blaster fire. Picard glanced back at the place where Beverly and her small medical team had been treating the injured, and was relieved to see that they were gone-no doubt into the woods, away from the fighting. He joined his officers in shooting up at the shuttle, which was about to land in the middle of the river.

The Starfleeters were trying to stand their ground, but the fire from the shuttle coupled with that of the Stormtroopers reemerging from the forest was driving them back.

The shuttle touched down in the riverbed.

Picard, Worf, Data, and a handful of others were at the very edge of the woods, still taking shots at the Imperials. Suddenly, a brazen plan popped into the Captain’s mind. “The shuttle’s communications system may be powerful enough to get through the interference,” he said to his officers. “As soon as it drops it shields we’ll storm the hatch, force our way in, and take control of the ship before they have time to react.”

There were nods of comprehension.

“Let’s go.”

The raised their rifles and charged out into the open just as the shuttle’s shields went down.

Data raced ahead of the group at android speed, and the stormtroopers from the original ground force that had fallen back earlier ran out behind Data, cutting him off from the others.

Data continued to advance toward the shuttle’s hatch, holding his fire to avoid destroying a vital system.

The hatch swung open and a team of stormtroopers jumped out shouldering huge black guns with narrow barrels and wide circular emitters.

Ion cannons, Picard realized in a flash. The Imperials had come to get Data. “They’re after Data!” he said to his team. “We’ve got to get to him!”

The Starfleeters opened fire on the line of troops between them and the shuttle.

The Imperials held position and returned fire with wide-field bursts.

Picard saw Data fall to an ion blast. The stormtroopers picked him up and rushed him up the ramp and into the shuttle. Then, one by one, the perimeter troops broke off and bolted into the ship.

Picard, Worf, and the remainder of their team started to move forward, but the shuttle’s blaster cannons suddenly came to life, providing cover for the stormtroopers as they got onboard.

The last stormtrooper turned and ran for the ramp.

Picard and his men charged after him.

A shot from Worf destroyed the shuttle’s starboard blaster.

A shot from Picard speared the stormtrooper in the back just as he scurried up the ramp.

The ramp began to retract as the shuttle began to lift off.

Picard’s team instantly swung their rifles up to fire on the shuttle, but their shots splashed harmlessly against its newly-raised shields.

Captain Picard, Lt. Commander Worf, and the two remaining Security ensigns stood in the middle of the swirling river, surrounded by the bodies of fallen Imperials and Starfleet officers, and watched the Imperial shuttle disappear into the sky’s sea of blue.

“Commander, we’re coming up on El Adrel IV.” Lt. Hawk reported.

“Drop out of warp,” Riker ordered. “Hail the Voyager.”

A second later, the image of Captain Janeway was onscreen. “Glad you could make it, Commander.”

“So am I,” Riker said. “What’s going on down there?”

“The Imperials have just dropped another ground force. We think it’s because the first one must have failed to kill Captain Picard’s team.”

“I see.”

“Our transporters still can’t punch through the interference at this range, so I’m prepared to take Voyager into the atmosphere if you’ll keep the Death Star distracted.”

“You’ve got it, Captain.” Riker replied. “Mr. Hawk, take us after the Death Star, Mr. Johnston, ready phasers and quantum torpedoes. Let’s go!”

“Retreat!” Picard yelled at the top of his lungs. “All hands retreat! Carerra, Porter, help Dr. Crusher move her patients! Worf, Armstrong, Gleason, with me! We’ve got to hold those Imperial walkers back as long as possible!”

In the distance, four-legged Imperial AT-AT walkers plowed through the forest firing their blasters, knocking down trees, and causing general havoc.

“They’re almost here . . .” Porter said.

A scout trooper on a speeder bike came zipping through the trees. In a flash, Picard raised his rifle and fired. His shot blew the steering vanes off the speeder, and it spun wildly off, then crashed into a tree and exploded.

The first AT-AT came into view, plowing trees under and firing its head-cannons at anything that moved.

Worf aimed his rifle and fired. He prepared himself for the sight of his shot knocking the metal beast’s front-left leg out from under it. Instead, it left only a black streak.

“It appears the Empire uses materials other than cardboard to build its walkers.” Picard murmured.

Gleason’s voice was hushed with dread. “We’re in trouble.”

The Enterprise streaked along the inside of the Death Star’s equatorial trench straying phaser and torpedo fire in every direction.

“Closer, Mr. Hawk, we’ve gotta get closer!” Riker urged.

The ship rocked hard from a turbolaser blast.

“Shields holding at ninety-two percent!” Johnston reported from the Tactical station.

A brief flurry of motion at the edge of the viewer’s range caught Riker’s eye.

“What was that?”

“Imperial Lambda-class shuttle entering one of their hangar bays, sir.” Lt. Perim replied from the Ops position. She squinted at her readouts. “Sir, there’s a Starfleet comm signal emanating from that shuttle.”

“They must have captured one of Captain Picard’s team.” Deanna said.

Riker frowned. “I wonder who . . .”

The ground exploded a scant three meters from Picard, incinerating two security men and sending a third flying through the air like a rag doll. The Captain nodded swiftly at Worf and Carerra, and the three of them aimed and fired at the nearest AT-AT. Their shots hit one of its legs, just above the knee and a small shower of sparks erupted from the blast point. Yet the walker marched on.

“Those things have got to have a weak point.” Carerra said, frustrated.

“There appears to be a lot of machinery on the underside of the walker.” Worf observed. “But there is no way to get beneath the walker except to run directly at it.”

“Unfortunately, we’ve no other choice.” Picard said. “What is it you always say, Mr. Worf? ‘Today is a good day to die’?”

“It is an honor to serve with you, sir.” Worf said. “You have the heart of a true Klingon.”

“Really,” Picard said with a glint of humor in his eye. “I’ll have to get Beverly to take a look at that. Let’s go.”

The three men stood up and broke for the nearest walker, running in a zigzag pattern to make it more difficult for the AT-AT’s gunner to target them.

The walker turned its head and started to fire at them. A blaster bolt whizzed over Picard’s head, then he heard an explosion behind him followed by Carerra crying out.

The walker fired again, and Worf went flying.

Picard was almost underneath the walker. Just a few more steps . . .

His foot snagged a tree root that protruded from the ground, and he fell. The AT-AT aimed its head directly at him, like a predator studying its prey.

The Captain fearlessly swung his rifle up and fired at the face of the walker. No effect.

The tips of its head cannons began to glow, and Picard was acutely aware that there was no way to run, no way to dodge, nothing to do but brace himself for death’s white-hot onslaught, when suddenly a dark shape passed overhead. Phaser fire rained down, and the last thing Picard saw before the transporter beam took him was the AT-AT going up in flames.

“All Starfleet personnel have been retrieved, Captain,” Ensign Kim reported.

“Imperial walkers have been destroyed,” Commander Tuvok added.

“Good work,” Janeway said. “Mr. Paris, take us out of the atmosphere and set a course to rendezvous with the Enterprise.

An alarm went off on Tuvok’s panel. “Captain, three Star Destroyers have just dropped out of warp at the edge of the system. They will intercept us in six minutes.”

“Even with the Enterprise we can’t stand up to three Star Destroyers.” Chakotay said.

“Agreed, Commander.” Janeway replied. “Mr. Paris, prepare to take us out of here. Mr. Kim, notify the Enterprise that-“

“Wait!” Captain Picard emerged from the turbolift, his uniform torn and bloodied and a nasty-looking bruise on the left side of his face. The Doctor was right on his heels.

Janeway turned to Picard. “Yes, Captain?”

“About ten minutes ago an Imperial shuttle landed and took off again from El Adrel. Where did it go?”

“Back to the Death Star.” Janeway replied. “Why?”

“They captured Commander Data,” Picard replied. “I hate to think-“

“Excuse me, Captain Janeway,” the Doctor interrupted. “But I’ve been trying to treat this man ever since he was first beamed in, but he won’t cooperate! He has a-“

“Doctor, this is Captain Picard, the commander of the fleet.” Janeway said.

“I don’t care who he is,” the Doctor snapped. “I’m a doctor, not a zookeeper, and when I’m trying to treat patients in my sickbay, I expect them to stay put!”

“Doctor, I think you should go back to Sickbay and attend to your other patients,” Chakotay said. “That’s an order.”

The Doctor rolled his eyes. “The Klingon was more cooperative than this!” he said as he walked away. “After I sedated him, anyway.”

“Your EMH has quite a personality,” Picard remarked.

“He takes some getting used to,” Janeway replied. “Now, what about Commander Data?”

“He was captured by the Imperials,” Picard said, “and they specifically came after him. They might try to access the classified Starfleet information in his memory banks.”

“What are we going to do?” Chakotay asked.

“My officers and I will beam back to the Enterprise,” Picard said. “We’ll stay in the area while you take the Voyager to  rendezvous with the rest of the Sixth Fleet. We’ll get him back.”

Janeway nodded. “Good luck, Captain Picard.”

  

A Curious Relic

Sometime in the middle of Enterprise's dismal run (I don't remember exactly when) I wrote this piece. Basically, it's just the crew of the original Enterprise coming across the NX-01 and remarking on how there's no way this thing could have come from their past.

"It appears to be an Earth ship, Captain.” Spock announced as he peered into his hooded viewer. "Sensors indicate it has been adrift for a significant period of time, possibly a century or more."

Kirk peered at the odd little spaceship that was drifting across the main viewer. "It almost looks like a Starfleet vessel."

Spock stepped down from his station to stand next to the center seat. "I am inclined to agree, but we have no record of that configuration in our databanks."

The ship in question had a small saucer section very reminiscent of the Enterprise. The eerily familiar engine nacelles were mounted on a catamaran-like structure that attached to the primary saucer.

“Life signs?” Kirk asked.

“None, Captain.” Spock replied. “And no power readings of any kind. However,” he continued, anticipating Kirk’s next question, “the vessel is structurally sound, and other than the lack of atmosphere, there is nothing aboard that would prove inimical to humanoid life.”

Kirk rose from the center seat and headed for the turbolift. “In that case, you’re with me, Mr. Spock. Uhura, tell the transporter room to outfit the landing party with environmental suits, and have Dr. McCoy and Mr. Scott meet us there. Sulu, you have the conn.”

***

Ten minutes later, four spacesuited figures sparkled silently into existence on the bridge of the mysterious vessel.

Spock waved his searchlight around the spare, functional compartment. “This bridge appears to fit within the design lineage of Earth vessels of the last one hundred and fifteen years.”

“But no records of a configuration exactly like this.” Scott said as he clomped around the room in his magnetized boots. “Just like the rest of the bloody ship.”

Kirk laid his hand on what was obviously the Captain’s chair. Who had commanded this ship? What had happened to him?

His thoughts were interrupted by McCoy running his mediscanner over the chair. “There’s no cellular residue at all here, Jim, at least none my instruments can detect.”

“What does that mean?” Kirk asked.

“It means no one’s been here in a very long time. Decades.”

“Captain,” Spock said. “Recommend we make efforts to restore minimal power. Activating the lights and life support systems will make examination of the vessel easier, and should facilitate access to the main computer.”

“Can you do it, Scotty?” Kirk asked.

“Aye, sir; she’s perfectly intact. We’ll just need one of our emergency batteries from the Enterprise to jumpstart one of the fusion reactors.”

Kirk nodded. “Do it.”

***

A few hours later, Kirk , Spock, and McCoy were back on the Enterprise bridge.

“Captain, I have established a link to the vessel’s main computer.” Spock said. “If Mr. Scott is successful in restoring power, I should have access momentarily.”

“Sir, Mr. Scott is signaling,” Uhura reported.

Kirk punched the intercom button on his armrest. “Kirk here.”

"Captain, we're all ready to jumpstart this lass when you give the word."

"Proceed, Mr. Scott."

There was a pause, then the sound of congratulations. Scott’s voice came through the intercom again. "She's holdin' together just fine, sir. Fusion reaction is stable. We're activatin' life support support systems and startin' artificial gravity generation now. Mr. Spock, ye should have access to the main computer."

Spock worked his instruments. "Thank you, Mr. Scott. Captain, I have begun downloading the contents of their main computer."

Kirk happened to be looking at the main viewer when the mysterious vessel's exterior spotlights came on. He frowned at something he saw there and rose from his seat. "Mr. Sulu, go to full magnification on viewer."

The screen wavered, and the vessel on it seemed to jump forward. Everyone looking at the screen at that moment shared a collective gasp as they read the name emblazoned on the vessel's saucer: "NX-01 ENTERPRISE"

***

Several hours later, the senior officers were gathered in the briefing room.

"The only Earth space vehicles named Enterprise, other than our vessel, are the prototype Space Shuttle from the late 1970s, and the starliner from the mid 22nd century." Spock stated. "The ship we found today cannot be from our past."

"How's that possible?" McCoy asked. "You said yourself that it's been adrift for over a hundred years."

"Aye, it has. When the ship's chronometers came back on, they showed the date as September 26th, 2155." Scott said. "But that doesna tell us where it came from."

"Gentlemen, what does all this mean?" Kirk asked.

"There is technology aboard that ship that did not exist in the 22nd century" Spock said.

"They have a transporter." Scott revealed. "And it can complete a full cycle in 4 seconds. We also found these." He placed two pistol-like weapons on the table. "Phasers. As far as power output, they're roughly equivalent to the first phasers Starfleet issued 12 years ago. We found ship mounted-phaser cannons, too."

"The vessel is also equipped with subspace radio." Spock added. "It does not, however, have forcefield technology of any kind. For towing, is uses the same variety of grappling hook found on Earth vessels of our mid 22nd century, and the outer guard is limited to a system which polarizes the hull plating."

"Like the ships we had during the Romulan War," Sulu observed.

"Precisely." Spock said. "Along with its phaser weapons, the vessel is also mounted with the kind of pulse lasers and fusion-powered torpedoes that were in use during your Romulan War."

"So we've got a UESPA-constructed ship that no one's touched for a hundred years," Kirk said, "yet it's a curious amalgam of past and present technology."

"There is still more." Spock continued. "I found several items of interest in the computer records. There is no mention of the United Earth Space Probe Agency at all. According to its memory banks, the ship was constructed by Starfleet."

"But Starfleet didn’t exist in 2153," Scott protested.

"Nevertheless, the ship's memory banks clearly refer to Starfleet as its authority" Spock said. "Additionally, there are indications that the ship once made a trip from Earth to the Klingon homeworld in less than one week, yet they traveled no faster than Warp 5. There are also database entries for an alien race known as the Suliban, with whom the crew of that Enterprise appears to have had extensive contact."

"I've never heard of the Suliban." McCoy said.

"You are not alone, Doctor," Spock said. "The Suliban do not appear in any Federation database."

"What about the crew?" Kirk asked. "Were you able to find some kind of a crew manifest?"

"Yes, Captain. The crew roster lists such luminaries as Captain Jonathan Archer, Commander Charles Tucker, and Lieutenant Malcolm Reed, to name a few. However, there is an anomaly in the roster as well." He pressed a switch on his computer console, and a picture of a Vulcan woman appeared on the three-sided viewer in the middle of the table. "Subcommander T'Pol, a noted member of the Vulcan Star Service. She is listed as First Officer."

"Spock, aren't you the first Vulcan to serve aboard an Earth ship?" Kirk asked.

"Indeed I am.The T'Pol with whom I am familiar never served with humans," Spock said.

A smile crept over McCoy's face. "Mr. Spock, I can't help but notice the very illogical uniform that this Subcommander of yours is wearing in that picture. Looks like very tight long johns."

 "No doubt she was the unfortunate victim of a human quartermaster," Spock replied. "Gentlemen, I submit that the Enterprise we discovered did not originate in our universe. We have, after all, had personal experience with parallel universes and timelines."

Kirk was skeptical. “An alternate universe? Why not some kind of elaborate fraud, like the Cardiff Giant?”

“Too much detail,” Spock answered. “Also, if someone were to go to the effort of perpetrating such an elaborate hoax, why leave the vessel drifting in open space where it might never be found?”

“Then if you’re convinced that ship came from an alternate universe, do we know how it got here?” Kirk asked.

"Negative, Captain." Spock replied. "It has been adrift here for over one hundred years. Any evidence of the event which brought the vessel here has long since faded."

 "Thank you, Mr. Spock. Scotty, throw a tractor beam on that ship, we're taking it to Starbase 6 for analysis," Kirk said. "Mr. Sulu, plot a course. Dismissed."

***

Captain's Log, Supplemental: We are fourteen hours away from Starbase 6, towing a mysterious derelict vessel. Science and Engineering teams continue to examine it, hoping to find some clue as to how it got here.

Kirk punched the STOP button on his recording computer and leaned back in his chair. Suddenly, the ship lurched violently, and Red Alert sirens went off.

Kirk slammed his fist down on the intercom panel. "Bridge! What's happening up there?"

"Spock here, sir. The other Enterprise has disappeared."

"Disappeared? How?"

"Unknown. I have ordered full stop while we conduct a scan of the area."

Kirk nodded. "I'll be right up."

By the time Kirk reached the bridge, the alarms had stopped.

"We've scanned the entire area, Captain." Spock reported. "No sign of the vessel."

"Were any of our people over there?" Kirk asked.

"Affirmative. Crewman Daniels was aboard at the time."

The frustration of losing a man stung the Captain. "And there's no way to tell where that ship went?"

"Not as yet." Spock said. "The vessel simply disappeared. There were no abnormal readings before or after, no evidence of spatial or temporal distortion."

"We'll stay in the area until we're certain there's nothing more we can do." Kirk decided.

***

Captain's Log, additional entry: We have resumed course for Starbase 6. Despite our best efforts, we were not able to ascertain the cause of the derelict vessel's disappearance.

Kirk switched off his recording computer and stared blankly at the wall, mentally preparing his message to the family of Crewman Daniels.

"Captain Kirk?"

Kirk whirled around, startled. A young man in a red Engineering jumpsuit stood just inside the door to his quarters. "Crewman . . . Daniels? How did you get in here? What happened to that ship?"

"I-I'm sorry, sir, but I can't tell you that." Daniels said nervously. "I never meant for anyone to find the ship; it was all a mistake. Just a relic from an unstable timeline. It doesn't really matter one way or the other, nothing should be changed. In your timeline, I mean."

"What do you know about the timeline?"

"I'm sorry sir, I can't tell you any more than that. Oh, Mr. Spock will be calling you any minute now, to tell you that all the information you collected on the other Enterprise has been wiped from your memory banks. Believe me, it's better this way." And then he was simply gone.

Kirk stared for a moment at the empty space where Daniels had been. Then he rose from his chair, and headed for the Bridge.