Star Trek Raza
Season 1, Episode 6
Shattered Mirror.
The Stargazer Lounge (23:58pm).
It’s late in the day and the lounge is starting to thin out. Less than a dozen patrons are scattered across the bar sitting in darkened corners trying to put their tough work week behind them. Sergeant Young can be seen sitting at the end of the bar, alone; with a bottle of Scotch in front of him. He pounds down his shot glass making a slight pucker face as he downs the liquid. He stares off at the empty glass in his hand before he pours himself another shot, with a good amount spilling out on the bar-top never making it into the glass. Nia, the human Daboo girl; dressed in a low cut mini skirt and loose top is tending bar tonight. She walks over to Scott and leans over the bar letting her long hair sensually drop across her shoulders. Her blouse widens open as she leans forward exposing just enough of her cleavage to get Scott’s attention.
“Don’t you think you’ve had enough Sarg?” asks Nia with a smile on her face batting her gorgeous eyes at him.
Young slams down another shot. “I thought your job was cheer people up?”
Nia grabs the Scotch bottle with one hand and lifts it up as she wipes away the spilled liquor with the other hand. “People come her for alot reasons. Some people come here to cool down after a shitty day. Some people come here to find companionship. And some people come here to hide from things.” She places the bottle back down on the bar-top. “Which one are you?”
He grabs the bottle by the neck and gets up off the bar stool. “I’m the guy who’s taking this party back to his quarters. Care to join me?” he asks as a shit eating grin comes over his face.
Nia leans back crossing her arms lifting her breasts slightly under her arms and his eyes are magnetically drawn to them. “Normally I would love to, but in your condition right now I’m going to pass. Call me when you sober up.”
Scott snickers under his breath. “Whatever.” He turns toward the door when the observation window lights up with a multitude of swirling colors. Nia walks around the bar and stares out the window. “What the hell?” she exclaims in amazement. Scott walks over and stands next to her in awe as a giant spatial tear rips open near the Raza. A giant swirling mass of gases resembling a whirlpool in space. Lighting explodes around the center of the whirlwind and the ensuing shockwave rocks the Raza tossing her about like a leaf that had gotten stuck in a wind storm. The impact of the shockwave tosses both Nia and Scott to the floor sending them tumbling into the base of the bar. The back of Nia’s head smacking against the bar. The lighting in the lounge goes dark as the “Red Alert” horn sounds out across the ship. The red emergency lights start to blink lighting up the ships corridors and rooms. Emergency crews scramble to their posts as the ship tries to regain stability. Scott helps Nia to her feet as the shock wave subsides.
“Are you ok?” asks Young, as the situation sobered him up pretty damn quick.
Nia rubs the back of her head feeling for blood knowing the impact could have cracked her skull open. “I think I’m ok?” But when she looks at her hand she sees her fingers covered in blood.
Young tries not to panic. “Shit you’re bleeding. Let’s get you to sick bay and have the Doc look at you.” He holds her by the arm and escorts her to the exit when from the swirling mass outside the Raza a starship is jettisoned out like a cork popping off a champagne bottle.
Young stares in disbelief. “What the hell?” and the sound of Lieutenant Phos’s voice echoes across the ship.
“Senior Staff to the bridge.”
The scene fades to black as Young and Nia heads off toward the infirmary arm in arm.
Minutes prior to the temporal event…
Daisy and the young Romulan named Sorek are walking the Raza’s halls after another fun filled date night in which they spent three hours in the holodeck. Daisy thought it would be a great idea to visit a 21st century amusement parked aptly named Disney World. Daisy still wearing a black pair of Mickey ears and Sorek feeling very out of place wearing a Goofy T-shirt and a pink pair of shorts with dark sunglasses on. They stop in-front of Daisy’s quarters and she starts to smile and blush as she looks at him. Sorek, very awkwardly; fumbles with his sunglasses taking them off his face but not knowing what to do with them next.
“I had a very pleasant time tonight Daisy.” States Sorek as he fumbles for words. She moves in closer to him, inches from his face.
“I had a wonderful time. I want to do it again.” As she leans in close to his lips, she can smell the cotton candy still lingering on his lips. Watermelon. Not her favorite but smelling it on him it’s quickly becoming so. The urge to kiss him is overwhelming.
“As do I.” and he makes the first move leaning in to kiss her…when suddenly the shipped is rocked as if it was hit with a dozen photon torpedo’s. The two teenagers stumble into each other and in mid-kiss they smash their noses together. They both struggle to stay standing as each grabs their noses. Blood flows from both kids noses from the impact. As they ship settles down the sound of the “Red Alert” alarm echoes across the ship and the red beacon lights begin to glow bright as the lighting on the deck they are on goes dark. With blood covered faces they both tilt their heads back and awkwardly head off to sick bay to seek medical help. All the way their Daisy wonders how the hell she’s going to explain this one. And what if Captain Decker hears of this? Lieutenant Phos’s voice can be heard across the ships communications system.
“Senior Staff to the bridge.”
Thank God that’s not her she thinks to herself as the ship starts to stabilize from whatever hit them.
The Bridge of the Raza.
The turbo lift to the bridge whooshes open and Commander Mitchell and his Klingon lover Lieutenant Sung walks onto the bridge. A’Ryn fixes her hair and straightens out her dress jacket as she approaches the Engineering station relieving the night shift engineer. Mitchell, more of a mess; walks onto the bridge bare chested and still adjusting his belt. He sees the night shift bridge crew scrambling around trying to figure out what the hell hit them. He walks over to the Captain’s chair and Phos gets up facing him.
“What’s going on?” asks the Commander.
“Unknown sir. We are still reviewing the data.” Answers Phos with the same straight-faced look she always has.
Lieutenant Karn, the Cardassian scientist and Chief Science Officer aboard the Raza walks onto the bridge. Her hair still a mess from either just rolling out of bed or getting tossed out of bed from the impact. She is still not sure which it was just yet. The last five minutes are still a haze. She sits down at the Science station and starts to tap away at the screen crunching data.
Commander Mitchell snaps his fingers at Karn pointing at her. “Karn whatcha got?”
She rubs sleep from her eyes and tries to focus on the screen in front of her. “It’s some sort of temporal rift sir. The shockwave created by that rift broadsided us.”
Mitchell looks confused. “Temporal? Are we talking time travel here?”
Karn tries to study the data as quickly as she can, but she needs more time to study it. “I can’t be sure sir. It does appear that someone or something ripped a hole in time and space causing a massive breach. The side effect was that massive shockwave that hit us.”
He rolls his eyes. “Wonderful. I hate these time travel stories.” Jokes Mitchell as his pilot, the Betazoid Lieutenant Faye Monroe walks onto the bridge along with Chief of Operations Jeremy Cho. Faye walks past Mitchell and assumes the seat in the pilot’s chair and Cho takes his seat at Ops.
“Nice of you two to join us.” He jokes again, trying to lighten the mood. “Ok boys and girls it’s showtime. Mr. Cho on screen please. Let’s see what we are dealing with here.” Orders Commander Mitchell as he turns toward the forward view screen.
“Aye sir. On screen now.”
The forward view screen comes to life showing the remains of the gaseous whirlwind that pummeled the Raza just minutes ago. But that’s not all. A starship that looks eerily like their own Raza was that was jettisoned out of the rift. She’s now leaning to the right struggling to gain stability. Her right nacelle is spewing gases and breaches can be seen on a number of spots on her hull. Many of her decks are darkened and one can only assume that she is running on emergency power.
Mitchell walks toward the view screen looking confused. “Mr. Cho, is that a ship I see?”
“Yes sir. Sensors are detecting that a ship did emerge from the center of the anomaly and it looks like she’s in pretty rough shape.”
Captain Decker walks onto the bridge from his quarters and approaches Commander Mitchell. “James, what’s going on?” he asks as he finishes buttoning up his dress shirt.
“We think that our friends over there…” He points at the viewscreen. “…somehow opened up a rift in space that sent out a shockwave knocking the crap out of us.”
The Captain turns toward the view screen. “It’s remarkable how much that ship resembles our own Number One?”
“Minus the bad paint job and the smoke coming out their ass it looks oddly like us sir.”
“My thoughts exactly Number One.”
“Want me to nuke her?”
The Captain looks at him oddly.
“I can launch a full torpedo spread at her. They’ll never know what hit her.” He states with a straight look on his face.
“I hope your kidding Number One.” Asks the Captain not knowing if his first officer is joking or not.”
“Well sir, I was about to have “Sexual Relations”…” and he throws the quotations in the air with his fingers. “…with A’Ryn over there…” and she whips her head around in disbelief that he blurted that out for the whole bridge to hear. “…when we were so rudely interrupted.”
The bridge goes so silent that you can hear a pin drop.
“I think that deserves at least one photon torpedo.”
The Captain really hopes his first officer is kidding as he turns his attention to his Chief of Operations. “Lieutenant Cho what can you tell me about that ship?”
“It is definitely Federation class sir, but I have no idea what make it is. There are no markings that match its design in the Federation database. It very well could be some sort of experimental model.”
“Life signs?”
“I am detecting over two hundred people on board sir. Men, women and children.”
“A’Ryn?” asks the Captain without even looking at his Chief Engineer.
“No Impulse engines and its warp drives are down. Life support is on emergency power. She’s adrift sir.”
“Phos, weapons and shields?”
“Both weapons systems and shields are down sir. But sensors indicate that they have quite an extensive weapon system when operational. This is a ship designed for war sir.”
Decker walks over to Faye, puts his right hand on her left shoulder gently. “Do you sense anything?”
“Faye closes her eyes and opens her mind. “Pain. Fear. Panic.” She opens her eyes and looks at Captain Decker. They are as confused as we are.”
Decker walks closer to the view screen. “Mr. Cho hail that ship.”
“Yes sir.” And after a few tense seconds. “Sir they are responding. We have visual.”
“On screen.”
The front view screen changes as the Raza bridge crew sees an unfamiliar bridge, even though it looks strangely like a Federation design. There are small fires burning at a number of control consoles and smoke hanging in the air when a voice booms out. “It’s about damn time Captain. I was worried you’d tuck tail and run.”
The entire Raza bridge crew believes they have heard that voice before. The voice of their own Commander Mitchell. Then the unbelievable happens. A true copy of Commander Mitchell appears on the view screen but dressed in a strange version of a Federation uniform wearing Captain pips.
“What the hell?” blurts out Commander Mitchell as he sees his doppelganger on the screen.
“Easy Commander.” As he grabs Number One by the arm. “I’m sorry sir…”
“That’s Captain Mitchell, Captain.” The double waves his hand in the air trying to blow the smoke out of his face. “Listen, I know how this looks and I can only imagine you have a shit load of questions. But right now, I’ve got a failing life support system and dozens wounded. Not to mention that we’re dead in space. Quite frankly Morgan, if you’re not going to help, then be on your way.”
“What a dick.” Blurts out Commander Mitchell and Cho has a hard time holding back his laughter.
“Captain Mitchell, I am willing to offer any assistance that you need. But I need a few answers first. Would you be willing to beam over to the Raza and meet with me in person?”
Captain Mitchell laughs at Decker. “You’re fucking kidding, right? You want to sit down and talk while my ship burns and my people die? You’re so not the guy I remember.” Captain Mitchell runs his hand through his soot filled hair. “I tell you what. You send over a couple of your medics and an engineering crew and I’ll beam over to your bucket and we’ll talk.”
Now Commander Mitchell has had enough. “Bucket? The Raza is no bucket you ass. The Raza is the top of the line…”
Captain Mitchell cuts him off. “Was top of the line. THIS ship…MY ship…now that’s top of the line shit head. Now get those teams ready Captain and get ready to receive me. Mitchell out.”
The view screen reverts back to a shot of the ship floating in space as Commander Mitchell looks at Captain Decker. “I don’t know who that asshole thinks he is but you give me five and I’ll bitch slap the stupid out of him.”
“Stand down Number One. If it comes down to a fist fight I’ll be sure to call on you.” The Captain taps his communication badge. “Decker to Doctor Dorn.”
“Go ahead Captain.”
“Doctor please assemble your staff. You will be beaming over to that…” searching for some word that makes any sense. “…ship and give that crew any aid you can.”
“Yes sir. Dorn out.”
The Captain turns to his Chief of Engineering. “A’Ryn, assemble a team and get over there. Your first priority is to stabilize life support. After that get their impulse drives and warp drives operational.”
“Yes sir.” And A’Ryn makes his way toward the turbo-lift when Mitchell blurts out. “Wait, permission to lead the away team sir.”
The Captain thinks for a second. “Make it so Number One but proceed with caution. Until we learn more about this Captain Mitchell and his Raza I want you all to render services and then get the hell off that ship.”
“Yes sir.” And Mitchell rushes to A’Ryn’s side escorting her into the turbo-lift. The door slides shut. “Transporter room three.” Barks out Mitchell as A’Ryn grabs him by the arm yanking him around to look at her.
“Why the hell did you do that?” snapping at him.
He sticks a finger in her face. “If you think for one damn minute I’m letting my girl go over to some perverted version of the Raza without me…”
“Get that finger out of my face before I bite the damn thing off!” Warns A’Ryn as she shoves him causing him to stumble a bit.
“Baby listen…” as Mitchell tries to appeal to her softer, human side.
“No, I’m not your girl and I’m not your baby. I want to be more than that and I certainly don’t need your protection. I am a Klingon and I want more out of…whatever this is you and I are doing. If you can’t give me that then we are done.”
The turbo-lift comes to a stop and the door slides open. A’Ryn storms out leaving the Commander standing there speechless.
The Infirmary aboard the Raza.
The medical office is busier than ever as Ensign Nirren is trying to manage the flood of wounded into her infirmary. Dozens of cuts, bruises and sprains due to the temporal whirlwinds energy wave knocking the Raza for a loop.
Nia and Scott Young have been waiting for a while when Nirren approaches them. She pulls out her medical tricorder and waves it over the laceration on Nia’s head.
“Is she going to be ok?” asks Young.
Nirren closes her tricorder. “Your girlfriend will be fine Sergeant. She has a minor laceration on her head but I see no signs of a concussion.” Nirren starts to walk over to a nurse who is tending to Daisy and Sorek. “Please clean and tend to the Daboo girls wound. I will see to these two.”
Young walks up behind Nirren placing his hand on her shoulder. She stops to look at him. “Wait, you’ve got this all wrong. She’s not my girlfriend.”
“I do not care how you wish to define your relationship with this dancer Sergeant. My concern right now is with my patients. Now will you please remove your hand from my shoulder? I have work to do.”
Young removes his hand and Nirren turns back to Daisy and Sorek who both have bandages covering their noses. Again, Nirren waves her tricorder by both their faces when Chief of the Boat LaMay rushes in. He sees Daisy and bolts right over to her.
“What the bloody hell happened?” asks the irate Scotsman.
Daisy tries to talk, but it’s muffled by the bandages on her face.
“It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what these two were doing.” Jokes Young as he makes his way back to Nia.
“Stay out of this Scott. This is none of your business.”
“Take it easy on the kids Matty.”
LaMay points at Daisy. “This is the Admirals granddaughter. If anything happens to her it’s my ass. Now be a good soldier and stay out of it.”
“No great loss there. Looks like you’ve got plenty of ass to spare.” Blurts out Nia.
“What did that whore say?” demands LaMay looking Young right in the eyes.
Nirren steps between LaMay and Young. “That’s it. Neither of you are injured so I am ordering both of you out of my infirmary now. If you refuse to leave I will call security.”
Young looks back at Nia. “I’ll be fine. Go.” She says and Scott turns and walks away walking by LaMay bumping the Chief of the Boats arm on the way by. LaMay lets that one last shot go, for now; as he too turns to Daisy.
“Once she’s done with you I want to see you in my office. Am I clear young lady?” orders LaMay.
Daisy nods her head satisfying LaMay and he too storms out of the infirmary.
The Captain’s ready room aboard the Raza.
Captain Decker is seen sitting at his desk staring out the window looking at the derelict ship adrift in space wondering where or even when did that ship come from. A chime can be heard from his door. He swivels in his chair to face the door. “Enter” orders the Captain. The door to his office slides open and Phos escorts Captain Mitchell into the room and Decker is stunned by how much this James Mitchell looks and carries himself so much like his own James Mitchell. Phos lets Mitchell walk up to the Captains desk and he raises his hand looking for a handshake, but Decker does not exchange pleasantries. “That will be all Lieutenant.” And Phos reverses course and exits the office, door sliding shut behind her. Decker looks Mitchell in the eyes and motions to the open chair by his desk. “Please have a seat.”
“So much for pleasantries.” Captain Mitchell smiles and unbuttons his officers jacket letting it swing open exposing his undershirt covered in sweat and soot and a long scar from his left collarbone crossing his chest ending under his bottom right rib. He plops himself down in the chair. “Man, this place brings back memories. I forgot how much Phos really looked like a woman.”
Captain Decker leans forward placing his arms on his desk and crossing his fingers. “Captain Mitchell, if that is who you truly are; I need you to answer some of my questions so that we can solidify the trust between you and I.”
“Answers? I promised to give them to you, didn’t I? Well Captain I’ll give them to you, but only you. You see we both know how precious the Temporal Prime Directive is these days and if any information I give you were to leak out to the rest of the crew, well let’s just say that this timeline might be screwed.”
“I understand the consequences James. Why don’t you start from the beginning? asks the Captain.
Mitchell’s face gets serious. “The beginning?” Mitchell gets up out of the chair and walks over to the replicator. “Whiskey. Full bottle.” And the air inside the replicator starts to swirl until a full bottle of Whiskey appears. Mitchell grabs the bottle and walks back to the chair. Unscrewing the top, he tosses it on the Captains desk and it comes to rest inches from Decker’s hands. Mitchell raises the bottle and downs a swig before plopping back down in the chair. “I can’t tell you when, but I can tell you the why. In my time a war broke out. A civil war that ripped my “Federation” apart. A nasty fucking war and the people that were leading the different sides didn’t give two fucks about who got killed in the crossfire.”
“And what side were you on James?”
Mitchell laughs. “Don’t fuck with me. We both know that you scanned my ship before you hailed me. You know what side I took.”
“I needed to ask. That’s all James.”
Mitchell gets very defensive. “You want me to say it, fine. I took the only side that made any sense in my fucked-up world. I took the side of the innocent. I’ve got over two hundred men, women and children aboard my ship. Innocent people that nobody except me gave a fuck about. So yeah, I took their side. I took their precious Raza and I stuffed as many people in it as I could and we got the hell out of there.”
Decker asks. “What about my Raza. What about my crew?”
“Your Raza was at the forefront of the chase. You chased me for a long, long time. You wouldn’t give up. Hell, I never expected you to. What happened to us, well it was inevitable.” He rubs the long scar across his chest and pauses taking another drink. “You…” he waves his bottle in the air “…they fought valiantly.”
“My counterparts Raza and her crew, you destroyed them; didn’t you?”
“Let’s just say that the war took a lot of our friends from us, and no matter what side of the fucking war my Morgan Decker was on, he will always be my friend.” And he pounds down another swig and places the near empty bottle on Decker’s desk. He then stands up looking down at Decker. “Now if you’ll excuse me Captain I would like to get back to my ship.”
“Yes, well as soon as repairs are completed we will do all we can to get you and your crew back to your timeline.”
Mitchell smiles and chuckles at the notion. “Back to my timeline?” Mitchell covers his mouth as he tries to hold back hysterical laughter very much induced by the whole bottle of whiskey he just consumed.
Decker looks confused. “I fail to see the humor in this.”
Mitchell points at Decker. “You may look like my Decker, but you’re nowhere near as smart as he was.”
“James please…” and Decker tries to diffuse the situation.
“No, you just don’t fucking get it. I didn’t come this far just to go back there. You weren’t listening to me. Two hundred lives depend on me. There’s no way in hell we’re going back.”
“But you have to back. The repercussions of you staying in our timeline could irreversibly alter the course of our history.” Decker stands up raising his hands in front of him trying to calm the situation down. “I can’t imagine how difficult this is for you. As you know from our past lives, we both have experienced war. The Borg, the Dominion, the list goes on and on.”
“Excuse me, but don’t act like you know me because I look like your first officer, and I sure as hell don’t know you. Honestly, you’re nothing like the Morgan Decker I knew.” He pauses rubbing his forehead. “You don’t get it. This war isn’t like any of those. This war is about survival Morgan. It wasn’t about two sides with two different points of views standing off to see who has a bigger dick. There were a dozen sides. Dozens of different points of views. The fucking Federation was fractured beyond repair. Your precious Prime Directive…gone. The Federation and Starfleet…all gone. In my time…it’s all gone and I’m not taking two hundred innocent people back there to die. Not now, not tomorrow…never.” And with that last final statement Mitchell storms out of Captain Decker’s office past Phos and onto the Raza bridge leaving Captain Decker standing there speechless.
The Engine room aboard the time displaced ship.
Lieutenant Commander Sung and her engineering crew have been hard at work for hours trying to get at the very least Impulse drives operational. Dozens of highly trained engineers are scattered across the different levels of the damaged ship doing their very best to get her moving again. Sung can be seen seated at the Chief Engineers chair when an Andorian walks up to her. “Can I help?” asks the much younger, Junior Lieutenant not nearly out of his teens yet.
“Yeah you can start by telling me how the hell you opened that spatial whirlpool and managed to come through in one piece without at the very least ripping your nacelles off.” Asks a very tired and pissed of A’Ryn Sung.
The young Andorian stutters trying to find the right words. “I honestly do not know sir. I was…” he pauses trying to find the right words not to embarrass himself. “I was not in engineering during the breach into your space?”
Sung stops what she’s doing and looks up at the younger man dressed in a makeshift uniform. In fact, none of this ship’s crew members have any semblance of matching uniforms. It seems like a hodgepodge at best. Now that she thinks of it, there’s not a Starfleet or Federation symbol to be seen at all on this ship. Looking closer she sees that he’s lost one antenna in what might have been a battle and he also bear’s the burns on the right side of his face which resembles a plasma burn. Most likely a conduit explosion since he’s an engineer. “Well, let’s start with you telling me why I can’t get in to see the warp core?”
The Andorian stutters looking down at the floor trying not to make eye contact with the Klingon. “Sir, I…”
She gets right up in the young man’s face grabbing him by the chin forcing him to look at her. “Look at me when I’m talking to you! Why are the warp core shields up and the blast doors down Lieutenant?! I’m in a foul mood so make it quick.”
“Sir…I’m not authorized…”
She is getting pretty pissed as she points at the Engineering control terminal with her free hand. “Who the hell locked me out of the main computer Lieutenant? Why can’t I review any of the data leading up to the breach? What the hell are you people hiding?”
Perspiration pours down the young man’s face. “I am truly sorry sir. The Captain gave direct orders that nobody from your ship is to gain access to the warp core or the ships computer.” And with that, the Andorian scurries away from her not wanting to answer any more questions from this crazed Klingon woman.
“What the hell is going on here.” Blurts out a disgusted Chief Engineer as she taps her comm badge. “Sung to Decker.”
“Go ahead A’Ryn.” Answers the Raza’s Captain.
“Sir, something very strange is going on over here.”
“In what way?”
“Well for starters, they won’t let me see the warp core. They put up a force shield and they dropped the blast doors. I’m locked out.”
“What about the data from the main computers?”
“Yeah they locked me out of that too. It’s still unclear how they created the breach. I’m sorry sir.”
“How are the impulse drives coming? We need to get them moving. I’m sure we are not the only ship in the area that noticed this anomaly.”
“Impulse drives are nearly operational sir. Another hour or two and we’ll have her moving.”
“Very good Commander.”
“Sir, one other thing. This may seem odd but I don’t see any Federation or Starfleet markings on this ship. In fact, they don’t even wear formal uniforms.”
“I think I know the answer to that Commander. Keep me updated. Decker out.”
She runs her fingers through her hair. “I should have stayed in bed.” And she gets right back to work.
The Medical Infirmary on the displaced ship.
Doctor Dorn and his med staff have spent the past several hours tending to various cuts, bruises and broken bones. His staff are taxed to their limits and are exhausted when the flood of injured finally subsides. The last in line is a very familiar face in that of Liira. Her hair cut shorter than what he is used to seeing, and a shade lighter; but remarkably similar. He sees a small cut on the left side of her forehead with a stream of blood trickling down her slight green face stopping at her eyebrow. Dorn smiles at her as he approaches her with his medical tricorder. He waves it across her face “It’s so good to see you Commander. I was hoping to see a friendly face in the crowd.”
She looks confused. “Commander? I’m sorry but you have things confused. I’m not part of any military organization.”
“So, in your timeline you are not a Lieutenant Commander in Starfleet?” asks the doctor as he reaches for his med kit pulling out a Dermal Regenerator and activating it over her wound. “This may hurt a bit.”
She flinches from the tingle of the wound healing. “No. I’m not part of Starfleet or the Federation or whatever other names you call your organizations.”
Trying to take her mind off of him tending to her cut he tries to make small talk. “So, what do you do on this ship then if you are not Ships Councilor? Are you still with Faye?”
“Faye?” she asks sounding confused like she never heard that name before.
“Yes Faye Monroe. The two of you are quit an item back on-board my ship.” States Dorn with a smile. “I’m quite jealous of the two of you.”
She pushes his hand away stopping him from finishing the healing process. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I don’t know any woman named Faye Monroe and I assure you I most certainly have never slept with a woman. I have been happily married to Captain Mitchell for three years.”
The doctor looks confused. “Three years. But…” and before he can finish she gets up and leaves the med bay. “Married to Captain Mitchell?” He puts down his Dermal Regenerator and walks over to the computer console. “Computer, please show me all current medical records pertaining to the senior staff aboard this ship.”
“Level One clearance is required to view that information.”
“Ok show me all medical records pertaining to Liira Mitchell.”
“Level One clearance is required to view that information.”
Dorn is getting frustrated. “Is there anything you can show me?”
“All records pertaining to this vessel requires a level…”
“Yes, I know, a Level One clearance. On whose orders computer.”
“Captain Mitchell’s orders.”
“Why would Captain Mitchell put a Level One security block on medical records?” asks Dorn. He taps his comm badge. “Dorn to Decker.”
“Go ahead Doctor.”
“Sir, I have some disturbing information.”
“What do you have Doctor?”
“I believe that our belief that this ship opened a temporal rift is not exactly true. I have found clues that if they did open a temporal rift, it’s not from our timeline. Maybe a parallel universe, but not from our future.”
“Please explain?” asks the Captain.
“Sir, for the past few hours I have aided dozens of men, women and children. Not one of them are current crewmembers aboard our Raza. That was until I treated the last person in line. Her name was Liira. Liira Mitchell.”
“Are you saying Captain Mitchell is married to Liira?”
“Yes sir. But there’s more. I also ascertained that there is no Starfleet or Federation here. I don’t know what is here, but during my conversation with Mrs. Mitchell she made it perfectly clear the Federation didn’t exist.”
“Were you able to gather any medical data on the crew from the ships computers?” asks the Captain.
“No sir. All computer systems were locked out from me. It appears the Captain ordered Level One clearance only.”
“You’re not alone in that Doctor. A’Ryn has met the same resistance on her end also. Please proceed with your work Doctor. Decker out.”
The Bridge of the displaced ship.
Commander Mitchell has been overseeing the repairs of the time displaced ship from the Command Bridge. A bridge that looks very different from Mitchells Raza. This ship, unlike his own ship has two Command chairs. One for the Captain and one for his second in command. The pilot sits in the center chair in front of the view screen while the Comms officer sits off to the left and Tactical off to the right. No chair for Liira or Karn. He guesses that this ship has no need for Science officers or Councilors. He walks up to the Comms station and brushes off some debris off the surface letting it fall to the floor. After a few taps he gets the station to come to life. “Computer replay the events leading up to this ship coming through the rift. Audio and visual.
“Level One clearance is required to view that information.”
“All right then, show me all the logs for the events leading up to and after the breach.”
“Level One clearance is required to view that information.”
Mitchell is getting pissed. “Computer, is there anything that you can show me?”
“All records require a level One clearance to view.”
“God damn-it computer, on whose authority?”
“All clearance levels have been authorized by Captain Mitchell.”
“What the hell is he hiding?” Blurts out the Commander.
“Please restate the question.” Asks the computer.
“Never mind. I’ll take care of this myself.” Pissed off he walks across the bridge side stepping various engineers as they try and piece together various terminals. That’s when he spots it. The door to the Captains quarters. He walks up to the door and it doesn’t open. “Computer open this door.”
“Retinal access required to proceed beyond this point.” And a small plate slides open on the wall just at eye level.
Mitchell is very cautious as he gets closer to the scanner, looking back more than once to see if anyone is watching him. Seeing that nobody is, he puts his face near the scanner. Twin lasers come out from the wall unit scanning his eyes. After a second… “Confirmed Captain Mitchell.” And the door to the living quarters slides open. Mitchell steps through. The living quarters are as dark as all the other rooms aboard this ship. Emergency lighting barely making it tolerable, just enough to see a few feet in front of him. Making his way around the room he doesn’t see much out of the ordinary. Desk, chairs, the sleeping quarters off to the left…but then it catches his eye. One lone picture on the desk. He picks up the picture and lets the emergency lighting let the picture come into full view. A wedding photo. But not any ordinary wedding photo. A wedding photo of his counterpart Captain James Mitchell and …Liira!! If that wasn’t enough to throw his brain for a loop he sees deeper into the picture. Something that might have been passed by from anyone else, but not him.
“What the hell?!”
Back aboard the bridge of the Raza.
Chief Science Officer Karn has been studying the breach in time and space for hours and she finally thinks she’s figured out how they created that rift. She walks over to the door leading to the Captain’s ready room and chimes herself in. “Enter.” Can be heard from the other side of the door and it slides open allowing her access. She walks in right up to the Captain sitting behind the desk.
“I think I’ve figured it out sir. I think I know how they created the breach.” Exclaims the Science officer.
“Go on.” Asks the Captain very curiously.
Karn approaches the wall mounted viewer. “Computer access information Karn One.” And the viewer shows the area of space just prior to the spatial event. “Computer play the events showing the displaced ship coming out of the breach.” And as the computer plays the sequence of events she turns to her Captain. “Sir, I have been studying the data and I think that they may have used Red Matter in some way to rip open space. I have detected high levels of Red Matter particles in the rifts debris field and trace elements still attached to the hull of their ship. Computer, please single out all trace elements of Red Matter in and around the debris field including the ship that came through the rift.” The computer shifts views where millions of specks that look like little red stars dot the debris field and the hull of the ship. “It has been proven that Red Matter can open a hole in space and time, but it has been banned by the Federation due to its volatile nature. In the wrong hands sir could kill millions.”
“Red Matter? We are lucky both ships weren’t destroyed in the breach.” Decker taps his comms badge. “Decker to Mitchell.”
The Captains quarters aboard the displaced ship minutes before…
Commander Mitchell is seen walking around the private quarters of his counterpart Captain Mitchell when Liira, another strange version of the woman he knows; walks in. He looks up at her, and immediately recognizes that she is not the Liira he knows, but some twisted time displaced version of Liira. She is startled to find him walking around her private room as she doesn’t see him when she first walks in. “What are you doing in here? These are my private quarters.”
Mitchell takes a few steps toward her and she sees that he is holding some sort of picture frame in his hand. “I know whose room this is. That’s why I’m here. Your husband has been keeping secrets and I want answers. And since he’s locked us out of all ships records I have decided that playing spy was the best course of action.”
As if she practiced this line she blurts out… “The Temporal Prime Directive…”
“Stuff that Temporal shit up your lime green ass. You’re not from the future and you know it. This ship. This motley crew of officers. There’s no way in hell you’re from my future. Now why don’t you stop playing games and tell me where the hell you’re really from.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” As she tries to deceive him.
And Mitchell hands her the picture frame. She doesn’t take it, just looks down at it. The wedding photo of her and James Mitchell. Her James Mitchell. He waits for her to say something, but she never does; so, he does.
“Normally, I wouldn’t have minded the thought of you and I tying the knot. Hell, we all know that there are alternate timelines out there where crazy shit happens. But what really got my detective skills flowing wasn’t you and I standing there looking oh so happy. You thinking about how great you look in that dress and me thinking about all the different ways I am going to have sex with you.”
She rolls her eyes.
He smiles at her. “It was that uniform I, or should I say he was wearing.”
Liira looks away knowing that she fucked up. She thought they scrubbed the ship down. All traces of who, what and where they came from all wiped away. But she forgot one thing. One small piece of the puzzle that only this idiot would notice.
“Funny thing is sweetheart, that’s not a Starfleet uniform or a Federation uniform or any uniform from where I come from. So, to feed me this future timeline bullshit and expect me to swallow it, well it aint happening sister.”
She looks away knowing that they are all screwed now.
“It’s a Terran uniform isn’t it?” asks Commander Mitchell.
Liira nods her head yes and starts to cry as a tear drop runs down her cheek. “Please James, we can’t go back. If we go back we will all be killed. My husband and I will be executed as traitors to the Empire. All these people. Women, children all executed.”
“Executed? My counterpart is a Captain in the friggen Terran Empire. If I remember correctly, that’s pretty bad ass. Why would he be executed? What could he have done so shitty that the Empire would want to execute him?”
“He plotted behind their backs to aid these people in leaving the Empire and finding a new home out of their reaches.”
“They don’t kill people for aiding abetting. Maybe a few years on a penal colony, but certainly not death.”
“To get these people out of Terran space as quickly as he could, he stole a prototype ship that was rumored to be able to breach galaxy’s in a blink of an eye. He stole this ship.”
“That’s pretty messed up. But still not execution worthy. Let’s get to the juicy, execution worthy shit.”
She turns to him wiping the tears from his face. “He killed an Admiral.”
A stunned look comes across Mitchell’s face. “No shit! An Admiral. Now that’s execution worthy. Anyone I know? Because, if it’s someone I know I wanna stay clear of him here. Incase he gets wind of it.”
“This is not a joke. Why do you make jokes about everything?”
Mitchell ponders that question. “Good question. Let me think about that for a second.”
“My husband is not a cold-blooded killer like they make him out to be James. Everything he’s done, he’s done to save these people. There are over two hundred people on this ship. Two hundred lives he saved. That has to mean something!”
Just then he hears a voice behind him. “Hello brother.” And Commander Mitchell turns around to see the silhouette of his counterpart Captain Mitchell standing in the doorway.
Mitchells communicator chimes. “Decker to Mitchell.”
Back aboard the Raza.
Captain Decker marches onto his bridge followed by Lieutenant Karn quickly behind him. Karn takes her post at the Science station as he takes a seat in the Captain’s chair. He taps his comm badge again. “Decker to Sung.”
“Go ahead Captain.”
“Commander I need you to gather up Doctor Dorn and both your teams and beam back to the Raza immediately. Lieutenant Karn has detected trace levels of Red Matter on the hull of that ship.”
“Red Matter?!” No wonder they wouldn’t let me see the warp core. They must have somehow converted the warp core into a Red Matter reactor. That’s how they created the breach. That’s how they got here. They ripped a hole in space.”
“Commander, we will sort all this out later; but for now, I need you to get your teams back to the Raza. Is that understood?”
“Yes sir. But what about James? The last time I saw him he was on the bridge.” Asks Sung.
“Don’t worry about the Commander. Your first priority is get your teams off that ship.”
“Yes sir.”
Decker stands up and looks at Lieutenant Cho. “Jeremy can you detect Commander Mitchell’s whereabouts on that ship?”
Cho taps away on his stations control panel. “Yes sir. He’s in the Captains quarters. I also detect his counterpart there with him along with what I believe is Liira.”
“So, it seems our Commander isn’t the only person with a body double.” The Captain turns his attention to Phos. “Give me a status report on that ship. I want to know what kind of firepower we are dealing with.”
Phos answers. “She carries a much heavier armament than we do sir. It seems they have substituted some of the things we perceive as luxury or redundant for extra firepower.”
“She’s a piranha.” Blurts out Cho.
“Lieutenant?” Asks the Captain.
“A piranha Captain. She’s small but has sharp teeth.”
“The Captain nods in agreement. “And very deadly Lieutenant.”
Phos cuts in. “Her shields are also functional, but they are only at thirty percent and are currently down sir.”
“What about her warp drives?” asks Decker.
“Last report by Commander Sung they have impulse drives only sir. She did not have time to complete the repairs to the warp drives.”
Decker looks across the bridge to Lieutenant Karn. “Other than the residual Red Matter on their hull can you detect any Red Matter being stored inside that ship.”
“Inconclusive sir. Between the residual Red Matter on their hull and what we are picking up in space around them, I can’t tell if they are hiding any or if they have used it all creating the breach.”
The Captain pauses when the silence is broken. “Transporter Chief to Captain Decker.”
The Captain taps his comms badge. “Go ahead Chief.”
“Sir both Doctor Dorn and Commander Sung are back aboard the Raza along with both their away teams.”
“Very good Chief. Can you get a lock on Commander Mitchell?”
“Negative sir.” Answers the Transporter Chief.
Decker turns in his chair to look at Phos. “Lieutenant?”
“I am sorry sir. They have activated their shields.” States Lieutenant Phos.
“Red alert. Shields up.”
The Red alert alarm can be heard throughout the Raza as the ships crew rushes to their emergency stations.
“Shields are up sir.” States Phos.
“Back us off Faye but keep us within transporter range.” Orders the Captain.
“Backing away sir.” And the impulse drives kick in pushing the Raza away from her Terran counterpart.
“Sir we are being hailed.” Announces Communications Chief Jeremy Cho.
“On screen.” Orders the Captain as he stands up straightening out his jacket.
The forward viewscreen comes to life showing the bridge of the displaced ship. Standing there is Commander Mitchell along with his counterpart Captain Mitchell and his wife Liira.
“Captain Mitchell it has become very apparent that you were not entirely truthful with me during our conversation earlier today.” Accuses Captain Decker.
Captain Mitchell smiles back at the Raza Captain. “You’re just like the Morgan Decker that I knew. But just like him, I don’t trust you either.”
“James, trust goes both ways and I understand your reluctance.”
“Do you Morgan? I don’t think you do. You have no idea where I came from or what I have had to sacrifice to get here.”
“You’re right. I don’t. But I’m willing to listen and I’m willing to help.”
“Would you be so willing to listen to me if you knew that back in my time I killed you and that if I was forced to do so I would kill you again.”
The Captain pauses looking away from the viewer collecting his thoughts.
“You see Captain, you have no idea who I am or what I’ve done. All you see is him…” and he points at Commander Mitchell “…and you think we are the same person. Back in my time that person died the day I killed you. He doesn’t’ exist in my time anymore. All that matters, is that I find safe haven for the families aboard MY ship. Like I have already told you, there’s no way in hell we’re going back.”
“James you’re right. I have no clue what you’ve been through or what led you here. But I too am not the man you say you killed. Please stand down. Let’s talk this through. Let’s find a way to bring this to a peaceful resolution. Let’s end the killing, here and now.”
Liira grabs her husbands arm and he looks at her seeing the tears rolling down her face. “James, please stop this. We need to find a new home. A place where these people can put behind them the horrors of the Empire. We need to find a place…” And she places his left hand on her stomach. “…to raise our child.”
Captain Mitchell’s eyes go wide. “You’re pregnant?”
“Yes. And I don’t want to raise my child on the run from both the Terran Empire and the Federation. It’s time to stop running James. We need to give these people a chance to live normal lives. Give our child a chance to live a normal life. Please James. I beg you.”
Mitchell sees the pleading look in his wife’s eyes. “Shields down!”
From the tactical station across the bridge a young Ensign blurts out. “Shields down sir.”
He turns back to the main view screen. “Let’s talk Decker.”
“They have dropped their shields sir.” Announces Phos.
“Drop our shields and cancel red alert.” Commands Captain Decker.
“Yes sir.” Answers Phos.
“Captain Mitchell, I await you and your wife in transporter room one. Oh, and if it’s not too much to ask; please bring my Commander Mitchell with you.”
“Yes Captain. There’s only room for one Mitchell aboard my ship.” Jokes Captain Mitchell and Commander Mitchell looks across at him mumbling under his breath. “You’re still a dick.”
Back aboard the Raza two days later.
Captain Decker, Captain Mitchell and Admiral Braun have been in talks for two days and they have finally reached an agreement that seems will be in favor for both sides. Captain Mitchell and his wife have beamed back aboard their own ship and repairs have continued under the leadership of Commander Sung. The chime at the Captains Ready Room door beckons.
“Enter.” Orders Captain Decker and as the door slides open Commander Mitchell walks in.
“James, come in. Please have a seat.” And a smile comes across the Captains face seeing his Commander walk in.
Mitchell takes a seat across from his Captain. “Sir, A’Ryn reports that the repairs are coming along nicely. The Piranha can now reach warp two.”
“The Piranha Number One?” asks the Captain quizzically.
“Yes sir. It seems that nickname Mr. Cho gave her stuck.” Answers Mitchell with a grin on his face.
“Warp two?” and the Captain rolls his eyes. “We are not exactly going to break any speed records getting to Starbase 718 are we Number One.”
“Starbase 718 sir?” asks Mitchell.
“Yes, Number One. Starfleet has ordered us to escort the Piranha as you call her to Starbase 718 for further examination.”
“They are going to rip her apart?” states James.
“Most likely Number One. Starfleet Intelligence is dying to find out how they breached into our reality.”
“What about the crew?
“I’m afraid that’s classified information.”
“So, you don’t know or you can’t tell me?”
“Honestly, I have no idea what’s going to happen to them. My hope is that after a quick debriefing they let them start their lives over again on some distant planet on the edge of the galaxy. What these people endured, they deserve a second chance in life.
“And us sir? What are our orders?”
“Well we don’t have any at this time?”
“What does that mean sir?”
“They are putting the Raza in for some standard repairs and basic upgrades while we are there. Starfleet also wants to run some diagnostic tests on Phos. They are worried the overload she took a few weeks ago might have caused internal damage.”
“Why do I get the feeling that this is more than just a basic refit and a system check on Phos? What aren’t you telling me?”
The Captain’s expression turns serious. “It seems the Judge Advocate General’s Office has a few questions regarding the recent events that occurred with Mr. Bates.”
“They are sending a JAG to question us? Why not just bring an Admiral along for Christ sake?”
The seriousness on the Captain’s face doesn’t change.
“So, they are bringing an Admiral?” and now Mitchell gets serious.
“I have been informed that Admiral Braun will be accompanying the JAG officer during the questioning.” States the Captain.
“Captain, how serious is this?”
“It seems that it isn’t sitting well with Starfleet that one of their own would steal a runabout, kill three other Starfleet officers and escape from one of their newest ships in the fleet.”
“Yeah, well I still got the taste of shit in my mouth.” Jokes Mitchell.
“Don’t we all James. Please alert Captain Mitchell that we are ready to get underway.”
“Yes sir.” Answers Mitchell.
“Warp one Number One.” And Captain Decker winks at his second in Command. Mitchell catches that and smiles back at his Captain.
“Aye sir. I would hate to tax their engines. It could cause further delays, and I would hate to keep the JAG waiting.” And on that note Commander Mitchell walks out of the Captain’s Ready room. Decker turns in his chair looking back out the window where slight remnants of the breach took place wondering how this is all going to play out.
Back aboard the Romulan Warbird Osiris.
The weeks and months have dragged by for the Romulan crew of the Osiris. More than once High Commander Sharn had to execute one of his own to keep the troops in line. Day after day Sharn has spent countless hours reading reports from the Empire. Deaths tolls mounting in the millions, not just from the destruction of the two home worlds, but also from the civil unrest the chaos has caused. The Romulan government has splintered into factions with no clear leadership stepping up to take the prior regime’s place. Civil war is not just a possibility, it’s something Sharn thinks is inevitable. A chime is heard in the darkness. “Sir, incoming coded message for your eyes-only sir.” States a young female voice.
“I’ll take it here.” And after a few seconds his desk top view screen comes to life showing the familiar face of the Cardassian he tried to strike a deal with from the Orion Syndicate.
“Sharn, do you still wish to deal with the Syndicate?” asks the Cardassian with a shit eating grin on his face.
“What would make you think otherwise Cardassian?” questions Sharn with a blank look on his face.
“The price you are going to pay for this is going to be very high. The Orion Syndicate hopes that you have the resources to cover the cost of doing business with us. We understand that you have fallen on rough times with certain factions within the Romulan government.”
“My relationship with any Romulan faction in a position of power is none of your concern. As previously agreed, the price will be paid in full. Now get along with this. I bore of you and your drabble. Where will you make the exchange?”
“We have received reports that the Raza is due to dock at Starbase 718 for repairs and resupply in the next few days. It’s at that time we will plant the seed of destruction within their midst.”
“Let me see if I understand you clearly. You are going to infiltrate a Starfleet base of operations and take one of their own right from under their noses? This is very risky Cardassian. Are you certain this is plan of yours is going to work?”
“We have friends in many places Romulan. Maybe here on yours ship?” and the Cardassian laughs at Sharn.
Sharn is getting pissed because he knows the Cardassian is pushing his buttons. “Are you threatening me Cardassian?”
“You will come to learn that the Orion Syndicate doesn’t make idle threats. Now I have sent the coordinates of the rendezvous point to your ship. Bring the payment and that android with you. Do not be late.”
The viewscreen blinks out. Sharn sits back in his chair and smiles knowing that the next move on the chess board is his. His day of reckoning is coming.