Author: Apollo Racer
Title: Origins
Email: fltadmracer@hotmail.com
Characters: New Crew/Star Trek: TOS/Star Trek TOS: Animated Series.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: In a bizarre twist of fate, a young man from the 21st century is trapped
in a frozen coffin as he drifts along the tides of time to be awakened 200 years
later.

Chapter Twenty-Two

The USS Horizon was finishing up business at Starbase 22. Captain Erika Gibson was a little suspicious of the Commodore… he seemed to be in a pretty big hurry, and he kept looking at his chronometer as though he were late for an appointment. When everyone was aboard and the ship was ready to depart, she had them leave, but at a slower pace than they normally went.

Her suspicions paid off when their sensors detected another Starfleet vessel dropping out of warp just outside the system, on a heading for the starbase. When she saw the readouts for the ship, she asked her first officer, \”The Enterprise isn\’t too far away, is it?\”

He shrugged. \”I don\’t think so, sir. Maybe a couple of systems away.\”

She nodded, then turned to the man at Communications. \”Contact Jim Kirk. I think we may need his help on this.\”

~ * ~

\”Captain, we\’re receiving a message from the USS Horizon.\”

Apollo looked up from a report he was signing. \”The Horizon?\”

Thelem nodded. \”They found the Firestone. At first, they were about to engage the Horizon when the Enterprise entered the system. Seems Captain Kirk\’s reputation is too much for even Stevens… they turned and fled the system.\”

\”Heading?\”

The Andorian received information from his link with the other starship. \”157 mark 83… in other words, right for us.\”

\”I doubt they realize that.\”

\”New information, Captain,\” M\’Ress reported. \”The Enterprise and the Horizon have engaged them. Bozeman had arrived cutting off the Firestone, and the Hornet is about five minutes away.\”

Apollo shifted eagerly in his chair. \”Set course for their coordinates, maximum warp. Contact the Enterprise, tell them we\’re about to join the party.\” As he saw the familiar distortion of stars that heralded warp speed, he punched the comm button on his chair. \”Bridge to Engineering. Mr. McCormick, I hate to bother you about this, but I\’m going to need you to wring every drop of warp power out of those precious engines of yours.\”

\”I\’ve kept an ear on what\’s been happening. To catch that madman, Cap\’n, I\’ll give you warp nine, and a bit more.\”

\”The effort is appreciated, Mac. Bridge out.\” He sat back and steepled his fingers. \”Mr. Arex, time before we reach the scene.\”

\”Fifteen minutes, Captain,\” Arex replied in his clipped tone.

Apollo slowly nodded. He reached deep to utilize every Vulcan meditation technique he had ever learned to prepare himself for the upcoming confrontation.

It seemed to come sooner than he expected. \”Captain,\” Sam called out, \”long range sensors are reporting several starships ahead. Four of them engaging a fifth. Sir, it\’s got to be them.\”

\”Unless the Klingons are staging this to throw us off.\” He looked to see if anyone took him seriously. They didn\’t. \”Hail our friends. Drop out of warp. Go to Red Alert.\” The lights changed, but due to a prior order from Apollo, the klaxon remained silent.

\”I have Captain Kirk, sir,\” M\’Ress said.

\”Put me through.\” He paused. \”Greetings, everyone. Is this a private party or can anyone join in?\”

Four faces came up on the screen. Their bridges, like Apollo\’s, were suffused in red light. One of the faces belonged to Kirk. \”Captain Racer, good of you to come,\” he said.

\”Has any fire been exchanged, Jim?\”

\”No, you haven\’t missed anything yet, though I daresay it probably won\’t remain this way for long. Right now, we\’re just showing off our shields to each other.\”

Apollo was about to say something else when a voice broke over the speakers. \”Federation ships, this is the Firestone, Captain Stevens commanding. We are on a mission of urgency. I demand to know why you are interfering.\”

\”This is Admiral James T. Kirk of the starship Enterprise. And you\’re no captain, Stevens. Surrender your ship.\”

Stevens laughed. \”Admiral, your wit is legendary. Do you truly think I would simply give up what is rightfully mine simply on your say? I cannot help but be amused.\”

Apollo snorted. \”I think it\’s safe to say that you\’re the only one.\”

Stevens stopped posturing, the smile wiped off his face. \”Who said that? The voice is familiar, but the man it belongs to is dead.\”

Apollo stood. \”Put me on visual with him,\” he said to M\’Ress. Stevens\’ image came up on screen. As they were all patched in to each other, his face showed on their screens as well. \”This is Captain Racer of the Valiant. Once again, I\’m afraid reports of my death have been… greatly exaggerated. You seem to have a big problem with that, Captain.\”

Stevens became horrified. His eyes bugged out at the aspect of confronting a ghost. \”How! No one ever…\” Suddenly, Stevens\’ face became composed. His eyes seemed lazily narrowed, belying the danger in them. \”No matter how often I kill you, Racer, you always seem to be a thorn in my side. May this death I dish out to you be the final one.\” His image disappeared.

\”So much for your element of surprise,\” Sam said sarcastically.

\”Oops,\” Apollo said. \”Ladies and gentlemen, I highly suggest we get ready for battle. Valiant out.\” The screen once again showed the placid scene which would soon become highly energetic with activity.

Sam looked worried. \”Firestone is powering up her weapons. And one other thing… while you were talking, I took the liberty of scanning the ship for the damage it received at Starbase 47, as well as any they might have received from their run-in with the Romulans. There\’s no trace, which means they\’ve repaired it.\”

Thelem\’s antennae twitched. \”They certainly made good use of the materials they took from Cordova. I guess we\’ll get to find out how those Romulan ships felt.\” He made his way to the port side of the Bridge and took his place at the weapons console.

Apollo nodded. \”Hopefully we\’ll fare better.\” He watched as Horizon\’s shields flared brightly under Firestone\’s first volley. \”Here we go, people. Engage the enemy. Arex, evasives as you see fit. Thelem, fire at will.\”

Valiant swooped around a phaser blast meant for them. The Hornet was caught by a torpedo volley. She staggered but held her ground, firing back. Enterprise and Horizon flanked the battle cruiser, throwing everything they had into their attack. The Firestone\’s shields flared brightly but showed no signs of failing. They fired all forward torpedoes at the Bozeman. The warp-powered weapons proved too much for their shields. They flared briefly, collapsed, and the energy backlash acted like an uppercut to the jaw. The Bozeman\’s power went out and it spun helplessly through space.

On the Valiant\’s bridge, a flash appeared on the right side of the screen. \”What was that? Arex…\”

\”On it, sir.\” The view switched to show the Horizon. A torpedo had gotten through her shields, and an ugly glowing scar across the upper surface of the primary hull marked its path. \”Grazing hit scored, Captain. Surface damage only.\”

Apollo rose and made his way over to Thelem\’s station. \”Show me a tactical.\” The Andorian complied, and the screen above him displayed a diagram of the ships\’ locations. \”The Hornet looked to be damaged the most. Move to protect…\”

Suddenly, the bridge was slammed sideways as the Firestone hit them with a barrage. Apollo was barely able to grab a railing to keep from falling. Thelem got up off the floor and supported himself by the console as he read a damage report. \”Shields held, but they\’re down to 65 percent.\”

\”Let\’s try not to get hit again, shall we people?\” Apollo said, heading back to his chair.

The two sides exchanged blow for blow for what seemed like hours. Due to the Firestone\’s advanced weaponry, the factions were equal. The Valiant\’s crew were working feverishly, trying to find that balance of rushing in to strike their target without getting hit themselves. Another barrage from the battle cruiser struck them and this time, their seats fell out from underneath them. They were getting used to being bounced around, though, and recovered more quickly. As they did, Sam gasped at the screen. They looked to see the Hornet blazing across their path, dangerously close. One of her nacelles were missing, and burning plasma trailed behind them where it had been severed. There were gaping holes in her hull, and Apollo couldn\’t imagine that there was anyone on board left alive. Then Arex initiated an evasive move to avoid a collision. The move also saved them from coming nose-to-nose with a photon torpedo. Apollo punched his comm button. \”Enterprise, watch where you\’re shooting.\”

\”Sorry, Valiant,\” came Kirk\’s reply. \”They moved out of the way.\”

With the Hornet still in his mind, Apollo got an idea. \”Sam, locate the Hornet\’s nacelle.\”

She went silent for a moment. \”Got it,\” she finally said. \”What do you have in mind?\”

\”Arex, move toward the nacelle. Prepare to grab it with a tractor beam.\”

~ * ~

Aboard the Enterprise, Kirk watched as the Valiant swept gracefully toward the Hornet\’s nacelle and locked their tractor beam onto it. \”Vat is he doing?\” Chekov asked from the weapons station.

Spock raised an eyebrow. \”Interesting. Admiral, are you thinking what he is thinking?\”

Kirk was rubbing his chin. \”Yes. I believe it just might work. Let\’s not give Stevens the chance to find out what he\’s doing.\”

~ * ~

Stevens was marveled at the resilience of their enemies. He had no doubts that the Firestone would eventually emerge the victor here, but he had to admire the other captains\’ tenacity at not giving up. Two of the ships, Enterprise and Horizon, despite moderate damage to both ships, redoubled their attempts at disabling his ship. He had seen the Hornet limp away, too damaged to be of much more help to them. And the Bozeman was taken out early in the game. Valiant, with that damnable Racer in command, was swooping around, apparently out of control. He doubted their last strike damaged them badly enough to disable them, but he couldn\’t figure out what they were doing. Then the other ships and he momentarily lost sight of Racer. \”Get him back!\” he yelled. \”Find that demon!\”

Said demon popped back into view, swooping toward him. He had just enough time to realize what the Valiant just did before an explosion threw him off his feet.

When he regained his footing, he saw the damage caused and he went berserk. \”You bastards!! How dare you defy me!! I\’ll show you the folly of getting in my way!!\” he raved. \”Fire all weapons!\”

Ramsey simply stood there. \”They have the advantage! We should give in now while we\’re still alive!\” His argument was made moot as Stevens shot him with a phaser. He screeched as his body\’s molecules discorporated.

\”Take that, you mutineer! I\’ll show them myself!\” Stevens launched himself toward the tactical station and threw everything they had at the task force.

~ * ~

\”Disengage tractor beam… now. And evade.\”

They watched as the nacelle shot past the ship like a javelin and slammed into the underside of the Firestone\’s saucer section. At the same time, they and the Enterprise fired on the nacelle. The resulting explosion sent debris into Firestone\’s port nacelle. While it wasn\’t sheared off, the damage was more than enough to render it useless. The ship lumbered off in the opposite direction. \”Well?\” he asked.

Sam smiled. \”As you suspected, that top nacelle can\’t balance out a warp field without the other two. Their warp drive is out.\”

\”But they are still dangerous,\” Thelem commented. As if on cue, they were struck by a full phaser barrage. The lights flickered, dimmed, and went out. For a full minute, the only illumination came from the viewscreen. Even the viewscreen flickered, but it soon came back on. From their vantage point, they could clearly watch helplessly as torpedoes shot from Firestone\’s ventral aft launchers to slam into Enterprise and Horizon, punching through both their weakened shields. Enterprise\’s navigational array went out, and Horizon received a hole through the dorsal support that connected its two hulls.

Apollo\’s comm beeped. \”Valiant, this is Enterprise. Horizon\’s in trouble, and all but one of our transporters are out.\”

He glanced over at Sam, and she took stock of their situation. \”Half of our transporters are out as well,\” she reported.

\”Enterprise, it\’ll be slow, but I think we can get them out. Can you keep an eye on Firestone for us?\”

\”Will do. Kirk out.\”

Apollo looked at the Firestone. The behemoth drifted silently before them. Without action, the captain could clearly tell that their little stunt caused more damage than was visible on Stevens\’ ship. \”Captain,\” Sam said, \”a few of the battle cruiser\’s weapons systems fried in our last attack. We\’re currently in one of the Firestone\’s blind spots. I think their sensors covering this side of their ship may be gone, too. But I wouldn\’t guarantee how long that will last.\”

He got up and tugged his jacket down. \”Thelem, you have the bridge.\”

\”Captain, are you sure its wise to go over there?\” Thelem questioned, concern clearly in his voice. \”We\’re not really sure what that ship is still capable of doing.\”

\”Then I trust you\’ll inform me the minute something happens.\” He headed for the lift.

\”Captain,\” Sam called out before he was gone, \”be careful.\” He winked at her, and it was the last thing she saw before the doors closed on him.

~ * ~

He and Sorel materialized on Horizon\’s bridge. Kirk had the same idea. He had McCoy beamed over, and Kirk himself was just sparkling into existence as Apollo took stock of the situation. The two doctors conferred with each other, then they worked in concert to help Horizon\’s medical crew stabilize their wounded as quickly as possible. Kirk was heard to say, \”See if you can\’t split these people between the two ships.\” He turned and saw Apollo surveying the bridge. \”We still have to find out what the Hornet\’s condition is.\”

The Valiant\’s captain shook his head gravely. \”We took scans, sir. The Hornet\’s crew are dead. They simply took too much damage. Bozeman\’s not so hot either, but we received a message stating that they were out of danger. I think they were limping toward the nearest starbase. They\’re in no condition to be of any help to us.\”

Kirk sized Apollo up. \”That was a good javelin throw you guys pulled off. Very effective. A bit unorthodox, but effective.\”

Apollo nodded his thanks. \”Let\’s get these people off this ship before she blows.\”

Kirk headed for the lift, but stopped when he saw Apollo just stand there, looking at the Firestone. He then must have realized he was being watched, for he turned and entered the lift with Kirk. They headed down to deck eight, where Apollo suggested they split up. Kirk thought nothing of the suggestion and took off. Then Apollo took a different corridor.

He found the Horizon\’s captain just as she was entering the auxiliary bridge. \”Captain, we have to leave. Your ship is unstable.\”

\”The hell I will, Racer!\” Gibson spat. \”I intend to pay back that ugly, cross-eyed butt for damaging my ship. Besides, I thought the captain was supposed to stay behind.\”

Apollo followed her into the bridge. \”Those were the old days. Enough life has been lost already. What do you intend to do, anyway?\”

She snorted. \”No, enough lives haven\’t been lost. That son of a bitch killed some of my good people, and I\’m not going to let him get away with it.\” She sat down at the helm and started punching in commands. \”I\’m going to give him what he wants… I\’m going to shove this ship right down his throat.\”

Apollo was shocked. \”You can\’t be serious! First of all, I\’ve seen the damage to this ship. You\’d have to pilot her manually all the way in, never mind the fact that he could probably still swat you aside. Your efforts would only be futile.\”

\”It\’s a chance I\’ll take. You just make sure you get those other buckets out of here when this baby blows.\”

\”Besides, I had orders from Starfleet that we were to bring the Firestone back. It\’s still a prototype.\”

She shot up out of her chair. \”To Hell with Starfleet\’s orders! They\’ll just have to build a new prototype!\” She shook her head in disbelief. \”I\’m surprised that you\’re willing to allow that maniac to live! I\’ve seen the reports, heard the stories… I know what that bastard put you through. If it were me, I\’d have killed the son of a bitch.\”

He walked up to her and put a hand on her shoulder. \”You\’re right. He does need to be taken down. To sacrifice yourself to do it, though, is unnecessary, and killing him won\’t allow him to pay for his crimes.\”

\”No sense trying to talk me out of it, Apollo. Someone\’s gotta bring him down. My ship\’s not good for much more than a battering ram now, so that\’s how I intend to use it. Go to your ship, Captain.\”

He smiled disarmingly. \”I appreciate your willingness to rally to my cause…\” He then added pressure to the nerve juncture at the base of her neck, and she slumped in her seat, unconscious. \”…but I\’m afraid that\’s not your position to take. Don\’t worry, Captain… justice will be served.\” He pulled out his communicator. \”Racer to Valiant. I found the captain and she needs medical attention. Lock onto my coordinates and beam her up. Also coordinate with Admiral Kirk to transfer some injured to his ship.\”

\”Just her, sir? There\’s not too many more to take care of. You\’ll be among the last group.\”

\”There\’s a few more things that I need to take care of. Just beam the injured party over.\”

The voice sighed in resignation. \”Aye aye, sir. See you back on board.\” At that point, the Horizon\’s captain disappeared in a transporter beam.

He sat down in the recently vacated seat. \”Computer.\”

For a moment, he was afraid the computer was too damaged to acknowledge him. He breathed a sigh of relief when it answered. \”Working.\”

\”This is Captain Apollo A. Racer of the USS Valiant. In accordance with Starfleet Order 104, Section B, I am assuming command of this vessel.\” He waited for the response.

\”Acknowledged. Transferring command of the USS Horizon to Captain Apollo Racer,\” said the computer.

\”Computer, scan the ship for life signs.\”

There was a pause. \”There is only one life form on board.\”

\”Direct all power, including life support, to shields and propulsion, whatever of each is functioning.\”

The computer struggled to comply. \”Shields are now at 34 percent. Warp drive is out. Impulse drive is at 25 percent. Best possible speed is one-quarter impulse.\” The computer\’s report was grim, but it was more than Apollo had hoped for.

\”Okay, pay attention. This is what I want to do.\”

~ * ~

Thelem shot up from the command chair. \”What the hell is the Horizon up to?\” His first concern was their captain. He hit the comm button. \”Transporter room, did you pick up the captain yet?\”

\”No, sir. He said he had a few things to take care of first,\” came the reply.

Sam\’s face went pale. Thelem had one more call to make. \”M\’Ress, patch me through to Enterprise.\” He waited until she nodded. \”Enterprise, this is Commander Thelem of the Valiant. Do you have our captain?\”

There was a moment of silence, then Spock\’s voice came over the speakers. \”Negative. Is he not with you?\”

Kirk cut in on their conversation. \”This is Kirk. I\’m in Valiant\’s transporter room. I was just about to beam over to my ship when the Horizon\’s captain beamed aboard here. She\’s just coming around. She said Apollo was talking to her when he gave her a Vulcan nerve pinch.\”

Thelem spit an Andorian curse that wouldn\’t translate. \”Thank you, sir.\” He cut the connection. \”Get me the Horizon.\”

M\’Ress only shrugged. \”Sorry, Commander. Their communications were taken out in the battle. Even if they functioned, we couldn\’t reach him; his comm system is receiving no power.\”

Thelem looked to Sam. \”Neither of us can move,\” she said. \”Enterprise\’s drive systems are off-line, and we only have maneuvering thrusters. Besides, we\’re trying to coordinate medical efforts.\” She turned back to her viewer. \”Horizon moving at one-quarter impulse. Her shields are up, but they\’re not very strong.\”

\”Transporter room, beam our captain back over here, now,\” the first officer said.

\”Sorry, sir. The Horizon\’s gotten her shields back. We can\’t get through them,\” came the reply.

\”Damn.\” Thelem brought his fist down on the console. They watched helplessly as the Horizon slowly turned toward the Firestone on an inexorable course.

~ * ~

The Enterprise\’s lift doors opened, depositing Kirk onto the bridge. \”Spock, is there any way we can stop him?\” he pleaded, pounding on his chair for emphasis.

Spock solemnly shook his head as he relinquished the command chair to his commanding officer. \”Negative, Admiral. We simply don\’t have the power.\”

Kirk cursed, pounding his chair again. \”Damn it! What the devil is he up to?\” His eyes widened as the Horizon closed the gap.

~ * ~

Her eyes widened as the Horizon settled on its course. \”Oh my God,\” Sam exclaimed, \”He\’s going to ram it! Thelem, stop him!\”

\”How!? Our weapons are out.\” He hit the comm button. \”Enterprise, is there anything we can do?\”

Kirk heard the transmission. He turned toward his science officer, who took the gesture as a cue to begin scanning. Spock went through the procedures, but turned back toward Kirk with less than favorable news. \”I suggest the only thing we do at this time is to get out of range, quickly.\”

Kirk\’s fury became evident. \”I will not allow him to commit suicide!\”

Spock remained calm in the face of this storm he faced. \”Admiral, if you recall, the Horizon was unstable. Apollo understands this, and is using it to our advantage. I merely point out the only logical solution. Remaining here will only result in our destruction as well.\”

\”But Starfleet…\”

Spock cut off Kirk\’s protest. \”Apparently, Apollo believes that an incident such as this would repeat itself if the Firestone were kept intact; he no doubt feels the battle cruiser is too powerful a ship to have been explored as an option. I tend to agree.\”

Kirk stared at the floor, not comprehending, forcing himself not to believe. Spock silently came down to stand at Kirk\’s side. \”Jim,\” he said quietly, finally. \”He has made his decision. Let him go, so we can get to safety.\”

Kirk gazed deeply into his friend\’s eyes. Seeing the truth in them, he made one of the hardest choices he could ever make. \”Get us out of here.\”

\”But, Admiral…\” Sulu started to protest.

\”Now, Mr. Sulu. Move it.\” His tone indicated he wouldn\’t have any further argument. \”Inform Valiant of our decision. Tell them they should do the same. If they protest, tell them to get out of here on my order.\” He collapsed in his chair, burying his face in his hands.

In silence, the two ships crept away from the inevitable.

~ * ~

Stevens was moving from station to station, checking their status. He didn\’t like what he saw. Several systems were off-line. They couldn\’t go anywhere… he still had some weapons systems up, but without shields, he couldn\’t withstand retaliation.

He caught a blip on an intermittent sensor reading. Just before he lost it due to instrument damage, he trained the main viewscreen on it. The staticky image changed to reveal the crippled Horizon, lumbering towards him, its intentions obvious. Well, he couldn\’t have that now. Moving toward the rear of the bridge, he trained what weapons he had left to bear on the juggernaut.

~ * ~

Sam stifled a gasp as phasers lanced out from the Firestone and sheared the Horizon\’s port nacelle clean off. The blast shook the ship, stopping her forward motion and sending her slowly spinning in a circle. A few moments later, she righted herself and continued her charge. \”He\’s going to tear Apollo apart, piece by piece.\” Her look pleaded with Thelem, but he was helpless as to what was going on.

They had complied with Admiral Kirk\’s order, and were struggling to leave the area, but they kept the viewscreen trained behind them to record the Horizon\’s final moments.

~ * ~

Phaser fire erupted from Firestone again. It carved through the portside section of the primary hull, and at the same time, another lance tore through the bridge and destroyed it and the impulse drive reactors behind it. Again, the ship stopped. For a long time, the Horizon drifted lazily in death.

On the Enterprise, McCoy slowly shook his head. \”That\’s got to be it. The bridge is gone and his impulse drive is out. He can\’t possibly survive any more.\”

\”Perhaps, doctor,\” Spock said dispassionately.

As if the derelict had heard him, it slowly stopped drifting. It\’s port side faced the Firestone as its maneuvering thrusters were brought to bear. It was drifting again, but this time it was controlled, and once again, it was heading for the battle cruiser.

McCoy was virtually hanging on Kirk\’s chair. \”Good Lord… he just doesn\’t stop, does he?\”

Kirk just watched the screen. He knew of the grudge Apollo had against Stevens. \”No, Bones… he doesn\’t,\” he said with a touch of sadness.

~ * ~

Another blast shook the ship, but Apollo managed to keep the Horizon moving in the right direction. \”Computer, engage self-destruct subroutine, and initiate immediate detonation on my command, authorization Racer Alpha 215 Omega.\”

The console whirred and chirped, signaling that it was processing the orders just given to it. The length of time it took told Apollo that part of the computer core had been damaged. Finally, it spit out in a distorted voice, \”Self-destruct countdown disengaged. Awaiting order for instantaneous destruct.\”

Apollo watched as what was left of the port lateral sensors kept a static-filled image of his target in view. The Firestone kept hammering away at the ship, but at this point, Apollo wouldn\’t be surprised if his own will weren\’t somehow holding it together. As that thought formed in his mind, his spine tingled. Apollo focused on what his instincts were trying to tell him. Once he understood what he needed to do, he smiled grimly. Perhaps he wasn\’t as doomed as he thought he was.

~ * ~

Spock had started ticking off time and distance to impact. It was getting on Kirk\’s nerves. \”We are at 100,000 kilometers, 20 seconds to impact,\” the Vulcan said.

\”Please, Spock,\” Kirk pleaded.

\”If it is any consolation, Admiral, Captain Racer is no longer in an effective position to be fired upon.\”

McCoy snorted. \”Gee, thanks, I feel so much better.\”

The seconds ticked away in silence. Then, the bridge crew looked on in horror as the two ships collided.

~ * ~

The Valiant\’s crew kept no tally on speed and distance, but they were equally relieved and remorseful. The Firestone could no longer fire on Apollo, but that merely told them just how close he was to his target. Sam turned away and silently cried as the two ships collided.

~ * ~

The Horizon filled the viewscreen. Stevens stared at it slack-jawed… none of his weapons could touch it. As that realization hit, somehow he knew that Racer was aboard that ship, guiding it to his destruction. The damned thorn in his side was pushing straight into his heart. The computer warned that a collision was imminent… to Stevens, it might as well have been saying, \”Loooooser… you\’re such a loooooser…\” Apollo had once again ruined things for him. He faced the screen, trembling with rage and bellowed, \”Damn you, RacERRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!\”

The floor practically leapt out from under his feet. Stevens groaned as he lay face down on the deck. As he slowly picked himself up, he wondered why he wasn\’t dead. The Bridge was still there, everything was more or less functioning as it was before the collision. As he realized he was still alive, a rumble occurred from deep within his throat. His eye twitched as it became a chuckle… the chuckle turned into laughter, which grew into a full-out insane cackling that echoed through the corpse-laden Bridge.

Then the blast hit.

~ * ~

The Horizon slammed into the Firestone. Relatively, it wasn\’t moving very fast, but due to the damage to both ships, it was enough to embed the smaller vessel into the battlecruiser. All motion stopped, and for a few eerie moments, everything was strangely silent.

Apollo struggled to rise from the floor where the sudden stop had deposited him. Blood ran freely down the side of his face from a cut on his forehead. He looked at the viewscreen which, remarkably still working, showed him wedged up between the Firestone\’s saucer and engineering sections.

\”Computer…\” Apollo started. On the one hand, if his last minute plan worked, the galaxy would be rid of Stevens and he\’d still be around to enjoy it. If it didn\’t work… well, the galaxy would still be rid of Stevens. \”Detonate.\”

\”Acknowledged. Self-destruct initiated.\”

Apollo winced, crossed his fingers, and concentrated. There was a flash as the ship detonated.

~ * ~

The crews of both ships saw the ships collided. They winced in anticipation of an explosion that didn\’t come. Then they blinked at the view of the two ships meshed together. On the Valiant, Sam had cringed, waiting for the end. When it didn\’t seem like it\’d come, she opened her eyes and stared at her controls, a glimmer of hope rising within her. Aboard the Enterprise, Kirk looked up from his hands. \”Did something go wrong?\” he asked. \”Wasn\’t there supposed to be…\”

Then the screen flared as the Horizon detonated.

Everyone started at the explosion. Kirk\’s face jerked his hands up, McCoy\’s eyes widened to saucers, and the rest of the Enterprise\’s bridge crew had their own faces of shock.

Sam spun her tear-streaked face toward the screen in time to watch the doomed ship\’s eruption trigger a warp core breach in the Firestone. Both ships disappeared in a tremendous ball of flame that could have easily been mistaken as a star going nova. The nearby, drifting Hornet was caught up in the blast, and joined the conflagration. Then the shock wave reached the two ships, and they rocked and struggled to ride it out.

As was over as quickly as it started. The screen had blanked out when the flare-up grew too bright. When the image returned, they gazed at a nebulous cloud of debris and plasma residue where the nova was at its brightest. Sam immediately broke down and cried, not wanting to believe what was real, that the man who spent years trying to find her just went up in a spectacular explosion.

Kirk stared absently at his recently recovered screen. \”My God, Bones… what has he done?\”

McCoy wanted to say something, but no words came from his mouth.

The comm at Kirk\’s chair twittered. \”Engineering to Bridge.\” From the tone in Scotty\’s voice, he had witnessed the whole thing as well. \”If it means anythin\’ to ye right now, Admiral, ye\’ve got warp speed again.\”

Kirk stared at his chair arm for a moment, then acknowledged his engineer. \”Well done, Scotty. We\’ll stay around long enough to get the Valiant back up and running, then we\’ll leave.\”

\”Aye, sir,\” came the reply, then the connection was cut.

He was about to ask Uhura to open a line to the other ship when something on Spock\’s board attracted his attention. He studied the sensor readouts. \”Admiral. I\’m picking up a strange energy reading from the immediate area of the explosion.\”

Kirk leapt up and moved to look at Spock\’s finding. \”Awfully small. Doesn\’t even look stable.\”

Sulu offered a suggestion. \”Shall I move closer for a better look?\”

Kirk waved off the comment. \”That area would still be flooded with radiation.\”

McCoy had wandered over for a look. He was surprised with what he saw. \”Jim, I recognize those energy readings. From the barrier.\”

Spock understood. \”Indeed. And the incident on Arcadia.\”

Shock and enlightenment shone in Kirk\’s widening eyes. \”Get us back there! Best possible speed!\” he snapped at Sulu. He slammed his fist down on the comm button. \”Scotty, I need at least one transporter up and running in five minutes.\”

\”Captain, I kinna even guarantee that warp power will hold out.\”

\”Now, mister! It\’s a life or death situation!\”

He heard a sigh from the other end. \”Aye, sir. Ah\’ll see what I kin do.\” Scotty signed off.

They felt the ship as it whirled around to return to the scene of the battle; the fact that they could feel it was testimony to how much of a pounding the ship had taken. Now it was being asked to whip around and go back into an irradiated area. But Kirk knew that the lady would hold out for him.

~ * ~

Thelem was trying to comfort Sam when he noticed what was going on. \”What is the Enterprise doing?\”

\”She\’s heading back to the scene,\” Arex reported.

\”M\’Ress, open a channel.\” Thelem waited until the Caitian complied, then spoke out. \”Enterprise, this is Valiant. Sir, what is going on?\”

\”On a rescue mission. We\’ll talk later. Kirk out,\” was his only reply.

Starfleet training taking over, Sam used her station. \”Commander, it appears as though the Enterprise is checking out an unknown energy reading in the vicinity of the debris cloud.\”

\”Can we follow them?\”

\”Negative. We still won\’t have impulse power for at least another day. They\’ll be there in five minutes at their present speed.\”

Thelem shrugged in a defeated attitude and sat heavily in the command chair. \”I guess we\’ll just have to wait until they get back.\”

~ * ~

The Enterprise reached the outer perimeter of the cloud. \”Can we use the transporter?\” Kirk asked.

Spock knew better by now than to give him a negative answer. \”It may be possible, if not probable. I would highly suggest that Mr. Scott handle the controls.\”

\”Agreed. Mr. Scott,\” Kirk stated, riding on hope.

\”I\’ve got one running, but we can\’t get too many jolts.\” As if to emphasize his point, the Enterprise trembled as they rode through an aftershock.

\”Understood. As soon as you get anything resembling a lock, energize.\” Kirk spun and gestured to McCoy. Together they made their way to the turbolift. \”Apprise me of any changes, Spock.\”

In no time at all, the two of them appeared in the transporter room. Scotty looked up from his manipulations. \”Admiral, I canna guarantee anything. A solid lock is nae possible. It keeps fluctuating on me.\”

\”I trust your judgment, Scotty. Energize when you feel right about it.\”

They waited for what seemed an eternity. Then without warning, Scotty activated the controls. A column of light apeared on the platform. A figure tried to materialize, but it faded in and out. Scotty twiddled a control here and nudged a control there, and he finally managed to get enough of a boost on the signal for the form suspended in mid-air above the platform to fully solidify. Once that was done, he collapsed onto the floor, his uniform in tatters. McCoy was on the platform and next to the figure before Kirk could so much as glance in his direction.

The doctor ran his medical scanner over the body. \”It\’s Apollo, all right. He\’s alive, but I can\’t give you any good reason why.\”

\”Will he make it?\” Kirk asked.

\”Yeah, he\’ll make it. His body\’s just exhausted, that\’s all. He has some radiation poisoning, but a quick trip to Sickbay will clear that up.\”

Kirk smiled for the first time since this whole ordeal began. He walked over to the console. \”Let\’s get ourselves out of here before we wind up needing the same thing. Kirk to Bridge,\” he said, activating the comm on the console, \”Head back to the Valiant. I\’m sure they\’d like to hear the news.\” He looked up at his chief engineer. \”Well done, Scotty. A miracle truly worthy of your name.\”

\”Ah, thank ye, sir. But I think I had a wee bit o\’ help.\” He nodded toward the still form being loaded on a stretcher that just arrived. \”He kept himself stable just long enough for me to get a lock on him. But thank ye just the same.\”

Kirk clapped Scotty on the shoulder and followed McCoy to Sickbay.

 

 

 

 

Author: Apollo Racer
Title: Origins
Email: fltadmracer@hotmail.com
Characters: New Crew/Star Trek: TOS/Star Trek TOS: Animated Series.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: In a bizarre twist of fate, a young man from the 21st century is trapped
in a frozen coffin as he drifts along the tides of time to be awakened 200 years
later.

Chapter Twenty-One

The Firestone whirled around to fire another volley at the pursuing Romulan ship. The Z-1 Nova Class VIII battleship was just the type of vessel that the battle cruiser was built for. A small fleet of them had been in the Neutral Zone just outside Federation space. It was their usual tactic to lie in wait for an unsuspecting ship, then uncloak and ambush it when it came too close. In this manner they tested the defenses of the Federation, looking for a weakness to exploit when the time was ripe to invade.

When the Federation ship of a design previously unknown to them had appeared, they were at first unsure how to react to it. Then it had turned sharply toward them, in a manner which could only mean the ship\’s sensors saw through their cloaking device. The Romulan battlecruisers wasted no time in decloaking and readying their weapons. If they could disable this new ship, they could take it back to the Empire and learn its secrets.

As hard as it was too believe, the Firestone had not, in fact, detected the Romulan ships through their cloak. Upon entering the sector, the helmsman automatically set their course parallel to the Neutral Zone border. Stevens bellowed, \”What do you think you\’re doing? I didn\’t tell you to change course!\”

The helmsman, for his part, was completely baffled. \”But sir, shouldn\’t we stay on our side of the Neutral Zone?\”

\”Did I ask you to question my orders!?\” Before the helmsman could reply, Stevens pulled a phaser from his belt and fired, vaporizing the hapless crewman. He then pointed at someone seemingly at random. \”Take his place. Return us to our previous heading.\” The crewman quickly responded, almost diving for the chair. No sooner did he adjust their course than the Romulan ships came out of hiding. \”At last! Now we\’ll see what this ship is made of!\”

The Romulans also discovered the threat posed by the new Federation battlecruiser. Space crackled with discharged energy and plasma from hull ruptures as the ships performed their deadly dance. The Romulan ships hammered the Firestone, but it only served to piss off Stevens. \”Captain,\” his science officer reported, \”decks seven through nine have suffered hull breaches.\”

\”Casualties?\”

\”None. Those sections had been shut down due to our small crew complement.\”

\”Then fire at those bastards! They\’ll pay the price for daring to attack us!\”

The design of the battlecruiser was sound… its new materials and structural reinforcements allowed them to take a great deal of punishment. Conversely, one Nova ship was dead in space, another badly damaged and limping, trying to stop moving in circles and make their way back to Romulan space. The third Nova was lightly damaged and used this to its full capacity. However, where three ships could hold off the Firestone, only one ship was severely outmatched. The dreadnought unleashed a swarm of photon torpedoes, following them up with the phaser cannons on the sides of the saucer section. The torpedoes slammed into the Romulans with deadly accuracy. Shields that were once flaring strong now weakened and died. The ship tried to use its cloaking device, but as it faded, an explosion appeared on its port side, and the ship came back into view.

The Firestone pounded them mercilessly, and the enemy battleship came apart at the seams in a brilliant bloom of plasma and ignited gases. Another short volley sent the limping battlecruiser to join the others.

The captain jumped out of his chair. \”Yes!\” He pumped his arm down in a victorious gesture. He then raged over to the viewscreen, practically putting his face in it, so he could drink in the wonderful sight. \”Ramsey, are there any other ships in the area?\”

The man he called Ramsey glanced in his viewer. \”No, sir. This sector is ours.\”

Stevens grinned. \”Good. That will show those damned Romulans not to interfere in our mission. Helm, resume our course and speed. We have places to go.\” He sat back down in his chair and caressed its sides. \”Ohhhhh, yes… this is a fine ship that Starfleet decided to give me. Under my command, I\’ll show those bureaucratic fools how to do things.\”

Ramsey watched his captain lose himself in another delusion. He felt that the man was a fool for wasting precious resources, but he was a smart fool. He knew where to go to get the materials to repair the ship after its escape from spacedock. Once fixed, nothing could stop them, which frankly scared Ramsey a little. Their captain was getting a little too obsessive these days. He couldn\’t do anything now, but he could wait silently, as he always did, for the captain to slip up. When he did, Ramsey would make his move.

~ * ~

It\’s a slow night, Apollo thought to himself as he walked the corridors. Or maybe I only think it\’s slow because I don\’t get around this late very often anymore. Since that night on Fremma, he and Sam have been able to retire for the night earlier than usual. Of course, sleep was out of the question, but who needs sleep anyway.

Tonight was different. The science officer on gamma shift was sick, and Sam volunteered to pull a double shift. Not unusual for this ship… Apollo noticed that friends always covered for each other… it\’s just that without any distractions, he couldn\’t sleep, so he\’d taken to his rounds again. Which makes me realize that I\’ve been a little selfish lately. The crew used to like to see me walk around. I have to remember do it more often again.

He found himself entering Stellar Cartography. On the trail of the Firestone, they had a rare opportunity to observe a star\’s collapse into a neutron star. They had stopped to record it, and now the people here were poring over the data they\’d retrieved. It reminded Apollo of his time aboard the Oberth. It was surprising that with as much information they had gathered while he commanded her, they still had so much more to learn about the galaxy. He felt quite sure that there were plenty of surprises waiting to astound humanity as they explored their tiny section of space.

He snapped out of the memory as he realized one of the officers was waving him over. It was Karen. He strode over to lean against the back of her chair. \”Captain, this is amazing,\” she said in awe. \”I never believed that a star could collapse so quickly.\”

He stared at the screen, mesmerized by the view. The star had shrunk from a red giant to a neutron star in the matter of a few years. Astronomically speaking, it was faster than the blink of an eye. \”What would cause such a high rate of collapse?\” His Vulcan curiosity won out in him, and he joined her in her research.

\”We haven\’t yet figured it out.\” She moved over to make room for him; he got down on one knee, as there were no chairs left. \”We think that it reached a certain point that there simply wasn\’t enough material for the star to maintain its previous size. As it shrank, its gravitational forces grew, and its reduction rate increased exponentially, until it stabilized in the form we see now. However, there\’s no visible evidence to answer why it shrank faster than normal.\”

The captain nodded. \”Perhaps a black hole in the vicinity, casually drawing material away from the star?\”

\”That was my thought, too. We\’re conducting further scans to see if we can find any trace of stellar material trailing away from the star. If we can find it, we\’ve found our culprit.\”

\”Intriguing,\” Apollo said, mesmerized by the view on the screen.

Karen looked at Apollo. \”You love her a lot, don\’t you?\”

\”How could I? I\’ve only just seen it. Besides, I\’m merely curious about the star, not emotionally attached to it.\”

\”No. I mean you love Sam a lot.\”

Apollo stopped what he was doing, then shifted his entire attention to her. \”What are you talking about? Of course I love her.\” He paused, looking at her suspiciously. \”Why? What are you getting at?\”

\”Oh, I was just curious as to why you haven\’t done anything about it.\”

Apollo was perplexed. \”Why I haven\’t… wait a minute. Why are you here? Aren\’t you on alpha shift, too?\”

She shrugged. \”Yes, but I just got wrapped up in my work. And no, I\’m not pulling the extra shifts to get you to change your mind about letting Ethan on board early.\”

\”I\’ll bet. You two have something going.\”

\”I should hope so. I\’m his mother.\”

He shook his head in frustration. \”No, I mean you and Sam.\” He noticed that heads were beginning to turn. \”Let\’s continue this in private.\” He got up and headed for the door; she followed.

Once out in the corridor, he started up again. \”You and Sam planned this.\”

She looked shocked. \”How could you even say something like that? We both know she had to pull a double shift.\”

\”Yeah, and I\’ll bet if I check Sickbay, I\’ll find out that Lieutenant Brenner never went there, much less get confined to quarters. Both you and Sam know that if I\’m not occupied, I have trouble sleeping, and I make my rounds. It\’s not hard to guess that since we just studied that star, I\’d make a visit to Stellar Cartography. Fess up, now… you know what happens when you gang up on me. Remember the fountain at the Academy?\” He added an impish grin at the end for emphasis.

\”Okay, okay… call off your dogs.\” Karen was waving him off. \”I\’ll confess, you did come up here and there in our conversations, and your feelings for her aren\’t really concealed that much.\”

\”I don\’t even try to conceal them.\”

\”That much we could tell. And believe me, that\’s not a bad thing. I mean, we all know how you liked to hold your cards pretty close to your chest.\” He gave her a skeptical look. \”Look, all I\’m saying is that we were concerned… okay, she was concerned, and she wanted me to find something out if I could. So, now that that\’s out, you bum, why haven\’t you asked her to marry you?\”

That took Apollo off his guard. He tried to cover himself. \”I\’ll have you know it\’s inappropriate calling your captain a bum,\” he said, pointing at her. She smirked but didn\’t budge. \”It\’s not working, is it.\” She shook her head. He sighed. \”To be honest, I… I really don\’t know. I mean, I do love her, but… I guess… maybe I grew a little too comfortable with how the relationship is now. Maybe I just get scared about it. I mean, think about it. I\’m her commanding officer. Suppose she has to go on a dangerous mission. I have to order her to do it. How the hell can I live with myself if she gets hurt? Or killed?\”

Karen\’s eyes glazed over for a minute. This was definitely something she hadn\’t thought of. \”Well… it sounds like something you two have to talk about. And you do have to talk to her about it. There is no reason why you should be putting it off. Now, if you\’ll excuse me, sir, I have to return to my work.\”

Apollo smiled at her sarcasm. She returned it as she passed through the door. For a moment, he looked down both ends of the corridor, confused as to where he wanted to go so he could think. With a sharp sigh, he picked a direction and headed that way.

~ * ~

The doors to the shuttle bay opened to admit Sam. She walked inside, every footstep echoing through the cavernous room. \”Captain? Are you here?\” She noticed that the outer doors were open; the atmospheric force field was the only thing between her and the cold depths of space. She was startled as Apollo floated into sight. He was hovering near the ceiling when she entered and called out. His legs were crossed, with his arms resting on them, as though he were meditating. \”I just got off duty. Again. You weren\’t in your quarters, and I knew you wanted to check out that info on the star. Karen said…\”

\”We need to talk, Sam, and since technically neither of us is supposed to be on shift, you can drop the formality.\”

She did so, but noticed by his tone that he was troubled by something. \”What\’s on your mind?\” she asked simply.

He gazed out past the bay into space. \”You know, I come here a lot when I need peace without interruption. No one ever thinks of looking for their captain in the ass end of the ship. On the Excalibur, Skip and I used to meet here whenever we needed to talk, and didn\’t want the rest of the crew to overhear.\”

\”Is that why you called me here? To talk about \’something\’?\”

When he was low enough, he merely uncrossed his legs and straightened them to touch the floor. Then he started pacing, trying to get the words out. He decided the blunt approach would be best at that point. \”Sam, I want to ask you to marry me.\”

She had hoped he would ask her that, but she didn\’t expect him to just bluntly come right out and propose. After the initial shock washed over her, she realized something sounded wrong about what he said. \”Wait… you sound unsure of that.\”

He nodded. \”I\’m not finished. I want you to marry me… but…\” he walked up to her and grasped her shoulders. \”I have this little problem, kind of a conflict of interests. You see… I love you very much, but I\’m also your CO. You should be able to understand when I say that I don\’t want to worry about you – any more than I\’d worry about anyone else in my crew – if I were to send you on a landing party. If it got dangerous, if you got hurt, or worse… I\’d never forgive myself.\”

She smiled, relieved that it seemed the worst thing he worried about. \”Silly. You know me better than that. Well enough to know that I picked this career for a reason. If we were going to let a thing like this stop us, one of us would have never stayed in the Academy. Apollo, I love you very much, too. And quite frankly, when we were apart, I kept hoping we\’d be together again… I always dreamed that you would ask me that one question.

\”You would be a fool, or extremely cold, if you didn\’t worry about me. But you would be a bigger fool if you let that worry hamper your judgment. Now I think that I\’m a big girl, and I can take care of myself. I know you will try your damnedest to keep from giving me any special treatment, and I\’ll try my damnedest to keep from taking any. Would that be all right by you?\”

He smiled. \”That would be just fine.\”

She blushed. \”So… is there something you wanted to ask me?\”

He nodded and knelt down. At first, she thought he was going to be corny and propose to her that way. But the next thing she knew, he sat her on his raised knee and slowly lifted her into the air until they reached the center of the bay. \”Samantha Taylor, from the day we met, I felt a connection with you. As we spent time together, that bond strengthened, and my love for you grew until my heart threatened to burst from my chest. By the time we graduated, more than anything else, I wanted to share my life with you. There wasn\’t a day that went by that I didn\’t think about you. You are the light in my heart, impossible to extinguish, nor would I ever dare to. You would make me a very happy man if you would be my wife.\”

Sam couldn\’t help but feel a tear roll down her cheek, even though they had been talking marriage since she walked in. Now she knew why the shuttle bay door was open. He must have rehearsed this, the bastard. She was too choked up to speak, all she could do was nod frantically. She pulled him close and held him tight when suddenly she heard applause. She looked down. Their friends came in, smiling and cheering. Karen was leading the bunch.

Sam glared at Apollo, but it was clear he was as surprised as she was. \”I didn\’t know about this, I swear.\” He headed toward the floor.

Upon touching down, Karen came up to them. \”I was wondering when you two lovebirds would come to your senses. God, Apollo, do you have to have a shuttlecraft drop on you to figure out what was left to do? And you, Sam… we\’re not in the 21^st century. You could have asked him just as much as he could ask you. Boy, Apollo, you\’re lucky Skip\’s not around. He\’d beat you senseless, though he wouldn\’t have far to go.\”

They looked at her, and at each other. When they returned their gazes to her, they wore a matching set of evil grins. Karen knew that look all too well, and before they could twitch, she was out the door in a flash.

Laughter sprang up among the group. \”Hey, I just thought of something,\” Apollo said. \”If the captain is supposed to perform the weddings on a ship, who performs it if it\’s the captain\’s wedding?\”

Thelem thought about it. \”I suppose we could go to a starbase. Then a commodore or an admiral could do it.\”

Their conversation was interrupted by the intercom. \”Captain Racer to the bridge.\”

Apollo found the nearest companel. \”Racer here. What\’s up?\”

\”Sir, we\’re picking up reports from the USS Bozeman. They\’ve discovered a debris field close to the Romulan Neutral Zone. The debris has been identified as belonging to at least three of their battleships.\”

\”What does that have to do with us?\”

\”Sir, they said the ships were Nova-class.\”

Apollo slowly looked up. \”I\’m on my way. Racer out.\”

Thelem was puzzled. \”What does it mean, Captain?\”

Apollo stopped as the doors opened and whirled around. \”There\’s only one ship currently in our fleet powerful enough to take on three Romulan Nova-class battleships and win.\” He shot down the corridor.

\”The Firestone,\” Sam whispered. The other Bridge officers quickly fell in behind their commander.

~ * ~

\”Are you sure this was caused by a Federation ship? I mean, I didn\’t think we had any such weaponry capable of doing this to Nova-class ships. They\’re the most advanced that the Romulans have come up with, at least to our knowledge.\”

Apollo\’s eyes narrowed to slits. \”Believe me, Captain Bateson, we have a ship. The Firestone was built for just this type of confrontation.\”

He didn\’t like this at all. The Valiant had entered the sector only moments before, to find the Bozeman sifting through the wreckage. As a consequence for alerting other ships to watch for signs of the battle cruiser, certain technical details had to be included for their safety, details such as the fact that the Firestone had enough firepower to take out a squadron of Romulan ships, or obliterate a fairly decent-sized planet.

The first reaction Apollo had to deal with when contacting Captain Bateson was disbelief. Before the Firestone, the Federation didn\’t really have a chance to face this new threat. In light of recent events, they may still have problems. \”Any sign of the Firestone from your sensor sweeps?\” he inquired of the other captain.

\”One moment.\” He conferred with one of his officers off the screen. \”We picked up a warp signature leaving the area, one the likes of which I\’ve never seen. We\’re sending the info to you now.\”

The moment they started receiving the signal, Sam recognized it. \”Sir, it\’s the Firestone, all right. Attempting to trace its course now.\”

Apollo looked at Bateson and smiled grimly. \”Thank you for your help.\”

Bateson chuckled nervously. \”Just be sure you get the bastard. I\’ve only heard a little about what this Stevens guy is like. There\’s nothing worse than a Starfleet officer gone bad.\”

\”In my opinion, Morgan, Stevens was never anything but bad. Worse that Starfleet didn\’t realize this from the start. If you find him, do not engage him before reinforcements arrive. He was dangerous before he got his hands on the Firestone. Now…\”

\”Say no more. We know what to do. Give\’em hell, Apollo. Bozeman out.\” His face was replaced with a view of the Soyuz-class ship drifting through the debris field.\”

Thelem said, \”Well, Captain, shall we continue our pursuit.\”

Apollo wanted nothing more, however… \”No, not yet.\” He sat there, thinking for a moment. \”We\’ve always been one step behind Stevens. There\’s got to be a pattern to this madness, and I want to find out what it is before…\” He was silent for a moment, then jerked out of his seat. His face contorted in pain, though he tried hard to hide it.

\”Captain, are you all right?\” Thelem asked, drawing concerned looks from around the bridge.

The moment passed… they were really beginning to worry. Then Apollo snapped his head around to glare at Thelem. \”I\’m fine. M\’Ress, call up Stevens\’ service record. Have it patched through to my office.\” He didn\’t wait for acknowledgment before leaving the Bridge.

~ * ~

A chime sounded. \”Come in,\” Apollo responded.

The door opened and Sam entered the foyer. \”I hope I\’m not intruding.\”

Apollo looked up from his reader. \”Oh no, not at all. Come in, come in.\”

Sam entered his office slowly. \”Is… everything all right?\” Apollo ignored her. She looked at what he was reading. \”You\’re still working on Stevens\’ record?\”

He gestured toward the viewer. \”His Starfleet record, his personnel file, even his psych profile, and if you tell anyone I got that, I\’ll swat you.\”

\”Hey, I\’m the last person to rat on someone looking at something they\’re not supposed to.\” She put her hands on his shoulders and they jerked. \”Jeez, dear, you\’re wound up tighter than a clock spring.\”

He nodded absently. \”Yeah, that\’s right. I\’ve been a little tense lately.\”

She started to work, kneading his shoulders and neck. \”My God, it\’s like trying to work steel cable. You really ought to relax.\”

\”You heard what Bateson said. I doubt anyone can relax until that wacko is under control.\”

\”Well, I think you\’ve been working at it too hard. Maybe you should take a step back, take a deep breath, retrace your steps.\”

The muscles under her hands suddenly went slack. She thought he passed out when he suddenly stood up. When he turned to look at her, she could almost swear she saw a light turn on over his head. \”Retrace my steps! Darling, your wonderful!\” Before she could react, he cupped her face and kissed her, then sat back down. \”Computer, give me a list of Commander Stevens\’ activities during his Starfleet career.\” The viewer promptly revealed the requested list. \”Now give me a list of reported sightings of the Firestone since her abduction and correlate the two lists.\”

A second list popped up aside the first. Several entries were highlighted. \”Look at this, Sam. He is retracing his steps… doing everything he did when he was in Starfleet. I think we just found a way to figure out where his next move will be.\”

\”But why would he be doing this? Surely, even if he is insane, he has to have some reason for going back to those places.\”

\”Possibly. I haven\’t quite worked that out yet.\”

She nodded and took another look at the screen. She then noticed entries on the second list that weren\’t highlighted. \”What about these? There\’s no comparison with the other list.\”

He looked them over, too. \”Instances where he confronted conflicts he didn\’t deal with in the past? Unexpected moments, like where he encountered the Romulans?\”

\”I don\’t know… there seem to be an awful lot of them.\”

She looked at the lists again. \”Well, then, what about the ones on the first list that weren\’t highlighted?\”

His reverie stalled, and he made a face. \”Hmm… good question. Computer, bring up the highlighted entries on the first list.\” The computer promptly complied.

They studied the list for a while. \”It looks as though at each of these stops, Stevens didn\’t do too well,\” Sam noticed.

Apollo reread the entries. \”You\’re right. Each place he\’s visited marks a point in his career where he suffered a downward slide.\” He pointed at one entry. \”I remember this place! We were on the Merrimac. Klingons tried to establish an outpost there. We stopped them, but after losing our landing party, Stevens wanted to beam up and take them out from orbit. I refused to go along with it, so he went up without me. That bastard told them I was killed. As a result of his lie, he was given a reprimand, and started in motion a series of events that made me quite the unpopular person.\”

She hugged him from behind. \”I\’m so sorry you went through that. It\’s okay now.\”

He nodded. \”Actually, I like to think that it made me a better person today. Captain Kirk seemed to think so, anyway. He saw me shortly after that incident. Backed my actions, too. If not for him, I probably wouldn\’t be here.\”

\”Well, yeah,\” she said, rolling her eyes. \”After all, he did pull your ass out of the Excalibur.\” He swatted her arm and she returned her attention back to the screen. \”I still wonder why there are so many entries on the first list that aren\’t matched by the second.\”

\”I don\’t… wait a minute… there is something we\’re missing. Computer… of the entries on the first list that don\’t correspond to the second, bring up anything you can find in recent events that would correlate to them.\” A third list was generated.

\”Whoa,\” Sam said, impressed. \”I think you may be on to something here.\”

Apollo chose a random event from the third list. \”Here\’s one from about three weeks ago… a colony administrator was found murdered, but there was no trace of who did it.\”

\”The Firestone was in that area,\” Sam noted.

He nodded in confirmation. \”And here, about four days ago. Supply Station 74 reported a sudden mysterious loss of construction materials.\”

\”Apollo, they specialize in alloys needed for starship hulls.\”

\”And the person in charge…\” His face paled. \”I know this name.\”

\”What?\”

He studied another entry. \”And here… a name pops up here that I recognize.\” He began skimming through them. \”And here… and here… and here… Sam, I know what he\’s doing.\”

\”What\’s that?\” she asked, though a chill went through her in anticipation of the answer.

\”It all has to do with the Scandal I exposed. He\’s rounding up the major players in his corruption ring, either using them to get repairs or supplies he needs, or… if they don\’t cooperate… he kills them. He\’s either re-establishing ties or he\’s killing them. And if that\’s the case… I think I might know where he might strike next.\”

She nodded. \”Should we notify other ships as to his pattern?\”

\”Nnnnnno… he might intercept the transmission. It wouldn\’t be hard, because it\’d have to be a broadly based transmission. No, better to use a messenger type system.\” Apollo stood. \”We could contact the Bozeman, tell them to seek out other starships and give them the information through ship-to-ship messages. It\’ll be slower, but it cuts down on Stevens\’ chances of finding out that we know what he\’s up to. And if that fails, we still have an ace up our sleeve.\”

\”What\’s that?\” she said to his back as he headed for the door.

\”He thinks I\’m dead.\” He was almost out the door when she grabbed his arm, whirling him around.

\”Just a minute, buster. You just reminded me why I\’m here in the first place. Why would he think you\’re dead? Does it have to do with what I saw on the Bridge earlier? And don\’t you dare avoid my questions this time. You obviously have these flashes of pain. I\’ve seen you go through that before. Don\’t make me get Sorel in on this.\”

He stopped dead, raking over her with his penetrating gaze. She felt her courage start to bleed out of her, but she held firm and stood her ground. Finally he re-entered his office and the door closed. He walked back over to the desk, sat down, and put his face in his hands.

\”Dammit, Apollo, I\’m waiting! Tell me what\’s wrong or I\’m going to Sickbay.\”

He took his hands away from his face so she could hear him. \”You know, blackmail is very unbecoming of you.\”

\”I mean it!\”

\”He wouldn\’t find anything.\”

\”That remains to be seen.\” Realizing that she might be breaking through, she walked over to him and took his hand. \”Besides, if we\’re to be married, I would think it would help our relationship if you didn\’t keep any secrets from me.\”

\”Oho, so now it\’s manipulation.\” He looked up at her and decided that she was right. \”C\’mon, let\’s go to Sickbay. I guess Sorel should hear this, too.\”

~ * ~

Sorel scanned Apollo\’s back as the captain related his story. \”I\’m afraid my equipment confirms what you say… there is no trace of injury. While you may have physically destroyed the projectile with which you were shot, it is possible that the trauma induced by such agonizing pain would leave a mental scar. Your mind flashes back to that experience in times of stress, and your body relives what it felt when the spiderweb bullet invaded your nervous system.\”

\”Are you sure there\’s nothing there, Doctor?\” Sam asked. \”I saw one of those moments when he was in pain. It\’s hard to believe there was nothing in there causing it.\”

Sorel shook his head. \”I did not detect any foreign object in his system. There isn\’t even any scarring, aside from his purported mental ordeal. I have heard of spiderweb bullets though, and there was no recorded case of anyone surviving an attack. It must have taken an extraordinary amount of energy to purge the device from your body.\”

\”There were black scars on the ceiling of the Starbase 47\’s medical bay as proof of that. So… now you know. It was a secret I intended to keep from anyone else. The reason is obvious… can you understand the ramifications if Starfleet got wind of the fact that I could be in combat, and then out of nowhere this would strike? I\’d probably never command a starship again.\”

Sorel stood silent for a moment. \”The logic of your statement is valid. However, I would not necessarily say that I could come to the same conclusion.\”

\”We\’re here for you, Apollo,\” Sam said in assurance. \”I\’m here for you. We\’ll help you in any way we can.\”

\”I echo her sentiments, Captain,\” Sorel said. \”There have been several instances in your life when by all accounts, you should have died, yet you did not. You are, simply speaking, a gross exception to life\’s set of rules.\”

\”Who are you calling gross?\” The humor was lost on Sorel, who rose an eyebrow. Sam, however, leered at him and shook her head. \”So, now that we\’ve established that I\’m some kind of cosmic nonconformist, are we done, medically speaking?\”

\”I have no sound reason to keep you here, Captain.\”

Apollo stood… before heading for the door, he looked at the two of them. \”I… just wanted to thank you. For everything here. You have no idea how much this means to me.\” Apollo took Sam\’s hand in emphasis and gave it a little squeeze. She smiled in return. \”Now, what say we go catch us a starship?\” They left Sorel to his work and headed for the Bridge.

 

 

 

 

Author: Apollo Racer
Title: Origins
Email: fltadmracer@hotmail.com
Characters: New Crew/Star Trek: TOS/Star Trek TOS: Animated Series.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: In a bizarre twist of fate, a young man from the 21st century is trapped
in a frozen coffin as he drifts along the tides of time to be awakened 200 years
later.

Chapter Twenty

The Valiant approached the planet Fremma III at the end of the week. As they entered orbit, Apollo had M\’Ress hail them. \”This is Captain Racer of the starship Valiant. Do you read us?\”

The planet\’s arc was replaced by the image of a haggard humanoid. She was rather thin, with gray skin, an elongated face, and pupilless black eyes. Her hair was up in a bun, but it appeared that a few strands had gone astray. \”Go away! We don\’t need any more of your kind here. We\’ve already lodged a complaint with the Federation about you.\”

\”Wait a minute. I don\’t understand. Have you been attacked?\”

The person looked angrily at Apollo. \”No, it was worse. We were violated. A group of your men came down; claimed they requested shore leave. Then without so much as a by-your-leave, they went through our capital like a bunch of barbarians, causing civil unrest, several fights. They even raped one of our tavern maids. We tried to stop them, but they threatened that if any action were taken against them, they\’d destroy us.\”

Sam heard a sickening creak from Apollo\’s direction. He had a hold of an arm of his chair during the Fremman\’s entire tirade. She could obviously see the damage he was causing to it. She quietly moved to his side and put a hand on his shoulder. \”Captain,\” she said quietly, \”Apollo?\”

He turned to her, and she lifted his hand from the chair, showing him how he\’d twisted and crushed the metal underneath. He looked in her eyes, saw understanding and support, and grinned sheepishly. \”Oops.\” He returned his attention to the screen. \”If I may be allowed to beam down, perhaps I can…\”

\”No! No! I will not have a repeat of the incidents!\”

\”Please… I understand what you have just gone through. I promise you, it would only be myself and three of my most trusted officers, and we would be unarmed. No one else. You can even have us under guard if you wish.\”

She thought about it for a moment. \”Very well. We will give you the coordinates. It will be only you and your three officers, and you will all come down unarmed. We will be waiting.\” She cut the communication.

Apollo stood immediately. \”Thelem, you and Sam. M\’Ress, have Commander Williams take the conn, and summon Dr. Sorel to the transporter room.\” The three of them entered the lift and the doors closed on them.

~ * ~

His suggestions were taken to heart. When they beamed down, they were met by the person who talked to Apollo, along with six guards, all of whom trained their weapons on them. Under this guard, Apollo requested that they be led to whoever was injured. Still skeptical, but confident since the guards were there, the leader, who finally introduced herself as Minister Brekken of the Crea colony, led the landing party to the nearest hospital.

As soon as Sorel saw the people injured in the fights with the Firestone crew, he went to work. After a quick scan, he reported. \”Captain, these people were shot with phasers set for heavy stun. It has had some detrimental effects on their nervous systems.\”

\”Can you help them?\”

\”Yes, sir, I can.\” He reached for his medikit and his guards shoved their weapons toward him. Sorel held out his hands. \”Captain, may I? I cannot treat these people under such intense scrutiny. They will only interfere with my efforts.\”

Apollo sighed and turned to Brekken. \”Minister, I give you my word that my doctor is only going to help your people. If you know anything about healers, you know that they\’ve taken an oath to save lives rather than take them.\”

Brekken thought about it. Apollo found that she mulled over basically everything he said. Finally, she looked up. \”You have wisdom in your words. Guards, let him through.\”

The guards stepped away and Sorel went to work. \”This should not take long, sir,\” he said.

Apollo gestured to the hallway. \”Minister, may I have a word with you?\” The four of them, the minister, Apollo, and the two Fremmans guarding him, headed out the door. \”Minister, I fully understand what you must have been through. But let me assure you that where the men you dealt with before wanted only to harm, we want only to help. These men are fugitives, renegades. We are searching for them, but in the process, we are… cleaning up the messes they leave behind, and it pains me because our reputation is being sullied. I speak on behalf of the Federation when I say that we wouldn\’t want you to judge our entire Starfleet by the actions of a few men. Please believe me that we\’ll do everything in our power to make reparations for what happened.\”

Sorel came out of the ward. \”I have repaired the damage to their nervous systems. If I may be allowed to see the rape victim.\”

Apollo looked at Brekken. She seemed to finally allow his words to sink in. \”This way.\”

They returned to the ward. Brekken dismissed the guards, to Sam\’s and Thelem\’s surprise, and they headed deeper into the ward. She opened an inner door, and they looked in on a slight figure laying in the room\’s only bed. Sam gasped. \”She looks no older than about fourteen!\”

Brekken nodded. \”Her fourteenth summer is approaching. I would like her to see her fifteenth. You see…\” her voice faltered and she paled, \”she is my daughter. Now you know my reasons for doubting you.\”

Apollo clenched his fists. \”I assure you, we\’ll do what we can. Sorel.\”

\”Right away, Captain.\” He rushed to the bedside. After a moment, he said, \”The girl has suffered a severe trauma. I am afraid I can\’t do anything for her here.\”

Again Apollo turned to Brekken for help. \”Minister, our ship has the resources possible to help your daughter. If you\’ll only allow me, I can…\”

\”Save it, Captain. For the moment, you\’ve convinced me that you are trustworthy. If your healer claims she is beyond our help here, then I will allow you to help my daughter. I shall send my husband with her.\” A man stepped forward and nodded.

Apollo smiled and gestured to Sorel, who took out his communicator. \”Dr. Sorel to Valiant. Three to beam up. Have a medical team waiting in the transporter room. Energize.\” The doctor, the patient and her father disappeared.

Apollo smiled at the woman. \”I assure you, Minister Brekken, she is in the best of hands.\” He clapped his hands and turned to the rest of his party. \”Well people, shall we get to work?\”

~ * ~

It took four days to repair the damage caused by the Firestone\’s crew. The captain threw himself into the work as much as his crew. Any reservations the minister had about them rapidly dissolved when she realized their intentions were genuine. She and her husband alternated times aboard the ship at their daughter\’s side.

The captain had been helping an engineering team erect a wall to one of the houses. His jacket and turtleneck lay folded-up off to the side. Brekken was planetside and just about to ask the captain about how they were doing when his clothing started to beep. He grinned sheepishly to the minister, wiped his brow off on the sleeve of his t-shirt and retrieved his communicator from the clothes. \”Racer here.\”

\”Sorel, Captain,\” the doctor replied. \”You and the minister should be pleased to know that her daughter is expected to make a full recovery. My apologies for the length of time it took, but I wished to be sure of her prognosis before contacting you.\”

Apollo looked to a grinning Brekkan before smiling himself and saying, \”That\’s wonderful news, Doctor.\”

\”We have had instances before when women were taken in such a barbaric manner. We were not equipped to deal with the damage to the person\’s feelings and the disruption of her social interaction. More often than not, such cases ended tragically, as the woman could not live with her shame.\”

More often than not, such cases ended tragically.\” Brekkan bowed her head, saddened. When she looked up at the captain again, tears trailed down her cheeks. \”I did not wish to see my daughter suffer the same fate as those other women. She has too much to live for.\”

Apollo smiled back at her. \”And your daughter will live. The doctor merely helped her along the road to recovery. You and your people will need to comfort her and help her deal with her ordeal. But it can be done.\”

He looked to his first officer. She shrugged and smiled. \”We have been pushing ourselves rather hard. A little R and R would be welcome.\”

Apollo nodded. \”Doctor, inform the rest of the crew that shore leave will be granted. However, there\’s still a bit of work left to do here. We\’ll continue having teams rotate out in helping these people rebuild their homes. Racer out.\” He put his communicator away and turned to Sam. \”See that everyone on the surface knows about the shore leave, too.\” She nodded and headed off.

The people of Fremma were pleasantly surprised by differences between the two ships\’ crews. They found the Firestone\’s crew brash, cruel and barbaric… by contrast, the crew of the Valiant were civilized, professional, kind, and very helpful. They understood what these people must have suffered and were doing what they could to alleviate any fears the people might have suffered. It made Apollo proud to see his people so willing to undo the fears that were wrought by Stevens\’ minions.

The day before they were to depart, he was out in a field, taking in the green pastures and the bright flowers. He heard footsteps rustling behind him. \”Cordova once looked like this,\” he called out.

\”You can\’t be everywhere,\” was the reply. Apollo turned to see Sam strolling up to him. \”Besides, why think of Cordova when you\’re here amidst all this? We know what it looked like, and we know what happened to it. Why mar the beauty that is here with the horrors that we\’ve seen?\”

Apollo refused to give up his mood without a fight. \”Because he\’s still out there. He could be turning another planet to ruins while we\’re here… he could be out there ruining other people\’s lives… he has to be stopped.\”

Sam had enough of the conversation. \”Then why don\’t you get on your communicator, call the ship, cancel shore leave, and go chasing after him again.\” Her firm stance and the fire in her eyes told Apollo she wasn\’t going to back down.

He gave up the fight, and his shoulders slumped to physically register it. \”You\’re right… I can\’t do that to the crew. I\’m responsible for their morale as well as their physical health. They\’ve earned this respite, and I can\’t take it away from them.\”

She took his arm and held it in both hands. \”Then accept the present. I know you… you\’ll catch up to him. Once you make up your mind, nothing escapes you. Be concerned later.\” She let a smile creep onto her face. \”For right now, do as your crew is doing. Enjoy yourself. You deserve it as much as they do.\”

He took her by the shoulders. \”I have been beating myself over the head with this, haven\’t I.\”

Sam reached up and caressed his cheek. \”You try and make everyone\’s problems your own. A noble attitude, but you need to learn to take everything in its own time.\” She brought her other hand up and cupped his face. \”And please remember that you\’re not alone in this… you don\’t need to shoulder the burdens all by yourself.\”

Something changed right in front of Sam. His eyes lost the hard edge to their light and once again took on a soft glow. She thought it amazing that at one moment, she could get a headache from that glare, and the next, she could be caressed by their warmth. He drew her in for a hug, picking her up off the ground. \”I really needed to hear that. Thank you, Sam. You have no idea how much you mean to me.\”

She wrapped her arms around the back of his neck. \”Maybe, but I do know that I love you very much, even if there are times you can be very thick headed.\”

\”I know, I know. I shouldn\’t allow myself to get that way. I love you, too.\” He studied her face for a moment, then made a decision. He held her close. \”I think… it\’s time I shared something with you.\”

She was instantly intrigued. \”Oh?\”

He nodded. \”Before we reunited on the Valiant, I found a way I could release some tension, especially while I was planetside.\”

She nodded. \”I know. You have those Vulcan techniques of yours. I have to admit, this does look like a good spot for…\”

\”No, no… even better than that. What would you think if I told you…\” He leaned in close to her and whispered, \”I can fly.\”

She gazed intensely in his eyes, their faces mere inches apart. His face betrayed no emotion, though he seemed to be waiting to see what she said. Then she slowly smiled. \”Yeah, right. Get out of here.\”

The corners of his mouth turned up to match her grin. \”No, seriously, I can.\”

She started chuckling. \”You\’re being silly.\”

\”You don\’t believe me.\”

\”No, I don\’t believe you.\”

\”We\’re doing it now.\”

\”Stop it.\”

\”You still don\’t believe me.\”

\”No, I don\’t. Now cut it out.\”

\”Look down.\”

\”Will you stop joking? I don\’t…\”

\”Go on. Look down.\” She rolled her eyes and decided to humor him. She looked down.

They were five feet off the ground and slowly gaining altitude.

Sam\’s face suddenly went white. She pulled close to Apollo and hung on for dear life. \”Oh my God. What are you doing?\”

\”I\’m flying.\”

\”OhGodohGodohGod.\” She buried her face in his chest and froze.

Apollo grinned at her reaction. But then he got serious. He stopped his ascent; they hung a mere fifteen feet off the ground. \”Sam, look at me.\”

Sam somehow shook her head violently back and forth while keeping it in his chest. \”Nononononono…\” She whimpered. \”This isn\’t possible…\”

\”Sam, look at me. That\’s an order, Commander.\” She didn\’t budge. He grasped her chin and as he forced her head up he hissed, \”Look at me!\” He looked in her eyes. Her pupils were tiny as pinpoints. My God, she\’s afraid of heights. Then he mentally hit himself in the head. Of course. After what happened to her back at the Academy, it\’s no wonder. He spoke calmly and slowly. \”Sam, you are going to be all right. You are not going to fall. I am not going to drop you. Do you understand me?\” She absently nodded. It was almost as if she was mesmerized by his stare. He noticed this. \”Sam, don\’t. Snap out of it. I\’m not going to allow any harm to come of you. Okay?\”

\”Uh huh.\” She finally found her voice, and she relaxed her grip. He held her with both arms so she could shift to a more comfortable position.

Once she realized she wasn\’t going to fall, she laughed nervously. \”I can\’t believe it. You really are flying.\”

He nodded, giving her his warm smile. \”I told you I could. Like I said, when I feel too burdened, I do this. Comes in handy, too. This is how I got around the cliff to the miners on Cordova so quickly.\” He smiled, watching her face as items clicked into place in her mind. \”Do you think you can handle a little movement?\”

She looked at her feet, at how far off the ground they were. Then she looked at him, as if to measure his words. She slowly nodded.

Apollo grinned. \”Then hold on.\” She gave a little yip as he started moving across the ground, but then she took great interest in his actions. She looked up at his face. He did seem perfectly content to use this way of travel. More so, he was equally pleased to be able to share the experience with someone that he cared a great deal for. She decided to take stock of the situation. Here she was, flying with a man that she loved deeply. Granted, they were flying without a ship, but if she overlooked that fact, she was fine. An awfully prominent thing to overlook.

She suddenly realized he was talking to her. \”Excuse me?\” she asked.

He repeated himself. \”I said, when I would fly, and the sky was overcast, I would rise above the clouds, where the weather was more suitable.\” She wondered why he said that until she looked past him and noticed that it had grown cloudy. He slowly rose up into the cover. She tensed a little as she realized they were going higher, but then she smiled as she felt the water vapor brush past her. Then, suddenly, they were through the clouds, looking at the brightly shining sun. Any arguments in her head disappeared as the view filled her with awe.

Apollo saw the expression on her face and decided on a little maneuverability. He swooped down below the clouds causing her to yelp with his sudden movement, and skimmed a mere ten feet off the ground. She gasped as they dropped, but she was getting used to the fact of not having anything under her feet. In fact, she was actually starting to enjoy herself. She was amazed at how Apollo was able to keep himself in the air. \”How can you possibly do this?\”

He smiled. \”I\’m not exactly sure. When I first discovered I could do this, I started doing some research. At first I thought I was generating my own graviton field, much like a shuttle\’s antigrav field. But there\’s no way I can be certain. All I know is I can do it.\”

\”You mean there\’s no way you can do any tests?\”

\”Sorel can\’t find anything in his medical scans, other than my altered biology.\”

They were silent for a while, enjoying the moment. A flock of indigenous avians soared by them, swerving to give the couple a wide berth. She grinned. \”Can you go faster than this?\”

He chuckled. \”So you want a little speed, eh? Are you sure, seeing as how you reacted at first?\”

\”I trust you.\” Those three words held more meaning than he could have ever thought.

Apollo nodded. \”I think I can accommodate you. Hang on.\”

She turned around in his arms so she could see where they were going. This wasn\’t an easy task while hanging upside down, but she managed. Apollo wouldn\’t tell her, but the moment he lifted off, his forcefield surrounded her. She couldn\’t fall even if she wanted to, but it felt nice with her holding onto him. He\’d let her know later… right now he was going to enjoy this. Once she nodded that she was secure, Apollo took off. He flew low over treetops and towns, the sights passing by in a blur.

Thelem was walking with M\’Ress in one village when they noticed that villagers were pointing low in the sky, staring. They followed their attention until a figure streaked overhead. They almost thought they could hear someone go, \”Wahoo!\” Before they could track it, it was gone.

M\’Ress stood agape in the direction the streak headed. \”What in blazes was that?\”

Thelem merely crossed his arms and shook his head at the sight. Smiling, he muttered, \”Show off.\”

Sam had shouted when they went over the village. \”I saw some of our crew down there.\” She looked up at her lover, who merely smiled and concentrated on the task at hand. She couldn\’t help but have a grin plastered on her face… she felt as exhilarated as a child on her first shuttle flight.

Finally, Apollo headed back to their original spot in the field. The sun was setting as they landed, bathing the clouds in a pink glow. He set her down and faced her. \”Are you okay?\”

\”Okay?\” Sam laughed. \”I feel wonderful! Thank you… now I understand what you meant before.\” Her smile disappeared temporarily. \”You must have known I had a fear of heights.\”

\”I surmised as much.\”

\”I got rid of it up there with you.\”

\”Glad to be of service.\”

\”You truly can lose yourself up there.\”

\”Only when I\’m with you.\”

\”I\’ll bet you say that to all the girls.\”

Apollo thought a moment. \”No,\” he said, quite sincerely. \”Actually, this was the first time I\’ve ever flown with someone.\”

His tone broke through her headiness. She gazed into his eyes, realizing what he was saying.

He confirmed her thoughts. \”And quite frankly, I don\’t think I could do that with anyone else. Not feeling as I did up there.\”

She figured that the scenery and the set-up line couldn\’t be better. She drew close and kissed him. As she did, she could feel them hover just off the ground. She broke the embrace to see how far… they were only a few inches up. She looked at his face.

\”This is how I have always felt every time we were together. I was just never able to show it. Until now.\” They held each other tight and watched together as the stars came out.

~ * ~

The next morning, Thelem was coordinating the beamup of crew members who were still planetside. He was standing with Minister Brekken when Apollo and Sam were walking into town, arm-in-arm. \”Good morning, Captain, Commander. We were just getting ready to leave. I would think that it would be slightly embarrassing if we were to leave without our commanding officer.\” He cocked his head. \”We tried to contact you since last night. Is your communicator malfunctioning?\”

Apollo looked at Sam. She shrugged. \”I don\’t think so. Wait a minute.\” he replied. He patted his chest, then checked around his waist. He mocked a startled expression. \”You know, I must have left it in my other uniform. How thoughtless of me.\” Sam covered her mouth with her hand to hide her smile.

Thelem sighed. \”Yes. I believe you have a phrase you\’re fond of using. \’Tell me another one.\’\”

Apollo gave him a broad grin. \”We\’ll leave within the hour. Minister Brekken, I want to thank you for your hospitality. I hope my people weren\’t too much trouble.\”

Brekken smiled warmly. \”On the contrary, your people have been extraordinarily respectful. I\’m afraid I must apologize for doubting the integrity of your Starfleet. I speak on behalf of my people when I say that anytime you wish to return, you are welcome here.\”

\”Thank you again, Minister. Well, Thelem, is everything under control?\”

He checked his padd. \”We are the only ones left here. We can beam up at your discretion.\”

\”Well then, if you would do the honors, I mean, since I\’m so forgetful and all?\” He smirked and Sam giggled.

Thelem gave his captain another sly look, but pulled out his communicator. He signaled the ship and they disappeared in columns of light.

 

 

 

 

Author: Apollo Racer
Title: Origins
Email: fltadmracer@hotmail.com
Characters: New Crew/Star Trek: TOS/Star Trek TOS: Animated Series.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: In a bizarre twist of fate, a young man from the 21st century is trapped
in a frozen coffin as he drifts along the tides of time to be awakened 200 years
later.

Chapter Nineteen

Things were going quietly at Federation Outpost 24. The station had been on Yellow Alert since the first two reports of attacks came in. Someone was making their way through the Federation, causing great unrest in their path. Commander Farber, CO of the outpost, had sent a call to the nearest starbase. FO 24 had a responsibility to watch over the mining colony on the planet Cordova below them. In a comfortable niche in the Federation, they didn\’t have much need for defenses. But with this increasing threat, they suddenly had to be prepared.

The starbase commander had assured Farber that a ship had been sent to help them out. So all they had to do now was wait.

The sensor officer turned toward the commander. \”Sir, a ship just entered the system.\”

\”That must be the ship Starfleet sent. They couldn\’t have come soon enough for me,\” Farber said. \”Hail them.\”

The comm officer did so, and a voice piped through the Operations Center. \”Commander, I understand you\’re in need of aid.\”

The commander let out his breath. \”Thank God you\’re here. With all these hit-and-run raids happening, we could use the protection.\”

\”Oh yes… you certainly need protection.\”

Farber shivered. \”Something\’s not right here.\” He turned toward his Ops officer. \”Frank, give me a view of that ship.\”

\”Aye, sir.\” He turned to his station, and shortly the ship showed on the viewscreen.

\”It\’s a Starfleet ship alright,\” Farber commented. At first he recognized the familiar lines of an Enterprise-class vessel. Then he saw the third nacelle and it\’s larger size. The commander went into shock. \”But it\’s the wrong one! Red Alert! Get the shields up! Contact Starfleet and tell them their renegade is here!\” He had suddenly remembered the picture of the ship that went with the warnings.

The Ops officer smiled. \”Shields are up. They\’re still outside.\” He looked at his board and his smile disappeared. \”But we can\’t contact Starfleet. They\’re jamming us.\”

Just then, the voice came over their comm systems again. \”You asked for protection… prepare to receive deliverance.\” It was such a calm tone of voice that instead of making them relax, it heightened their fear. Farber was feeling nothing but dread as lancets of orange phaser fire erupted from the ship to hammer away at their shields.

~ * ~

They had been searching for three months. During that time, Apollo had gotten well acquainted with the crew. He and Sam had rekindled the fires they shared for each other in the Academy. When they first visited Karen in Stellar Cartography, there were plenty of hugs to go around. They all retired to the officer\’s lounge when her shift ended, where tears were shed over absent friends. The sadness was overcome, though, with their reunion. Karen regaled her friends with news of Ethan\’s progress in their absence. She told Apollo that Ethan would be thirteen when she would request for his presence on the ship. Apollo was stunned at how years went by since he had seen them together, but agreed, at Sam\’s playful prodding, that it would be okay at that time for him to be with his mother, but he suggested it wait at least until after they find the Firestone and return it to Starfleet.

Apollo had not quite requested, not quite ordered, the quartermaster to allow someone else to take Sam\’s quarters. He recalled that the quartermaster had smiled and winked. After all, part of the captain\’s was to approve the rearrangement of living space on a ship to accomodate couples; less common were instances where the captain was actually part of that couple. But there was nothing against it… Starfleet discouraged fraternization, but they didn\’t forbid it, and Sam was delighted that it could be done.

It was at the end of the third month that Apollo had another dream. He was standing at the top of what seemed to be a small mountain. Lush green fields stretched for miles, and wildlife could be seen in abundance. Suddenly, a dark plague approached from the horizon. As Apollo stood there, horrified, ugly black scars burrowed into the earth. Firestorms scoured the countryside, leaving the land scorched, fires still raging in some areas. He looked around and noticed a door to the side of a cliff, blown off its hinges. He looked down as a bloody hand grabbed his boot. The hand\’s owner looked up at him in despair, and a word rasped from his mutilated face. \”Why?\” Suddenly he knew where he was.

Apollo\’s eyes flared open, flooding the darkness with a soft blue light. His sudden arousal woke Sam. Her eyes opened halfway. \”Apollo, you devil. If it weren\’t the middle of the night, I\’d…\”

Her sentence was cut off. Apollo rolled and brought his arm slamming down on the bedside table, activating the comm and knocking the legs out from under the table. The sudden loud crack caused Sam to jump to a sitting position in shock. \”Bridge, this is Racer! Change course for the Cordova system! Maximum warp!\” In a second, he was on his feet.

The lights hadn\’t been turned on, but Sam could see. I never realized his eyes were so bright, came a detached thought from the back of her head. \”Apollo, what\’s wrong?\” She was definitely worried. When she looked at him, she noticed he was already in uniform. He didn\’t say a word, but he fixed her with a penetrating gaze. Even with his changes, she could remember the last time she saw him like this. \”I hate it when you look that way,\” she said, but got up and started dressing herself.

Three minutes later, Apollo was on the bridge, heading toward his chair. \”ETA to Cordova,\” he barked.

\”We should be there in approximately two hours,\” said Commander Williams, the ship\’s gamma shift duty officer, as he relinquished command; he moved in barely enough time to keep from being bowled over by his captain. \”Is there a reason for this sudden course change, sir?\”

\”Call it a feeling,\” Apollo said with conviction, \”a very bad feeling.\” He hit the comm on his chair. \”Engineering, this is the Bridge. Can you get more power to the engines?\”

\”Captain, you\’ve got all we can give you. If you want, we can get out and push.\”

\”Not advisable. Thanks anyway. Bridge out.\” He sat in his chair and glared at the viewscreen, almost as if he could will more speed out of the engines.

Sam came onto the bridge. Her hair was still a little frazzled, but for the most part, she was composed. Thelem followed right behind her. He turned to her. \”What brought this on?\”

She shrugged. \”Sometimes he gets these feelings. But when he gets them, you can guarantee that something is going to happen.\”

\”Great,\” Thelem muttered. He then spoke up to Apollo. \”Captain, what do we expect to find in the Cordova system?\”

The captain\’s eyes narrowed. \”Firestone is there.\” The graveyard-silent tone in his voice brought the temperature of the bridge down about fifteen degrees. M\’Ress even shivered, and her tail bushy with concern. His statement also managed to squelch whatever muted conversations were taking place. He looked at Arex. \”As soon as we get within sensor range, drop to impulse. We\’ll also be going to Red Alert.\”

The younger officers looked at him in horror. They knew the Firestone was abducted by terrorists, but they never actually expected to fire at another starship. Before now, the thought that they might have to was abstract, but a Red Alert drove the point home.

Sam came down to the side of Apollo\’s chair. She was going to speak to him, but her voice caught in her throat. Apollo\’s face could have been carved from granite for as hard as it looked. His gaze burned with a cold fire, as though the viewscreen would freeze under his gaze.

He slowly turned those eyes on to her. \”Please go to your post, Commander. I need you there right now,\” he said softly.

She silently obeyed, moving to the science station. Thelem was about to take her place next to Apollo, but they made eye contact, and she subtly shook her head. He decided that he would be of more use at the Tactical station.

Over the next couple of hours, the only sounds on the bridge came from the instrumentation, and an occasional inquiry from Apollo, asking for an update. Sam would check the sensors and give him an answer, and silence would fall again.

Finally, Arex spoke up. \”Captain, we have reached the Cordova system. Dropping out of warp and sounding Red Alert as ordered.\” The bridge lighting shifted to red, and a brief klaxon sounded.

Sam immediately concentrated on her board. She was puzzled. \”Captain, I\’m not picking anything up from Federation Outpost 24.\” She continued to scan, and her puzzlement quickly became dread. \”I am reading a considerable amount of debris in orbit.\” Her voice caught. \”Some appears to have already entered the atmosphere.\”

\”Put it on screen.\” Apollo said. Instantly, a picture of a planet showed. Bright, glittering particles could be seen in one section of orbit. \”Ladies and gentlemen,\” he said morbidly, \”welcome to Federation Outpost 24.\”

As they drew closer, they could more easily define the details of the wreckage. A chunk drifted by them, its only markings, \”ST 24\”, marking a gravestone of the station. Apollo turned to Sam, \”What was the complement of the station?\”

At first she didn\’t respond, as she was transfixed to the screen. She shook herself out of it and turned to the computer. \”According to specs, the station held a crew of 215.\” She paused, as more information scrolled across her screen. \”There were also 53 people down on the mining colony. Sir, I\’m not getting any life signs from either place.\”

Apollo put his hand in front of his eyes, as if he had a headache. Truthfully, he did it so he wouldn\’t shoot the screen in anger. \”Mr. Taylor, any sign of the Firestone anywhere?\”

She checked the readouts. \”No, sir. Of course, the planet shields anything behind…\”

He didn\’t let her finish his sentence. \”Arex, enter standard orbit; first trip around at high speed. I don\’t want anyone hiding on us.\”

\”Yes, sir,\” he complied. The Valiant entered orbit at three-quarters impulse, making one complete orbit before slowing to standard speed.

Apollo rose from the chair. \”Thelem, you have the conn. Mr. Taylor, have a landing party meet me in the transporter room.\”

\”But, sir…\”

He whipped around to train his gaze on her. \”I said… have… a landing party meet me in the transporter room, including yourself.\” He stormed into the turbolift, ending the discussion.

~ * ~

The transporter deposited them onto the planet\’s surface. Apollo instructed the four security guards accompanying him and Sam to fan out and search the area. He already didn\’t like what he saw.

From reports he had heard in the past, Cordova was a bright, green planet. Clearly Class-M, almost Earth-like, it was an ideal spot to place a mining colony. The subterranean strata held abundant supplies of ores and minerals needed for starship hulls, phaser arrays, and base matter for food synthesizers. There was even a small deposit of dilithium. The fact that it was deep within Federation space was the only reason why there were no disputes over the planet\’s affiliation. Anywhere near the Federation\’s borders and either the Klingons or the Romulans, depending on the planet\’s location, would have given them quite a fight over it.

Looking at the planet\’s surface now, Apollo doubted that anyone would want it. What was once green fields and bright flora was now blackened, scorched earth. Fires raged in random places. Giant black scars disfigured the ground. One of the guards commented. \”Sir, it looks as though no one wanted us to use this planet anymore.\”

Apollo nodded, then spotted something over by a rock formation. He jogged to it, followed by a couple of guards. \”I don\’t think weapons caused all this, Lieutenant.\” He pointed to a piece of wreckage that was now literally part of the cliffside.

Sam scanned the debris with a tricorder. \”Captain, this is a piece of the outpost.\”

\”Radiation signatures?\” he asked.

\”No, sir. I\’m reading normal across the board.\”

He nodded. \”Okay, let\’s find the colony site.\” He was ready to head off when he saw the look on Sam\’s face. \”This is the colony site,\” he said, half expecting her to contradict him.

\”Yes, sir,\” she said, disappointing him. \”In fact, the transporter was set to put us in the center of the colony.\”

He bowed his head, then continued in the direction he originally set out for. She looked to one of the guards, who shrugged. Then she followed the captain. By the time she caught up to him, he had climbed the formation and was standing at its peak, looking out at the destruction. He didn\’t turn around when she approached him. \”I see nothing to tell that anyone survived. So much destruction… and we don\’t even know why.\”

\”The Firestone was here. You Saw that. I thought you knew why they were here, too.\”

\”No. I only Saw the planet\’s surface, as it is now.\” He turned toward Sam. \”And frankly, I\’ve seen enough, in more ways than one. Let\’s get out of here.\” He turned for one last look at the ruined landscape and suddenly stood rigid, his back a little arched, looking up at the sky. Sam was about to ask him if anything was wrong when he straightened up and took out his communicator. \”Racer to Valiant. Prepare to beam up the landing party.\”

Sam was still scanning the area when she said, \”Captain, I\’m reading a door at the base of the cliffside. It could be the entrance to the mine. The door prevents me from being able to tell if there are any life signs behind it.\”

\”Belay that, Valiant,\” he said. \”We may have found something. Stand by. Racer to Lieutenant Feyman.\”

\”Feyman here, sir.\”

\”Commander Taylor discovered a door at the base of the cliff. It\’s possibly the entrance into the mine. Take a man with you and check it out.\”

\”Aye aye, sir,\” came the reply. After a few minutes, Feyman called back. \”Nothing unusual about the door. It received some light damage when some of the outpost\’s debris struck it, but it still seems pretty intact. I\’m going to try and open it so we can check inside.\” Just as he finished, Apollo heard an explosion in the background.

\”Feyman! What happened?\”

Feyman\’s next transmission sounded strange, until Apollo realized that the security guard was running. \”We\’ve met with resistance, Captain! Some of the miners were holed up in there. They have phasers, they outnumber us, and unless I\’m mistaken, they probably think we were the ones who caused all this!\”

He looked to Sam, who had a grim expression. \”Get your team together and try to make it to my position.\”

\”Understood, sir. Feyman out.\”

It only took a couple of minutes. Then Apollo saw Feyman rushing toward them, firing behind him. Phaser blasts shot over his head. Apollo murmured to Sam, \”Phaser on stun. Keep low.\” She showed compliance by taking out her sidearm and checking its charge and setting. He followed his own advice by dropping to a crouch and checking his own phaser.

The miners stopped, seeing Apollo. \”There! He\’s the captain! He\’s behind this!\”

Apollo stood and forced himself to be heard. \”You are gravely mistaken,\” he shouted, \”I am Captain Racer of the USS Valiant. We\’re after the ship that actually did this.\”

Two other people reached the lead miner\’s position. Sam looked over the ledge to see that the rest of the group was holding off the other members of the landing party at the base of the cliff.

\”Liar! Why is it I don\’t believe you?! A Starfleet ship did this to us, and yours is the only one in orbit! You can\’t fool me that easily!\” He raised his gun to fire.

\”Look out!\” Sam yelled, rushing to protect him.

Just as she reached him, he pushed her away. \”Stay back!\” The movement left him off guard. The phaser blast caught Apollo squarely and knocked him backward off the cliff.

\”No!\” Sam screamed. \”Apollo!\” She tried to rush to the edge, but now she was being fired upon and was forced to defend herself.

Suddenly the phaser fire stopped. Sam had to do a double take to realize that Apollo was over by the miners. Phasers lay on the ground, and he had the lead miner by the shirt, and had hoisted him up until his feet dangled off the ground.

\”I… said… knock it off!\” Apollo\’s eyes blazed, so brightly that Sam could see the fear in the other man\’s face. The man knew his shot hit the captain… he clearly saw him go over the cliff, yet now this very man was holding him off the ground. \”You\’re fighting the wrong battle! Now tell your group to back off!\”

The miner was too choked up with fear to talk, so he merely waved his friends off. They complied.

Apollo set the man back down. \”If we did all this,\” he gestured around him, calm back in his voice, \”don\’t you think we wouldn\’t have stopped with you? Get a grip, man! You don\’t shoot your rescuers.\” The man was at a loss for words or actions. Apollo took the opportunity to call the ship. \”Valiant, this is Racer again. We found some survivors. Have a medical team standing by and have these people beamed aboard.\” He closed his communicator. \”I suggest that you call your men off, before anyone else is hurt.\”

The miner simply nodded and walked down the outcropping. Sam approached him, trading glances between the ledge and her captain. \”Boy, that was some fancy transporter work.\”

He turned to her. \”What?\”

\”I mean, the way they caught you and put you behind the miners. What I don\’t understand is that I saw them shoot you. You\’re not wearing armor.\”

Apollo stared at her a moment. \”Don\’t believe everything you see, Commander,\” he said, looking grim. Then he started down the embankment.

She watched him go, whispering to herself, \”What happened to you, Apollo? What else aren\’t you telling me?\” When she reached the clearing, the group had already been signaled and was approaching the captain. Apollo quickly glanced around to be sure everyone was there, then he reestablished contact with the ship. \”Energize.\”

They returned to the ship, and Apollo didn\’t wait for ceremony. He left the room immediately. Sam was hot on his heels. \”Apollo, would you mind telling me exactly what happened down there?\” He whirled around and gave her a baleful look, a silent reminder about the command structure. \”I mean, sir. I saw what I saw. You were clearly shot.\”

He gave her a slight smile. \”It was nothing. Apparently, a phaser on stun doesn\’t seem to affect me, thanks to how I am now. And one other thing,\” he slowly backed her against a bulkhead as each word came out. \”I might allow a first name basis to take place in an informal setting, such as in our quarters or in the lounge. But any other times, while we\’re on duty, I would appreciate it if you would remember proper courtesies. Is that clear, Commander?\”

She realized that she had crossed a line, and he was giving her a chance to step back across. \”Yes, sir. It won\’t happen again,\” she said in a verbal backpedal.

He grinned, but there was nothing warm to it. \”See that it doesn\’t. Dismissed.\” He continued down the corridor, leaving her to think about what she just experienced. He knew he came down on her, but he also knew that some commanders wouldn\’t let the officer recover like that. He had seen some hard asses in his time, and he could be one if the situation called for it; he just didn\’t feel that this was one of those times. By the time he reached the turbolift and instructed it to take him to the bridge, he had already decided to talk to her more informally off-shift.

The lift doors opened. He could sense that a couple of the crew members were making an effort to go against their training of announcing a senior officer, and he smiled slightly. Thelem left the command chair. \”Captain. We\’ve scanned the area around Cordova. There is no ship, but we picked up something interesting.\” He led Apollo over to the science station where that shift\’s science officer sat. Ensign Puller, I believe, he thought, as Thelem continued. \”We noticed the ion trail of an impulse drive. It leads out of the system, and ends shortly after. Taking up the lead, we shifted scans and found a warp signature picking up where the trail left off.\”

Apollo nodded grimly. \”The Firestone did its damage, left the system, and went into warp, apparently in search of other conquests.\” He heard the lift doors open and close, but he didn\’t turn, and he didn\’t say anything until the person was almost next to him. \”Mr. Taylor, did the landing party take an inventory to see if anything was missing?\”

They were a little stunned to note that their captain knew exactly who approached him, but he was confident that as they served with him and learned more about him, they\’d be more comfortable with him. As such, it took Sam a moment before she spoke. \”Uh… yes, sir. They found that an entire day\’s worth of ore was missing. We figured it was destroyed when they attacked the planet.\”

\”Did you find any remnants of ore to back up that theory?\”

\”Well, no…\”

He nodded. \”I believe it was taken, and I know who did it. Thelem, look at this signature. Computer, enhance the warp signature for visual inspection.\”

The computer complied instantly, giving the signature a blue glow. He snapped his fingers. \”Bingo. There\’s no doubt, now. It was the Firestone, all right.\”

Thelem was puzzled. \”Sir, I don\’t understand.\”

Apollo stepped back. \”Ensign, what\’s wrong with this picture?\”

Puller studied the image intently. \”This can\’t be a warp signature, sir. At least, not from any of our ships.\”

\”Oh? And why not?\”

\”Well, every signature I\’ve ever seen has a bilateral form. This one is more triangular,\” he responded.

\”And so, on that basis alone, you would dismiss this as a warp signature.\”

Puller gulped. He suddenly realized that the captain knew something he didn\’t. He looked to the first officer and to his superior. They saw the hole he had dug for himself, but they were unable to help him.

Apollo decided that he had suffered enough. He glanced over at Sam as well… as senior science officer, she was responsible to relay to her department all pertinent information about their quarry. I\’ll have to talk to her about that, too. \”What if the ship had three warp nacelles?\”

\”But, sir, that\’s not feasible. Why would…\”

The captain wasn\’t listening to him. He was punching up something on the other screen at the station. A revolving graphic of the Firestone showed up. \”What if the ship looked like this?\” He saw the abject disappointment on the ensign\’s face. \”Don\’t dismiss something outright just because it appears out of the norm. You\’ll find a lot of that in Starfleet, Ensign.\” His voice was quiet, not condescending; Sam recognized it as the helpful tone he had used as a tutor. \”Now, relay the trajectory of that signature to Navigation.\” He stood up and spoke up. \”Mr. Raleigh, set course for the coordinates appearing at your station. Helm, ahead warp factor three.\”

Sam looked up from Puller. \”Warp three? But sir, I thought you wanted to catch this person.\”

\”I do, but if we were to take off at maximum warp every time we found a lead, we wouldn\’t get anywhere.\” He ticked off the reasons on his fingers. \”Number one, if they were to make a course change, we would overshoot it by several light-seconds, and we\’d waste time backtracking. Number two, we certainly don\’t want to catch up to them. Remember, they travel as fast as we do, but they probably don\’t know we\’re following them, so they probably won\’t be traveling at maximum warp. Number three, this person knows that he has a powerful ship, so he\’s probably not expecting any resistance. Another reason why he wouldn\’t push the limit. And number four, Mr. McCormick would probably get mad at me if I were to push his dear engines to the limit at a constant pace. I don\’t need to hear about it. But since you brought the point up, helm, make that warp four. Heaven forbid we should let these people get away.\”

He moved to his chair and sat down. \”In the meantime, our shift starts in a few minutes. Mr. Taylor, relieve Mr. Puller and take your post. Calculate a destination for our renegades.\”

~ * ~

At the end of their shift, the officers were relieved and they headed to the turbolifts. Apollo hadn\’t missed the fact that he and Sam always managed to share a turbolift alone. This time especially, he was glad for his crew\’s thoughtfulness. He studied Sam as the doors closed. She seemed in an almost pensive mood. \”Something on your mind?\” he asked.

She nodded. \”I have to apologize for Ensign Puller, Captain. If I… if I wasn\’t so focused on trying to figure you out, I would have made sure everyone in my department would have had the information they needed, and he wouldn\’t have embarrassed himself on the bridge.\”

He smirked. \”You always were a bit snoopy. Isn\’t this the second time you\’ve been trying to find out about me without asking me directly?\”

She blushed and stared at the floor. \”Actually… not the second.\”

His eyebrow rose. \”Oh?\”

\”Well, you always had been so… so… unapproachable! Even while we were together, it was tough to talk to you about stuff because you seemed so closed off. Now granted, after we got together you made terrific strides and it got easier… But now…\” she paused, folding her arms around herself. \”You\’re so… different. More than just physically. It\’s almost like we\’re at square one again.\”

He closed his eyes and bowed his head. \”In many ways, we are. I am different, Sam… in ways that even I haven\’t fully figured out. I learn something new about myself all the time. I want to tell you about it all! But… I don\’t want to scare you away. I don\’t want to overload you with too much. Can you understand that?\”

She moved forward and took his arm. \”Apollo, I do understand. And… I have to admit, you\’re right… kind of. I am scared. But will you scare me away?\” She shook her head emphatically. \”Don\’t ever worry about that. I\’m here… I\’ve found you again, and I\’m never going to let you out of my sight again, mister.\” She smiled. \”You\’re still quite a catch, even more so now.\” She sighed. \”I mean… Captain Racer. I\’d be a fool to let you go.\”

Apollo shook his head, smirking. \”Don\’t tell me you\’re the type of person who\’s power-hungry.\”

\”Oh, far from it. You can have all that power. I just want the sex.\” She grinned coyly, lightly licking her lips.

To her surprise, a purplish tinge appeared on his cheeks. \”Uhhhhh… okay.\” The blush quickly faded, and now he seemed a little hesitant himself. \”Look, Sam… another reason I wanted to talk to you… about that time in the corridor.\” He looked up and saw she was gazing at him with her full attention, which made it a little harder for him. He sweatdropped. \”I\’m sorry about putting rank between us there… but I am the captain. If anything, we need to make sure… that is… I didn\’t want…\”

Sam watched him squirm, and as much as she enjoyed it, she let him off the hook. \”It\’s okay. I understand. You were right. While we\’re on duty, we should keep our personal relationship separate.\” She had another coy thought. \”And since we are off duty now…\” She used her grip on his arm to pull herself up and kiss his cheek. His blush returned and she giggled. \”Okay, Captain, can we get the lift moving now?\”

In the conversation, he had completely forgotten to give the lift a command. \”Yes… that\’d probably help. Computer, deck eight.\” As the car stirred into motion, he asked her, \”Soooo… not the second time, eh? When else did you do some digging?\”

\”Hmm? Oh! I was keeping track of your career the whole time.\”

\”What?!\”

\”Oh, come on…\” she said, smiling. \”You can\’t tell me you didn\’t…\” She saw his look and lost her grin. \”You didn\’t, did you.\”

He placed a hand behind his hand. \”Well… I was kind of going through a rough time. I was thinking of you. Constantly. But I just, I mean, I didn\’t realize that….\”

\”Apollo.\” She stopped his squirming again. \”It\’s okay, really. I mean, I know all about the Merrimac Scandal, and what that would have done for your reputation.\” As he visibly sighed with relief, she continued. \”And I have to admit, when the Excalibur disappeared, I thought that was it.\” Now she sighed, though depression was more evident. She stared at the floor, her hair covering her eyes. \”Oh, did I cry that day. My friends and my captain didn\’t know what was wrong with me, and I just couldn\’t tell them. I hadn\’t realized you had survived that, so I lost track of you after that point.\”

When Sam looked at him again, her eyes were sparkling. \”You don\’t know how much it meant to me to see you in that transporter room. It felt like the darkness had been dispelled.\” She wrapped her arms around him and held him silently until the doors opened again. With clear heads and light hearts, they walked through the corridor, not even caring if anyone saw them holding hands.

 

 

 

 

Author: Apollo Racer
Title: Origins
Email: fltadmracer@hotmail.com
Characters: New Crew/Star Trek: TOS/Star Trek TOS: Animated Series.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: In a bizarre twist of fate, a young man from the 21st century is trapped
in a frozen coffin as he drifts along the tides of time to be awakened 200 years
later.

Chapter Eighteen

Apollo\’s shuttle approached the Valiant\’s shuttle bay. He felt that if he were going to command the ship, he wanted to view her from the outside. Traveling by transporter was fine, but it took away some of the majesty of traveling through space. What good was boarding a ship if you didn\’t inspect her lines? It was just Apollo\’s way of carrying on tradition, although these days, instead of checking for seaworthiness, it was spaceworthiness.

His shuttle landed, and he stepped out. He looked toward the gaping maw he just entered and silently praised the inventor of the atmospheric force field. He turned toward the exit into the ship and was met by a familiar face. \”Thelem! Good to see you, old friend!\”

\”Welcome aboard, Captain,\” responded the Andorian. \”We\’ve been expecting you.\”

Apollo thought for a moment. \”Weren\’t you supposed to go to the Jocasta?\”

\”The Jocasta suffered the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Since she won\’t be going anywhere for another two weeks, replacements slated for that ship have been switched to this one.\”

\”I see. So, when do we get underway?\”

\”One thing I\’ve learned from your people is that the application of patience makes the forthcoming experience sweeter. You would do well to exhibit some of that patience now.\” The statement surprised Apollo. Andorians are a race of warriors, who favored the tactic of shooting first and asking questions later. To hear this one talk of waiting for something brought a smile to his lips. \”Besides, we have not received our full crew yet. Some of the crew aboard the disabled ship were replacements… you were supposed to select from the personnel as crew for the Firestone. The remainder would switch off with people from this ship and the Oberth. They have yet to be cleared by the medical staff.\”

\”Well, I didn\’t get the Firestone, did I?\” the captain said in an in-your-face tone.

\”Unfortunately.\” The sarcasm was evident in Thelem\’s voice. \”Then I would command either ship remaining.\”

\”Sorry to hold back your career.\” Anyone who served with the two officers on the Oberth knew that their bickering was just for show… they were actually good friends. \”I take it then that they\’ll be… straggling on as the situation permits.\”

\”You could say that,\” Thelem said.

As if on cue, the comlink in the shuttle bay\’s control room beeped. Apollo strode over and answered it. \”Racer.\”

\”Welcome aboard, sir.\” A bouncy female voice prattled over the speaker. \”Transporter Chief Robinson here. Your first batch of crew replacements are ready to beam aboard.\”

\”I\’m on my way.\” Apollo shut down the comlink and left the bay with Thelem in tow.

They made their way to the main transporter room in silent anticipation. They arrived just as Robinson initiated the transport sequence. The six pads lit up, columns of shimmering blue light appeared over them, and humanoid forms sparkled into existence. He greeted them and Thelem showed them to their quarters. While Thelem was gone, Apollo got to know Robinson a little better. He found her to be a very friendly person. As she was probably the first person someone saw when they beamed aboard, Apollo decided that she was just the right person for the job.

Thelem returned to the transporter room. \”Captain, transporter rooms two and four are also participating in crew beam ups. This won\’t take long.\”

Robinson chimed in. \”In fact, I\’m getting confirmation that I\’ll only get two people this time. They\’re the last ones for today.\”

\”Today?\” Apollo questioned.

\”Yes sir. Medical projects that our crew won\’t be fully aboard until the end of the week.\”

Thelem leaned over to his captain. \”You know, sir, you don\’t have to stay and greet people. Such a menial task is why they created the first officer\’s position.\”

Apollo mocked a startled look. \”Bite your tongue. I\’d like to meet my crew. I don\’t mind welcoming them aboard.\”

Thelem stuck his tongue out and felt it, as if seriously considering the captain\’s suggestion. Seeing the look on his friend\’s face made him realize that it was just a figure of speech. \”I\’m sure you will have plenty of opportunity to meet them before we get under way. Besides, how do you propose to be in every transporter room at the same time?\”

Apollo thought about that, without much hope for an answer. \”I see your point.\”

Robinson sighed. \”They\’re waiting, sir.\”

Realizing his faux pas, Apollo got back to the task at hand. \”Oh… yes, right. Energize.\”

The transporter activated again. Two figures formed. Apollo didn\’t see the first person step off the pad. He was staring at the second one, realizing that he was looking at a dream. She was wearing a sling on her left arm, and Apollo made the connection… she was the one he saw on the starbase, at the triage scene, staring out the viewport. Without any regard to protocol, he rushed up and scooped Samantha into his arms. At that point, time seemed to stop. He gazed into her tear-brimmed eyes, moving in to kiss her.

\”I take it you two know each other.\”

Thelem\’s comment brought both of them back to the present. Apollo looked at the room\’s other occupants. Thelem was smiling; The officer who arrived with Sam was staring at them nervously. Robinson was fully blushed, smiling and looking at them in a very cutesy way… the way he thought she would look at a little bunny, her eyes all huge and sparkly.

Apollo cleared his throat. \”Uh, ahem, Thelem. This is…\” he looked at Sam\’s shoulder, \”Commander Taylor. She is… uh… that is, she…\” He was looking at her, puzzled.

\”Your new science officer, reporting for duty, sir,\” Sam said, bailing him out. The look on her face told him that she was thoroughly enjoying this.

\”Ob… da… yes. Well, Thelem, looks like you won\’t have to double for me on this ship.\” He turned to Sam to explain. \”Thelem was both my science officer and first officer on the Oberth.\”

\”I see. Well, Captain, I appreciate the warm welcome. But according to doctor\’s orders, I was supposed to rest after coming aboard, so if I could be shown to my quarters.\”

Instantly, Apollo\’s bearing snapped back into place. \”Indeed.\” He stepped down and shook the other officer\’s hand. \”Sorry about that. Didn\’t want you to think I was neglecting you.\”

\”Tha-that\’s okay, sir. Lieutenant Gerard reporting,\” he said. He was obviously still baffled by the scene which played out before him.

\”If you two won\’t mind, Commander Thelem will show you to your quarters. And if the doctor said rest, then I expect you to do so. No roaming the ship.\” This was directed toward Sam. But she gave no quarrel, and the three of them left the room. Apollo leaned against the transporter console and wiped his brow. He then realized he wasn\’t alone, and turned toward Robinson. She was still looking at him with doe-eyes. Her blush was almost gone, but once the captain\’s attention was back on her, it returned in full force. Apollo stood straight, tugged on his jacket and marched out of the room. Just before the doors could close he stopped and looked back at Robinson. After a moment, he smiled exuberantly and allowed the doors to close, where she could finally indulge in some good-natured giggling.

~ * ~

\”Captain on the bridge.\”

Apollo stepped out of the turbolift. He waved them all back to what they were doing. \”All right, knock it off. Captain\’s standing order: next person who says that in my presence again gets flushed out an airlock in their skivvies.\”

He was joking, but his meaning was clear. His bridge crew kept the response to a brief chuckle. He looked around the bridge at his crew. Thelem was standing near the command chair. They should have a seat for him, too, he thought. Perhaps next to the captain. Maybe in my next report to Starfleet, I\’ll mention it. Sam was at the science station, performing a diagnostic on the systems. He then noticed his communications officer, M\’Ress, and Arex, his helmsman. He recalled in reviewing their records that they had served aboard the Enterprise shortly before the end of her first five-year mission, before her major refit. M\’Ress was a Caitian… her felinoid features were all too obvious. He had served with Caitians before, and was glad to have her. He noted with a smile that her tail twitched lazily back and forth, showing contentment with her task.

He then turned his attention toward Arex. He had never seen an Triexian before, let alone served with one. He nodded with approval that the quartermaster had altered his chair accordingly. Humanoids could still sit in it with comfort, but the seat was more of a U-shape, to accommodate Arex\’s third leg. Arex noticed Apollo studying him. He turned his head and, while doing a system\’s check with two hands, saluted him with a third. Apollo winked and walked toward his seat.

His navigator, Ensign Turner, whirled around in his seat. \”Sir, navigation systems check out just fine, sir.\”

Apollo looked toward Thelem, who rolled his eyes toward the ceiling. They were going to have to work on Turner\’s overenthusiasm… if it was anything that rubbed Apollo the wrong way, it was a brown-noser. \”That\’s… just fine, Ensign. Carry on,\” he said, patronizing the eager young officer.

He made a final scan of his bridge. He then hit the com control on his chair arm. \”Engineering, how\’s it look down there?\”

\”Commander McCormick here, sir. Everythin\’ down here is just bonny, Cap\’n.\” The voice on the other end had an unmistakable accent of a Scot.

The captain smiled. \”Very good, Mr. McCormick.\” He switched off, then turned back to Thelem. \”Well, I think we\’re ready to get under way. Mr. M\’Ress, contact starbase, request clearance to depart.\”

\”Aye, sir.\” She turned to her board. A moment later, she said, \”Captain, starbase gives us clearance to depart. They tell us good luck and Godspeed.\”

\”Thank them. Helm, reverse thrusters. Take us out slowly.\” He felt a slight shift as the ship moved. The screen was giving them the view from aft, so they watched as the spacedock doors grew on the screen. Just as the outside edges started to disappear from view, the doors began to open. The ship eased through the portal into space beyond.

\”Nicely done. Bring us about to 239 mark 70.\”

Turner responded smartly, repeating the course heading. The Valiant swung gracefully around to the prescribed heading. \”Reading a heading of 239 mark 70, sir.\”

Apollo nodded. \”Mr. Arex, ahead one-half impulse. When we reach the edge of the system, go to warp three.\” The Edoan acknowledged the order. Apollo waited until he could watch the transition to warp speed; then he headed for the turbo lift. \”M\’Ress, let my senior staff know that I\’d like a meeting with them in the conference room in half an hour.\”

He stepped in the lift. It was about to close when a hand came between the doors. They reopened, and Sam came in. \”Deck eight,\” Apollo called out. The lift started to move.

\”Hold lift.\” It stopped in transit. Apollo looked at her quizzically. She turned to face him. \”Well, Captain, you seem to fit the part quite well. I\’m glad you reached your goal.\”

Apollo could sense something wrong. Sam\’s comment should have made him feel good, yet there was a cold edge to her tone that made him feel uncomfortable. While he tried to figure her train of thought out, he decided to take her comment at face value. \”Thank you, Commander.\” He tried to follow up with something, but couldn\’t, and the silence made things more awkward. \”I\’m assuming that since you stopped the lift, you have something you wish to say to me privately.\”

\”Oh, I\’m just wondering why I didn\’t find out you made captain until I saw you in the transporter room.\”

\”I don\’t understand.\” Apollo had an idea where this was going, but he let the cards play themselves out.

\”Why didn\’t you contact me sooner? Why didn\’t you try to get assigned with me? And what the hell happened to you?\” She moved from side to side, studying him. \”You\’ve changed so much. You\’re so… different.\” As she spoke, the discomfort he sensed became more clear as her anger grew.

\”I tried getting in touch with you. As time progressed, your messages became more… infrequent. Some of them even seemed a bit formal and distant. Then I wasn\’t getting any messages all together. I heard about the Lexington, and I was afraid…\”

\”By the time of Lexington\’s destruction, I had been halfway into my tour on another vessel. And I had been writing frequently, and some of them certainly weren\’t formal. What\’s your excuse?\”

The realization struck him from out of the blue. \”That bastard…\” he whispered.

Sam had crossed her arms, displaying how disturbed she was toward him. She tilted her head as though she hadn\’t heard what he said. \”Come again?\”

Apollo\’s mind raced through his memories. He started losing contact with Sam while on the Merrimac. By the time he had moved on to his next ships, the damage had already been done. \”Sam, I\’ve been a fool.\”

She nodded. \”That much is certain. With that brilliant mind of yours, I\’m surprised it took you this long to figure that out.\”

\”Nonono… that\’s not what I meant.\” He sighed, putting a hand to his forehead. She wanted to stay mad at him, but his poise and attitude hinted at something he truly did just realize. \”Sam, I… my first assignment wasn\’t everything I\’d expected it to be.\”

She did some recalling of her own. \”Well… if I remember the messages I got from you at the time, you did seem to be having some difficulties. But that doesn\’t explain…\”

\”It explains a lot more than you think it does. I don\’t know if you\’ll believe this… but I\’ve been a terrible victim of circumstances. In a nutshell, I dealt with extreme adversity on my first ship, and with fear on the next. By the time I reached the Excalibur, I…\” he trailed off. Her resolve was fading fast… his expression displayed a pain that haunted him. \”I did write frequently. But when I lost contact completely, it… it was a lot to deal with.\”

The silence dragged on as Sam didn\’t know how to respond to what he said. He finally looked up at her again, and she realized his eyes did still display emotions… as he explained his plight on his past assignments, the light in his eyes was hard and sharp… it almost hurt to look into them. Now, however, they emitted a soft glow that almost caressed her. She had to remind herself that there was a reason why she was mad at him, that she shouldn\’t shudder in front of him just now. \”As for the changes you see in me… that\’s going to take a little time, and right now, I don\’t have it.\” He could tell she was skeptical, but he couldn\’t help her now. Not when they had a job to do. \”Lift, resume.\”

As they continued to their destination, he turned and gripped her shoulders. She didn\’t move away, but she didn\’t relax, either. \”I know it\’s been hard, but trust me, I will tell you everything. Right now, all I ask is that you don\’t let your personal feelings for me, whatever they may be at this time, to get in the way of our mission. Can I expect that much from you?\”

She looked at him hard, then slowly nodded. \”Yes, sir.\” He accepted that for now. Just before the lift stopped, she told him, \”By the way, I like what you did to your eyes.\” The doors opened and she stepped out. His friends who knew him before the Excalibur always said that upon meeting him again. Just one more thing to explain, he sighed.

~ * ~

Thirty minutes later, Apollo strode through the door to the conference room. His senior staff were already there, patiently waiting. He smiled at their punctuality, and headed toward his position at the head of the table; he didn\’t sit down, though. \”Greetings,\” he started out, making eye contact with everyone there. \”Some of you already know me from serving with me in the past. Some of you haven\’t served with me at all. Those of you who knew me before I served on the Excalibur, let me just get this out of the way now. This,\” he waved his hand in front of his eyes, \”is not artificial. These are my real eyes. If they cause you some discomfort, I apologize. It\’s not something I can turn on and off. Deal with it. Those of you who want to know more about it, I hold an open door policy… if I\’m not doing anything important at the time, I\’ll be happy to tell you all about it.

\”That\’s not the reason I called you here, though.\” He paused and was a little disappointed. Were he on one of his previous ships, someone would have made some type of crack. The room here remained silent. \”Our first mission sounds simpler than it really is.\” He sat down, hitting a few controls in front of him as he did so. An image of the Firestone sprang into existence a foot and a half above the table. The hologram slowly rotated on all axes so everyone could get a complete view of it. \”We have to find this ship. She\’s the USS Firestone. About five years ago, Starfleet attempted to build a dreadnought. This battle cruiser is the second generation of their attempt. She\’s the most powerful ship that Starfleet has constructed. Powerful, but not invincible. Those of you who have read those specs would know its capabilities: trinary-shielding, honeycomb superstructure support, with a hull made of a new substance, designed to absorb and distribute energy more efficiently than any ship we\’ve got.\”

McCormick partially raised a hand. \”Beggin\’ yer pardon fer interruptin\’, sir, but I happened to have read the specs on the Firestone. \’Efficient\’ would not be a word I\’d use for that behemoth.\”

\”You\’re right, Mr. McCormick. There were still a few bugs to work out. The third nacelle may help to provide a more stable warp field, but this ship can\’t go that much faster than ours. It\’s primarily a power supply for their upgraded weapons and shielding. It affords them the extra warp power they\’d otherwise have to route from propulsion. Now, as difficult as it sounds, our mission is not to destroy the ship, merely disable it… Starfleet doesn\’t want to lose its prototype.

\”As McCormick revealed, you all should have received a file of the specs. Any insight you might have to help out our mission, no matter how insignificant you think it would be, will be greatly appreciated.\” When no one spoke up immediately, he continued his briefing. \”Anyone who\’s served with me will know I have a firm belief that it\’s a ship\’s crew, not the ship itself, that will truly make or break a mission. And this is the person we have to deal with on this one.\” He switched images over, and the battle cruiser gave way to a personnel file. \”This is Ted Stevens. He used to be in Starfleet, but when he was first officer of the Merrimac, he ran a corruption ring that infiltrated that ship deep into his personnel infrastructure. A lot of people were affected by the scandal. Stevens was stripped of his rank and dismissed from Starfleet.\”

\”Pardon me, sir,\” Thelem interrupted, \”but didn\’t you serve aboard the Merrimac?\”

Apollo looked at his first officer, also seeing Sam as she sat next to him. Her face betrayed how stunned she was. \”Yes, Commander, I did. You can look up the entire incident, but I\’ll save you some time… I was the one who exposed the scandal.\”

No one said it aloud, but he could tell it was speculated by some in the room that he may have in some way caused the situation they were in now. That no one mentioned the possibility told him they were doing their best to give him the respect a captain required of his officers. He had to smile inwardly at that. \”Do I think that it\’s possible that we wouldn\’t be chasing Stevens now if I hadn\’t acted as I did?\” He shrugged. \”Perhaps. It equally likely that he may have pulled this anyway. If anything, I learned that he\’s a cunning individual. He\’s not afraid to use the resources at his disposal to get what he wants. But here\’s the kicker… I had an opportunity to have a conversation with this man recently. It\’s my opinion that he\’s not exactly in his right mind.\”

\”If he is insane, that will make him unpredictable,\” the CMO said. \”This makes him all the more dangerous.\”

Apollo nodded. \”Those are my worries exactly.\” He paused to take in the faces of the people around the table, trying to gauge their reactions to all this. \”I know this is a lot to think about. It\’s not exactly the best way to start our first mission together. But most of you have enough experience to know that the unexpected happens a lot out here, and we need to be ready for it. He waited to give anyone who wanted to say something a chance to say it. When he got back nothing but silence, he stood up. \”Those of you who don\’t work on the Bridge, I shall visit your departments soon for a more proper introduction. As I mentioned from the start, I\’ll be available to whoever has any questions. Dismissed.\” He watched them as they filed out. Before Sam went out the door, she turned and caught his eye. Something told Apollo that she would be the first person to see him about some explanations.

~ * ~

He had returned to the bridge for the rest of his shift. There was basically nothing for him to do. He sat back and closed his eyes, listening to the running of the ship: the movements and conversations of the crew as they walked from station to station or in and out of the turbolift; the various electronic noises everyone\’s consoles made; or most especially, the thrumming of power that traveled through the ship, causing the deckplates under his feet to vibrate. Occasionally, he would glance at the science station, but if Sam saw him, she took no note; she kept busy at her post, whether because of normal duties or as a way of avoiding contact with him was unknown to him.

When the end of his shift came, he was relieved by Thelem; he then headed off the Bridge to make his rounds. He started at Engineering, getting more acquainted with McCormick, or Mac, to his friends. He was a cheerful soul who loved his engines and enjoyed friendly conversation. He reminded Apollo off Mr. Scott, Kirk\’s engineer, and he wondered further if these traits were typical for Scotsman. The ones he had met so far had all been born engineers and very social. If everything went true, this man also had a phenomenal temper, but since things were running like clockwork in the bowels of his ship, he doubted there\’d be anything to currently test his patience.

He continued up through the ship. When he reached Sickbay, he met his CMO, Sorel. \”Greetings, doctor.\” He raised his hand in a split-fingered salute, his common practice for any contact with a Vulcan. \”I trust that everything here is to your preferences.\”

If Vulcans smiled, Sorel would have done so. Honor clearly showed in his expression. \”Thank you, Captain. Everything is indeed satisfactory.\”

After a second of silence, Apollo gave Sorel a sideways glance. \”This is the first time you\’ve served aboard a starship.\”

Sorel raised an eyebrow. \”You are very perceptive. Before the Valiant, I was a healer at the Vulcan Science Academy. I worked there with Dr. Daniel Corrigan. Remarkably, I am here at Starfleet\’s request.\”

Apollo did Sorel one better, raising both eyebrows. \”Starfleet recommended you? Well, I\’ve heard enough about your reputation on Vulcan to say I\’m quite honored to have you as part of my crew.\” Thinking back, Apollo recalled reading sometime while at the Academy that Kirk had been on Vulcan, solving a murder. He remembered Sorel\’s name being mentioned in the article. \”Is Dr. Corrigan here as well?\”

\”Unfortunately, no. Dr. Corrigan died 1.7 years ago.\”

\”Oh. My grievances go with you.\” Another memory hit Apollo, and he wasn\’t fast enough to keep a smile from creeping on his face. \”The last time I was in the presence of a Vulcan medical officer aboard a ship, it was on the science vessel Surak. His name was Selek.\”

Sorel nodded. \”He now teaches medicine at the Science Academy. A very honorable man. It was under his tutelage that I received my training.\”

\”You had a very good teacher.\”

Then it hit Sorel. \”You are the one… the one he spoke of.\”

Apollo was thrown. \”Excuse me?\”

\”There is one story that Selek was quite interested in telling to each of his classes. It was of the time he was assigned to the Surak… they had rescued a ship frozen in a cometary fragment. The human pilot was in a state of cryogenic stasis, having apparently been so for two centuries.\” He paused before adding, \”You are that pilot.\”

The captain shrugged. \”Small galaxy.\”

He could have sworn that Sorel had just bowed, though anyone else would have simply perceived the doctor as merely nodding his head. \”I had always been interested in the fate of that pilot. It is indeed a privilege to be in your service.\”

Apollo wanted to clap Sorel on the shoulder, but he naturally refrained from doing so. \”Thank you. Knowing you\’re here bolsters my confidence in the medical staff.\”

As he headed for the door, Sorel said to him, \”I shall see you soon, since as you probably already know, your physical examination is due.\”

Apollo smirked at him as he headed for the door and shook his head. \”Doctors… always wanting to poke and prod.\” Sorel realized the captain was being sarcastic, but he put on an innocent expression nonetheless. Apollo chuckled as he left Sickbay. It was true that he was more wary than others about being examined, having been subjected to it so much in the past. Still, it felt good to have a Vulcan on board.

He was so deep in thought that he didn\’t see someone coming around the bend. Sam ran into him full tilt and wound up sitting on the deck. Apollo merely looked down at her and raised an eyebrow. \”Where\’s the fire, Commander?\” He proffered a hand to help her up, which she gracefully took.

\”I, uh, I was looking for you, Captain. Thelem told me that you usually take a stroll through the ship when your shift ends. Then I remembered you said you were going to the departments for more informal introductions.\”

He smiled. \”What\’s on your mind?\”

\”I wanted to take you up on your offer. For a further explanation. Sir.\” She had said the last word with a slight smile.

Apollo simply shook his head, still grinning. \”You know, I had a hunch you would be the first, though I\’m sure the doctor will be next. He reminded me of an exam I have due.\”

\”You always hated exams,\” she said coyly.

\”I always felt that I had too many of them. They could have found something else to do.\” He jerked his head in his direction. \”Walk with me.\” As he continued, she slipped beside him, reminding him of the times they always took walks at the Academy. They both allowed silence to dominate for a while, then he said, \”It\’s been a while.\”

\”Hmm? Since what?\” she asked.

\”Since we\’ve taken a walk together,\” he said quietly.

She nodded. \”Mmm-hm. This is nice.\” She had noticed they moved back down through the ship. When he guided her through a door, she wasn\’t surprised to find herself in the arboretum.

He answered her unspoken question. \”I always found it more comfortable to be here when I talk about unofficial matters.\”

She nodded. \”It certainly looks appropriate.\” When they reached the floor-to-ceiling viewports looking out to the stars, streaking by at warp speed, they stopped and she turned to him. \”So, I assume the titles can be dropped here.\” He nodded. \”Would you mind telling me now what happened to your eyes, and whatever else might have changed?\”

He led her to a nearby bench and they sat down. He thought hard about where to start, and what to tell. Since he had already touched upon his experiences on the Merrimac, both in their conversation in the turbolift and in the conference room, he decided that anything else she wanted to know was either in the records or she could ask about it later. So he began by telling her about serving aboard the Monitor. Sam listened intently, asking pointed questions through his tale.

He tried his best to answer them, although after being rescued from the Excalibur, it was more difficult. He could tell her about his physical changes, but as far as his new abilities, such as his eye blasts and being able to fly, he decided to keep that a secret until he was either ready to tell her or it came out on its own unexpectedly. Granted, he realized the latter wouldn\’t look too good… Oh, this? Hehehe… didn\’t I mention I could fly? Silly me. Guess it just slipped my mind, he thought sarcastically… but in his opinion, he could afford to take that risk for now.

When he finished, Sam just sat there for a moment, feeling overwhelmed. So much had happened to him since they had last seen each other. What saddened her the most was that she knew how he felt about being in Starfleet… at the Academy, his confidence was so strong. He was so eager to be a part of it. Yet most of what he told her seemed so terrible. Yet despite it all, he managed to achieve what he wanted… he regained the rank he held in his old military and he was commanding a starship. But what he had to go through to get there…

Sam didn\’t realize she was swaying until she felt his hand on her arm, steadying her. \”Are you okay?\” he asked.

She looked at him… the concern on his face and in his question moved her. It came from the man she had fallen in love with so long ago. But… \”Yeah… I\’m just trying to get this straight. You\’re saying that you\’re not a cyborg anymore, but rather something all together different.\”

He nodded. \”If anything, I guess you could say that the whole has become more than the sum of the parts.\” He paused. \”Are you okay with that?\”

She got up and slowly walked to the viewport, putting her hand on the cool metal. \”I don\’t know. I could deal with you before, but now…\” she turned to face him. \”It\’s just so much. You\’re completely different. Hell, I don\’t know if you even can be considered human anymore.\” She turned away from him again. \”I\’m just not sure…\”

He sat there watching her, aggrieved that his circumstances might push scare her away. Apollo felt if he didn\’t say or do something, he might lose her, but he didn\’t know what that something was. Then a memory surfaced, and suddenly he knew. Apollo slowly stood and came up behind her. He placed his hands gently on her shoulders and softly said into her ear, \”Do you remember what I said, all those years ago? When you questioned my humanity then, too?\”

Sam looked up and turned to face him, her cheeks wet with tears. The look in her eyes told him she remembered. He smiled warmly. \”My heart is still human, Sam.\”

For some reason, that statement hit home. He got up and went over to her. Taking her by the shoulders, he asked her to look at him. She did, finding it not at all difficult to stare into his eyes. \”I told you years ago that as long as my heart remained whole, I\’ll always be human.\”

She sniffed. \”Is it?\”

It was a simple question, one to which demanded a simple answer. He placed his fingers under her chin and gently, slowly, tipped her face up as he brought his closer. When he kissed her a wave of emotion, long shut away by distance and inaccessibility, suddenly washed over him in a flood. They both melted in each other\’s arms. It was obvious that this contact was what they needed… they had been apart far too long. They held each other so closely that a piece of paper couldn\’t fit between them.

After what seemed like forever, they separated. They each found themselves breathing a little heavily, Sam\’s fingers resting on his cheeks. When they embraced again, it was in a friendly hug. \”God, I\’ve missed you, Sam,\” Apollo whispered. They held each other at arm\’s length, and Sam noticed a tear trail down Apollo\’s cheek. It, like his eyes, glowed, though a paler blue than its source. \”I\’ve missed you so much. I\’ve always thought about you, wondered what you were doing, wondered if you were thinking of me. Sometimes, I think I could actually tell that you were.\”

Sam felt a little giddy with this emotion. She let out a laugh that was half a gasp. \”I felt the same way. I\’m sorry for my attitude earlier… that I accused you of forgetting about me. I felt guilty as soon as I had said it… I should have known that you were never the type to do that.\” She traced her foot across the floor, again acting coy. \”Do you… suppose we could pick up where we left off?\”

\”I don\’t know. A lot of time has passed.\” His expression was too serious, and her breath caught in her throat, but her apprehension was without warrant. \”I mean, as you can see, I am a different person now.\”

\”But you\’re also the same… what makes you you is the same, anyway.\” She put a finger on his chest, and traced a heart-shaped pattern there. Then she looked up at him, and the adoration in her eyes sent his heart soaring. \”I\’m glad we\’re together again.\”

\”So am I,\” he said, looking out at the stars. It was almost perfect.

Sam could sense his mood change. \”What is it?\”

He sighed. \”I was thinking of Skip. He should\’ve been here, too. This was something I wanted all of us to share.\”

\”Well, it\’s close enough,\” she said.

Apollo took a step back. He studied her for a moment, then said, \”You know something I don\’t.\”

She smiled cattily. \”My, my. Always the perceptive one. All right, Captain Know-It-All, tell me what I know. And if I catch you trying to read my mind, I\’ll make sure you walk funny for a week.\”

He grimaced at that thought, but refrained from telling her that he doesn\’t read minds. So he simply studied her… God, she looks good in that uniform, he thought.

Sam realized he was staring at her and felt flattered that she could turn his brain to mush. She brought a hand up and stroked his cheek. \”Are you okay? I\’m not making things too hard for you, am I?\” The double entendre wasn\’t lost on him. Her eyes brightened when she saw him blush, though it was a little weird that the color was bluish now rather than red. She chuckled, kissed his cheek and hugged him. \”You\’re sweet. I suppose I can let you off the hook because of that.\” She smiled, a twinkle in her eye. \”Karen came back to Starfleet. She\’s in Stellar Cartography, and she also doubles as a geophysicist. So… she won\’t exactly have much reason to go to the Bridge, but she\’s here.\”

Apollo\’s face lit up with excitement. \”That\’s wonderful! But who\’s watching Ethan?\”

Sam looked confused. \”Ethan…? Oh, her son. She has a sister who\’s watching him. As soon as he\’s old enough, she\’ll send for him.\”

Apollo gave her a wary look. \”Define \’old enough\’.\” He didn\’t much like the idea of having children aboard a ship that just might get the stuffing kicked out of it by one of their own ships, never mind Klingons or Romulans.

\”I don\’t know. She gave the impression that it would be soon, at least while she\’s here.\”

\”That much I figured out.\” He gazed out of the viewport. \”Well, I\’m sure she knows what she\’s doing. Hey, I\’m hungry. You up for something to eat?\”

She thought for a second. \”Now that you mention it, a bite sounds pretty good right about now.\”

\”Great. Let\’s do it.\” He offered his arm.

\”Okay.\” She took his arm, and used it as leverage to lean up and bite his neck.

\”Ow! I thought you wanted something to eat.\” She gave him a predatory smile… he knew how to deal with that. He reached out and grabbed her sides, tickling her until she collapsed, kicking and screaming in a fit of laughter. He could only be glad that at this time, they were the only ones in the arboretum. He would have had a hard time explaining their behavior.

After a few minutes, he helped her up; she was gasping and holding her side. \”Oh,\” she groaned, \”I give, I give. Can we go now?\”

\”Yeah, I think we can.\” He again offered her his arm. This time she accepted it without mischief.

 

 

 

 

Author: Apollo Racer
Title: Origins
Email: fltadmracer@hotmail.com
Characters: New Crew/Star Trek: TOS/Star Trek TOS: Animated Series.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: In a bizarre twist of fate, a young man from the 21st century is trapped
in a frozen coffin as he drifts along the tides of time to be awakened 200 years
later.

Chapter Seventeen

The USS Jocasta was approaching Starbase 47 when the communications officer received an urgent transmission. \”Captain,\” he said, \”there seems to be a problem on the base. A starship is leaving without authorization.\”

The captain sat up straight in his chair. So much for a quiet docking. \”Go to red alert. Contact the departing ship and have them stand down.\” The comm officer moved to comply.

The spacedock doors opened and each of the Bridge crew\’s faces registered shock. \”What in God\’s name is that?\” the helmsman whispered. A giant behemoth of a starship was exiting and bearing down on their Belknap-class vessel.

\”Shields are fully charged, Captain,\” the man at Weapons Control reported. \”Phasers charged and ready.\”

\”Stay in their path,\” the captain ordered. \”If they\’re in such a hurry to leave, they\’ll have to get past us.\”

The science officer looked up from her viewer. \”They\’re locking weapons, sir. Firing…\” Her statement was unnecessary… they could clearly see energy discharge coming from several points on the ship\’s hull.

\”All hands, brace for impact!\” the captain cried out as the shots slammed into them.

~ * ~

They found Apollo lying in the corridor, a dark blue pool of blood slowly spreading from underneath him. He was rushed to the medical bay, where they were surprised to find him still alive. Brackett worked feverishly to stabilize the wound. \”I can\’t do much more here. He was shot with one of those damned spiderweb bullets. I afraid it\’s only a matter of time.\” He lowered his head in frustration, then checked his status screen again. \”His physiology is only superficially human. I don\’t even know how his blood can be blue. He has an extraordinary healing factor which has helped with the wound itself, but…\” He stepped back, sorrow on his face that he couldn\’t help his patient.

The captain\’s eyes were very dim, the tendrils blocking a large portion of the blue light coming from his eyes. As he twitched and convulsed in pain, they placed a forcefield around him. Finally the fibers got so thick that the light in Apollo\’s eyes finally died, and he stopped convulsing. The heartbeat monitor suddenly fell quiet and all vital signs flatlined.

Brackett sighed and turned to Commodore Black. \”I\’m sorry… that\’s it. I\’m recording the time of death at…\”

\”NnngggyyyYYYAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!\”

The two men whipped around at the blood-curdling roar. Apollo\’s back was sharply arched. He strained with all his might at the restraints. Suddenly, twin cobalt beams shot from his eyes, stopping at the forcefield. Every muscle showed the man in pure agony. Apollo himself felt as if he\’d been thrown into the sun. Every cell was on fire. The fibers which had covered his eyes were blown out in the initial blast. They tried to reform, but the constant outpouring of energy kept burning them away. The monitors which had fallen silent now virtually screamed at the feedback they registered. One panel even sparked and died.

Brackett turned to the wall and manipulated the controls. The forcefield flared as it was increased to its maximum intensity and fought to keep Apollo\’s energy beams contained. At intermittent moments, his beams would break through, causing ugly black scars on the ceiling. Just as he stopped firing, the field collapsed. Brackett immediately moved to restrain Apollo by himself. Suddenly, Apollo himself flared a bright blue, and Brackett was flung across the room. He got up, rubbing his back. \”My God! The man\’s got his own forcefield around him!\”

\”What?\” Black looked at Apollo, unconvinced. He intended to walk up to Apollo, stopping just short of where Brackett was forced back. But the blue field around Apollo flared, and Black wound up where Brackett fell. He repeated Brackett\’s moves, getting up and rubbing his back. \”How in the hell is he able to do that?\”

\”I don\’t know.\” Brackett dazedly went over to the wall monitor. \”This is even more interesting. There\’s no longer any evidence of a bullet. Its material was used up when the tendrils kept trying to reach his brain. The fibers are still trying to grow… but this man\’s fighting it every step of the way! It\’s absolutely amazing… the amount of energy pouring out of him is phenomenal!\”

Unable to approach his patient, the doctor simply stood back and waited. During the next thirty minutes, Apollo\’s eyes sporadically flashed to clear the fibers that continued trying to cover them. Finally it seemed that the battle was over… the blue field dimmed to nothingness, and he settled back onto the bed.

Black stepped forward. \”Is he…\”

\”One moment.\” Brackett looked at the monitor, then approached the still form. No force field threatened to shove him backward. Once upon the body, he gave it a cursory examination. Breathing a sigh of relief, he declared, \”No. He\’s still alive. Just resting. After what he just went through, I wouldn\’t be surprised.\”

Black put a hand on his head. \”With what he just went through, I\’m amazed that he\’s still alive. I thought anyone who was shot by a spiderweb gun was as good as dead.\”

Brackett returned once again to the wall and began a more thorough exam. His eyes widened. \”Apparently… our good captain here is a little better than that.\” He turned to face Black. \”There is absolutely no trace of the bullet in his system. Even the fibers are gone, vaporized from existence.\” He continued his exam. \”Even the wound that the bullet made is all but healed.\”

Black snorted. \”Well, whatever you did, it was a good job.\”

\”That\’s just it. I didn\’t do anything. He did this without my aid.\”

\”You\’re saying Racer just up and healed himself? Just like that?\”

Brackett just nodded. \”By all rights, he should be confined to this bed for three weeks, if not placed in the morgue. But according to these readings, I wouldn\’t be surprised if he were up and around within the next couple of hours. Remarkable.\”

Black then turned his attention to the other still form in the infirmary, the one covered by a silver sheet. \”It\’s a shame we couldn\’t say the same for the admiral.\”

The doctor sighed. \”Yes, it is. My staff said he was dead upon his arrival. There was nothing we could do.\”

Black looked at Apollo. \”Maybe he could.\”

\”What, you think just because he kept himself from death that he can bring others back from it? Do you realize what you\’re saying? He\’d pretty much have to be God to do that.\”

\”We\’ll see,\” was all Black could say in response.

~ * ~

When Apollo came to, it was with the most ear-splitting headache he had ever had. Cradling his head in one hand, he slowly sat up, bracing himself on the bed with the other one. He groaned. \”Ohhhh… could someone please find somewhere else to park the shuttlecraft?\”

Something pressed against his neck, and he heard a hypospray go off. \”There… that should help the pain some.\”

The pain almost immediately faded to a very dull throb. He looked up at who just talked to him, and saw a middle-aged man smiling, almost chuckling, at him. \”What\’s so funny?\” he asked groggily.

The man shook his head. \”Nothing much… just thinking that you\’re able to destroy a foreign object in your body that would have caused certain death in any normal person, without any medical aid, yet you can\’t seem to get rid of a simple headache.\”

\”Hey, you try getting rid of something that wants to wrap your brain in a bear hug, and see how you fare.\”

The doctor shrugged. \”Not so well, I would gather.\”

Apollo nodded absently. Then he remembered someone else. \”Admiral Sheffield…\”

Brackett looked at the floor. \”I\’m sorry… he was dead before we got to him. From what I found, he was a lot luckier than you. He died before the tendrils ever had a chance to work.\” He thought about what Black had said. \”I don\’t suppose you could…\” He purposely let his sentence hang.

Apollo looked at him, piercing him with those twin blue suns. He thought for a moment, searching within himself. \”No… no, for all that I apparently can do, raising the dead is not within my power. Unfortunately.\”

Brackett laid a hand on Apollo\’s shoulder. \”I understand. Death is still an inevitable certainty.\” He sighed. \”Perhaps you should get some rest.\”

In answer, Apollo got to his feet. The headache had disappeared completely. \”No, I\’ve rested enough. I\’ve a killer to catch.\” He left the infirmary, heading for the commodore\’s office.

Black was there, going over investigation plans with the security chief when Apollo strode in. Baker\’s eyes went wide, as if seeing a ghost. Black simply gave a slight smile. Brackett\’s estimate was right on the money. \”Welcome back from the dead, Captain.\”

Apollo cocked his head. \”That statement is illogical… I was never dead.\” Before Black could complain about his blasted Vulcan training, he turned to the chief. \”What happened to Stevens?\”

The chief never missed a beat. \”He took off in the Firestone. We couldn\’t stop him. He disabled a ship, the USS Jocasta, on the way out. From the reports we\’re getting, casualties were light, but the Jocasta isn\’t going anywhere for a while.\”

\”What about other ships?\”

Black snorted. \”The Jocasta was the strongest ship here. The others weren\’t going to risk the same fate or worse.\”

Apollo nodded in acknowledgment. \”Commodore, this man cannot be allowed to get away with that much destructive power. I request permission to go after him.\”

Black looked at Apollo for a moment, then smiled. \”That\’d be kind of hard, wouldn\’t it? Since it was your ship he took?\” He shook his head. \”I\’m sorry, Captain, but I don\’t have anything for you at the moment. However…\” he added before Apollo could protest, \”I anticipated your determination and sent word to Starfleet. A ship should be here within the week.\”

\”Sir, a week is too long! Stevens could be…\”

\”A week is the best we can do! That bastard didn\’t leave anything spaceworthy enough to chase after him. He planned this good. Now we need to wait for that ship to arrive. Until that time, no matter how hard it seems, I suggest you relax. Hell, after your ordeal, I order it. Now, get out of my office. I don\’t want to see you here again until I call for you. Is that clear?\”

He could see Apollo\’s rational side warring with his emotions. However, he was pleased with the captain\’s response. \”Yes, sir,\” was all he said, whirling around in a perfect military turn and leaving the office.

Apollo was fuming. He didn\’t like not having anything to do. Then his mind played back the chief\’s report and remembered that he said a ship had been disabled. Black\’s comment suggested it was here at the starbase. Perhaps there was something there that could keep him busy. Filled with a sense of purpose, he used a terminal to locate the ship\’s position and strode off in that direction.

Sure enough, when he approached the ship\’s berth, he noticed that the loading bay was converted into a triage area. Gratefully, he saw very few people in the black area, covered by sheets. Good, he thought, not too many dead. It was always sad to see death this way, but he was relieved that he could count the number of dead on one hand.

The red area, for real serious injuries, was also uncrowded. He asked a medic, who told him that the majority of them had already been moved to the medical bay. The ones that were there were being stabilized for transport. They suggested that the captain move to the yellow area. Apollo took the man\’s suggestion.

He moved through the least severe section of the triage area… though he had little medical training, he helped those who needed it by offering them comfort. Just the fact that a captain other than their own was among them seemed to lift their spirits. He sought out the ship\’s own captain, who gave Apollo a brief report on what had happened. He was disgusted that the battle cruiser so easily swatted his ship aside and continued on its way. \”I feel so damned impotent. Why the hell would Starfleet build something like that anyway?\”

Apollo could offer no answers. He stared at the few blanket-draped corpses and felt outraged himself. If he had only stopped Stevens, or taken the time to realize that there was no way the man could have reached a command rank after what he had pulled in the past, then none of this would have happened. The other captain saw the guilt on Apollo\’s face, but was just as helpless as his copatriot. Apollo thanked the captain for the information and moved on.

While he spent his time there, he found officers from the Oberth. They were just on their way out when they received the call for aid. He met his CMO, who assured him that things were well in hand. With a pat on the back, Apollo kept moving.

He was on the edge of the triage area, overlooking the whole process, when something compelled him to look in the corner next to one of the huge observation viewports. A woman was leaning against a viewport, her left arm in a sling, gazing out into space. Something looked familiar about her, but he couldn\’t get his mind to work in the face of the incident before him. She straightened, as though she knew she was being watched, and was about to look in his direction when a hand rested on his shoulder.

\”I thought I told you to take it easy,\” Commodore Black said. He didn\’t look too happy that his order to relax wasn\’t followed, but that was soon replace by sympathy. \”Never mind… I thought you might be here. C\’mon, your ship has just arrived.\”

Apollo was puzzled. \”My ship? I thought it was going to take longer than this.\”

The commodore shrugged. \”I was wrong. Let\’s go.\” They headed away from the triage area; the idea of a ship waiting for Apollo chasing all other thoughts from his mind.

~ * ~

\”Captain Bellingham at your service.\” The bright-mannered man with an English accent shook Apollo\’s hand.

Black filled Apollo in. \”Captain, Captain Bellingham is in command of the Valiant, one of our new Enterprise-class vessels.\”

Apollo looked askance at Black. \”Enterprise-class? I don\’t understand.\”

Bellingham spoke up. \”It seemed only fitting that any new Constitution-class ship would be classified as an Enterprise-class ship. Therefore, your ship is of that class.\”

\”Mine?\”

Bellingham chuckled. \”He seems quick on the uptake, doesn\’t he, Commodore,\” he said with a wink.

\”You\’ll have to excuse Racer, Captain. He\’s been through… quite a bit, in the past couple of days.\”

\”Ah, quite. Well, captain Racer, it is with great privilege to say that I\’ll be handing the ship over to you. Granted, I\’ll hate to leave the bird… she pulled my bum out of the blaze on more than one occasion. But I\’m relieved that she\’ll be given over to capable hands.\”

Black smiled. \”The formal ceremony won\’t take place for three days. The ship needs to be… how would you say it… \’topped off.\’ She doesn\’t really need a resupply, but we\’d like to perform the change-of-command ceremony with a fully prepared ship, especially considering what your first mission will most likely entail.\” He looked a little chagrined. \”It\’s not the Firestone…\”

\”Right now, any ship will be just fine. Anything to make sure Stevens isn\’t allowed to run rampant through the galaxy. I would have even taken the Oberth back if possible.\”

\”I don\’t doubt it,\” Bellingham said. \”Well, until the ceremony, then. Gentlemen.\” The captain excused himself and walked away.

Apollo looked a little smug. \”The Valiant, eh?\”

Black mirrored Apollo\’s expression. \”She\’s a fine ship.\”

\”Then why is Bellingham giving her up?\”

Black continued smiling as they turned to head down the corridor. \”Captain Bellingham is on the last leg of his tour. In a few years, he\’s going to retire. He\’s the one who will take over the Oberth. The man wanted a relatively quiet place to end his service, without spending the rest of it behind a desk. Everyone\’s satisfied.\” He noticed Apollo\’s bewildered expression. \”Don\’t worry… you will like the Valiant. I\’ve seen her record. She\’ll make you proud.\”

Apollo corrected him. \”It won\’t be the ship that\’ll make me proud, it\’ll be her crew. The crew makes all the difference. And I intend to have the best.\”

\”I\’m sure you will, Captain… I\’m sure you will.\”

 

 

 

 

Author: Apollo Racer
Title: Origins
Email: fltadmracer@hotmail.com
Characters: New Crew/Star Trek: TOS/Star Trek TOS: Animated Series.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: In a bizarre twist of fate, a young man from the 21st century is trapped
in a frozen coffin as he drifts along the tides of time to be awakened 200 years
later.

Chapter Sixteen

Captain\’s Log, Stardate 7993.4:

The Oberth is approaching Starbase 47 for resupply and crew rotations. According to a message I received last week from Starfleet Command, I am to be on the list of crew to be rotated. It has been a good five years. The ship\’s performance has been admirable, and the crew I\’ve served with has been commendable; they are a crew I will be reluctant to leave, but privileged to introduce to another captain.

Apollo paused, then toggled a switch on the log recorder.

Personal log, SD 7993.4:

I have mixed feelings about this. It has been a wonderful experience… yet despite the fact that I have made some good friends on this voyage, the ones I truly wanted to share this with me are not around. Karen had been on inactive duty upon having Ethan. She planned on returning from Starfleet had the Excalibur returned as it should… but due in part to the loss of her husband, she decided to remain on inactive status. I can\’t say I blame her much… the man has definitely left some empty space behind in our hearts.

I haven\’t a clue as to the whereabouts of the fourth person in our little circle. I lost contact with her shortly after my tour aboard the Merrimac. Phil Komack told me once that the Enterprise was the only Constitution-class vessel to return from her five-year mission intact. Since then I have had nothing but hope for her safety.

He closed his log absently, lost in thought. In the past couple of months, he found himself reminiscing more and more. He attributed it partly to the fact that in his time with the Oberth, he really didn\’t see that much action, at least not as much as his previous assignments. Maybe this is why I\’m being reassigned. Ever since that first year when we saved the Hawthorne, they\’ve realized that command of a science vessel is wasted on me. Starfleet sees me more fit for bigger and better things. The captain smirked. Then again, that could just be ego talking.

Collins brought him out of his reverie. \”Captain, Starbase 47 is hailing us. They give us permission to dock, and they want to welcome us to their facilities.\”

Apollo nodded. \”Very well. Respond with our gratitude for their invitation.\”

He stayed on the bridge during the docking procedure. Technically, he didn\’t have any reason to stay… the starbase locked on to the ship with tractor beams and guided the ship in. They basically did all the work. This time, however, Apollo felt that he should be present when the Oberth docked for the last time under his command.

He listened to the buzz of communication as everyone did their respective duty. He often listened to his crew like this; it relaxed him, knowing that the ship was in capable hands.

He felt a sudden shift as the Oberth came to a stop. Collins had kept in constant contact with Starbase 47 throughout the whole process. This time he spoke up to indicate that he was talking to the captain. \”Starbase signals that we are secure.\”

Apollo slapped his lap and stood up. \”That\’s it, then. Everybody out.\” He headed toward the doors, then stopped. Something told him to turn around. He did, and noticed that all eyes were on him. He remembered the day that he first took command. When they looked at him that day, he saw in them eagerness, excitement and a little intrepidation. That same eagerness was there, but it was accompanied by experience. They earned each other\’s complete respect and loyalty… he was responsible for them, and he brought them home. He showed them that he was entirely willing to work side by side with them instead of standing back and giving orders. He was their friend as well as their captain. Perhaps for this reason Apollo also read sadness on some of their faces. He was leaving them; sure, it may be possible that some of them may go with him to his next assignment, but it was more likely that most of them would be assigned to other ships. Some crew members would even be staying with the Oberth, perhaps stepping up a position or two.

He took a breath and cleared his throat. \”I see your faces, and I can\’t help but feel what you\’re thinking. We shared some good times and some bad times together… fortunately more of the former than the latter. If fate is merciful, we shall have more ahead of us. One thing is certain, though… I couldn\’t have had a better crew to break me in and support me. You have all been so loyal, so honorable… I shall never forget you. Thank you, one and all.\” At first there was silence, then one by one they began applauding. He smiled, then finished by adding, \”Last one out, turn off the lights,\” before continuing his journey to the transporter room.

Along the way, he was met by warm smiles and heartfelt gestures. Apparently, Collins had put his little speech over the intercom so the whole crew could hear it. Apollo felt glad… the speech was meant for the whole crew, after all. He entered the transporter room and went to the pad. As he got into position, he spoke to the technician. \”Make sure that shore leave is granted for everyone.\” He smiled, winked, and gave her a two-fingered salute. \”Energize.\”

He coalesced in the transporter room of Starbase 47. Two people were waiting for him. \”Captain Racer, I\’m Admiral Sheffield. This is Commodore Black. We\’ve been expecting you.\”

Apollo shook his hand. \”Thank you, Admiral. I\’m flattered. I didn\’t think my return would warrant an admiral\’s attention.\”

Sheffield chuckled. \”You underrate yourself, Captain. You just finished a voyage in our new science vessel; your reports had convinced us to continue using it… in fact, about halfway into your tour, Starfleet had launched about a dozen Oberth-class ships.\” He gave Apollo time to allow that to sink in. \”Secondly, let\’s just say that the unofficial word in Starfleet is that you lead a charmed life.\”

Apollo\’s eyes widened slightly at that comment. \”Oh, really. How so?\”

Sheffield\’s chuckle turned into a laugh. \”You really are humble, aren\’t you? For all the trials and tribulations you\’ve been through, and you have no idea what to call it? That\’s really good.\”

They passed into the commodore\’s office. Sheffield\’s smile was immediately wiped from his face. \”Sit down, Captain.\” Faced with his own method of changing moods nearly instantaneously, Apollo did as he was asked.

Commodore Black took the floor. \”Captain, I\’m sure you\’ve heard about the increased Romulan activity in the recent months.\” Apollo nodded. \”Good,\” Black continued, \”Our intelligence reports show that they\’ve developed a new type of warship.\” He pressed a control on his desk. A 3-D schematic of the ship hovered over the desk. \”This new Nova-class battle cruiser has about twice the firepower of our heavy cruisers. She was built for one purpose and one purpose only… war.\”

Apollo studied the schematic. He understood what they were saying… what he didn\’t understand was why they were telling it to him, and he said as much.

Sheffield got up, placed his hands on the desk, and leaned toward the captain. \”As I said on our way from the transporter room, we\’ve reviewed your logs. Hell, we\’ve had the logs and records of every starship captain currently in service reviewed. We narrowed it down to two choices. However, our first choice is going to be promoted soon. And our second choice… well, our second choice just walked through the door.\”

Apollo was visibly perplexed. \”Wait a minute, sir. Choices for what?\”

Sheffield smiled. \”Our crowning achievement.\” He gestured toward the door. As Apollo was looking for an answer, he got up and they walked out.

The admiral kept talking as they headed down the corridor. \”You may not know this, but we could tell through your logs that however satisfied you were with your command, you felt your talents were confined on a science vessel. Yet you seemed to know how to work the bugs out of the Oberth. So we thought you\’d like to take a look at our newest ship.\”

He had timed it perfectly. He finished his speech just as they entered the observation lounge. They must have rehearsed this, Apollo thought wrily. An entire wall in the lounge was devoted to a viewport that looked out at the ships berthed at the starbase. He couldn\’t see the Oberth, which was just as well. Even if it were in plain view, he wouldn\’t have seen it because of the ship that currently drew his attention.

It was based on a heavy cruiser design, but its lines bespoke more power. There were three nacelles instead of the standard two. Normally, starships had only two nacelles, but Apollo had read of significant advances in using three nacelles for more speed and power.

Apollo suddenly realized that he nearly had his face pressed to the window in awe. He recovered quickly. \”Is that what I think it is?\” he asked the admiral incredulously.

Sheffield gestured toward it. \”Our battle cruiser, the USS Firestone. It\’s the first of its class. She looks similar to a heavy cruiser, but let me assure you, that\’s where the similarities end. This baby is loaded for bear. She\’s ready for any Romulans that want to start something.\”

Black chimed in. \”This ship can outrun, outgun, outmaneuver, and just plain outclass any ship currently in space. And she\’s all yours, Captain. All you have to do is just say the word.\”

Apollo was awestruck. He was like a little kid who was just given the largest, most expensive Christmas present a kid could ever desire. \”I… I don\’t know, sir. This is a very generous assignment. But, I think you should know… I\’ve firmly believed in Starfleet\’s principles of being primarily an group for scientific exploration. This ship has only one role… combat. I mean, if my orders are to take command of this vessel, I obviously have no choice.\”

\”No, no, Racer,\” Sheffield denied. \”No orders, at least not yet. At this point, it\’s a request, primarily volunteer. They won\’t become orders until – unless – you accept. If you do, they\’ll be finished before you go to sleep tonight.\” He watched Apollo mull it over in his head. \”Tell you what, I\’ll give you something to sleep over.\” He held out his arm, revealing that he was holding a padd. \”This holds the tech specs of the Firestone. Look them over, then give me your answer in the morning.\” At the captain\’s hesitation, he added, \”I understand how you feel, Captain… and we are primarily devoted to exploration. But there comes a time when someone will take more than a little offense to our being out here. We need to show them we have just as much right as they do.\”

Apollo stared at the admiral for a moment, then he reached out and took the padd. \”I\’ll take a look at this and see what I think.\”

Sheffield grinned and winked. \”Good. That\’s all I ask right now. I\’ll see you then. Dismissed.\” He and Black left the lounge. Apollo remained behind to get another long look at the Firestone, then he, too, left the lounge.

~ * ~

He didn\’t get much sleep that night. He was too busy studying the specs, marveling at the research and development that must have gone into designing the behemoth parked at the starbase. According to what he read, most of the equipment on the ship was experimental. A prime example was a pair of devices called megaphasers, one situated at both port and starboard on the primary hull. She had four photon torpedo bays, two above and two below the secondary hull, each with two launchers, and phaser banks all over the place.

As he studied the blueprints, he started to see a parallel with his own situation. Here was a vessel that had so much power… so much capacity to destroy. The captain of such a vessel would be tempted to use such power, and would need to fight off such a temptation. Apollo knew there were times in the past few years when his powers would have made things much easier for him and his crew. However, there were also moments when he could see just how much worse things could have been had he given in. It was a constant balancing act for him… maybe that\’s why Starfleet knew he could handle it. While they didn\’t know everything about what he could do, it was impossible to prevent them from seeing that he could do more than the average human.

Apollo shifted into engineer\’s mode, and really paid attention to the specifications. He realized that he really admired the construction of this ship. It had a lot of weapons, and it wasn\’t really that much faster than any other ship in the Fleet, so he deduced that the third nacelle was used primarily to power the extra weapons and defenses. There were certainly areas that he felt could be improved upon, but then, isn\’t that why they wanted him? To work the bugs out of it and prove that it could be a good ship?

A yawn indicated that his weariness had caught up to him. Apollo set the padd down on a table next to his bed and swung his legs on top of the mattress. After telling the computer to turn off the lights, he was soon asleep.

~ * ~

The next morning saw him heading for the admiral\’s office, his Vulcan demeanor hiding his excitement and anticipation. He nodded to the admiral\’s aide as the ensign buzzed him in. Sheffield was already at his desk, just finishing up a conversation over the comlink. As it ended, he looked up with a smile. \”Good morning, Captain. I trust you slept well.\”

Apollo allowed a small smile to escape from his facade. \”I did indeed, sir. And I think you\’ll be pleased to know that I\’ve…\”

The comlink beeped, interrupting him. \”One moment,\” the admiral said, thumbing on the com. \”Sheffield here.\”

\”Admiral, this is chief Clemens over in the restricted area. I think we have a situation here.\”

Sheffield looked at Apollo, clearly puzzled. \”What kind of situation? Do you need reinforcements?\”

\”Sir, at this time I… aargh!\” His statement was cut off by a loud bang.

Apollo raised an eyebrow. \”That sounded like a gunshot.\” He was already heading for the door.

\”A what? Racer, what are you talking about? Where are you going!?\”

He turned around and fixed Sheffield with a stare that sent shivers down the admiral\’s spine. \”I would highly suggest that you send those reinforcements. Tell them I\’m on my way.\”

Sheffield sputtered. \”What do you… You can\’t go…\”

Apollo cut him off. \”Sir, no disrespect intended, but just do it!\” He didn\’t allow any further rebuttal, as he was out the door. Sheffield launched himself out of his chair and out the door, intending to stop Apollo, but when he entered the corridor, there was no sign of the captain.

He reached the scene of the disturbance at the same time as about a half dozen other security guards. Two men were lying on the floor. Apollo stooped over the nearest one and checked him. \”This one is dead,\” he stated.

The team leader took his cue and checked the other one. \”I\’m afraid this one is, too, sir.\”

Apollo stood and glared down the corridor. \”Damn…. Contact the infirmary. Have them pick up these two. I\’m going to investigate.\”

The team leader stood up. \”All due respect, sir, I think we should wait until we find out what we\’re up against.\”

Apollo had a good guess as to the cause, but he didn\’t think he was going to get past the guard with just an argument. He looked around the area, his senses buzzing like crazy. There\’s danger here, he thought, but where that danger is or how extreme it is remains to be seen. \”Very well,\” he said slowly. At that time, medics were showing up on the scene. \”Keep your men here to investigate this immediate area. You and I will follow the medical team to the infirmary.\” With a bunch of nods, the group split up and headed in different directions.

~ * ~

Doctor Brackett was examining one of the corpses, while Apollo hovered nearby. Sheffield wasn\’t too much further away. The doctor went from the corpse to the huge wall screen that showed the corpse\’s statistics. Clearly, Apollo was watching a 23rd century autopsy. The doctor was muttering little sounds of affirmation, sounds Apollo had heard many typical doctors make when they were studying something out of the ordinary. Finally, he got too frustrated at the noise. \”What did you find?\” he spoke out.

The doctor finally acknowledged that he was not alone in the infirmary. \”Ah, Captain. This man died in a very interesting way. He was shot by a projectile weapon, but the wound itself was not what caused his death.\”

Sheffield was flustered. \”Now what the hell is that supposed to mean?\”

Brackett looked from the admiral to Apollo, gauging their interest in the results, then he motioned the men over to the table and lifted an eyelid of the corpse. \”Do you see this?\”

Apollo leaned over and examined the victim\’s eye. He didn\’t see much… a grayish haze had developed over the eye. \”What is that?\”

Brackett left the patient and walked back over to the diagnostic screen. Apollo followed. \”These are the tendrils extending from a spiderweb bullet.\” He looked at Apollo, who shrugged. \”That\’s just the slang term,\” he continued. \”When this particular projectile penetrates its victim, microscopic neurocidal fibers \”grow\” from it. They are designed to follow the neural pathways of its victim until they reach the brain. They first target the frontal lobes, penetrating the tissue and finding the pain centers. The victim suffers agonizing and paralyzing pain. This is why you see the haze… the fibers pass in front of the eyes to take the shortest route to those areas of the brain.\”

The captain was puzzled. \”But you said these fibers kill the person. This man didn\’t survive long enough to suffer much pain.\”

Brackett nodded. \”Once these tendrils find their first goal, more tendrils weave their way to the brain stem, wrap around it and constrict. This eventually causes all neurological function to cease. It sounds like a prolonged process, but in reality this all takes place in about a minute.\”

Apollo shared his thoughts. \”So these projectiles are biological in nature?\”

\”Not so much biological as pseudo-organic.\” He turned to Sheffield to make sure the admiral wasn\’t lost in the conversation. \”That means that it\’s inorganic, but it was designed to mimic an organic signature.\” He returned to his explanation. \”No matter where this bullet penetrates the skin, these fibers will make their way to the brain. Even a graze is enough to kill, for the bullet leaves behind the matrix to produce the fibers as it passes along the tissue.\”

Apollo shivered. \”It sounds like a particularly ghastly way to die.\”

\”It is,\” Brackett agreed. \”What\’s puzzling is this.\” He entered some instructions into a panel next to the screen. A small window opened in the readout and information scrolled across it. \”This type of weapon was outlawed in the Federation during the beginning of the 23rd century. Anyone in possession of it carries a severe penalty.\”

Apollo nodded. \”Then we have to find this person before he or she causes any more deaths.\”

Sheffield snorted, attracting attention. \”How can we find this person if we don\’t even know what they\’re up to?\”

Apollo thought about that for a moment. \”There are two possibilities based on the evidence we have so far. Either the parties in question are after the Firestone, or they are using it as a decoy for their real plan. I, for one, see the latter choice as unlikely, therefore it would be wise to warn anyone involved in the Firestone project to be alert for anyone acting suspiciously. If they find someone, they should use extreme caution. Let them know about the spiderweb gun, and what it can do.\” He turned to the admiral. \”We should also carry on as though we know nothing of what has happened. For all intents and purposes, these men simply died of mysterious causes.\”

\”But what good will that do? We should use this knowledge to capture these people,\” Sheffield protested.

\”And we will. But if let them know that we know too much, they will be much more careful, or they will abort the plan all together, and leave.\”

It seemed to Apollo that Sheffield finally got hold of his senses. He turned to the guard who followed them to the infirmary. \”Baker, you\’re in charge, now. Quietly inform your troops of what we found. Have all transporters set to scan for projectile weapons or parts for weapons. Also have sensors reconfigured at shuttle bays for the same. That way, if someone trips them, we\’ll have somewhere to start.

\”Yes, sir.\” The new security chief gave a smart salute and exited the infirmary.

Sheffield then turned to Apollo. \”Captain, since you seem to have a grasp on what is going on, I\’m putting you in charge of this investigation. It\’ll be your responsibility to stop this madman\’s plan. After all… it\’s your ship this person\’s after.\”

\”I appreciate that, Admiral. I\’ll find the one who did this.\”

~ * ~

Apollo was talking with Baker in the lounge. They purposely avoided talking about the scene they had witnessed earlier that day; as a result, they found a friend in each other. They were still chatting when Apollo jerked upright, hearing a voice from his past.

\”Well, well, well. Look what we have here.\”

Apollo turned around and looked directly into the face of Ted Stevens. \”I\’m surprised you stayed in Starfleet after the Merrimac.\” The captain\’s former superior officer lost none of his hypocritical tone over the years.

\”I might say the same of you,\” Apollo retorted.

His adversary studied Apollo over. \”I see you\’ve made it up through the ranks. Good job you did with the Oberth.\”

Apollo heard no sincerity in Stevens\’ compliment, but he didn\’t allow himself to rise to the bait. \”I notice that you\’re also a captain. Impressive that you would make it up through the ranks again.\” He knew that after the fiasco on the Merrimac, Stevens couldn\’t have favored to well. He had to have been busted down to Lieutenant at the very least.

Stevens took the comment at face value. \”Why, thank you. I always knew that I could make the rank. No thanks to you, of course. I\’d really like to stay and chat, but I have pressing business to attend to.\” With with self-centered smirk, he walked off.

Apollo turned back to his companion, a cold fire burning in his eyes. Baker moved to get up. \”Hey, Tom, I\’m sorry. I don\’t mean to scare you off.\”

Baker snickered. \”Scare me off? Hell, no… I\’m just going to check with the environmental section. I could swear it\’s ten degrees colder in here.\”

Apollo laughed. \”I admit, there\’s no love lost between him and me. He used to be the first officer on the Merrimac when I was in Security. He\’s also a two-faced bastard who won\’t think twice about stepping on toes, or anything else, to get what he wants.\”

Baker\’s eyes went wide. \”You were the one who exposed the Merrimac Scandal? My God, no wonder he acted like he was sizing up a potential enemy.\”

Apollo smirked. \”Yeah… if a potential enemy is how he thinks of me, then he\’s better off. Back then, I was surprised that I even had a leg to stand on. I was only a lieutenant fresh from the Academy. Now that I have more clout… well, let\’s just say he\’d better watch his step.\” Then it hit Apollo. \”The Merrimac Scandal, eh? Is that what they\’re calling it these days?\”

Baker nodded. \”You really set a precedent that day. You showed Starfleet that it doesn\’t matter what rank you are. The only thing that keeps you from reporting any wrongdoing is your own fear; and it\’s a fear wrongly placed. They even have a section in the Command Course at the Academy about showing those cadets how to stand firm in the face of authority.\” Apollo smiled, and Baker realized something else. \”A security guard. No wonder you knew what to do at that investigation site. Hell, I never knew that starship security even lived long enough to make it to captain.\”

Apollo shrugged. \”Someone had to. Otherwise, how would you be represented in the brass?\” Baker chuckled in agreement, and Apollo stood up. \”I have to get going with this investigation. Thanks for the ear.\”

Baker waved. \”Hey, no problem.\”

Apollo was halfway to the Security offices when the alarm went off. He rushed to the nearest companel. \”Racer here. What\’s going on?\”

\”Trouble over by Firestone\’s boarding area, sir,\” said the voice on the com.

\”I\’m on my way. Racer out.\” He headed toward the ship as quickly as possible.

When he got there, Stevens was there with a group of security. \”I heard the alert… when I started past this area, I saw some men try to bust their way in. I think the alert scared them off.\”

Apollo motioned the men aside as he reached the door and examined the controls. \”Well, they didn\’t make it inside. Everything seems to be secure.\”

At that point, Sheffield showed up. \”What\’s going on here? Racer?\”

Apollo looked at the admiral. \”Captain Stevens said some men were trying to gain access to the Firestone, but were scared off.\”

Sheffield looked a little puzzled, but didn\’t explain why. \”We\’d better make sure that everything\’s all right.\” He stepped up to the door and punched in an access code. The door opened. \”Let\’s go.\”

They all traveled through the umbilical to the ship. \”Everything seems all right,\” Sheffield said.

Apollo noticed that the admiral seemed distracted. \”Sir, are you okay. What\’s wrong?\”

He shook his head. \”I don\’t know… something\’s not right here.\” He headed to the nearest computer access. \”Computer, excluding myself, Captain Racer, and the party we brought on board with us, is there any unauthorized personnel on the ship at this time.\”

\”Negative. Only maintenance personnel are on board, excluding your party,\” was the computer\’s reply.

\”Good. Now…\” The admiral stopped in mid-sentence and snapped his fingers. \”That\’s what doesn\’t fit.\” He turned to face Stevens. Apollo followed his motion. \”This man isn\’t a captain. He isn\’t even with Starfleet anymore. He was drummed out shortly after the Merrimac Scandal.\”

Instantly, the guards\’ weapons came to bear on the two officers. Stevens grinned evilly. \”You always were a smart one.\” His arm came up, revealing a weapon bearing more resemblance to something Apollo had seen in a museum hundreds of years ago than to a phaser. He suddenly realized that he was facing the man who murdered the two guards in the corridor. Before he could act, Stevens pressed the trigger. A muffled blast issued forth, and Sheffield was flung against the bulkhead. Apollo knew that the bullet\’s properties didn\’t have to work in this case. Sheffield was dead before he hit the floor.

The gun was now trained on him. \”You always did show up at the wrong moments, Racer. Should have left Starfleet when you had the chance.\”

\”What do you need the Firestone for?\” Apollo pierced Stevens with a glare.

Stevens didn\’t react. Apparently, his soul was left behind on the Merrimac years ago. \”You just wouldn\’t understand, would you, Racer? No, I\’m sure you wouldn\’t. You have too much of a sense of honor and duty.\” He spat those words out as though they were poison. \”I\’ll spell it out for you.\” He started slowly circling Apollo. \”There are rumors in Starfleet that tensions are actually starting to ease up between the Federation and the Klingons. I think that it\’s just a ploy on the Klingons\’ part to soften up the Federation for conquest. I intend to show them that we still have teeth, and are not afraid to use them.\”

Apollo slowly turned so he could face Stevens again. \”Still showing your true colors, eh? Starfleet never intended to allow the Klingons to get away with anything. What makes you think you\’re the deciding factor in all this? Or is this your ego still getting in the way of your judgment?\”

Before he knew it, Stevens was in front of him. He gave Apollo a left cross that rocked his head back. Apollo, however, kept firmly on his feet. He continued to give Stevens a cold glare.

\”You always get in the way, don\’t you? Ever since I met you, you\’ve spoiled any goals I had set in Starfleet. I strived to make the galaxy safe for mankind.\” He chuckled, a little maniacally, in Apollo\’s opinion. He started circling again. \”You know, I really ought to thank you for getting me kicked out of Starfleet. I\’ve realized that I now have more freedom to do what I can than I did when this uniform meant something. There\’s just one problem. I always hated something about you back then. I couldn\’t do anything about it then… but I sure can now.\”

At the same time he realized what Stevens was saying, he heard the report of the gun, just as he felt something slam into his back. He pitched forward to the floor. Stevens casually walked over and pushed Apollo over with his boot, so he could see his face. \”If you\’ll excuse me now, I\’m going to take your ship here, and do what the Federation should have done a long time ago.\” Apollo was just starting to see his vision fog over. The last thing he heard was Stevens barking an order to his men. \”Get that trash off my ship. Leave him in the corridor, as an example to everyone.\” Just as his vision started failing, his hearing also diminished. He struggled to maintain consciousness, but it was a vain struggle. He silently screamed in his mind as everything faded to black.

 

 

 

 

Author: Apollo Racer
Title: Origins
Email: fltadmracer@hotmail.com
Characters: New Crew/Star Trek: TOS/Star Trek TOS: Animated Series.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: In a bizarre twist of fate, a young man from the 21st century is trapped
in a frozen coffin as he drifts along the tides of time to be awakened 200 years
later.

Chapter Fifteen

It was three in the morning, and Apollo couldn\’t sleep. It had been three months since the Oberth left Earth, yet he was still a little jumpy by the prospect that the ship was his; he still half expected the captain to come up behind him and say, \”Racer, what in blazes are you doing up at this ungodly hour!\” That, of course, would be impossible, since he was the captain. Captain Racer, he thought. It\’s been over two hundred years since I\’ve been called that. I guess things have pretty much come full circle.

Since he couldn\’t sleep, Apollo made it a habit of \”going on his rounds\” – walking through the ship and its various departments. One night during the first month of this habit, Apollo got a little mischievous, and opened his mind to see if he could detect any surface thoughts, and encountered those of a couple behaving very intimately. It took fifteen minutes before Apollo could get his face below even a normal shade of red, so he never did that again, and chastised himself about using his powers responsibly.

Another thing he found was that his crew liked to see him on his route. It showed them that he actively cared about his crew and that he was willing to leave the bridge and get involved in events happening on his ship. He realized that as their captain, he couldn\’t establish too deep a camaraderie among them, as the chain of command needed to be clear, but he did as much as he could to make them comfortable around him. He had only to think back to how Captains Powell and Thomas treated him for examples.

This night, he was just prowling the corridor, to wear himself out so he could sleep. Just when he felt he was ready to return to his quarters, he was shocked back into wakefulness. \”Captain, what in blazes are you doing up at this ungodly hour?\”

Apollo turned to see Thelem, his first officer coming up behind him. \”I\’m sorry, sir, did I startle you?\” he said in an innocent voice, one that thinly veiled the fact that he knew startling the captain was exactly what he intended.

\”You know damn well you did,\” Apollo replied with a smile. \”I thought I was the only one who made rounds on this ship.\”

Thelem returned Apollo\’s smile. His antenna perked up. \”No one else is either that foolish or crazy. I was merely coming from my meditations in the chapel. The fact that we met was merely coincidence.\”

\”Coincidence, my ass,\” the captain said. \”You just like to bug me.\”

Thelem thought about that one. \”Let\’s just say… I like to keep you on your toes.\” They chuckled. \”Tell me, sir, were you planning on retiring for the night?\”

\”I was until you woke me up. Why, what\’s on your mind?\”

\”Oh, I simply felt the need to talk. If it intrudes on your privacy, I can wait another time.\”

Apollo shook his head. \”No, no, you\’re not intruding. If I wanted privacy, I certainly wouldn\’t be walking the halls.\” He led Thelem to the recreation room. Several people were engaged in various forms of relaxing activities, from reading books to practicing martial arts. Apollo and his Andorian friend found a vacant table and sat down. \”Now, what\’s on your mind?\”

Thelem came right out. \”What is your opinion of this crew, this ship? Are you satisfied with their performance?\”

Apollo found the question odd, but he took his time answering it. \”I believe that for what we\’ve been given for assignments, we\’ve done rather well. Why do you ask?\”

Now it was Thelem\’s turn to take his time. \”Well, sir. It\’s just that I\’ve been… studying you. You may say that your situation is satisfactory, but your mood, your actions, state otherwise.\”

Apollo sat back and crossed his arms. \”Oh, really. And what, pray tell, would my actions suggest to you?\”

To compensate for Apollo moving back, Thelem moved forward. \”You seem to want more from this ship, and I think I know what it is.\” He paused. \”Throughout your career, you\’ve served on Constitution-class ships. They see much action. Suddenly, you\’re in command, but of a science vessel, and while I don\’t wish to state the obvious, interesting encounters have been rather scarce.\”

\”Give it time. We\’ve only been out here a few months. I\’m sure something will pop up.\” He was trying to bolster Thelem\’s confidence; after all, Andorians were a warrior race. But he had to admit to himself that some of what Thelem had said hit home, too. \”Besides, not everyone in Starfleet gets to participate in big conflicts, though I admit I\’ve seen my share. Don\’t get me wrong, I fully understand your need to experience adventure. But we\’ve got five years ahead of us, and it\’s a big galaxy.\”

As if to emphasize his remark, the intercom beeped. \”Bridge to Captain Racer.\”

\”Speak of the devil.\” Each table had a communication setup at one end, to convenience crewmembers from having to get up. Apollo used the one at his table now. \”Racer here, what is it.\”

His communications officer, Collins, replied immediately. \”Captain, I\’m picking up a distress signal. I think you need to hear this for yourself.\”

Apollo glanced at his first officer. \”I\’m on my way.\” He got up. \”Well, my friend, I believe we\’re about to get ourselves some adventure.\”

~ * ~

They stormed onto the bridge. \”All right, Collins. Let\’s hear it.\”

Collins brought the gain up on the signal and it spewed forth on the speakers. \”Attention any Federation vessel. This is the USS Hawthorne. We have been hit by a Klingon ambush. Main power is down, and auxiliary power will only hold out for 6 hours at best. We desperately need assistance. If any Federation vessel is in range, please respond.\”

Apollo looked concerned, and trained that look on his comm officer. \”Have you made contact with them?\”

He shrugged his shoulders in frustration. \”I\’ve tried, sir, but they\’re not receiving us. We have to be closer for me to find out why.\”

The captain nodded absently. \”Contact Starfleet, let them know what we\’ve got.\” He turned to Thelem. \”What ships are near them?\”

Thelem rushed over to the science console. After a moment\’s perusing, he straightened up. \”I\’m afraid we\’re the closest ship, sir.\” He honestly tried to look disappointed.

But Apollo could see right through it. \”All right.\” As he headed to his seat, he barked out his orders. \”Collins, send a message to any ship in range that their help would be appreciated. Stewart,\” he addressed his helm officer. \”Get the coordinates of that SOS from Collins. Lay in a course, maximum warp. And I want this ship on Yellow Alert.\”

\”Aye, sir,\” Stewart responded, \”changing course and speed as ordered.\”

As the Oberth spun around to its new heading, Apollo couldn\’t help but think, why have I got this annoying sense of deja vu? \”What\’s our ETA to the Hawthorne?\”

\”Only three hours at this speed, sir.\”

\”Good, good. Steady as she goes.\”

~ * ~

Captains Log, Stardate 7467.4:

The Oberth, upon arriving at the Hawthorne\’s position, has found it drifting toward a nearby planet. If she falls within the gas giant\’s atmosphere, she will almost certainly be crushed in its gravity well. The planet is slightly larger than Jupiter, and I have great doubts that the Miranda-class ship would last very long if they had to wait for another ship. In other words, it\’s up to us.

\”Collins, can you hail them?\” their captain asked.

\”Stand by, sir.\” A moment of silence passed. \”I have them.\”

\”Put me through.\” He waited, Collins nodded. Apollo stood up. \”This is Captain Apollo A. Racer of the Oberth calling the Hawthorne. Can you read us?\”

Static came over the bridge speakers; then it cleared. \”Oberth, this is Captain Simmons of the Hawthorne. We hear you, but just barely. My comm officer is having a coronary trying to keep the signal clear. Our viewscreen is dead and most of our external sensors are out. How do we look to you?\”

Apollo studied the ship on their screen. \”Well, Captain, to put simply, yeesh! I mean, you\’re a mess. Your situation\’s not too hot, either.\”

\”Please explain, Oberth. We\’re blind as a bat over here.\”

Apollo took a deep breath. \”Your ship is drifting toward a gas giant, but I\’m sure we can pull you free.\”

\”By all means, be my guest. Just try not to scratch the paint.\”

Apollo couldn\’t help but smirk. \”Trust me… right now, scratched paint is the least of your worries.\”

He heard a laugh on the other end. \”Boy, I\’m glad you\’re not a doctor. Your bedside manners are atrocious. Hawthorne out.\”

Apollo turned to face his bridge crew. \”Well, you heard the man. Let\’s get his butt out of the fire. Thelem, how low are we to standard orbit around the gas giant.\”

Thelem turned to his scanners. \”Uh, I\’m afraid we\’ve dropped below standard orbit, sir. In fact, we\’re almost within the planet\’s atmosphere.\”

Apollo got up and paced the bridge. \”Alllllllll righty then. Mr. Stewart, power up the tractor beam. Let\’s get them out of there.\”

\”Yes, sir. Lining up for tow.\” Stewart manipulated his controls. \”Activating now.\”

The ship rocked as the tractor beam took hold. The strain could clearly be heard. Thelem kept his eye on the scanners through the whole time. \”Captain, the Hawthorne is too far in the planet\’s gravity. All we\’ve done is slow their descent.\”

As Apollo silently cursed the news, his chair beeped. \”Bridge, this is Engineering. What the hell is going on up there? My engines are sounding like whipped dogs!\”

He was silently taken aback by this saucy female\’s voice. \”Ah, excuse me, Commander, but we\’re currently on a rescue mission. I\’m sorry if \’your\’ engines are complaining, but right now, I\’m going to need everything they\’ve got. In fact, we need more power to the tractor beam, if you could manage it.\”

\”Boy, you sure don\’t ask for much, do you?\” Her voice overflowed with sarcasm. \”All right, I\’ll see what I can do.\” The connection closed.

Apollo couldn\’t help but shrug. Stewart then announced, \”Tractor beam power has just increased to 115 percent.\”

He then heard Thelem behind him. \”The Hawthorne is slowly being extricated; but we\’re approaching shearing force on the tractor beam.\”

As if to emphasize his point, the ship rocked violently, sending people to the floor. Apollo picked himself up. \”What in blazes was that?\”

Thelem looked up. \”That, sir, was our tractor beam. We lost the emitter. Hawthorne is once again floating toward the planet.\”

Apollo rapped his chair. \”Damn. Well, does anybody have any suggestions?\”

Thelem thought for a moment. \”Well, since we couldn\’t pull them out, is there a way we could push them out?\”

Stewart shook his head. \”No can do. They\’re too close to the atmosphere. Besides, since we lost our tractor beam we don\’t have anything to push with.\”

The Andorian worked at his station. \”True. But I figured that if we detonate a photon torpedo close to their hull, the shock wave might be enough to push them away.\”

Apollo disagreed. \”Too risky. After the beating they took from the Klingons, a torpedo might well finish the job, and damage us besides.\” He continued pacing, but after a few minutes, he stopped and snapped his fingers. \”Can we take this ship into the atmosphere?\”

His crew was shocked. His navigator, Speller, spoke up. \”Sir, wouldn\’t we get caught in the atmosphere? How would we get out?\”

Apollo glared at his navigator, but kept it civil. \”First of all, we could use a parabolic course and use the planet\’s gravity to our advantage. They can\’t get out in their current condition… our ship is fully functional. I would hope there\’s a significant difference between the two.\”

As his crew thought about that, he threw them another curve. \”As we come upon their ship, we\’ll use our navigational deflector to bounce them out of the planet\’s gravity.\”

Thelem took a step toward his captain. \”But Captain, that\’s never been tried before. How are you sure it will work?\”

Apollo was close to losing his temper, but his Vulcan techniques kept him in control, barely. \”You wanted precedent setting, you\’ve got it.\” His eyes practically blazed in Thelem\’s direction, and the Andorian found himself taking a step back. Apollo then proceeded for the benefit of the rest of his crew. \”When we\’re at warp, our navigational deflector works to brush aside any objects that would threaten our hull integrity. What I\’m planning is this… and before you say anything, I have taken into account that the Hawthorne is a little larger than any flotsam the deflector is used to.\” He got up and started pacing again.

An idea struck him. \”What if we add warp power to our forward shields? We could then use them to act as a type of cow catcher, and help it out of the planet\’s influence. At the same time, our velocity would be enough to keep us from getting caught ourselves.\”

Thelem\’s eyes widened at the suggestion. He returned to his science console and worked over the board. \”It might be possible, sir. It would involve the integration of certain systems in ways that they\’ve never been used before, and we\’d have to closely monitor and adjust those systems, but it just might work.\”

Apollo rushed to his seat. \”Good. Let\’s get to it.\” As he sat down, he punched the comm button. \”Bridge to Engineering. Rawlings, I\’ll need you up here to confer with Mr. Thelem on our next plan of action.\”

\”I\’m on my way,\” came the reply.

~ * ~

\”Captain, we\’re all set,\” Rawlings said. She was standing at the engineering substation, behind and to the left of the captain\’s chair and next to the turbolift. Thelem was walking around to the left side of the bridge, where his science station was.

Apollo turned toward his chief engineer. \”Good work, Rawlings, Thelem. Collins, patch me through to the Hawthorne.\”

\”Aye, sir,\” Collins said as he worked the controls.

\”Hawthorne, this is the Oberth, come in.\”

Collins was shaking his head. \”Sir, I show that they\’re reading us, but they can\’t respond anymore. Damage previously taken to their communications system.\” He looked up. \”From what I\’m getting on my sensors, Captain, it\’s amazing that they were able to talk to us in the first place.\”

Apollo nodded absently. \”Understood. But they can hear me.\”

\”Yes, sir.\”

\”Good,\” he signaled to continue. \”Captain Simmons, we\’re aware of your situation, so sit back and listen. We\’re ready for attempt number two. Normally, I would say \’third time\’s the charm\’, but I don\’t think we can afford a third try. I intend this to be successful; if it\’s not, I\’ll personally get out and push your ship myself. Now, you\’re going to feel a mild bump… hell, you\’re going to think that you\’ve been hit by a moon. I\’ve been reassured that it won\’t cause any more damage to your ship than you\’ve already received. Unless, of course, your inertial dampening field has malfunctioned, in which case the whole subject is moot, and I\’ll see you on the other side. So inform your crew to grab on to anything that\’s bolted down and hold on tight, because it\’s going to be a hell of a ride.\”

He signaled the channel closed. \”All right, let\’s do it. Helm, take up our starting position.\”

\”Aye, sir. Swinging around.\”

The Oberth made a graceful arc and moved away from the Hawthorne. It shot around the gas giant and took position just outside its influence.

Apollo punched his intercom. \”All hands, this is the captain speaking. We\’re about to ram another ship, so if you have anything to hold on to, now\’s the time to grab it. Oh, and uh… now wouldn\’t be a bad time to say a prayer, either.\” He switched it off, and swiveled to face his first officer. At Thelem\’s skeptical look, he simply shrugged. \”How fast do you think we need to go?\”

\”We need to be traveling at one-half impulse for this to work.\”

Apollo grimaced as he made the calculations in his head. \”Well, for all intents and purposes, you had better be right that we won\’t damage them. Mr. Stewart, ahead full impulse.\”

Stewart entered the command, and the Oberth launched itself toward the planet. They swung into a low orbit and accelerated toward the Hawthorne.

Apollo clenched his teeth. \”Hang on. Here comes jolt number one.\” On that note, everyone lurched forward as the gravity clutched at the ship.

Stewart called out. \”Sir, we\’re decelerating. Approaching three-quarters impulse.\”

Jolt number two came unexpectedly, as they suddenly slammed into the Hawthorne. Rawlings lost her grip and was flung over the command chair. Apollo saw her flying over him and brought his arm up and out, catching her in the midriff and swinging her into his lap. He heard an audible outtake of air as he knocked the breath out of her, and as such, he clung to her as she was too dazed to hold on herself. Consoles sparked as systems were overloaded.

The view from outside was spectacular. The Oberth hit the Hawthorne dead on. Whatever was left of the Hawthorne\’s shields sparkled brightly as they came into contact with the other ship\’s deflector beam. Just as they were pushed out of the way, their shields failed. The port nacelle of the damaged ship bent sharply inward, but by that point they had veered away, causing no other damage. The Hawthorne floated safely away from the planet.

Aboard the Oberth they were just recovering. The lighting, which struggled against the demands of their stunt and finally just gave way to emergency lights, decided it was now safe enough to come back on. Collins groaned. \”Ohhhhhhhhh… what a ride. I want my money back.\”

Apollo looked up at him. \”Sorry, no refunds.\” He then turned his attention on the woman in his lap. \”Please, Rawlings, we\’re on duty.\” Rawling smiled and blushed a deep red. She tried to get up and failed on the first try. Apollo kept her from making a second attempt. \”Are you all right?\”

She held a hand to her head. \”I… I think so, sir. I just had the wind knocked out of me, that\’s all.\”

Apollo stood, helping her up in the process. \”Just the same, I think you\’d better go to Sickbay and make sure.\”

\”Understood, sir.\” She paused at the railing to make sure she could keep her balance, then made her way to the turbolift.

\”Damage report.\” Apollo called out.

\”Although our forward shields are down to five percent and we suffered some systems failures, we\’re still more or less functional. There are some minor injuries, however… some people didn\’t have enough time to lash themselves down,\” Thelem reported.

\”I see,\” Apollo said with a nod. \”Let\’s get back to the Hawthorne and see how they\’re doing.\”

~ * ~

A half hour later, Apollo was standing on the bridge of Simmons\’ ship. As he surveyed the damage around him, he couldn\’t help but wonder if this was all caused by the battle or if they were responsible for some of it. He watched as his medical team took the more seriously injured people off the bridge.

Simmons himself was sitting in his chair, though it was tilted rather grotesquely; as a result, he was more leaning against it than actually sitting in it. He was holding a bandage to his head as a medic taped it in place. Apollo approached him. \”Sorry if I gave you a rough ride, Captain.\”

\”It worked, though. Hell, you weren\’t kidding when you said it\’d be a rough ride. My head aches like hell.\” He shrugged, which caused his head to hurt more. \”But it worked, didn\’t it?\”

Apollo looked at him sheepishly. \”Yes. Technically.\”

Simmons looked up. \”What do you mean, technically?\”

\”Your shields failed before we completed the maneuver. I\’m afraid we knocked your warp drive out of alignment a tad.\”

Simmons bounced his head up and down. \”A tad. Right. Heh… I\’m surprised we still even have a warp drive.\” He sighed. \”Well, we have impulse.\”

The Oberth\’s captain shook his head. \”Captain, the nearest starbase is three days away at warp six. Don\’t worry, I\’ve already called for a couple of starships and a tow for you. I know, it\’s not the most graceful way to show up at a starbase, but it\’s better than the alternative.\”

\”This is true.\” Simmons stood up. \”Listen to me… you just risked your ship and crew saving us, and I\’m griping about it.\” He shook Apollo\’s hand. \”Thank you, Captain, for what you\’ve done. Because of your efforts, a lot more people will be able to go home. I appreciate it.\”

\”Just doing my duty. If you ever need anything, look me up.\”

Simmons chuckled. \”That should be my line, but thanks just the same.\”

Apollo stayed on the Hawthorne until help arrived, then he transported to his own ship. He was met by his first officer. \”On to our next mission, eh, Thelem?\”

The Andorian didn\’t move. He waited until Apollo stepped down from the pads before saying, \”You did a good job, sir.\”

\”No, Thelem… we did a good job.\” He clapped his friend on the back as they walked out of the transporter room.

 

 

 

 

Chapter Fourteen

“Bridge crew to the bridge. Bridge crew to the bridge.”

Apollo looked up as he heard Uhura’s voice over the PA system. He then looked across at his 3-D chess opponent.

“It appears that we are needed,” Spock said from behind the board.

“Quite right,” Apollo replied in the same tone. His mouth quirked up at the Vulcan’s upraised eyebrow, then he stood up and took one last look at the board. He reached out and moved a piece. “Checkmate,” he said, and headed for the door.

Spock intensely studied the board. “Fascinating. You should not have been able to do that in the position I left you in. It was illogical.” He stood up.

Apollo said over his shoulder, “I cheated.” He waited a heartbeat, when he got the desired reaction from the Vulcan, then added, “I’m kidding. I just simply moved in a way that logic would have never seen.”

Spock nodded slowly as they walked through the corridor, pondering Apollo’s words. “Intriguing. Despite my best efforts, I am constantly reminded that there is more to existence than logic.”

“You bet your pajamas there is,” he said, smiling at his chess partner.

While Spock was trying to figure that one out, the turbolift doors opened onto the bridge. A view of Earth slowly grew in front of them. Kirk greeted them. “Welcome home, gentlemen. Yourself excluded, Mr. Spock.”

“I am half-human, Captain,” Spock corrected. “Earth is as much my home as Vulcan.”

It was then that Apollo realized that McCoy was with them. These three seem… complete… when they’re together. He looked at the captain. “It’s been a while, Captain.”

Kirk smiled at the blue orb on the screen. “Yes, it certainly has.”

Apollo returned the smile. “Admiral Komack was always keeping a sharp eye on what I was doing. I wonder what he’ll say now.”

“Probably not much of anything. He’s not an admiral anymore.” He saw Apollo’s startled expression. “He retired two years ago. Admiral Nogura took his place.”

Apollo nodded. “I heard about him while I was in the Academy. He was still a vice admiral, wasn’t he.” At Kirk’s nod, he continued. “I heard he was strictly a no-bullshit person.”

McCoy snorted and smiled wickedly. “I dare you to say that to his face.”

“Careful, Bones… he may just take you up on that dare. Let’s just say he’d be more suspicious of the commander’s… talents,” Kirk said.

Uhura spoke up. “Captain, Admiral Nogura is hailing you.”

“Speak of the devil,” McCoy said.

Kirk glared at McCoy to hush, then turned to Uhura. “Put him on screen.”

The view switched from a view of Earth to an elderly oriental man in a Starfleet admiral’s uniform.

“Greetings, Captain Kirk. Welcome home.”

“Always a pleasure to be able to return, sir.”

“I understand you have an extra crew member with you.”

Apollo stepped into view. “Hello, sir. Commander Racer here.”

“Ah, Commander. It is fortunate to have you with us again. I’m sorry about your ship… it is with great sorrow that none of your comrades could make it.”

Apollo nodded solemnly. “I’m sorry to hear that, too, sir. Would it be proper for me to know what is to become of that ship?”

Nogura looked down at his desk. “I regret to say, Commander, that the damage to that ship was considerable… her crew all but scuttled her in their insanity. I’m afraid we had no choice but to finish the job. If it eases your conscience any, we disposed of her in a manner that reflected our respect of her crew.”

Apollo bowed slightly. “Thank you, sir. I understand fully.”

“As for you, we would like to see you at your earliest convenience. I’m afraid there’s a matter of accountability to undergo. Whenever a ship is lost, the senior officer of the survivors must report to a board of inquiry in order for us to determine the liability for that loss. It’s only a formality… I don’t think you should worry about the outcome.”

“I understand. I have but one request.”

Nogura nodded. “Name it.”

“I need to contact the wife of the chief engineer aboard the Excalibur. He… he was a friend, sir.”

“I understand completely. I’ll have them give you the coordinates. You can go there when you have finished at Starfleet Headquarters.”

“Thank you, sir,” Apollo said with gratification.

“And Captain Kirk,” Nogura continued.

“Yes, sir.”

“I would like to have a little talk with you concerning our little ‘chat’ before you went off to confront V’ger.”

Kirk looked from Spock to McCoy, and back to the screen. “I understand completely.”

“Nogura out.” The view was once again replaced by the Earth.

Apollo turned to Kirk, a puzzled look on his face. “Captain? Why do I get the feeling that you’re in trouble for something?”

~ * ~

Things have changed. This was Apollo’s first thought as he walked through San Francisco. He thought buildings couldn’t get more streamlined than when he had left. They had. The older buildings were still there, but it seemed that they added a few new ones, and the differences in architecture was unbelievable.

He was not very happy today. Kirk had accompanied him to his board of inquiry, and it was good that he did. The board took losing a Constitution-class starship very seriously. Then, after calming down Apollo – he was emphatically voicing that he was unconscious at the time and therefore quite unable to affect matters – Kirk told the board what he had witnessed when the Enterprise discovered the Excalibur. The board stated that they merely wanted to listen to Apollo’s side of the story, as was standard procedure.

That was exactly what happened. The brass had listened to his story, and calmly told Apollo that the fault was not his, and that he may be “officially” reinstated to duty. Apparently, his time aboard the Enterprise didn’t count, otherwise he probably would have seen another promotion, or at least, a medal. Apollo shook his head. It didn’t seem to make much sense to him that Starfleet would reward him in the light of tragedy. As it was, during his testimony, he had to recall the events he witnessed before he was so abruptly robbed of his awareness. Then to top it all off, he was questioned repeatedly about his condition; he couldn’t necessarily hide something as obvious as his glowing eyes. He gave a very brief description of the obvious physical differences, leaving out a great deal of information for fear he would be hounded by scientists for the rest of his life. Nogura merely nodded, as though he knew Apollo was purposely abbreviating things, but he made no mention of it. However, before dismissing Apollo, the admiral did have him agree to be examined by Starfleet Medical… as though McCoy’s own records were of no significance… to confirm that his body indeed reflected the fact that it had assimilated his prosthetics.

Now, with the easy part over, he went to face the part of the day he most dreaded. He looked at the padd in his hand to confirm that he was going in the right direction. He then entered a civilian housing complex and found the appropriate door number. As he reached for the touchplate that signaled the occupant, Apollo couldn’t help but think that he had always thought of the touchplate as a “fancy doorbell”.

The door opened, revealing a familiar face. Karen was holding a small child in her arms. She was smiling, but it diminished a little, showing that she was a little puzzled. “Hello? May I help you?” Her puzzled look turned into a broad smile as recognition set in. “Apollo? Is that you? My God, it is! What happened to you?” She paused to let the image of the person in front of her sink in. “Well, come in, come in!”

Apollo walked inside and closed the door behind him. “Let me go put Ethan down,” she said, disappearing. She came back alone and they hugged each other. “So, how have you been doing? Where’s Skip? The last I had heard from him, you were on his ship. I had expected the two of you to show up together.”

As she talked, Apollo realized that she wasn’t told of what happened. Starfleet expected him to relieve them of that burden. The very thought of it only served to reinforce his sorrow.

She stopped talking. There was no longer a discernible “look” in his eyes, but his facial expression was more than adequate to show his emotions. “Apollo, what’s wrong…” She trailed off. Even as she said it, she understood why he was here, why he didn’t share her joy at seeing her. Apollo didn’t have to say a word, yet she knew. The tears started welling up in her eyes. She moved forward expecting Apollo to catch her. He didn’t disappoint her. He guided her close, and she let it out. The child in the other room, disturbed by his mother’s crying, joined her shortly afterward. As Apollo stood there, tears that had been held back for weeks now flowed freely, and he made no effort to stop them.

They spent a few moments crying, a little longer for them to get Ethan to sleep again. Then they sat down, and after a deep breath, Apollo told her, in a quiet, calm, clear voice, everything that happened, from the trip into the barrier, to his removal from the game and subsequent revival, to the records he viewed of the hulk of what used to be the Excalibur. He gracefully refrained from going into too much detail, but it was enough to start her crying again. He thought with anger that even with all these newfound abilities, he was still unable to bring her husband back. He composed his face to reflect nothing but grief, but inside he was seething with anger.

~ * ~

Apollo stayed with Karen for the rest of the day, trying to bolster her spirits. But by the end of that day, he felt emotionally exhausted, and that he somehow failed to help Karen in any way. He headed for the local bar, which was a hangout for most off duty Starfleet officers. He sat hunched over a nearly empty glass of Saurian Brandy, suddenly getting a sense of deja vu. It was in exactly this position, though light years away, that Captain Kirk happened upon him in this condition. There were subtle differences, though. Now he could see his eyes dully reflected in the glass. He also wasn’t affected by alcohol now, and he silently, but half-seriously, cursed his change because of it. What he wanted right now was to desensitize his senses to recent events. Apparently it just wasn’t meant to be.

The seat next to him was suddenly occupied. Since he observed that most people tended to avoid him tonight, this one wanted his attention. He slowly turned, half expecting it to be Kirk.

“Well… this is a far cry from the cadet I used to know.” A familiar face smiled warmly at him.

Apollo’s face brightened a little. “Admiral Komack. What a surprise. I didn’t expect to see you.”

Komack waved him off. “No, no… none of that ‘admiral’ bull. Gives me a bad aftertaste. I’m retired now, so it’s just plain Phil.”

“Okay… Phil then.” Despite his mood, Apollo smiled.

“My God, the changes in you since we last met. I mean, with some people, the changes are subtle; you see them a little more mature than before, a few more wrinkles, a little more gray hair, or a little less hair if you know what I mean.” They both chuckled as Komack ran his hand through his receding hairline. “But you… you certainly went all out, didn’t you. What the hell did you do to your eyes?”

Apollo shrugged. “I guess you could say… I was a victim of circumstance.”

He nodded. “I remember hearing about the Excalibur. A shame, actually. She was a fine ship. They all were.” Komack paused, lost in memory. “You know… the Enterprise was the only Constitution-class ship to return from her five-year mission? I don’t know if that meant that our ships really weren’t up to snuff, or if space is a lot meaner than we expected it to be.”

Apollo suddenly had a dreadful feeling. I hope Sam had moved on before the Lexington became just another statistic. Despite the thought, he gave Komack a little smile. “No, Phil, our ships were more than up to snuff. And I wouldn’t necessarily say that space is mean. Granted, it’s a tough time out there, but I think more often than not, we hit a lot of unexpected surprises; some were good, it allowed us to expand the Federation with new races, but it was the bad ones that got us.” He shook his head. “That’s the price we pay for determined exploration. We know that what’s out there is largely unknown, but our spirit compels us to go out there; our curiosity demands it of us.”

Komack stared at Apollo for a while. “You’ve been hanging around Jim Kirk too long, with those grandiose speeches.”

The familiarity felt good. “You’re one to talk… sir,” he replied sarcastically.

They laughed, breaking the mood. “But you’re right, essentially. That’s why the Federation exists. People willing to reach out, and people who need to be reached.”

Apollo quickly grew somber. “Sometimes reaching out doesn’t accomplish much.”

“Uh, oh. I hit a nerve somewhere. Care to tell me what it’s about?”

Apollo sighed. “I just came back from a friend’s place. I had to tell her that her husband had died on my ship. The experience was… unpleasant.” He drained his glass, then ordered two more. “I don’t know. I came away from there thinking that I didn’t help her at all. She has a two-year-old child, and I had to tell her that his father won’t ever have the chance of seeing him. I felt like a hole opened in the bottom of my gut, and my soul just drained out.”

Komack simply nodded. “Ah, yes. You’ll hear many starship captains say that it’s the hardest part of their duty, telling next of kin of their lost loved ones. I have to disagree. It’s relatively easy to work up the nerve to tell them. What I find really hard,” he took a drink, “is having to deal with it afterward.” He put his hand on Apollo’s shoulder. “Take it from me, though. The very same drive that compels us to get out there and explore, also allows us to get over our grief. It’s the way we move on with our lives. We accomplish something, then we keep going.”

“Except Skip won’t be going on, except in our memories.” Apollo expected to feel bitter by that statement, but the truth of it hit him, and he felt strangely relieved. “I understand.”

Komack smiled. “I’m glad you see the wisdom in it. Now,” he raised his glass, “instead of brooding about the ones we left behind, let’s celebrate the ones who made it back safely.”

Apollo smiled wistfully as he his raised his own glass and they clinked them together.

~ * ~

He returned to Starfleet Headquarters the next day to receive his orders. First he was ordered to report to Medical for the examination he promised. The doctors, for their part, tried pretty hard to go beyond what Apollo had agreed to, but the commander gently dissuaded them from pursuing their interests any more than necessary. Finally, they had no choice than to give him a clean bill of health and send him on his way. It was a small joy that on his way out, Apollo overheard McCoy’s voice on the comlink, berating the doctors for thinking his exam records weren’t good enough for them.

Upon his return to Command, he was assigned to the science vessel USS Oberth. This was a new class of ship, and Apollo frankly found the design quite odd. The ship’s nacelles were integrated with the primary hull… they were also smaller than those on a ship like Enterprise, and of a different design than what he was used to. The nacelle pylons were reinforced, and doubled as the connecting dorsals to the elongated secondary hull. Apollo walked onto the bridge, expecting to meet the captain.

When Apollo was given his new assignment, he noticed that Starfleet sported new uniforms. Instead of the pajamas they had to wear, this crew was dressed in a turtleneck with the color denoting their department, and a stylish red jacket with black trim. Rank was shown as an insignia pinned on a white epaulet on the right shoulder, and on the left sleeve above another white stripe, on which were pins that denoted years of service. The jacket was fastened by a flap pinned down by a clasp on the rank epaulet, with a wide black belt that circled the waist and was clasped with a large insignia for a buckle. The pants were similar to what he wore on his past ships, except these also corresponded to the person’s department. They matched the turtleneck except for Command’s… the pants then had a red stripe with the white undertunic. It was in this uniform that he reported to the Oberth.

Apollo liked how Starfleet incorporated the department designations into the uniforms. The turtleneck shirt underneath the jacket revealed the new colors of the departments: white for command, green for sciences, and red for support. Apollo didn’t see any white shirts on this bridge; he wore the only one. The others mostly wore green. It’s still nice on the eyes, though. The only thing I have to note is that it has a clearly military look, yet Starfleet has clearly insisted that we aren’t a military organization, but one devoted to science and exploration. He smirked. Yeah, right. Tell that one to the Klingons.

He turned to the nearest officer. “Has the captain boarded yet?”

The bridge crew smiled at each other. The officer spoken to, however, managed to keep a straight face. “Don’t worry, sir. You’ll meet him soon enough.”

Slightly puzzled by that statement, Apollo was about to ask for elaboration when the communications officer spoke up. “Sir, I’m getting a call from Starfleet Command.”

Apollo frowned. Normally, the captain would take such calls, but since he’s not here… “Well, we can’t keep them waiting. Put them on screen.”

She complied, and Admiral Nogura’s image replaced the one seen from out of spacedock. “Greetings, crew of the Oberth. I’m always proud of a crew that is privileged to break in a new style of ship. We were pleased with her test runs and simulations, so what you’re on now is the end result: a vessel dedicated to science and exploration. Now, she has teeth, of course; we wouldn’t send an unarmed vessel out into deep space. But know that you’ll be playing an integral part of charting our galaxy and making many new discoveries in the future. You are our laboratories in space.

“It also gives me great pleasure to inform you that along with a new ship, I am also giving you a new captain. This man has proven himself in the field time and time again. He’s an officer who has performed many tasks in his career, and I believe that the best captain is one who knows not only his job, but also those who serve him as well. So again let me say that it is an honor and a privilege to introduce to you… Captain Apollo Racer.”

All eyes turned toward Apollo, who was himself more than a little stunned. He wanted to say something, but no words would come out.

“Captain, the ship is yours. I know that you’ll command her with distinction and honor. Admiral Nogura out.” His smiling image disappeared to be replaced with the view from spacedock again.

Applause rang out on the bridge. Apollo was filled with pride. All he could think about was that he had reached his dream. He felt a twinge of regret that Skip couldn’t be there to see this day, but Apollo assured himself that his friend would be proud. He slowly made his way to the command chair, looking at it for a moment in disbelief that it was his, then gingerly sat down in it, getting the feel of its contours as it settled around him. Granted, he had sat in command chairs before, but this one was his. The fact that he was given the honor of taking a new ship out for her maiden voyage made the promotion all that much sweeter.

He felt that he had to say something and stood up again. “Well… this is unexpected. All I can say is that it’s a privilege to get the chance to work with you. I hope we can make this voyage a good one.” He paused, looking at the faces of everyone around him. Some of them were smiling; he had served with them before, so they knew they could trust him. All of them were expectant, patiently waiting for their first orders. “Prelaunch countdown will commence in thirty minutes. Now, if you’ll excuse me,” he looked at his left sleeve, where his rank insignia was affixed… it was situated over pins that indicated his eleven years of service. There was a duplicate rank pin on his right shoulder. “I seem to be out of uniform.” He turned and strode off the Bridge.

When he returned, his uniform properly reflected his rank. He walked to his chair and gracefully sat down.

The helmsman turned toward his new commanding officer. “Sir, count is T minus one minute.”

Apollo smiled with anticipation. “Very good. Forward thrusters at station keeping.”

“Aye, sir. Thrusters at station keeping.”

His communications officer spoke up. “Captain, Starfleet has cleared us for launch. They wish us a good journey.”

“Thank you, Lieutenant. Acknowledge them, please.”

Well, this is it. Here we go. He never felt so excited before. “Helm. Thrusters ahead one-quarter.” He paused, leaning forward in his seat. “Take us out.”

“Aye, sir. And away we go.” On the screen, the interior view of spacedock gave way to open space. After a few minutes, the helmsman spoke again. “We are clear of spacedock.”

Apollo sat back. “Set a course to leave this system, full impulse. Then once we clear the system, come to a heading of 318 mark 4.”

As his order was confirmed, he felt the ship shift under him as it changed direction. Then the planets whipped by as they reached full impulse speed.

“Sir, we have now left the Sol system. New course heading in place.”

Their captain smiled. “Warp one, then.”

The screen erupted in a shower of light. They were under way. Apollo felt that now was the time to make a statement. He thumbed on his recorder.

Captain’s Log, stardate 7460.3:

This is the beginning of the voyages of the USS Oberth, a science vessel dedicated to improve and expand the knowledge of the Federation. This is also the beginning of my voyages, as her captain. I always felt that one day, I would be commanding a ship to the stars. Now, after two hundred plus years, that dream has come to fruition. An awful long time to wait… but it was worth it.

Our first mission is a simple one, but one that promises an increased understanding of our galaxy. The star Wundstadt 129, a white dwarf, is nearing the next transition in its life. We have been sent to study this transition, and its effects on the surrounding region. It is exactly the reason for a ship of this new class.

He thumbed off his log recorder, satisfied with his summary. Feeling a smile come to his face, he sat back and enjoyed the ride.

 

 

 

 

Chapter Thirteen

Captain’s log, Stardate 7425.7:

The Enterprise is performing better than imagined. Since the V’Ger incident, and our subsequent shakedown cruise, Mr. Scott has brought the ship to the top-notch condition usually associated with a man of his talent. Ironically, we are approaching an area of space that we had visited not long after I had first assumed command of this vessel.

Kirk swiveled in his chair. It felt good to sit here again. “Mr. Spock,” he called out jovially, “how are the new sensors doing.”

Spock rose an eyebrow. “They are performing as expected, Captain,” his tone was matter-of-factly, “as I supervised and assisted the completion of their installation.”

“Why, Spock,” Kirk baited, “is that ego I hear from you?”

As usual, Spock took the bait. “I am a Vulcan. As such, I have no ego. I simply state fact.”

“That’s bull and you know it,” McCoy said from behind Kirk’s chair. “Somewhere in that thick-headed, green-blooded exterior of yours is an ego that’s dying for you to head for your quarters so you can sulk about the fact that you were caught taking pleasure in something.”

“Really, doctor, your imagination should be reined in, before it causes you to have serious delusions.” As McCoy gaped at that remark, Spock’s attention was called to his console. “Captain, I’m picking up an automated distress signal, bearing 217 mark 39.”

Kirk looked concerned… he stood up and moved next to Spock. “That’s the direction of the barrier, isn’t it?”

“Correct, captain,” Spock continued gazing into his screen. “It appears to be a ship’s distress signal.”

Kirk galvanized into action. “Keep on it, Spock. Mr. DiFalco, set a course for that signal. Ahead warp five, Mr. Sulu.”

~ * ~

The ship dropped out of warp just before the barrier. Kirk felt a sense of deja vu. It was in this barrier that his best friend, Gary Mitchell, and a science officer, Elizabeth Dehner, had obtained godlike powers that drove them both insane. “Full stop just before we hit the barrier. I don’t want to have to go into that thing again.”

“Aye, sir,” was Sulu’s response.

“Spock, anything?”

“Scanning.” Spock was silent for a moment. “Sensors read a ship drifting just inside the barrier.” His speech was slow as he was concentrating on the readings. “Constitution-class. Her ID registers as… NCC-1705.” He looked up. “USS Excalibur.”

Kirk faced the screen. “That was Jeff Thomas’ ship. He disappeared over a year ago.”

Spock nodded, both eyebrows disappearing into his bangs. “We appear to have found him. I’m initiating a full scan.” Another moment of silence. “Minimal power readings. Severe internal damage; Captain, the bridge has been exposed to space.” Kirk gaped mournfully at the screen while Spock continued. “Unable to tell if there are any life signs from here. If there are, there are not many.”

Kirk stepped toward the screen. “Can we tow it out with our tractor beam?”

“If we still had our previous design, I would say no. However, currently, I daresay it’s possible.”

“Do it. I want a look aboard that ship. If they were in there this long, I’d hate to see if anyone was alive.”

Chekov spoke up from the tactical station. “Ve’ve managed to lock onto it, Keptin. Slowly bringing it out of the barrier.”

On the screen, the ship’s lines grew less vague as it left behind the energies of the barrier. Kirk headed toward the turbolift. “Once it clears, I want a landing party waiting for me in the transporter room.” The doors slid shut on any response he could have heard.

~ * ~

Four figures shimmered into existence in a corridor on the Excalibur wearing environmental suits. Wisps and tendrils of the barrier’s energy hung close to the floor like a fog. Spock scanned it with his tricorder. “Captain, I do not recommend that we remain for any significant length of time. The energy residue may still be detrimental to us,” he said through his suit’s communicator.

Kirk nodded acknowledgment, and motioned to everyone. “Scotty, go to Engineering… find out its condition. Bones, check the Sickbay. Spock and I will go to the Auxiliary Bridge.” They split up and headed in their respective directions.

As they ran through the corridors, they noticed the desiccated remains of several crewmen. As Kirk saw their old uniforms, he felt a sense of nostalgia. This ship was at one time identical to the Enterprise… it was like stepping into a horribly warped version of their past.

They came to a halt outside the Auxiliary Bridge doors. They looked as though someone tried to burn through them with a phaser. Spock trained his tricorder on them. “Like the rest of the ship, the atmosphere has been vented out. The doors won’t open, and there are no life signs inside.”

Without delay, Kirk opened a panel next to the doors and activated the manual override. The doors slid open. The carnage they witnessed inside was unbearable. Everything that happened a year ago had been preserved due to the lack of an atmosphere. They found Captain Thomas in his chair, locked in mortal combat with his science officer. It appeared that the last act the captain committed before his throat was torn out was to snap the neck of the other man. “Oh… my God,” Kirk whispered. Spock merely closed his eyes. Everyone on the bridge had killed either each other or themselves.

The silence was broken by Scotty’s voice coming through the commlink in Kirk’s suit. “Captain, it’s a mess down here. It’s like a bloody war zone. I dinna need a doctor to tell you that no one is alive. And the engines… och, the puir bairns.”

“I understand, Scotty, meet us as soon as you can.”

“Jim, McCoy here. You’d better get down here. I found something.”

~ * ~

Kirk and Spock came running into Sickbay, Scotty just joining them. “In here, Jim.” McCoy led them into the emergency section. Along the way, they noticed people in the same grisly conditions as the other areas they had seen. He showed them a stasis chamber. “This one’s still working.”

Spock raised an eyebrow. “Fascinating. I wonder why only this one is in use.”

“Perhaps the doctor managed to use it before he went insane,” Kirk offered.

“The others were used, all right,” McCoy said somberly. “My question is how did this one alone escape damage?” He pointed further into the room. Kirk and Spock looked in the direction McCoy had indicated. The other stasis chambers were in there, but they were smashed open. One chamber had a large metal rod driven through it, obviously impaling the victim inside. Another chamber looked as though its occupants last remaining moments were of pounding on the inside of the chamber, trying to get out… the door showed numerous bulges, where the patient’s blows had dented the door outward, but it had held.

Spock scanned each chamber but indicated there were no survivors – until he scanned the last one, the one closest to their position. “Captain, I’m picking up a life sign from within this chamber.”

Kirk was puzzled. “Without an atmosphere?”

“The stasis chamber once sealed generates its own atmosphere. It prevents contamination from anything in Sickbay,” the doctor said. “It also quarantines Sickbay from anything the patient may have.”

Kirk looked to McCoy. “If we can get an atmosphere back in here, do you think you can chance opening it?”

“Sure, if you can restore the atmosphere. Otherwise, we may as well beam this person into space.”

Kirk smirked. “I don’t think we need to go that far yet.”

“I believe I may be able to rectify this.” The Vulcan made his way to a computer panel. “I shall attempt to tap into the stasis chamber’s power supply long enough to restore power to Sickbay.” He fell silent for a moment as he worked. Suddenly, the doors closed and the lights kicked on. “I have established power and atmosphere is returning. It shall not last long, but it will be sufficient for our purposes. Doctor, are you now able to access your patient?”

“Just a minute.” McCoy looked over the readouts. “I think so.” He activated the sequence to open it. The chamber opened. A human form was lying there, basking in the blue field of stasis. “Jim, I think we know this man.”

Kirk recognized the man. “My God, it’s Apollo.”

“The Lieutenant Commander we saw on Starbase 14 during our shore leave,” McCoy said in confirmation.

Kirk recalled that night. Looking stunned, he said, “Bones, get him out of there.”

“I’d like to take him straight to our sickbay.”

Kirk nodded. “Get going. We’ll see what else we can find.”

~ * ~

Later, they reappeared in the Enterprise transporter room. McCoy was waiting for them. “Jim. You’re not going to believe what I found out,” he said as the captain removed the helmet of his suit.

Kirk looked at the doctor. The expression on his face was not good. “Try me,” he said soberly. “Anything you have to tell me will be better than what I saw over there.”

They left the transporter room with McCoy explaining as they walked down the corridor. “Jim, that man I brought back has to be the most advanced human being I’ve ever examined. You know those bionic enhancements listed in his medical records? Well, he doesn’t have them anymore.” Kirk stopped short, startled at hearing this. But McCoy had more to say. “He’s gone through perhaps the most complete and amazing metamorphosis I’ve ever encountered.”

Kirk’s eyes narrowed. “Explain.”

“Well, as far as I can see it, during his time in stasis, the barrier’s energies somehow changed him. Organic and inorganic components merged together into some kind of new substance. His skeletal structure has completely evolved into a framework more durable and flexible than any normal human being has.”

Spock was intrigued. “Fascinating. Then you are saying that Racer’s biological functions have been reinforced by his inorganic parts.”

“Not exactly, Spock. What I’m saying is that he has somehow been changed at the molecular level. When we knew him on the starbase, he could be called a cyborg in every sense of the word.”

Jim nodded. “Part machine, part man. I suppose that’s true.”

McCoy was still excited. “Yes, but that’s not true anymore. You can’t tell where the man begins and the machine ends anymore. They’ve been completely integrated with each other. It’s incredible… the most advanced science known still hasn’t found a way to merge organic and inorganic material so completely.”

They resumed their walk. “How does he feel about these changes?”

“That’s just it. He hasn’t regained consciousness yet. I couldn’t find any injury on him, but he was kept in stasis for an awful long time.”

“You forget, doctor, who we are talking about. Commander Racer has been in stasis far longer than anyone we know. He is a product of the 21^st century.”

Kirk nodded. “This is true. I wonder if that had anything to do with his current condition.”

“Considering he only gained his prosthetic limbs at Starfleet Academy,” Spock said, “I would find it unlikely. But when considering the properties of the galactic barrier, anything is possible.”

They entered Sickbay and walked up to where Dr. Chapel was tending a patient on the bed. “No response, yet,” she said to McCoy. “I wanted to wait until you were here before proceeding with any measures.”

“Well, now that I’m here, go right ahead.”

She took a hypospray off a tray nearby, checked it to ensure that it had the right chemical with the right dosage, then applied it to Apollo’s neck. The effect was almost immediate. Apollo groaned and started to come around. He started to sit up when McCoy stopped him. “Easy, Commander… you’ve been out of it for a while. Give yourself a chance.”

He tried to open his eyes, but only managed a slit before squeezing them shut again and slapping his hand over his eyes. “Can’t see very well…” he rasped. “Everything’s too bright.”

McCoy looked to Chapel. “Christine…” She immediately moved to a console a dimmed the lights in Sickbay.

Despite McCoy’s warnings, Apollo managed to slowly sit up and swing his legs over the side. He winced, squeezing his eyes shut. “Oh… damn… head’s swimming. That is Doctor McCoy I hear, right?”

He smiled. “That’s right. Nice of you to remember.”

Apollo smirked. “You have a distinctive accent, Doctor. How long was I out of it this time?”

They were a little confused until Spock spoke up. “You were in stasis for 1.7 years, Commander.”

Apollo groaned again. “Ah well… I suppose it could have been worse. It could have been 170 years.” This time he managed to open his eyes. The room was filled with a diffuse blue light. “Wow… Sickbay looks different. I had read about refit plans for the Constitution-class. Looks nice. I like the lighting, too.” Silence answered back to him. He looked from face to face but the only expression he could get from them was a blank stare, with him as the focus; Spock was the exception. Instead of his mouth going agape like everyone else’s, his left eyebrow buried itself in his hairline. “What? What’s wrong?” He was starting to get jumpy. “Will someone… please… tell me what’s wrong.”

“That… light… isn’t from Sickbay,” Kirk said. His reply only served to puzzle the commander.

McCoy simply beckoned to Dr. Chapel, without taking his eyes off of Apollo. “Chris, I think you’d better show Commander Racer a mirror. He’d be better off seeing this for himself, and it’ll be easier than one of us trying to explain it.”

Chapel took Apollo’s hand and led him halfway across the sickbay before he realized that she was leading him as though he were blind. He shook his hand from hers, irritated not at her but because he was anxious to find out what startled everyone. As he reached the mirror he said, “What are you people trying to show…” His voice trailed off as he discovered the reason.

Every feature of his face had somehow changed. In fact, he could sense all kinds of subtle changes all through his body. But the most pronounced change were his eyes… as in, he couldn’t see them. Instead of his normal hazel eyes staring back at him, what he saw now were bright, glowing orbs of blue… as brilliant and pure as any shade of blue could ever have been. Thoughts raced at light speed through his mind, trying to think of an answer for it. But only one word would leave his mouth. “Fascinating.”

~ * ~

After several more tests, McCoy had no choice but to label Apollo with a clean bill of health. The main thing he was worried about was Apollo’s state of mind, as it was proven that prolonged exposure to the barrier’s energies drove a person violently and murderously insane. But the commander assured him that he was fine in that aspect. In fact, thinking about it, he felt better than he did before entering the barrier. Even his stress from his past ship assignments were but a vague memory. With nothing to hold him in Sickbay, McCoy released him.

Walking through the corridors of the Enterprise, he couldn’t help but feel the eyes of the crewman follow him; he didn’t know if it was because of the uniform – he was still in the gold tunic and black pants, while everyone apparently was wearing a glorified version of grayish-blue or beige sleeper pajamas – or if it was his strange new appearance. Somehow, he was infused with… what. What have I become? Apollo shifted that thought over and over in his mind.

One thing that definitely changed was his body. McCoy had told him what happened to his enhancements. He raised his arm… it felt lighter than before, more normal. He clenched his fist and could still feel the strength he possessed. He pulled on his collar, looking at his shoulder for the fine line that had separated his artifical arm from his body, but it no longer existed. Apollo then touched the wall of the corridor, and discovered something wonderful… his artificial limbs could only register sensory input as numbers… how hot or cold something was, how much pressure he exerted. Now he could actually feel the wall.

So… my arms have changed, but I still have my strength. I wonder what else has survived through my changes. After strength, the next obvious thing to check would have been his speed. He could have checked that if the deck was deserted, but as it was, he couldn’t risk injuring crewmen, never mind exposing them to his abilities. The next best thing, he realized, would be the gym.

Apollo asked an accomodating yeoman the proper direction, then made his way to the right room. As he entered, he found it unoccupied. Apollo stood there for a moment, surveying the layout. Grinning mischieviously, he started to run.

~ * ~

Kirk was getting off his shift. He walked through the corridors, eager to start his daily workout. He entered the gym and felt a breeze. Did someone turn the recirculators on high, he wondered. He caught movement on the far wall, then as he entered, he noticed that something was traveling on the wall, moving extremely fast. Before he could respond, the figure came down the far wall and stopped on a dime just four feet in front of him. “Good afternoon, Captain.”

Kirk stared at those glowing blue eyes. “What in the devil’s name were you doing, Commander?” he said, easily masking his emotions. He didn’t hang around Spock all this time and not learn anything.

Apollo looked a bit sheepish. “I… wanted to check to see if I still had the same abilities that I had before.”

Kirk let the astonishment show this time. “You were able to do this before!?”

Apollo nodded. “I was after I fixed my enhancements.”

Kirk didn’t know what to say to that. “Yes… well… just don’t hurt anyone.” He clapped Apollo on the shoulder as the commander started to leave. “Oh, and one other thing. You might want to consider updating your uniform. I don’t think people will take you too seriously with that on.” He grinned at Apollo, who returned the smile and left Kirk to his workout.

Kirk watched the man go… once the door closed, he let the mask drop. Concerned for the commander as well as his crew as well as the commander, the captain suddenly lost any desire for exercise.

~ * ~

He woke to a beeping in his ear. “Bridge to Commander Racer.”

Was he back on the Excalibur somehow? No, that’s not right. That ship is just a derelict… left where the Enterprise had found it while a science vessel was dispatched to assess its condition. Besides, the communications officer on the Excalibur was a man, not a woman. Apollo shook his head and touched the pad. “Racer here,” he said groggily.

“Sorry to wake you, Commander, but we had to deviate from our course. We were called to a crisis on Arcadia. Hope you don’t mind.” Uhura’s voice was edged with sarcasm.

“‘S’okay.” he said, still half-asleep. He cut the link, and sat up. The room wasn’t completely dark; there was a fuzzy blue glow everywhere he looked. I’m going to have to get used to the fact that I’m now my own permanent night light, he thought with a smirk as he roused himself. The lights came on automatically upon his movement, drowning out the glow. He got dressed into a more comtemporary, bluish-gray uniform and, upon having nothing better to do, headed for the bridge.

When Apollo got there, he looked around, instantly impressed by the new bridge design. By the sight on the main viewscreen, they had already settled into orbit around Arcadia. Kirk heard the doors open and close and turned to greet him. “Greetings, Commander. Welcome to Arcadia.”

“Thanks. May I ask what brought us here, Captain?”

Kirk started to speak, but Spock gave him his answer. “Arcadia is one of twelve planets in this system, of which only three others support life. Their government recently joined the Federation, and certain factions are not pleased with the fact. We have received word of an uprising among them, and we are responding to a request for help.”

McCoy entered the bridge at that point and came up to Kirk. “Well, Jim, Sickbay’s prepared. Just don’t draw this out too long.” He looked toward Apollo. “Glad to see you’re up and around, Commander.”

“Draw what out?” Apollo asked of Kirk.

Kirk stood up. “We’re about to send a landing party down to the capital, try and diffuse the situation. Mr. Chekov, contact Security, have them send a couple of men to Transporter Room Two. Mr. Spock, Bones, you’re with me.”

As Kirk moved around him, Apollo spoke up. “Sir, permission to accompany you.” Kirk studied Apollo while thinking about the request. Apollo pushed a little further. “I was security chief on the Monitor… I think I could be of some use.”

Kirk gave him a little grin. “All right, let’s go.”

~ * ~

The landing party materialized on the planet’s surface, dressed in their dark beige field jackets. They were met by a delegation of five Arcadians. The Arcadians were reptilian in nature, with gray skin, bulbous heads, and beaks like that of a snapping turtle. “You are the Ssstarfleet?” one of them asks, fear showing clearly in its eyes.

Kirk stepped forward. “I’m Captain James T. Kirk of the starship Enterprise. These are my officers…”

He was interrupted by the Arcadian. “Yesss, yesss. Introductionsss later. We mussst hurry.”

Kirk looked at him, hesitating. They stayed there long enough to see the top of a boulder next to them get vaporized. Apollo quickly fell back on his security training, helping the other security men herd everyone into a nearby cave.

The Arcadians stopped to check on their guests. “Quickly, quickly. We are not sssafe yet.”

They continued deeper into the cave. Kirk realized it wasn’t getting any darker at some point. He looked around and noticed the source of the light was Apollo’s eyes. The commander looked sheepish while giving the captain a helpless shrug. Regardless, the other security personnel pulled out flashlights to illuminate the way. Finally, they reached what appeared to be a central chamber. The Arcadian leading Kirk’s group ran over to a group of his people, calling out, “Bartozz, Bartozz! The Ssstarfleet are here!”

The one named Bartozz ambled over to the group. While their clothes looked utilitarian, his was obviously marked for authority. He looked into the faces of each landing party member, stopping at Apollo. He pointed to the human. “I cannot trusst thisss one.”

This startled Apollo, wondering how this creature could come to such a conclusion. Kirk stepped forward. “I don’t understand. You asked for our help. How could you not trust…”

“I cannot see into this one’sss eyesss.” He spoke to Kirk, but he didn’t take his eyes off of Apollo. His people started watching the commander just as warily. “With our people, we judge by what we sssee in another’sss eyesss. That way we can tell if he isss being truthful. But thisss one,” he pointed to Apollo, “thisss one’sss eyesss glow with a demonic fire. We are unable to tell if we can trussst him.”

Apollo wanted to say something, but Kirk waved him off. “I can assure you, Bartozz, that Commander Racer is under my orders. He will do nothing unless I wish him to.”

Bartozz thought about that. “Ssso you are sssaying that if we can trussst you, then we can trussst him.”

Kirk held out his hands in emphasis. “Implicitly,” he said, almost pleading.

Bartozz once again looked into Apollo’s face. Apollo smiled, thinking it would make things easier. Whether it did or not, after a moment more of study, the Arcadian leader said, “We will trussst thisss one, then, Kirk. But for hisss actionsss, you are resssponsssible.”

“I understand completely,” Kirk said, exchanging looks with Apollo. Everyone seemed to let out their breath in relief.

They followed Bartozz to where he had been standing. Upon a closer look, the officers realized that the group had been studying a map on a crude stone table. “The Vertadsss have been moving sssteadily forward. They will not ssstop until they have achieved their goal.”

“And what goal would that be?” Spock asked.

“Asss far asss we know, they wish to take over our planet. They come from Verta, the ssseventh body in our plane. Already they have taken the fifth body. We are next.” He sighed. “We had thought at firssst that if they sssaw another shell around our body, they would leave usss alone.”

One of the security men was obviously confused. “Excuse me, sirs. Bodies? Planes? Shells? What does he mean?”

McCoy shook his head and grinned. He blurted out, “Leave it to Security intelligence to get easily confused.” He then remembered what Apollo had said on the Bridge. “No offense, Commander.”

Apollo slowly nodded. “The bodies he talks about are planets. Their plane must be this system. Which means they must see our ship as a shell which carries us from place to place.”

“Very astute, Commander,” Spock said with approval, while the guard who spoke nodded with understanding.

Kirk clenched his teeth. “Well, it unfortunately seems as if just seeing our ship in orbit isn’t enough to make these Vertads run.” He turned to Bartozz. “Now that we’re here, what would you have us do?”

Bartozz’s fists clenched. “You must dessstroy the invadersss!” He said with conviction. “They mussst be ssstopped at all cossstsss!” He pounded his fists on the table.

An explosion rocked the chamber. The seism was too much for the ceiling, and it caved in. People scrambled for cover as debris dropped on them. It revealed another chamber high above them… that, too, had been broken into, and Vertads descended into their room on jet packs, their weapons out and discharging.

Instantly, the landing party had their phasers out. “Be careful when firing!” Kirk yelled over the noise. “We don’t want to hit someone too high up! We’d knock them out with a stun setting, but the fall will kill them!” Everybody acknowledged his directions.

Unfortunately, the Vertads had no such restrictions. They fired freely, and judging by how rocks were blowing apart, Apollo guessed that their weapons weren’t exactly on stun. However, the hole in the ceiling wasn’t very large… they could swoop down to fire, but in order to keep from being sitting ducks, they’d have to retreat into the upper chamber. As they came down, they were easily open to a stun blast.

Apollo took in their positions and available cover. When the ceiling collapsed, a large portion of the rock had propped against the wall. Kirk and Spock were hiding under it, firing from either side. One of the Vertads, when stunned, lost control of his jet pack. It spun crazily through the air to slam against a wall. Another Vertad was getting ready to poke through when he was hit by a phaser. The invader dropped to the floor to join its comrade, whereupon the Arcadians fell upon their adversaries, kicking and clubbing them with anything at hand. “Stop that!” he yelled. In a flash, he was on them, pulling them away from the unconscious being. “You’re acting no better than they are!”

“Racer, get back under cover!” Kirk yelled from his position, Spock was there covering him.

Two more Vertads appeared from above. One of them drew a bead on where Kirk’s voice came from… they shot accurately, hitting the rock behind which Kirk was hiding. It broke in two and collapsed on top of the captain and first officer.

“No!” Apollo saw what happened, then glared up at the one who fired. This business has to stop now, he thought. He jumped up and grabbed the Vertad’s ankle. “No more!” He punched the Vertad’s jet pack, wrecking it; then he turned his phaser on the other one, stunning him to the ground. “This ends here!”

The shooting ended, and the noise died down. As the dust settled, Kirk and Spock crawled out of their collapsed hiding place… fortunately, they had managed to press themselves against the wall and avoid injury. McCoy jumped out and rushed over to one of the security men, who was injured in the firefight. He stabilized his patient and turned to inform Kirk that he would be all right. Kirk and Spock were still staring up toward the ceiling. Naturally curious, he looked up too, and found himself staring as well.

Up in the air, close to the hole in the ceiling, Apollo was holding on to a Vertad. It took McCoy a minute to realize that since there was no noise, then it meant that the creature’s jet pack wasn’t functioning. That meant that Apollo wasn’t holding on to the Vertad, he was simply holding the Vertad.

So who was holding on to Apollo?

Kirk was quick to rein in his astonishment. “Ah, Commander, you can come down now.”

Apollo did as he was told, easing down to the ground. But as he reached the surface, he yanked the Vertad up and shoved him against a rock face. The being’s feet were dangling a foot off the ground. Kirk moved to restrain Apollo, but McCoy held him back. Kirk figured if Bones had a good reason for stopping him, then he’d go along with it.

Meanwhile, the Vertad was visibly shaking. Apollo’s eyes were bright with his anger, brighter than his fellow officers had seen before. “Now, you misbegotten piece of flotsam…” Apollo’s voice was quiet, but it oozed with venom. “You will go to your superiors… you will tell them to return to their homeworld and stop bothering these people. Or I personally will return and kick your scrawny little butts out of the galaxy. Is that clear?”

The Vertad evidently had some defiance left in it. “And suppose we refuse.”

Apollo was enraged that despite the danger facing this being, it still dared to call him on what it thought was a bluff. He looked around the room, searching for something to use as an example. When he spotted the section of ceiling Kirk and Spock had hid behind, his eyes suddenly felt hot. The commander focused on the stone and twin cobalt beams shot from his eyes, striking the rock and vaporizing it in a shower of dust.

The Vertad must have gotten the message… convinced he was being held by a demon, he began convulsing with fear, and excreted all over himself and down. Apollo had been as surprised with this display as anyone else, but he masked it well. Disgust replaced his emotion, and he let the Vertad go to drop into his own offal. “Let him go. He has a message to deliver.” He had a feeling that the terrorist wasn’t going anywhere for a while. Apollo held a sleeve up to his mouth and nose until he was away from the scene. He approached the astonished captain and waited.

Kirk didn’t know what to say, let alone what to think. He looked toward Bartozz.

The Arcadian was also afraid of what just took place… he had enough of his act together to speak, however, but his eyes never left Apollo. “We… we can now control thisss matter from now on. Th-thank you, Captain.”

Receiving his confirmation, Kirk opened his communicator. “Kirk to Enterprise.”

“Scott here. Captain, are ye all right? We just read phaser fire, followed by a massive energy discharge.”

Kirk’s head jerked back to the commander, who for his part was just as shocked. “The situation here is under control. I… I have a feeling that after the messenger for the Vertads return to his people, the fighting will end shortly. We’ll be returning to the ship. And make sure a medical team is standing by… one of our people was injured.” He closed his communicator. Before the transporter yanked them away, he said to Bartozz, “May your rule be prosperous from here on.”

As the beams took them away, they heard the Arcadian ruler say, “It will. I can trussst that. It will.”

~ * ~

As soon as they coalesced on the transporter pads, McCoy went with the team standing by to take their fallen man to Sickbay. Kirk turned on Apollo. “What the hell did you do down there, mister?”

Apollo was still trying to sort it out himself. “I… I’m not exactly sure.”

“Not exactly sure?”

“I honestly didn’t know what was happening, right up until I…” He broke off, any description of his action lost on his lips. “I’m sorry if I acted out of line down there, sir. I did resolve the situation, though.”

Kirk was shocked. “‘Resolved the situation?’ Is that all you have to say? You took off like a god-damned bird, grabbed a terrorist, brought him down, and literally scared the shit out of him by shooting a boulder to pieces by just glaring at it!” He paced through the short room for a moment. “What the hell are you? What the hell did you become?”

Apollo thought about it as hard as he could. Finally, he answered, “I honestly don’t know, sir.”

Kirk glared at the commander a moment longer before he turned and stormed out of the room. Spock stared after his friend, then looked at Apollo. He simply said, “Fascinating,” then followed his captain out.

Apollo stood there for a moment, still trying to sort things out. He looked up and noticed the transporter officer, Janice Rand, staring at him. He suddenly didn’t like the attention. Glaring at her, he spat, “What are you looking at?” before leaving the room. Rand was left dazed, wondering just what the hell had happened.

~ * ~

Apollo wandered aimlessly through the ship. At first, he was sorting out how he managed to do what he did. Then, when he was satisfied with his conclusions, he began to worry about what was going to happen to him. Ever since his accident at the Academy, he considered himself a freak. This… this was decidely worse than that. The one person who had given him support at the time he needed it the most seemed repulsed at what he’d become.

Up ahead, a crewman had emerged from a room. Before the door closed, Apollo realized his olfactory senses must have been enhanced, too; he smelled fresh oxygen and an earthy aroma, as that produced by a forest. Realizing the room for what it was, he allowed his feet to carry him inside.

The arboretum was a fascinating place. It was where crewmembers brought species of compatible plant life from worlds all over the Federation. The atmosphere was balanced enough to support them all. In contrast with this greenery, huge transparent aluminum windows spanned an entire wall, from floor to ceiling, to provide an unobstructed view of space.

Apollo strolled through the many examples of flora, its idyllic appearance almost enough to stave off his feeling of dread. Finally, when he didn’t have the desire to move his legs anymore, he simply stood in front of one of the panoramic windows. Though they were treated to reduce glare as much as possible, the commander saw a faint reflection of his eyes, a constant reminder to what he just did today, of what he became. He brought his hand up, gently placing his fingertips to the viewport… the metal almost felt cool to his touch.

There had been few people enjoying the arboretum when he entered, but they had given him his space… ironically, it was more because they felt he wanted to be left alone than because of his slightly odd appearance. So it surprised him a little when he sensed someone standing behind him. “Am I intruding?”

He turned to face the source of the voice, and bit off a retort. It wouldn’t have affected this man, anyway. “No… no, you’re not intruding.” He returned his gaze to the outside of the ship.

Spock stood at his side, facing him, his expression asking a silent question. It seemed as if this man never needed to say anything. He could probably get you to talk just by a look. Apollo realized just how much Spock was like his father in that regard.

Apollo stood there until he couldn’t take the silence anymore. “Are you going to tell me that what I did down there was wrong?”

Spock shook his head. “The mission was a success. Shortly after we returned to the ship, the Vertads had returned to their planet without any further bloodshed. The Arcadians were very impressed with our performance. I would say that your demonstration, while somewhat… emotional, was quite effective.” He paused. “Is there some reason you would wish me to tell you that what you did was wrong?”

Apollo moved away, pacing along the stone walkway that wound its way through the room. He shrugged, slowly returning to his spot. “Yes… no… hell, I don’t know. Spock, you saw what I did. What do you think? Of all the species you’ve met in your career, have you ever seen one who could just look at a boulder and vaporize it?” He didn’t wait for Spock’s answer. “I felt so much power through that blast. Y-you heard Mr. Scott yourself… he said the Enterprise registered a massive power discharge. The Enterprise!”

“They also registered the phaser fire in the area as well,” the Vulcan said calmly. “The ship carries highly sensitive instruments. Much more sensitive than the ones we used on the type of ship with which you are familiar.”

“Yes, but he also said it was much more powerful than phasers. Let me tell you… just before I let off that blast, my eyes felt hot. Really hot. I only concentrated on the rock because it instinctively felt like what I needed to do.” He paused, recalling a memory. “I remember… back at the Academy. It took a lot to rile me, but when something did, one of my friends would say, ‘You know, Racer, if looks could kill, he’d be wiped out by now.'” He chuckled. “If they only knew how right they were.”

His face went ashen. “But it scared the hell out of me. I mean… what if that’s not all I can do? What if that wasn’t the strongest blast I could produce?” He moved to a nearby bench and placed his head in his hands. “How am I supposed to handle this power?”

Spock analyzed the situation in his head. “So you were not aware you could perform such a feat until now?”

“That’s right. Just like I… I… was I flying down there?” Spock remained silent. Apollo stared out at the stars. “I was flying. I don’t know how, but I was.”

Spock continued to coolly regard the commander, his demeanor imperturbable. “It seems that you have a decision to make.”

“You’re damn right I have a decision to make.” Apollo sighed. “The question is, what type of decision does it have to be?” He buried his face in his hands again.

The doors opened and closed again. “Somehow I knew that I’d find you here.” It was Kirk’s voice, but with his face hidden, he couldn’t tell if the captain were speaking to him or to Spock.

“I believe Mr. Racer is having trouble accepting what he did on the planet’s surface,” Spock offered.

“Spock, trust me, I’m having a hard time believing what just happened. Do you realize how this will look in a report? What the hell am I going to tell Starfleet?”

“You’ve never seemed to be concerned about reports before.” This was from McCoy, who apparently accompanied Kirk. “Why start now?”

“Bones,” Kirk admonished.

Apollo was a little puzzled. “You can’t lie to Starfleet, Captain,” he said in a defeated tone.

“Why not?” McCoy chimed in. “He’s done it dozens of times.”

Kirk fixed his CMO with a glare. “What I meant,” he started turning back to Apollo, “was that it will sound a little farfetched, even coming from me. And we’ve seen some strange things. Not… saying that you’re strange, Commander.” He smirked, trying to lighten the mood. When it failed, he returned to a serious tone. “I can’t write a report with those details. I won’t.” Something about how he ended his statement piqued Apollo’s interest, almost like there was something left unsaid.

Spock spoke for him again. “Mr. Racer has informed me of something even more potentially disturbing. It seems he has concerns that his demonstration on the planet’s surface may not have been an example of the full extent of his power.”

McCoy’s eyes grew wide. “Good God, man! You vaporized a boulder four times our size to dust by just blinking at it! Now you’re saying you can do more!?”

Apollo slid his hands slowly down his face. “I don’t know,” He said helplessly as he stood up. “This much power scares me, Captain. With power comes responsibility… isn’t that what they say?”

“They also say that power corrupts, but absolute power corrupts absolutely,” Kirk said. “Will your sense of duty and responsibility be enough to override the possibility of corruption?” He thought of his friend, Gary Mitchell, who had been in the same situation, but the power went to his head, bringing with it delusions of godhood.

The thought was so strong that Apollo couldn’t help but pick it up. “Who is Gary?” he said. All their heads shot up in astonishment.

“How did you…” McCoy sputtered.

“Fascinating,” Spock stated.

“You read my mind,” Kirk said simply, quietly. Dangerously. He stepped closer to Apollo, anger burning in his eyes. He was about to say something or do something, but he stopped himself. The shock and the horror on Apollo’s face was double their own.

“Honestly, I didn’t mean to. I’m sorry… it’s just… when surface thoughts are that strong, I can’t help but pick them up.”

Spock put a hand on Kirk’s shoulder. “He is correct, Jim. When you are in an emotional state, you tend to… broadcast… quite strongly.” This was an indirect way of telling him that he, too, picked up Kirk’s thought about his friend, and has no doubt done so before. He looked to Apollo. “Another ability you received from the barrier?”

Apollo blushed. “Actually, no. I’ve had a high psi factor since before entering the Academy. It’s documented in my records.”

“That would definitely account for how the barrier changed you,” McCoy said.

Kirk still had a haunted look on his face, which worried Apollo. He looked over his shoulder at Spock… the Vulcan had an expression of understanding on his face. Kirk then sat down beside Apollo, staring at the floor for a moment.
“Gary Mitchell… was a good friend of mine. Like you, he had a high psi rating, though I doubt it was as high as you claim yours is. It was great having him aboard… just like old times.” Apollo nodded in understanding, thinking about the friend he had left behind on the Excalibur. “When we went into the barrier, some of my crew went insane. But two people… a parapsychologist we had on board, Elizabeth Dehner, and Gary… started exhibiting these heightened telepathic and telekinetic skills.”

When Kirk was too wrapped up in his memory, McCoy took a seat on teh other side of Apollo and continued. “The more time that went by, the stronger these two people got. Gary’s eyes were glowing… almost like yours. His mental abilities were off the charts.”

“This is almost sounding like a campfire horror story,” Apollo commented.

“I almost wish it was,” Kirk replied, picking up the story again. “Gary’s ego got too big for him to handle. He started thinking that he was becoming a god… frankly, it was scaring the hell out of us.”

Apollo’s mood grew darker. “Much like it’s doing now.”

“With reason,” Spock added.

“I admit, we probably acted a little rash… in our fear, we tried to restrain him. But by this point, he grew so powerful, he considered the rest of his crewmates as little more than insects. To prove his point, he killed one of them when we thought we had him under control.”

“Ouch.”

“We finally found an abandoned mining colony on an uninhabited planet. Our original intent was to just exile him there, but… but he wasn’t too thrilled about the idea.”

“I can’t blame him. If it were me, I wouldn’t want to be left behind on a big rock.”

The pain Kirk felt at recalling the memory wouldn’t allow him to continue. McCoy simply bowed his head in silence. Spock finished the story. “Commander Mitchell would not allow the captain to leave. With Dr. Dehner’s help, Captain Kirk was forced to kill Mr. Mitchell. The doctor wasn’t powerful enough to stop him on her own, and she succumbed to his power.”

Apollo remained silent for a few minutes. He got up and paced, then he faced the window. Finally, when his thoughts were collected, he turned back toward Kirk. “So your fear is that I’ll wind up like him; I’ll go insane from this power, and you’ll have to stop me before I go too far.”

Kirk hesitated. “The thought had crossed my mind.”

Apollo stood there, staring at the officers, wondering what else was going through their heads. But now that they knew he could read surface thoughts, they kept theirs guarded. He didn’t want to become a Gary Mitchell… he didn’t want them to feel threatened by him. With this firmly in mind, his shoulders slumped and his head hung down. “Do it.”

The utterance was so quiet, they almost didn’t hear it. “What?”

He looked up, sadness evident on his face. “God… I don’t want to die. But… but if it means sacrificing myself now, before it gets out of control… I don’t want to die, Captain, but I don’t want to go crazy and turn against you, either.” He looked to the Vulcan. “You know all too well the axiom, ‘The good of the many outweighs the good of the one.’ If I have to choose between giving up my life and becoming a threat to this ship, I’ll choose the former.” He dropped to his knees with the resignation of a condemned man.

After a couple of minutes, when nothing happened, he looked up. The humans were staring at him with astonishment, the Vulcan with fascination. “Perhaps…” Spock said, “there is another alternative.”

“Huh?”

After a moment, Kirk made his decision. He held out his hand to Apollo. “I don’t think it will come to this. Please… get up.”

McCoy gave him a smile. “It takes a lot of guts to offer your life the way you did. Shows you’ve got a pretty good head on your shoulders.”

The commander was confused. “Then… then I’ll go into exile… or you can take me to…”

The captain held up his hand to stop him. “You don’t need to be so quick to lock yourself away. I’m beginning to think you can be trusted.”

Apollo was bewildered, but accepted the help up. “But… aren’t you concerned I’ll lose it?”

“Sure, we’re concerned,” McCoy said. “But you’re a good man. I think you’ll be able to deal with this.”

Spock inclined his head. “For once, I would tend to agree with Dr. McCoy. You recognize the danger, both to yourself and others, and as such you can be prepare yourself against it.” He paused. “You have been bestowed with some remarkable and fascinating abilities. How you use those abilities is entirely up to you, but I am confident that you will use them wisely.”

Kirk smiled. He couldn’t have said it better. “You seem to have a good sense of duty and honor… that alone should be good enough to keep you in check. I think you’ll do just fine. Just go with your gut feeling. Isn’t that what you told me at one time?” He winked, then grew serious. “Thank you.”

“For what?” Apollo asked.

“I have to admit, after what I saw down there, I had my doubts. For a while, I thought you were going to turn out like Gary. But you’ve shown me that not everyone is like him. Power can breed responsibility.”

Apollo felt as though his faith in himself was restored. “Thank you, sir. You don’t know how much it means to me to hear you say that. I promise you, I won’t let you down.”

Kirk found himself smiling. “Of that I have no doubt. But it still leaves me with a problem… I still don’t know what to say in my report.”

Apollo shrugged. “Why not just give Starfleet the bare bones? You know… ‘Went to Arcadia. Quelled an uprising. Situation resolved.'” He grinned hopefully.

“That might be stretching it a bit.” As they walked out of the arboretum, Kirk told him, “I know… how about you write the report. If I like it, I’ll forward it to Starfleet.” Apollo could be heard gulping audibly.