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Star Trek: Mirror Wars By James Earl "Fixes to History" Episode 202 Part 1:January 4th, 2603:1100 hours James looked around his new bridge. Here he was, the captain of the newly commissioned USS Enterprise NCC-1701-P. The newest in a long line of historic ships. Today, his name would be up with Archer, Kirk, Picard, Williams. Still, James was surprised that the Enterprise had been built so quickly. Aaron Riker, the son of Admiral Frank Riker, had been the commander of the USS Enterprise-O when it was destroyed. While he managed to send a message out to Starfleet, giving Starfleet time to amass a fleet, he and ship had been destroyed. He walked around the top deck of the bridge. Below him, a foot below, his chair sat in the middle of the room. He as he curved down the upper deck to reach his chair, he continued to look around. Now that he was the captain of the Enterprise, he had a legacy to uphold. The only question that worried him now was if he could stand up to the legends that came before him. The Enterprise was an Ancient class ship, similar to the Templar-class ship, the class the Majestic and the previous Enterprise had been. The Ancient-class had 15 phaser banks and Illium torpedoes. Finally, James sat down in his chair, and looked at Sarah. He was still worried that she might not be up to being on the bridge, but she had been out of the hospital for a few weeks, and Starfleet Medical's doctors had said that she had made a full recovery. A five days ago, they had celebrated her recovery, on the same day as her birthday. "Are we ready to take her out?" James asked Sarah. "All systems have been checked and ready. Berinski says everything looks good and Starfleet has cleared us for departure," she responded. "All right then." James turned to face the front of the ship, and looked and at newly promoted Lieutenant Henry Teller. "Henry, take us out." "Aye Captain." Henry eagerly responded. As the Enterprise moved out of dry dock, James felt the engines. Although Starfleet engineers said that it was impossible for anyone to 'feel' the engines moving, James knew they were wrong. It was small movement, maybe real or in his head, but it was there. And as the Enterprise headed to warp, James finally realized. He may have know before, but it wasn't until now that he actually understood it. "I am the captain of the Enterprise," he thought. Part 2:January 4th, 2603:1300 hours James left the turbolift and stepped onto the bridge once again. After Enterprise had left dry dock, he had given the bridge to Sarah, while he toured the ship for what seemed like the hundredth time. But a few moments ago he had been contacted by Sarah saying that the Enterprise had detected a strange energy spike. "Have we reached the source yet," asked James as sat down. "We should arrive in five minutes," replied Henry. James remained quiet for a moment. The last time he had diverted course to a strange energy, it resulted in the destruction of his ship. "Shields up Ferby," he ordered. "Aye sir," said the tactical officer. As the moments passed, each person on the bridge wondered what they would find. "Exiting warp... now," Henry announced. "Sir, I am detecting a ship a hundred kilometers off our port," Ferby informed. "On screen." The viewscreen blinked from a view of the stars ahead, replaced by an immense ship, two times the size of the Enterprise. But it was nothing that James had every seen before. It looked as if someone had taken components from dozens of ships and fit them together to see if they would work. Numerous shapes and colors composed the hull, with several recognizable components visible. James could make out Ferengi engines and what seemed to be part of a Bajoran ship's hull. But to his knowledge, the engines had been obsolete for twenty years. "Scan it," said James. Ferby soon relayed the results. "The ship is made up of components from a multitude of ships, most of which are unknown to the ship's scanners, but it does detect Bajoran, Ferengi, and Starfleet technology." "How the heck did they get our technology," thought James. All Starfleet technology was classified to all non-Federation citizens. "Most of the technology," continued Ferby, "appears to be obsolete, while some of it is very advanced, even surpassing our own abilities." "Lifesigns?" asked James. Ferby looked at his console and pressed a few buttons. "Sir... I am detecting dozens of lifesigns aboard the ship." "What? Is it a refugee ship," asked James. "According to the scan, all of the lifesigns are very faint. Only one of them appears to be giving off a strong reading." Suddenly, Ferby's console beeped. "Sir, we are receiving a hail. Audio only." James didn't say anything, but just nodded at the tactical officer. Suddenly a voice came of the com system. "Hello? Is anyone there," said the voice. It sounded powerful, yet quavering at the same time. As if at one time, the speaker had been a strong man, but those days were gone. "I am Captain James Obeska of the Federation Starship Enterprise. We detected a strange energy spike and diverted course," explained James. "Ahh yes. The energy that I use would catch your interest… Why don't you come over Captain? I have something to show you." Part 3:January 4th, 2603:1330 hours As the transporter beam's effect released its grip of the away team of James, Sarah, Henry, and Ferby, the first thing they noticed was the vastness of the chamber they were in. Above them, they could see four more floors, with catwalks on each. It reminded James of a less menacing Borg cube, not that he had seen any outside of the simulations he had taken at the Academy. On each side of them, against the wall were hundreds of capsules. A type of one-way glass blocked the contents of each from view, but before James could get a better look, he heard a voice. "Welcome, welcome." James spun around to see an older man walking towards the party. The man walked with an air of confidence, and he himself looked distinguished. Specs of gray hair wove themselves in his hair. To James, the man looked as if he was a human, but he knew that many species shared similar characteristics with his own. "Thank you for honoring myself with your visit," started the man as he reached them. "My name is Jacob." "Hello Jacob. As I said before, I am Captain James Obeska, and this is my first officer, Sarah Perlark, my helm officer, Henry Teller, and my tactical officer, Ferby Ter'cal," introduced James, gesturing at each of them in turn. "Welcome," repeated Jacob, a smile on his face. "If you don't mind my bluntness," started Sarah, in a kind voice, "what is your ship doing in the middle of a war zone. We don't have your ship in our databanks, and your ship seems to be made with a combination of old, new, and classified technologies." Jacob's smile disappeared for a moment, unnoticed to everyone except James and Sarah. "That technology… is a… reward of my employment," Jacob explained. "Which is," asked Henry, entering the conversation. "Well… it would be easier to show. Besides, you wouldn't believe me if I didn't show you first." Part 4:January 4th, 2603:1400 hours Henry wasn't sure weather to be extremely curious or extremely disgusted. "Your telling us that you are from the future, and your job is to go back in time and… kidnap historical figures just before they die," he asked, still unbelieving. "Well… yes," Jacob replied. Over the past few minutes, Jacob had showed them what was inside the capsules. People. According to him, the scientists and historians from the future wished to learn from the "kidnapped" historical figures. "And you don't view this as… wrong," James asked surprised. "You see Captain, I only take them at the end of their life, just before they die. No one notices, because I always return the bodies when we finish. It preserves the timeline… and allows them a proper ending in their own time as well," explained Jacob. "These people are heroes. They don't deserve this," James argued, as he looked into one tube at a face he didn't recognize. "We always return their bodies. We treat them with the utmost respect and care," countered Jacob. As James opened his mouth to argue again, he looked in the next tube, and his voice instantly disappeared. He quickly looked at the nameplate on the side of the capsule, and he read in shock. Aaron Riker: Captain of the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-O Part 5:January 4th, 2603:1500 hours The senior staff sat in the conference room. To James' right sat Jake Demari, his science officer, Ferby, and Henry, while Sarah and Berinski were to his left. As soon as James had seen Aaron's capsule, he had immediately returned to the ship, feeling that he need to get his crew's opinion on what he should do. "We need to get Aaron back," started Berinski, after James finished informing the rest of the crew. "He is the reason that Vulcan still exists. He may even be the reason that the Federation still has a chance of survival." "I know that, but he is supposed to be dead," said James. "But the thing is, he isn't. He is alive and well on that ship," continued Berinski. Before James could respond, Henry spoke. "Sir, does the Temporal Prime Directive apply here?" "I don't know. The directive says that if we travel through time, we can't change anything, but it doesn't say much aabout what we should do in this situation," James explained. "I think our best option is to contact Starfleet Command and get orders." James never like having to contact Command. He felt that it undermined his decisions, but in this matter, he didn't have much choice. "We can't, at least not directly," started Jake. "Why," asked the captain. "Whatever energy that ship gave off has caused a disturbance in the region. Any signal we send out can't be guaranteed to reach Earth or any other outpost." "Any options?" "We could send out a probe. Once it escapes the disturbance, we could use it to relay our message." "Get on it." James looked around at his staff. "Dismissed." Part 6:January 4th, 2603:1700 hours Jacob knew his way around the ship well. He had been on numerous Ancient-class ships before. Or was it that he would be on numerous Ancient-class ships? "Time travel is so confusing," he thought to himself. As he worked his way through the corridors, avoiding wander crewmen and women as they moved around the ship, he thought of the ship's schematics. According to them, he should be nearly there. And then he saw it. The captain's quarters. He swiftly moved to the door and pulled out a device. With a quick scan over the door, it parted, opening the room to Jacob. Careful to be quiet, he looked around the darkened room and scanned for lifesigns. Just one. Hopefully it was the right one. As Jacob neared the bed, he saw a figure turn in its sleep. Jacob quickly moved the figure, and quickly attached another device to it. Before the transporter effect took place, James woke up and saw the face of his captor. Part 7:January 4th, 2603:1715 hours His head hurt. That was the first thing James realized before he opened his eyes. When he finally did open them, a bright light assaulted him. "Hello again. Welcome back to my ship." James stood up and looked around. Jacob stood before him, surrounded by numerous consoles and buttons. It seemed that they were on Jacob's bridge. James stood up and attempted to run at Jacob, but he was cut short when he ran into a force field a few feet in front of where he was. "Why have the kidnapped me?" asked James as he recovered. Jacob sat in his chair. "I was not completely truthful before. I am from the future, and I do collect historical figures, but I also do a few jobs for people during my… trips." "And what would that be. To kidnap me?" "No Captain. To kill you." "What," yelled James. "Why would anyone from the future want me to die?" "Many people. You were supposed to die on the Majestic, nobly sacrificing your life for the rest of the universe. But you failed, and Starfleet and Federation was almost destroyed, but managed to push back the invaders. Eventually, the Federation rebuilt and managed to protect itself from future attack. But…" And then James made the connection. When he was on the Majestic, as he was moving the ship to crash into the planet, he had been brought to the planet, right inside the base. "But some changed that, didn't they?" "Correct Captain. And now… someone wants to… correct that mistake. Make sure history is fixed. Put everything back in its proper place." Before James could say anything, Jacob turned of the force field and raised a phaser right a James' chest. But as James prepared for the end for the second time in his life, the ship shock, and he fell to the floor. As he fell, he heard Sarah's voice of the com. "We know you have our captain Jacob. That was just a warning shot." "Thank you Sarah," thought James. He looked and saw the phaser lying a few feet from his head. As he crawled to his feet, he raced towards the phaser. As he bent down to pick it up, another hit shook the ship and the phaser tumbled out of reach. As his stretched to reach it, Jacob's hand bent down and snatched it up. "Your damn wife is causing me problems." As Jacob once again aimed at James, James looked at a console in front of him. "One chance," he thought, and he slammed his hand on console, pressing dozens of buttons at the same time. Suddenly, an alarmed sounded and another hit stuck the ship. "What have you done!" Jacob yelled, but James was already racing out of the room, with Jacob right behind. As James ran, found himself back in the capsule room. But, as Jacob fired at him, he saw the capsules opening, and dozens of people stepping out. James tapped his com badge. "Obeska to Enterprise." "Enterprise here Captain," came Sarah's voice. "We're reading you. Jacob's force field is stopping us from beaming you over." "Acknowledged," said James. "I'll see what I can do. Keep firing." From behind, another shot just missed James, sending sparks everywhere as it hit an opening capsule. As James turned a corner, heading toward the engineering section he had seen on his original trip to the ship, he ran headlong into another man. It was Aaron. "Where am I," asked Aaron. "Their no time to explain. Come with me," explained James, grabbing Aaron and running, as another shot barley missed James' shoulder. As the two hurried through the ship, Jacob continued firing. Eventually, they reached engineer. As James quickly ran to a nearby console, Aaron followed, running slowly, most likely as result of his suspended animation. "How did I get here, Captain…?" "Obeska," said James, as they dodged another shot from across the room. "You were brought here by that man," gesturing in the direction the shot had come from. "At the moment, this ships shields are preventing us from beaming out." Aaron nodded, and reached to his side. His phaser was still on his belt. "I'll cover you, you bring down the shields." James nodded in agreement, and on Aaron's count, he dashed across the room as Aaron fired at Jacob. Jacob dived behind a crate as the shot came towards him. As sparks fell between the two combatants, James looked over the different panels in the area. While most he couldn't understand, a few panels were written in Vulcan, apparently taken from a Vulcan vessel. Quickly, James looked over the controls and found what he was looking for. Shields. As he pressed a few buttons, Jacob looked over and managed to get off a shot before Aaron forced him back behind the crate. Before Aaron could call out, James fell backwards as the shot hit is arm. He screamed in pain, but was able to get back up, his arm blackened from the hit. Struggling through the pain, he pressed a final few buttons and fell backwards. Aaron quickly ran towards his fallen comrade. James hit his combadge with his good arm and said "Obeska to Enterprise. Two to beam up." As they transported away, Aaron asked in surprise, "Did you say Enterprise?" Part 8:January 4th, 2603:1730 hours "Have we got them," asked Sarah, standing on the bridge of the Enterprise. "Aye, sir," Ferby acknowledged. "Open a channel." Suddenly, Jacobs voice came over the com. "What do you want?" "We have our captain Jacob. I would advise that you surrender your ship, before we do any more damage to it." A few moments passed for Jacob responded. "Commander, tell your Captain that he has not seen the last of me." Before Sarah could say anything back, Ferby called out, "Commander, I am detecting the same energy as before. Sir… its temporal." "Fire phasers, hit where that energy is coming from," she ordered, but it was too late. On the screen, Jacob's ship was engulfed in a bright light, and was gone. Part 9:January 5th, 2603:1300 hours James looked at the screen. It had been a long time since he had been with the First Fleet. Ever since the Majestic had been brought to Earth after the battle in the mirror universe, he had been separated from his post. As he studied the fleet before him on the bridge's viewscreen, he was saddened to see that the fleet was smaller then it had been. He had known that many battles had taken place during his absence, but he didn't expect it to have been to bad. Next to him, Aaron sat in the chair usually reserved for Sarah. "Sir, we are receiving a hail from Admiral Riker," Ferby stated. Aaron stiffened at the mention of his father. During the day that it took to reach, James had informed Aaron on most of what had happened since his... death. But to Aaron, it had not been a long time since he had seen his father last. For Frank Riker, he thought his son was dead. James hesitated for a moment before saying, "Put it on." The holographic image of Admiral Riker appeared in the front of the bridge. "Captain. Glad to have you back with the fleet," he said with a smile, not noticing Aaron. "Sir, I don't know how to say this but..." James started, but before he could finish, Aaron stood up and walked towards the hologram. Frank's eyes widened with shock, and he seemed, for a moment, unable to speak. But, after a moment, he was able to say one thing. "Aaron?" |