CaptainWacky
I want to smell dark matter
Episode 1
'The Unusual Incident At The Noodle Nebula'
'Captain's Log, Stardate 1004.7. We are on our way to the seventh planet of the Pran system to provide aid to children who lost their parents fighting in the Dust Wars.'
Captain Richard Robau hated recording the captain's log. He never felt like he was giving enough detail. He sat back on his captain's chair on the bridge. It wouldn't be long before they arrived at the Pran system now.
"Transmission coming through from Admiral Burger, captain," said Communications Officer Rice.
Robua smiled. He knew of Burger's dislike of him and it amused him no end. There was nothing Burger could do to him out here. "Put him through," he said to Rice. The fat face of Admiral Burger appeared on the bridge's viewscreen. Robau was almost tempted to wave sarcastically, but he just continued to smile. "What can I do for you, admiral?"
"Why was this put through to the bridge? I requested a private audience with you, captain! Did your incompetent communcations officer not inform you, or is this a deliberate insult?" Robau shot a quick look to Rice, who looked scared.
"Captain, I..." She was sweating. The poor girl. She was not such a bad officer, but her self confidence was low and she she sometimes made these type of minor, awkward mistakes. She had something wrong with her foot and walked with a limp. Maybe that wast he cause of her problems? Robua made a mental note to try to make her feel more comfortable. He decided to let her off on this infraction.
"I'm the captain, it was my decision and I take full responsibility," said Robua, not smiling anymore.
"Then to your Ready Room, now, or I may be forced to report this incident to the Federation President himself. I have sensitive infromation to relay, captain, and it can wait no longer!" Burger actually slammed his fist on his desk. Almost everyone the Bridge, Lt. Rice, First Officer Kirk, Helmsman Johnson, the deltan naviagator Yutti, even Alnschloss K'Bentayr in his own way, looked somewhat awkward after this. Only the vulcan science officer T'Poo did not react.
"Guess I better hurry then," said Robua to his crew, with a smile. The tension lifted slightly. Robau got up and headed for his Ready Room.
"Computer, relay the admiral's transmission to here," he said, and Burger's fat face insantly filled his desktop monitor.
"Do we finally have privacy, captain?" asked Burger in the most mocking tone he could.
"My apologies," said Robua, through gritted teeth. He could not believe the unprofessionalism of Burge, nor how he had managed to rise to the rank of Admiral. "You said you had urgent information of a sensitive nature?"
"Your ship is to go to the Noodle Nebula in Sector 216 at once," said Burger.
"Admiral, we are on a mission of mercy to Pran 7 - "
"Your mission in the Pran system can wait. Those orphans will still be orphans when you get back. This mission is critical. The Space Pirates from the planet Zetron have been operating in the nebula. We know without a shadow of a doubt that they have a base there, thanks to our operative in their organisation. We also know that they are building ships and arming them with a terrible new weapon. We strongly believe that the pirates are responsible for the disappearances of several ships in that area over the last year. Our intelligence shows their new weapon can destroy a starship in a single shot."
"That science vessel, the Obama, it disappeared there," said Robua. "I had...a friend on board." Her name was Lisa.
"Then you understand the importance of this mission. You must go there and stop the pirates, destroy their base and ships and end their reign of terror! Intelligence shows their ships and base were recently damanged by an anomoly in the nebula. They will not be prepared for an attack. You must destroy every ship their, those deadly cannons cannot be allowed to leave the nebula. No matter what it takes."
"Sir...the Obama was there to investigate those anomolies. My friend and the Obama's captain both believed that those anomolies were responsible for the recen tdisappearances of ships in that area and apparently had strong evidence to support this."
"Yes thank you captain, I am aware of those reports! Nothing was ever confirmed regarding those anomolies and with this new information we STRONGLY BELIEVE that the pirates are responsible."
"Still, perhaps once we arrive some further investigation into the anomolies..."
"There will be no further investigation! You shall stop the pirates, wipe them out and destroy their new super weapon! Your ship is not the best armed in the fleet, but it is the closest to the nebula and more than capable of stopping the pirates and their inferior weapons. If it wasn't for the advantage the nebula had been offering them they would never have been able to even damage a Federation starship. Now they are damaged themselves by the anomolies. You will stop them. Too many lives have already been lost. Is that understood? Will you carry out your orders or must I send another ship?"
"No sir. The Kelvin shall take care of it." But Robua felt very concerned. "Sir, as this is a combat mission perhaps it would be best to drop off non-essentail crewmembers at Starbase TK81..."
"No!" boomed Burger. "You have no time for that, it would take you a day to reach Starbase TK81 and another day to get back here...that's two more days for the Zetrons to repair their ships and leave the nebula!"
"It's just that there are children on board..."
"Well there shouldn't be!" said Burger and Robau couldn't argue with that. He did not like the fact that George Kirk's son was still on board. Everytime they were at Starbase George and his wife discussed her staying there with the boy, but when they left again both were still on the ship. "You must set course to the nebula now. It is a dangerous mission, I won't lie to you, but I know your ship and crew are more than capable of carrying it out. The question is, are you?"
"Yes, sir," said Robau, firmly.
"Good. Perhaps if you carry out this mission to my satisfaction I may finally be able to send a favourable report to Starfleet! Burger out." And he was gone. In the privacy of his Ready Room, Robau rolled his eyes. His faith in Starfleet command was questioned every time he had to take orders from Admiral Burger.
Captain Robau returned to the bridge. "I'm so sorry, captain," said Lt. Rice as he entered. Robau smiled to reassure her.
"Give it no further thought," he said and turned to Yutti, the ship's Deltan Navigator. "Ensign Yutti, I assume you know the quickest possible route to the Noodle Nebula?"
"Captain, I know the quickest route to anywhere in the galaxy," said Yutti. His intense eyes locked with Robau's for a moment and, as always, it was disconcerting. The sexual potency of the Deltans was, of course, well known to all in Starfleet. News of it had spread fast after first contact had been made with them. When Robau had been told (with a wink and a smile from a fellow captain) that he was soon to receive a Deltan navigator he had assumed, quite resonably he thought, that it would be a female officer. Yutti was male. Very male. Yet his sexual power held sway over even the staunchest heterosxual on board ship. Yutti himself saw little distinction between genders. They were all part of the same sexual adventure for him. But he did not use his disarming potency and limited telepathic abilities to take advantage of the humans and other aliens on board the Kelvin. He prefered to be on equal footing with his sexual partners. Of course, that was hard with such sexually immature species. For Deltains sex was like a handshake, but it was so for most species. He had to restrain himself frequently from driving them insane with his techniques.
"Then plot a course, ensign" said Robau, after a pause.
"We're going to the Noodle Nebula?" asked Commander George Kirk.
"Your powers of observation are impressive, commander," said Robau. "No wonder I made you my first officer!" He patted Kirk on the shoulder.
"Maybe I'll get to prove myself before this mission is over," said George. "I've heard interesting things about the Noodle Nebula."
"Sounds like a fairly dull place to me," said Ensign Michael Johnson, the ship's helmsman. He appeared to find most things dull and most of the crew felt the same way about him.
"I've heard we might find it rather interesting," said Robau, grimly. "Is the course set, Yutti?"
"It was set as soon as you asked me," said Yutti, with his usual confidence.
"Then engage, mister Johnson!" said Robau, pointing with his right index finger somewhat dramatically. "And don't tell anyone about that, any of you," he hastily added.
Alnschloss K'Bentayr walked over to the captain and discreetly said "may I talk to you, sir?"
"Of course," said Robau and the two stepped into his Ready Room. Alnschloss K'Bentayr was the ship's security officer and the crew called him AKB for short. They claimed it was a nickname, but in truth most of them simply had a hard time pronouncing his full name. Robau wondered how Alnschloss K'Bentayr felt about this. If it bothered him, he did not show it. But Robau had read about AKB's species, the Edassians. They were known to be a highly serious people (well, that and the fact that their females were five times as large as the males and lived in caves) and they placed a great deal of value on names. It was likely that the name Alnschloss K'Bentayr had some deeper meaning to them, a meaning humans would not be able to understand. When AKB spoke, Robau always listened. He had proven himself to be a wise adviser.
"Captain, may I ask why we're going to the Noodle Nebula? My home planet, as you know, is relatively close to that nebula and my people have travelled through it in the past. Does our mission have anything to do with...the disappearances?" It was hard to tell how AKB was feeling from his stoic, alien expression, but Robau could have sworn that he looked worried.
"The space pirates of the planet Zetron are believed to have a base in the nebula," said Robua. "They may be responsible for the disappearances. Starfleet intelligence believes so."
"Captain, I will admit I do not know much about the Zetron, but these disappearances have been happening for decades, perhaps centures. Our people even speak of ships being lost there and showing up years later..."
"Have your people made contact with any of these ships?"
"Well, no, they are unconfirmed stories, but...captain, I would strongly advice caution. If we go to the nebula looking for pirates and ignoring the anomolies we could end up lost in the anomolies ourselves...and possibly lost in time."
"Lost in time?" said Robua.
"These ships which returned...it is said that their crews were unaged despite the passage of years. They were thrown forwards in time."
"That's astonishing," said Robau.
"I am not jesting, captain, I fear it could happen." Robau could tell AKB's fears were real.
"I take your advice very seriously, Lt. Commander," said Robua.
"Aye captain," said AKB.
"I'll order Yuttti and Johnson to be extra careful. I'll get stellar catography on it too," said Robua. AKB smiled at this. His species did not normally smile, but AKB had learned to do so in order to better communicate his feelings with the humans on board.
"Thank you, captain" he said.
Wionna Kirk hated visiting sickbay. It wasn't so much because of the Chief Medical Officer doctor Slod, though he certainly did not help. A memember of Trax species, the only member of that species to ever make contact with Starfleet in fact, Slod was about the most unusual alien Wionna had ever met. His skin looked like diamond. It appeared to shine, but it was not beautiful, it was cold, forbidding. His eyes were completely black, and beady and deepset. His nose looked to Wionna liked a lump of coal. She knew she should not make the comparison, but she could not help but think of him as a snowman. An evil snowman. It was wrong, of course, to judge an alien, or anyone, based on their appearance. Luckily there was a lot more to judge doctor Slod on than just that. He was rude. It wasn't even that he had an abrasive bedside manner or anything minor like that, he was downright rude and dismissive at all times. He appeared to hate humans, Vulcans, Deltans and every other species on board. Yet he was a great doctor and he always carried out his duty, even if you had to put up with some insults along the way.
No, it wasn't because of Slod that Wionna hated visiting Sickbay, it was because of the nurse, her identical twin sister Jackie. Wionna loved her sister, she really did. She even liked spending limited time with her. Up until the age of about twelve they had been inseperable. Then they had went different ways. Jackie would describe herself as fun-loving and thrill-seeking. Wionna would have described her sister as selfish and irresponsible. Wionna and George had been together since their teenage years and had married young. Jackie had never had a long term relationship. Wionna had went to StarFleet Academy. She had became the Science Officer on board the Kelvin, though her duties had been cut down since the birth of her son and the Vulcan officer T'Poo had taken over as chief science officer. At the same time Wionna was going off to the Academy, Jackie had went to work on Riza. That's why Jackie had been so amazed when Wionna had come on board as a non-commissioned officer and became the ship's nurse. Ironically, she had a more important position on the ship now than Wionna, who now held the official title of the ship's chief botanist (which took up little of her time.) Perhaps this was why she disliked being around Jackie now, Wionna thought. Just pure envy. Perhaps she secretly wanted to be free and single herself. She sighed, looking at the Sickbay door.
"Hurry it up, mom, my arm's killing me!" said young George Samuel Kirk Junior. He had hurt his arm playing holo video games in his quarters, which was what brought them to sickbay. Wionna didn't like him playing those games, but sometimes she needed time to herself. He was quite a hyperactive boy, requiring near constant stimulaton. The holo games were sometimes the only option. Some of them were violent, too violent for a four year old certainly, but he had managed to overwrite the parental controls in the past and Wionna suspected he'd done so again. She hated that she would have to explain how the injury had happened to doctor Slod, she just knew he'd sneer. Jackie would be sympathetic and understanding and that would almost be worse. She always spoiled George Junior. Finally, Wionna entered sickbay with George following. Jackie was sitting on the edge of a bed looking bored.
"Wionna, little Sam!" she said, running over and hugging George.
"It's George Junior and watch his arm!" said Wionna as Jackie hugged him tightly.
"I like being called Sam and my arm's fine, mom. Hi aunt Jackie!" said George. Well if his arm was fine why had he been crying and asking to go to sickbay? Surely it wasn't just to see his cool aunt.
"You hurt yourself playing holo games again, Sam?" asked Wionna.
"Yeah," he said, sadly.
"There should be more things for kids to do on this ship!" said Jackie.
"The Kelvin wasn't really meant for chldren," said Wionna, and it was true. The ship was not the ideal environment in which to raise a child, but George had been offered the position of first officer and Wionna had told him not to turn it down. She had stayed on board, not wanting to raise George Junior...Sam now apparently, away from his father. There wasn't much for Sam to do on board, other than play his holo games. There was a bowling alley on board but Sam wasn't interested in that. There was only one other child on board, a Vulcan, but George didb't mix well. Besdies, Stovak was a few years older and Vulcan children matured a lot faster than human children. He was T'Poo's sonn, and Wionna resented how T'Poo managed to raise him and still serve as ship's science officer, even though Wionna had had to step down in the same position. Wionna always worried that she was hurting Sam's development by raising him on the ship. When the mission was over, she told herself, when they next returned to Starbase, she and Sam would stay behind, with or without her husband George. Of course she had told herself this every time they were due to return to Starbase but had always ended up returning to the Kelvin. One time they had stayed at the Starbase, her and Sam, without George for a month. It had not went well.
"I'm sure little Georgie will be fine with you and your first officer husband raising him!" said Jackie, cheerily. She was being sincere, Wionna could tell, there was no hint of sarcasm. But for some reason the way she spoke still angered Wionna. What did Jackie know of raising a child?
"Where's Slod?" Wionna asked, changing the subject.
"In the morgue, looking at Commander McDougal's corpse again," said Jackie, matter of factly. Sam looked at his mother.
"Is doctor Slod a bad guy, mommy?" he asked.
"No!" said Wionna. "Jackie, don't talk about corpses in front of George, please." Commander McDougal had died of a mystery illness a few months before. It was very rare for crewmembers to get seriously ill under Commander Slod's care, and for someone to die of an illness on board the Kelvin had been unheard of...before McDougal's shocking death. Slod had spent many hours alone with McDougal's corpse since, cutting it up, trying to figure out just how it had happened.
"Sorry," said Jackie. "He's probably seen worse in those holo games anyway."
"I banned him from playing those," said Wionna.
"Sure you did, mom," said Sam, laughing and winking at Jackie. Wionna almost shouted at Sam, but restrained herself. She was not that kind of mother and she certainly wasn't going to be that kind of mother in front of Jackie of all people.
"Is Slod in a good mood today? Every time I come he seems nastier..." said Wionna.
"No, sis, trust me, you want him to be in a BAD mood. It's when he's in a good mood that he's at his nastiest. If he's having a really good day then he can be so creative and cutting with his remarks that, well, I've seen commanders leave here in tears. Honest to God. When he's in a bad mood he can't bring himself to say anything. He just shuts down, his personality anyway, becomes mechanical, gets his job done. You want him on a bad day and, luckily, today seems to be one of those...he hasn't even commented on my hair this morning."
"Because I have been averting my eyes from that monstrosity," came the ice-cold voice of Slod. Wionna was startled and she could tell Jackie was too. He was standing there, in front of the door that led to the morgue. He had not made a sound as he had entered. How did he do it?
"Doctor, I was just..."
"You're not a psycho-analyst, Nurse Bombad, and you never will be. Do not attempted to get inside my head. I assure you that the contents of my brain would be incomprehensible to such as you. Now, what seems to be the problem with your idiot nephew?"
"Hey!" said Sam. Wionna stormed over to Slod and almost poked him in the chest with her finger as she spoke.
"You will not speak that way about my son, you twisted..." She was about to say snowman but quickly realised that would be racist. "...doctor," she finished lamely.
"I do apologise," said Slod, his dark eyes meeting Wionna's own. "I should have been more creative than to simply call him an 'idiot'. It has, as your former womb mate said, been a bad day and it's only worse now that I have to tend to your...child's little injuries. If he was a Klingon child he would go without reporting his broken bones, let alone crying about them. Think about that."
"He's not a Klingon," said Wionna. She had to admit to herself that "womb mate" had been quite clever. "He's a four year old human and he's hurt. Are you going to help him or aren't you?"
"Why of course," said Slod, now smiling, an icy mockery of a smile that made Wionna shudder. "I live to heal."
Robau sat in his Ready Room chair, listening to a country music song he hadn't listened to in ten years, trying not to think about Lisa. Of course, if he really didn't want to think about Lisa he wouldn't be listening to country music and certainly not this particular song. A soppy love song they'd both pretended to hate but had secretly loved. They had known each other through most of their time in the Academy, but hey had only admitted their feelings for each other and gotten together three months before they had both been sent off on their seperate missions. Robau had quickly risen through the ranks and Lisa had been in line for the first officer position on board the Obama before the disappearance. They had both been with other people since going their seperate ways, she had even had a serious relationship (Robau had been in several relationships but he wouldn't class any of them as "serious" compared to how he'd felt about Lisa) but they'd kept in frequent contact. He missed her so much. It had been two months now and he missed her as much as when he'd first heard of her ship being lost. More, even. He didn't want to lose that feeling of missing her. He'd feel like he was betraying her if he did. He couldn't help but think about what AKB had said about the nebula. Lisa's ship had been investigating the anomolies, the same anomolies which AKB believed could send ships through time. Robau knew it was no more likely than any other explanation, but the possibility, no matter how small, that Lisa could still be out there somewhere and that he could find her again...he had to cling on to it.
But for now, he had to put it aside. Their orders were to stop the space pirates and the space pirates certainly were a threat, though Robau wondered if the admiral was perhaps over-stating that threat. Their usual weapons were simple lasers, not powerful enough to penetrate the ship's shields. Still, if the Admiral's information about a super weapon which could destroy a starship in a single shot was correct then that certainly had to be destroyed. Robau wondered who Burger's source for this information had been.
He wasn't going to find the answers with that song still playing.
"Computer, discontinue music," said Robau.
"WORKING..." said the computer. Blast these upgrades! Sure, the computer was now far more powerful than before, could store more information, had a more sophisticated artificial intelligence...but the downside was that it had to warm up every time it was called on! Fortunately this did not happen in critical scenarios, only for mundane things like playing music where the AI interface was used...but it was annoying. "MUSIC DISCONTINUED," the computer finished. Okay, it had only been a few seconds, but with the older computer it would have been instant. Ah, the price of progress...
The intercom beeped. "Come in," said Robau. George Kirk entered the room. "What can I do for you, commander?"
"Captain, I was thinking about our mission to the Noodle Nebula," said George. "Now I have the greatest faith in Starfleet command but I must say that some of Admiral Burger's commands as of late have been rather...odd."
"You're saying this on the record, commander?" said Robau, with a serious look on his face.
"Off...off the record, if possible, captain," said Kirk, trying not to look worried. Robau smiled.
"It's always good to ask to speak off the record when you're about to question your superiors, George. Just a little tip for you." Kirk relaxed a bit at this. "And I do agree with you. But the orders aren't so unreasonable that I could turn them down."
"Sir, would you ever do that? Turn down orders?" asked Kirk, intently.
"Would you, commander? Would you turn down my orders, under any circumstances?"
"Regulations do allow it, if the captain is impaired in such a way..."
"What if I wasn't impaired?" asked Robau, interrupting. He did not want to hear George just reciting regulations.
"If I was morally opposed to an action and I felt there were alternatives you had not given proper consideration? Yes, captain, yes I would."
"Good to know," said Robau. "And I already knew that would be your answer. You're not the fastest rising first officer in Starfleet for nothing."
"Well, luck may have played its part," said the ever modest George Kirk. Luck had very little to do with it, thought Robau.
"If you keep it up you could be the youngest captain in the Fleet some day soon," said Robau.
"I'm not ready," said George and there was no modesty this time. Robau nodded.
"Perhaps not," he said. "But in a few years."
"The Kelvin is a hell of a ship and I'm loving being first officer," said George. "That's enough for me."
"Still, one of those new ships would be tempting, wouldn't it?" asked Robau.
"The Constitution Class?" said George and there was a glint in his eye when he did. "They're still a while away...the size they're going to be when they're complete makes me doubt they'll ever finish one..."
"By the time the first one is finished you just might be ready," said Robau.
"I have to admit, it would be good to be on a ship that size now, with Wionna and Sam...of course, some would say that any starship is no place for children." He paused for a moment. "We're likely to see combat on this mission. I should have asked to have Sam dropped off at Starbase...Wionna too."
"Burger wouldn't allow it," said Robau.
"I should have insisted!" said George. "If I was a good father I would have."
"We are a science vessel," said Robau, with his usual calm. "Now regulations say that children can stay on board a science vessel at the captain's discretion. But given the nature of some of our missions perhaps...look, I can't tell you to raise your son, sorry..."
"Captain, it's fine. Wionna and I do need to find a solution, at least for missions like this or into unexplored areas of space. It's just that the last time they stayed on Starbase it didn't work out too well and...we'll think of something. I should be talking about it with her, not you."
"You don't have to speak to me as your captain if you're talking about family, George," said Robau. "You can speak to me as a friend." Robua wondered her Admiral Burger would react if he could hear him now. Robua had to admit that it perhaps wasn't the best idea for a captain to be close friends with his crew. A certain level of camaraderie was encouraged, but real close friendships could possibily interfere with command decisions concerning those officers. That was the official position of Starfleet and one Burger certainly subscribed to. But Robau played by his own rules and went with what worked for him and his crew. Burger didn't know what it was like, out here. Robau's friendship with George had not interfered with the running of the ship so far.
"It is good to have someone to talk to about this," said George, relieved. "Captain...Richard, you told me you lost someone you were close with on board the Obama. Do you, err, want to talk to me about that?"
"Her name was Lisa," said Robau. "She was special to me. That's about all I want to say about her right now." Kirk nodded.
"I should return to the Bridge...sir," said Kirk, standing straighter now. "We should be arriving at the nebula in just under an hour."
"That quick?" said Robua. "Yutti really is a miracle worker."
"I'm sure half the women on board would agree...a lot of the men too," said George, smiling, and he left.
'The Unusual Incident At The Noodle Nebula'
'Captain's Log, Stardate 1004.7. We are on our way to the seventh planet of the Pran system to provide aid to children who lost their parents fighting in the Dust Wars.'
Captain Richard Robau hated recording the captain's log. He never felt like he was giving enough detail. He sat back on his captain's chair on the bridge. It wouldn't be long before they arrived at the Pran system now.
"Transmission coming through from Admiral Burger, captain," said Communications Officer Rice.
Robua smiled. He knew of Burger's dislike of him and it amused him no end. There was nothing Burger could do to him out here. "Put him through," he said to Rice. The fat face of Admiral Burger appeared on the bridge's viewscreen. Robau was almost tempted to wave sarcastically, but he just continued to smile. "What can I do for you, admiral?"
"Why was this put through to the bridge? I requested a private audience with you, captain! Did your incompetent communcations officer not inform you, or is this a deliberate insult?" Robau shot a quick look to Rice, who looked scared.
"Captain, I..." She was sweating. The poor girl. She was not such a bad officer, but her self confidence was low and she she sometimes made these type of minor, awkward mistakes. She had something wrong with her foot and walked with a limp. Maybe that wast he cause of her problems? Robua made a mental note to try to make her feel more comfortable. He decided to let her off on this infraction.
"I'm the captain, it was my decision and I take full responsibility," said Robua, not smiling anymore.
"Then to your Ready Room, now, or I may be forced to report this incident to the Federation President himself. I have sensitive infromation to relay, captain, and it can wait no longer!" Burger actually slammed his fist on his desk. Almost everyone the Bridge, Lt. Rice, First Officer Kirk, Helmsman Johnson, the deltan naviagator Yutti, even Alnschloss K'Bentayr in his own way, looked somewhat awkward after this. Only the vulcan science officer T'Poo did not react.
"Guess I better hurry then," said Robua to his crew, with a smile. The tension lifted slightly. Robau got up and headed for his Ready Room.
"Computer, relay the admiral's transmission to here," he said, and Burger's fat face insantly filled his desktop monitor.
"Do we finally have privacy, captain?" asked Burger in the most mocking tone he could.
"My apologies," said Robua, through gritted teeth. He could not believe the unprofessionalism of Burge, nor how he had managed to rise to the rank of Admiral. "You said you had urgent information of a sensitive nature?"
"Your ship is to go to the Noodle Nebula in Sector 216 at once," said Burger.
"Admiral, we are on a mission of mercy to Pran 7 - "
"Your mission in the Pran system can wait. Those orphans will still be orphans when you get back. This mission is critical. The Space Pirates from the planet Zetron have been operating in the nebula. We know without a shadow of a doubt that they have a base there, thanks to our operative in their organisation. We also know that they are building ships and arming them with a terrible new weapon. We strongly believe that the pirates are responsible for the disappearances of several ships in that area over the last year. Our intelligence shows their new weapon can destroy a starship in a single shot."
"That science vessel, the Obama, it disappeared there," said Robua. "I had...a friend on board." Her name was Lisa.
"Then you understand the importance of this mission. You must go there and stop the pirates, destroy their base and ships and end their reign of terror! Intelligence shows their ships and base were recently damanged by an anomoly in the nebula. They will not be prepared for an attack. You must destroy every ship their, those deadly cannons cannot be allowed to leave the nebula. No matter what it takes."
"Sir...the Obama was there to investigate those anomolies. My friend and the Obama's captain both believed that those anomolies were responsible for the recen tdisappearances of ships in that area and apparently had strong evidence to support this."
"Yes thank you captain, I am aware of those reports! Nothing was ever confirmed regarding those anomolies and with this new information we STRONGLY BELIEVE that the pirates are responsible."
"Still, perhaps once we arrive some further investigation into the anomolies..."
"There will be no further investigation! You shall stop the pirates, wipe them out and destroy their new super weapon! Your ship is not the best armed in the fleet, but it is the closest to the nebula and more than capable of stopping the pirates and their inferior weapons. If it wasn't for the advantage the nebula had been offering them they would never have been able to even damage a Federation starship. Now they are damaged themselves by the anomolies. You will stop them. Too many lives have already been lost. Is that understood? Will you carry out your orders or must I send another ship?"
"No sir. The Kelvin shall take care of it." But Robua felt very concerned. "Sir, as this is a combat mission perhaps it would be best to drop off non-essentail crewmembers at Starbase TK81..."
"No!" boomed Burger. "You have no time for that, it would take you a day to reach Starbase TK81 and another day to get back here...that's two more days for the Zetrons to repair their ships and leave the nebula!"
"It's just that there are children on board..."
"Well there shouldn't be!" said Burger and Robau couldn't argue with that. He did not like the fact that George Kirk's son was still on board. Everytime they were at Starbase George and his wife discussed her staying there with the boy, but when they left again both were still on the ship. "You must set course to the nebula now. It is a dangerous mission, I won't lie to you, but I know your ship and crew are more than capable of carrying it out. The question is, are you?"
"Yes, sir," said Robau, firmly.
"Good. Perhaps if you carry out this mission to my satisfaction I may finally be able to send a favourable report to Starfleet! Burger out." And he was gone. In the privacy of his Ready Room, Robau rolled his eyes. His faith in Starfleet command was questioned every time he had to take orders from Admiral Burger.
Captain Robau returned to the bridge. "I'm so sorry, captain," said Lt. Rice as he entered. Robau smiled to reassure her.
"Give it no further thought," he said and turned to Yutti, the ship's Deltan Navigator. "Ensign Yutti, I assume you know the quickest possible route to the Noodle Nebula?"
"Captain, I know the quickest route to anywhere in the galaxy," said Yutti. His intense eyes locked with Robau's for a moment and, as always, it was disconcerting. The sexual potency of the Deltans was, of course, well known to all in Starfleet. News of it had spread fast after first contact had been made with them. When Robau had been told (with a wink and a smile from a fellow captain) that he was soon to receive a Deltan navigator he had assumed, quite resonably he thought, that it would be a female officer. Yutti was male. Very male. Yet his sexual power held sway over even the staunchest heterosxual on board ship. Yutti himself saw little distinction between genders. They were all part of the same sexual adventure for him. But he did not use his disarming potency and limited telepathic abilities to take advantage of the humans and other aliens on board the Kelvin. He prefered to be on equal footing with his sexual partners. Of course, that was hard with such sexually immature species. For Deltains sex was like a handshake, but it was so for most species. He had to restrain himself frequently from driving them insane with his techniques.
"Then plot a course, ensign" said Robau, after a pause.
"We're going to the Noodle Nebula?" asked Commander George Kirk.
"Your powers of observation are impressive, commander," said Robau. "No wonder I made you my first officer!" He patted Kirk on the shoulder.
"Maybe I'll get to prove myself before this mission is over," said George. "I've heard interesting things about the Noodle Nebula."
"Sounds like a fairly dull place to me," said Ensign Michael Johnson, the ship's helmsman. He appeared to find most things dull and most of the crew felt the same way about him.
"I've heard we might find it rather interesting," said Robau, grimly. "Is the course set, Yutti?"
"It was set as soon as you asked me," said Yutti, with his usual confidence.
"Then engage, mister Johnson!" said Robau, pointing with his right index finger somewhat dramatically. "And don't tell anyone about that, any of you," he hastily added.
Alnschloss K'Bentayr walked over to the captain and discreetly said "may I talk to you, sir?"
"Of course," said Robau and the two stepped into his Ready Room. Alnschloss K'Bentayr was the ship's security officer and the crew called him AKB for short. They claimed it was a nickname, but in truth most of them simply had a hard time pronouncing his full name. Robau wondered how Alnschloss K'Bentayr felt about this. If it bothered him, he did not show it. But Robau had read about AKB's species, the Edassians. They were known to be a highly serious people (well, that and the fact that their females were five times as large as the males and lived in caves) and they placed a great deal of value on names. It was likely that the name Alnschloss K'Bentayr had some deeper meaning to them, a meaning humans would not be able to understand. When AKB spoke, Robau always listened. He had proven himself to be a wise adviser.
"Captain, may I ask why we're going to the Noodle Nebula? My home planet, as you know, is relatively close to that nebula and my people have travelled through it in the past. Does our mission have anything to do with...the disappearances?" It was hard to tell how AKB was feeling from his stoic, alien expression, but Robau could have sworn that he looked worried.
"The space pirates of the planet Zetron are believed to have a base in the nebula," said Robua. "They may be responsible for the disappearances. Starfleet intelligence believes so."
"Captain, I will admit I do not know much about the Zetron, but these disappearances have been happening for decades, perhaps centures. Our people even speak of ships being lost there and showing up years later..."
"Have your people made contact with any of these ships?"
"Well, no, they are unconfirmed stories, but...captain, I would strongly advice caution. If we go to the nebula looking for pirates and ignoring the anomolies we could end up lost in the anomolies ourselves...and possibly lost in time."
"Lost in time?" said Robua.
"These ships which returned...it is said that their crews were unaged despite the passage of years. They were thrown forwards in time."
"That's astonishing," said Robau.
"I am not jesting, captain, I fear it could happen." Robau could tell AKB's fears were real.
"I take your advice very seriously, Lt. Commander," said Robua.
"Aye captain," said AKB.
"I'll order Yuttti and Johnson to be extra careful. I'll get stellar catography on it too," said Robua. AKB smiled at this. His species did not normally smile, but AKB had learned to do so in order to better communicate his feelings with the humans on board.
"Thank you, captain" he said.
Wionna Kirk hated visiting sickbay. It wasn't so much because of the Chief Medical Officer doctor Slod, though he certainly did not help. A memember of Trax species, the only member of that species to ever make contact with Starfleet in fact, Slod was about the most unusual alien Wionna had ever met. His skin looked like diamond. It appeared to shine, but it was not beautiful, it was cold, forbidding. His eyes were completely black, and beady and deepset. His nose looked to Wionna liked a lump of coal. She knew she should not make the comparison, but she could not help but think of him as a snowman. An evil snowman. It was wrong, of course, to judge an alien, or anyone, based on their appearance. Luckily there was a lot more to judge doctor Slod on than just that. He was rude. It wasn't even that he had an abrasive bedside manner or anything minor like that, he was downright rude and dismissive at all times. He appeared to hate humans, Vulcans, Deltans and every other species on board. Yet he was a great doctor and he always carried out his duty, even if you had to put up with some insults along the way.
No, it wasn't because of Slod that Wionna hated visiting Sickbay, it was because of the nurse, her identical twin sister Jackie. Wionna loved her sister, she really did. She even liked spending limited time with her. Up until the age of about twelve they had been inseperable. Then they had went different ways. Jackie would describe herself as fun-loving and thrill-seeking. Wionna would have described her sister as selfish and irresponsible. Wionna and George had been together since their teenage years and had married young. Jackie had never had a long term relationship. Wionna had went to StarFleet Academy. She had became the Science Officer on board the Kelvin, though her duties had been cut down since the birth of her son and the Vulcan officer T'Poo had taken over as chief science officer. At the same time Wionna was going off to the Academy, Jackie had went to work on Riza. That's why Jackie had been so amazed when Wionna had come on board as a non-commissioned officer and became the ship's nurse. Ironically, she had a more important position on the ship now than Wionna, who now held the official title of the ship's chief botanist (which took up little of her time.) Perhaps this was why she disliked being around Jackie now, Wionna thought. Just pure envy. Perhaps she secretly wanted to be free and single herself. She sighed, looking at the Sickbay door.
"Hurry it up, mom, my arm's killing me!" said young George Samuel Kirk Junior. He had hurt his arm playing holo video games in his quarters, which was what brought them to sickbay. Wionna didn't like him playing those games, but sometimes she needed time to herself. He was quite a hyperactive boy, requiring near constant stimulaton. The holo games were sometimes the only option. Some of them were violent, too violent for a four year old certainly, but he had managed to overwrite the parental controls in the past and Wionna suspected he'd done so again. She hated that she would have to explain how the injury had happened to doctor Slod, she just knew he'd sneer. Jackie would be sympathetic and understanding and that would almost be worse. She always spoiled George Junior. Finally, Wionna entered sickbay with George following. Jackie was sitting on the edge of a bed looking bored.
"Wionna, little Sam!" she said, running over and hugging George.
"It's George Junior and watch his arm!" said Wionna as Jackie hugged him tightly.
"I like being called Sam and my arm's fine, mom. Hi aunt Jackie!" said George. Well if his arm was fine why had he been crying and asking to go to sickbay? Surely it wasn't just to see his cool aunt.
"You hurt yourself playing holo games again, Sam?" asked Wionna.
"Yeah," he said, sadly.
"There should be more things for kids to do on this ship!" said Jackie.
"The Kelvin wasn't really meant for chldren," said Wionna, and it was true. The ship was not the ideal environment in which to raise a child, but George had been offered the position of first officer and Wionna had told him not to turn it down. She had stayed on board, not wanting to raise George Junior...Sam now apparently, away from his father. There wasn't much for Sam to do on board, other than play his holo games. There was a bowling alley on board but Sam wasn't interested in that. There was only one other child on board, a Vulcan, but George didb't mix well. Besdies, Stovak was a few years older and Vulcan children matured a lot faster than human children. He was T'Poo's sonn, and Wionna resented how T'Poo managed to raise him and still serve as ship's science officer, even though Wionna had had to step down in the same position. Wionna always worried that she was hurting Sam's development by raising him on the ship. When the mission was over, she told herself, when they next returned to Starbase, she and Sam would stay behind, with or without her husband George. Of course she had told herself this every time they were due to return to Starbase but had always ended up returning to the Kelvin. One time they had stayed at the Starbase, her and Sam, without George for a month. It had not went well.
"I'm sure little Georgie will be fine with you and your first officer husband raising him!" said Jackie, cheerily. She was being sincere, Wionna could tell, there was no hint of sarcasm. But for some reason the way she spoke still angered Wionna. What did Jackie know of raising a child?
"Where's Slod?" Wionna asked, changing the subject.
"In the morgue, looking at Commander McDougal's corpse again," said Jackie, matter of factly. Sam looked at his mother.
"Is doctor Slod a bad guy, mommy?" he asked.
"No!" said Wionna. "Jackie, don't talk about corpses in front of George, please." Commander McDougal had died of a mystery illness a few months before. It was very rare for crewmembers to get seriously ill under Commander Slod's care, and for someone to die of an illness on board the Kelvin had been unheard of...before McDougal's shocking death. Slod had spent many hours alone with McDougal's corpse since, cutting it up, trying to figure out just how it had happened.
"Sorry," said Jackie. "He's probably seen worse in those holo games anyway."
"I banned him from playing those," said Wionna.
"Sure you did, mom," said Sam, laughing and winking at Jackie. Wionna almost shouted at Sam, but restrained herself. She was not that kind of mother and she certainly wasn't going to be that kind of mother in front of Jackie of all people.
"Is Slod in a good mood today? Every time I come he seems nastier..." said Wionna.
"No, sis, trust me, you want him to be in a BAD mood. It's when he's in a good mood that he's at his nastiest. If he's having a really good day then he can be so creative and cutting with his remarks that, well, I've seen commanders leave here in tears. Honest to God. When he's in a bad mood he can't bring himself to say anything. He just shuts down, his personality anyway, becomes mechanical, gets his job done. You want him on a bad day and, luckily, today seems to be one of those...he hasn't even commented on my hair this morning."
"Because I have been averting my eyes from that monstrosity," came the ice-cold voice of Slod. Wionna was startled and she could tell Jackie was too. He was standing there, in front of the door that led to the morgue. He had not made a sound as he had entered. How did he do it?
"Doctor, I was just..."
"You're not a psycho-analyst, Nurse Bombad, and you never will be. Do not attempted to get inside my head. I assure you that the contents of my brain would be incomprehensible to such as you. Now, what seems to be the problem with your idiot nephew?"
"Hey!" said Sam. Wionna stormed over to Slod and almost poked him in the chest with her finger as she spoke.
"You will not speak that way about my son, you twisted..." She was about to say snowman but quickly realised that would be racist. "...doctor," she finished lamely.
"I do apologise," said Slod, his dark eyes meeting Wionna's own. "I should have been more creative than to simply call him an 'idiot'. It has, as your former womb mate said, been a bad day and it's only worse now that I have to tend to your...child's little injuries. If he was a Klingon child he would go without reporting his broken bones, let alone crying about them. Think about that."
"He's not a Klingon," said Wionna. She had to admit to herself that "womb mate" had been quite clever. "He's a four year old human and he's hurt. Are you going to help him or aren't you?"
"Why of course," said Slod, now smiling, an icy mockery of a smile that made Wionna shudder. "I live to heal."
Robau sat in his Ready Room chair, listening to a country music song he hadn't listened to in ten years, trying not to think about Lisa. Of course, if he really didn't want to think about Lisa he wouldn't be listening to country music and certainly not this particular song. A soppy love song they'd both pretended to hate but had secretly loved. They had known each other through most of their time in the Academy, but hey had only admitted their feelings for each other and gotten together three months before they had both been sent off on their seperate missions. Robau had quickly risen through the ranks and Lisa had been in line for the first officer position on board the Obama before the disappearance. They had both been with other people since going their seperate ways, she had even had a serious relationship (Robau had been in several relationships but he wouldn't class any of them as "serious" compared to how he'd felt about Lisa) but they'd kept in frequent contact. He missed her so much. It had been two months now and he missed her as much as when he'd first heard of her ship being lost. More, even. He didn't want to lose that feeling of missing her. He'd feel like he was betraying her if he did. He couldn't help but think about what AKB had said about the nebula. Lisa's ship had been investigating the anomolies, the same anomolies which AKB believed could send ships through time. Robau knew it was no more likely than any other explanation, but the possibility, no matter how small, that Lisa could still be out there somewhere and that he could find her again...he had to cling on to it.
But for now, he had to put it aside. Their orders were to stop the space pirates and the space pirates certainly were a threat, though Robau wondered if the admiral was perhaps over-stating that threat. Their usual weapons were simple lasers, not powerful enough to penetrate the ship's shields. Still, if the Admiral's information about a super weapon which could destroy a starship in a single shot was correct then that certainly had to be destroyed. Robau wondered who Burger's source for this information had been.
He wasn't going to find the answers with that song still playing.
"Computer, discontinue music," said Robau.
"WORKING..." said the computer. Blast these upgrades! Sure, the computer was now far more powerful than before, could store more information, had a more sophisticated artificial intelligence...but the downside was that it had to warm up every time it was called on! Fortunately this did not happen in critical scenarios, only for mundane things like playing music where the AI interface was used...but it was annoying. "MUSIC DISCONTINUED," the computer finished. Okay, it had only been a few seconds, but with the older computer it would have been instant. Ah, the price of progress...
The intercom beeped. "Come in," said Robau. George Kirk entered the room. "What can I do for you, commander?"
"Captain, I was thinking about our mission to the Noodle Nebula," said George. "Now I have the greatest faith in Starfleet command but I must say that some of Admiral Burger's commands as of late have been rather...odd."
"You're saying this on the record, commander?" said Robau, with a serious look on his face.
"Off...off the record, if possible, captain," said Kirk, trying not to look worried. Robau smiled.
"It's always good to ask to speak off the record when you're about to question your superiors, George. Just a little tip for you." Kirk relaxed a bit at this. "And I do agree with you. But the orders aren't so unreasonable that I could turn them down."
"Sir, would you ever do that? Turn down orders?" asked Kirk, intently.
"Would you, commander? Would you turn down my orders, under any circumstances?"
"Regulations do allow it, if the captain is impaired in such a way..."
"What if I wasn't impaired?" asked Robau, interrupting. He did not want to hear George just reciting regulations.
"If I was morally opposed to an action and I felt there were alternatives you had not given proper consideration? Yes, captain, yes I would."
"Good to know," said Robau. "And I already knew that would be your answer. You're not the fastest rising first officer in Starfleet for nothing."
"Well, luck may have played its part," said the ever modest George Kirk. Luck had very little to do with it, thought Robau.
"If you keep it up you could be the youngest captain in the Fleet some day soon," said Robau.
"I'm not ready," said George and there was no modesty this time. Robau nodded.
"Perhaps not," he said. "But in a few years."
"The Kelvin is a hell of a ship and I'm loving being first officer," said George. "That's enough for me."
"Still, one of those new ships would be tempting, wouldn't it?" asked Robau.
"The Constitution Class?" said George and there was a glint in his eye when he did. "They're still a while away...the size they're going to be when they're complete makes me doubt they'll ever finish one..."
"By the time the first one is finished you just might be ready," said Robau.
"I have to admit, it would be good to be on a ship that size now, with Wionna and Sam...of course, some would say that any starship is no place for children." He paused for a moment. "We're likely to see combat on this mission. I should have asked to have Sam dropped off at Starbase...Wionna too."
"Burger wouldn't allow it," said Robau.
"I should have insisted!" said George. "If I was a good father I would have."
"We are a science vessel," said Robau, with his usual calm. "Now regulations say that children can stay on board a science vessel at the captain's discretion. But given the nature of some of our missions perhaps...look, I can't tell you to raise your son, sorry..."
"Captain, it's fine. Wionna and I do need to find a solution, at least for missions like this or into unexplored areas of space. It's just that the last time they stayed on Starbase it didn't work out too well and...we'll think of something. I should be talking about it with her, not you."
"You don't have to speak to me as your captain if you're talking about family, George," said Robau. "You can speak to me as a friend." Robua wondered her Admiral Burger would react if he could hear him now. Robua had to admit that it perhaps wasn't the best idea for a captain to be close friends with his crew. A certain level of camaraderie was encouraged, but real close friendships could possibily interfere with command decisions concerning those officers. That was the official position of Starfleet and one Burger certainly subscribed to. But Robau played by his own rules and went with what worked for him and his crew. Burger didn't know what it was like, out here. Robau's friendship with George had not interfered with the running of the ship so far.
"It is good to have someone to talk to about this," said George, relieved. "Captain...Richard, you told me you lost someone you were close with on board the Obama. Do you, err, want to talk to me about that?"
"Her name was Lisa," said Robau. "She was special to me. That's about all I want to say about her right now." Kirk nodded.
"I should return to the Bridge...sir," said Kirk, standing straighter now. "We should be arriving at the nebula in just under an hour."
"That quick?" said Robua. "Yutti really is a miracle worker."
"I'm sure half the women on board would agree...a lot of the men too," said George, smiling, and he left.
