To: , ,
        , ,
        , "JustKenning"
        
From: "Jay  P Hailey" 
Reply-To: trekcreative{at}yahoogroups.com


Title: Star Trek: Outwardly Mobile
Author: Jay P Hailey (JayPHailey{at}yahoo.com) Series: MISC - TNG OCs
COdes: None
Part: 128/335(?)
Rating:[PG]
Archive: Fine with me, just tell me where. Disclaimer: Paramount owns all
things Star Trek.  I claim Original Characters and Situations for me.
Webpage HTTP://www.phoenixinn.iwarp.com/jayphailey

    Through the Looking Glass: Episode 128
    by
    Jay P. Hailey
    And
    Dennnis Washburn

    "I think that you survivors should butt out, frankly." I said.

    Aaron grinned. "That was the general suggestion when we included the
Federation in on these discussions."

    "What?" I was shocked again.

    "A few years ago, some one, either Guinan or Boothby brought up the
point that we were once again being arrogant to debate the question without
all the participants. The President, the Commander-in-Chief and few of the
highest staff members were appraised of the question and asked to voice an
opinion on the matter. They were almost unanimous on their opinion. They
asked the organized survivors to leave."

    "Boothby? You mean like the gardener at Starfleet Academy?" I asked.

    "Yes. He enjoys watching the new classes of young people get educated
and prepared to go out and explore space. He drops the right word here and
there to keep them on course. To him it's an extension of his
gardening." Aaron explained. He seemed bemused. At least that
explained why Boothby hadn't dropped dead of old age by now. He looked old
when he started at the Academy some time in the 2310s.

    "Okay, so this colony is composed of El-Aurians?" I asked.

    "Yes. We are the individuals who are going to found a new El-Au if
possible." Aaron said. "That's why we're being taken out to a
point a thousand light years away. It's hoped that the Federation will be
able to handle a relationship with El-Alurian culture if it ever expands
that far."

    "Is one thousand light years far enough? What about Guinan and Boothby
and the El-Aurians left behind?" I asked.

    Aaron laughed. "I knew you'd see reason eventually, Captain. Do you
agree with the mission now?"

    "Yes. What about the others?" It was important. Once a Federation
undercover mission to a less developed culture was exposed, they were
always evacuated completely. The primitive natives often searched
obsessively for further evidence of alien invasions. I was afraid that
people like Guinan and Boothby represented contamination that would grow
with time.

    "They were the champions of the pro-Prime Directive faction. Neither one
of them was a technician back home, anyway." Aaron explained.

    "But, but..." I said. Did dropping words of wisdom count as
interference? They lived only with the technology available to us. Were
they in fact a contamination, or were they part of the growing culture of
the Federation? That was an interesting question.

    "The people on this colonization mission are the core of the
pro-interference faction. With them out of the way, the interference
question has been resolved." Aaron said.

    We slowly and painfully climbed down out of the Rosinante. I told
Commander Mendez that I was back, and then I went to my quarters to shower
and to take a nap. I wasn't even tempted by Elizabeth's desert. Well, maybe
a little.

    -*-

    I briefed my command crew on what I had learned about the colonization
mission. Admiral Necheyev probably wouldn't approve of spreading it that
far, but I wanted the people in charge of making decisions on the Discovery
to be fully aware of what they were dealing with.

    I also made Aaron give me complete medical and personnel records. He
didn't want to but I offered to place them under command overrides and he
relented. His information gave me even more incentive to assure that we
could complete the mission.

    -*-

    "I am General Kalak. You have been assigned to the fleet of Chancellor
Gowron. You will follow my orders explicitly and instantly." The
Klingon fleet commander was big man with gray hair and fine scars on his
body attesting to his prowess as a warrior.

    The fleet was similar to the one that had escorted the Harrier through
Klingon territory about a year earlier. One of the big Vor'cha class
cruiser and two of the K'Vort class bird-of-prey cruisers.

    "Aye, Sir." I said

    "Good. We will set out in two of your hours. When we do, assume your
cruise mode and fall into formation as indicated."

    "Aye, Sir." I said.

    The channel was cut. "Okay, everyone. Compile all reports, and all
letters for home. After we're inside, we'll be running under subspace radio
silence." I said. The Discovery prepared to enter the next phase of
our mission.

    -*-

    The Discovery slipped into Klingon territory. We were as quiet as six
hundred meter multi-thousand ton mice could be. Gowron agreed to let the us
pass through Klingon territory, but he wasn't happy about it. He was under
a lot of pressure from Klingon factions that felt he was too soft on the
Federation. The worst of the critics called him a lap-dog of the humans and
challenged him to start a war with us. If the general knowledge was let out
that he Federation scouting ships pass through Klingon territory then his
reputation would suffer accordingly.

    I don't know what the Federation offered in exchange, but I wanted us
not to be any sort of trouble for the Klingon leader. The Klingon solution
for a problem like us would be fairly direct.

    -*-

    "Captain. I have a sensor contact." Kamaline said. She was the
Discovery's Chief Science Officer. She was substituting for Lt. Commander
McCoy on the bridge watch for the day.

    "Identify it, Lieutenant." I said. I was pretty sure that Kamaline
wouldn't have brought it to my attention if she didn't feel that it was important.

    "I can't positively identify it, but It seems to be a piece of metallic
debris." Kamaline said.

    Ordinarily I would have ordered the Discovery to alter course to take a
look at it. Now we were part of General Kalak's fleet.

    "Any details?" I asked.

    "It weighs about three million metric tons." Kamaline said.

    "That's big." I said. It was about the size of Earth's Space Dock.
"Probably just an iron-nickel asteroid." I speculated.

    "Possibly, sir." Kamaline said. I could tell that she didn't like that
assumption. Whatever it was needed to be looked at rather than dismissed out of hand.

    "Keep an eye on it. If we get more details then maybe we can take it to
General Kalak. I don't want to push the issue until we know more." I said.

    -*-

    Later, we made our closest pass. Kamaline directed a low powered scan at
the object for a long time and then combined the results of the long scan
for better resolution.

    The object gave every appearance of being artificial. We only had the
basic blurry visual scan, and a little data about its composition.

    "Hail the General." I said.

    Eventually General Kalak appeared on our screen. "What is it, Captain?"
He said patiently.

    "General, we have scanned an object." I gave him the range and bearing.
"It appears to be artificial. I would like permission to detour
briefly and investigate it a little."

    He sighed. "My own crew has scanned this object. It has no power
readings and no weapons showing. It poses no threat. I see no reason to
investigate it."

    "We have no way of knowing what it might reveal until we check it out,
Sir." I wheedled.

    "We are on an important mission, Captain. Is it worth delaying to check
out some derelict?" Kalak said with a little irritation.

    "Again, I don't know, Sir. There's a small chance that it is. We won't
know until we take the actions necessary to find out." I said.

    "I see now why you Starfleet types get into so much trouble. Are there
any corners you won't poke you nose into?" General Kalak asked.

    "No, Sir. It's my job." I said.

    "Hold on." Kalak said.

    The channel went dark.

    -*-

    Gowron appeared on my screen ten minutes later. "What is the meaning of
this?" He said. His eyes were bugging out like a frog's and he snarled.

    "We have detected an object adrift in space, Chancellor. We are seeking
permission to investigate it." I said.

    "Where is it?" He asked.

    I gave him the coordinates. "That's inside Klingon space, isn't it?" He
asked.

    "Yes, Sir."

    "Then it's a Klingon problem, Captain." He said.

    "I beg your pardon Chancellor. I remind you that the Discovery was built
originally as an explorer. We may be better equipped to give you
information on this object than a Klingon unit." I said carefully.

    "Are you implying that your ship is better at this sort investigation
than a Klingon ship?!" Gowron said dangerously.

    "Yes, Sir. No one fights better than the Klingons. You're respected and
feared throughout the quadrant for your skills in battle. That doesn't mean
that you're the best at everything. Earth people are not as good at
fighting, but we do have our uses." I said.

    Gowron thought about it. "I agree, conditionally. One you will report
all of your findings to General Kalak. Secondly you will not trouble me in
this way again."

    "Yes, Sir."

    "Very good, Captain. Proceed with your mission."

    -*-

    The object was a sub-light colony ship. It had been adrift for
approximately three million years. Everything even remotely vulnerable had
aged away in three million years. We found the ruins of cold sleep tube.
The life forms in them had faded away to dust. It had an extensive computer
library. The information in it had long since degraded into randomness. A
few pictures and books survived. It had some sort of silicon based plastic
in many of the fittings and furniture. The furniture was still sturdy and
usable. The silicon based plastic had simply degraded to rock. The seals on
the airlocks and cargo bays had long since degraded to rock and let the
atmosphere out. Tricorder readings said that the atmosphere was hydrogen
and a few other elements. The exact make up as random gas floating in
space. That wasn't what the original owners of the derelict breathed. The
random space gasses had been invading the derelict for long enough to
obscure the traces of what the atmosphere really was.

    We were able to uncover only the most tantalizing and frustrating of
hints about the people who built the thing.

    The one thing that made us sit up and take notice was the material that
the hull was constructed of. A weird metal existed partially in an energy
state. It absorbed radiation and kinetic energy and fed it into batteries
on the derelict. Some of it was still intact. It looked like some sort of
memory metal that used energy to rebuild itself. The technology was really
incredible.

    After a few days, we completed a preliminary scan and data gathering.
General Kalak said that we had enough for Gowron to make a decision about
what to do next. We buttoned up and left.

    A few days later, I received a strongly worded message from Admiral
Necheyev about what a bad idea it was to rock Gowron's boat.

    It looked like a long boring ride through Klingon Territory.


------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
Buy Natural Vitamins for Good Prostate & Male Health. $28.97
http://www.challengerone.com/t/l.asp?cid=2865&lp=prosta2.html
http://us.click.yahoo.com/qJIe0D/89VGAA/ySSFAA/TpIolB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->

Star Trek; The E-mail Commands

Post message: trekcreative{at}yahoogroups.com Subscribe:
trekcreative-subscribe{at}yahoogroups.com Unsubscribe:
trekcreative-unsubscribe{at}yahoogroups.com List owner:
trekcreative-owner{at}yahoogroups.com Get Digest:
trekcreative-digest{at}yahoogroups.com Web only: 
trekcreative-nomail{at}yahoogroups.com Normal: trekcreative-normal{at}egroups.com

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

--- BBBS/NT v4.01 Flag-4