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: 125/335(?)
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
    by
    Jay P. Hailey
    And
    Dennnis Washburn

    We were standing on the bridge of a starship. It looked almost familiar.
The crew members were all well adjusted, healthy looking El-Aurians. They
had uniforms of soft chamois like material, done in light pastel colors.

    The Captain's chair was in the right place, in the middle of the bridge
where she could watch over all the rest of the action. There was the
Engineering Station. I'd recognize it anywhere. I could spot a few of the
others by position or function, but there were a couple that were
mysterious to me.

    "What's this?" I asked.

    "This is a starship of the First Empire." Aaron told me.
"She was one of
a fleet that explored space and enforced the enlightened rule of the
El-Alurian Empire."

    "The El-Aurian Empire?" I asked.

    "Finding a stable interstellar government type took a while. Our version
was a little more direct than your Federation, but it served basically the
same purpose."

    "And that is?"

    "To provide a sort of common cultural bond across different planets and
different cultures." Aaron explained.

    "How many planets are in this Empire?" I asked.

    "About a hundred and fifty. I chose to show you this time because it
mirrors the Federation in many ways."

    "And what ship is this?" I asked looking around at the sleek expression
of El-Alurian technology.

    "This one was used as the model. The Flagship as it were. Her name was
passed along to ships in subsequent generations. You might call her the
Enterprise." He grinned.

    An officer turned to the Captain. "I have a sensor contact, Captain."

    "On screen." The Captain said. She was a handsome woman who radiated
calm and authority.

    The screen lit up to show a standard Orion Raider. "What?" I said,
shocked.

    "Yes, The Orion Empire was much larger in this time period than you are
used to. They are the chief rivals for power in the region with us." Aaron said.

    "Damn them." The Captain said coldly. "Our claim to this area was
confirmed by the treaty."

    "How long ago was this?" I asked Aaron.

    "He's seen us. He's running." I guessed the man was the Tactical
Officer.

    "Helm, plot course to intercept." The Captain ordered.

    "Aye, Sir." The "Enterprise" swung around and sped
after her Orion prey.

    "A few hundred years later. It doesn't take great Empires long to reach
this size." Aaron said.

    "The Orions haven't changed their ship designs in five thousand
years?!"
I was stunned.

    "If it works, then why change it? We'll be seeing more of that kind of
thought process in a moment."

    "How could they keep the same design for five thousand years?" I asked.
The longest any starship design had been used in the Federation was about 90 years.

    "The Orions have had many periods of expansion and contraction. They use
the same designs and procedures as a sort of tradition. I don't think they
even recall how big they've been or long they've been going." Aaron
explained. "But we're not here to talk about the Orions."

    Things changed.

    -*-

    We were standing in a sort of atrium or courtyard. I say sort of because
it was about half a kilometer wide. All around I could see fabulous
buildings. At the head of the large open space, there was a brilliantly lit
ziggurat of glass and steel. Above us, the sky was littered with ships and
stations.

    Around us, there were people dressed in flashy, baroque fashions. They
stood in small groups and spoke with quiet, self confident voices.

    "Wow." I said.

    "This is El-Au again." Aaron said. "This is the palace
of the Emperor."

    "How far does this extend?" I asked.

    "You would consider the Palace and administration complex here a good
sized city." Aaron said.

    "When are we?" I asked.

    "This is a couple of thousand years later." Aaron said.
"On Earth, the
Great Pyramid of Khufu is nearing completion."

    "Wow!"

    "This is the Second El-Aurian Empire." Aaron said.
"That's a historian's
conceit. There was continuity between the two phases. The naming of the two
phases was poetic but appropriate." Aaron said.

    "How so?"

    "The two phases are completely different in mind set." Aaron said.
"About the time the first Empire hit five hundred worlds under its
domination, expansion in terms of territory and technology was deliberately
stopped."

    "Why?" I asked.

    "The job of administering planets in a multi-planet nation becomes
geometrically more difficult as the number of planets grows." Aaron
explained. "Changing technology simply exacerbates the problem."

    "But to just stop..." I couldn't picture it.

    "Remember that we have just crossed two thousand years of our history in
a single jump. Later historians have spent their whole lives studying the
change between the First and Second Empires." Aaron looked at me
" And we live longer than Humans. I'm just summarizing here."

    "Haven't they met anyone more technologically advanced?" I asked.

    "Has the Federation?" Aaron asked.

    "Until you, only the Borg." I said.

    "Not true. Look above." Aaron reached out caged a piece of the crowded
sky with his hands. "Magnify."

    I saw the view expand to focus on one of the ships in orbit. It was a
large egg shape with sails draped from complicated struts. "My
God!" It was a Bajoran star-sailor. It was bigger than any account I'd
ever heard of.

    Aaron dropped his hands "The Bajorans are more advanced. To advanced
races, technology isn't a serious issue."

    "Really?" I couldn't see that either.

    Aaron said "On an absolute scale, The Federation is about as advanced as
any humanoid civilization gets before starting to move in a different
direction. On a relative scale, you've got a long way to go, but it's all
just detail. There won't be anything in a thousand years in the Federation
that you couldn't eventually figure out yourself."

    "You think so?" I asked.

    "Yes, but that was part of the debate about the Borg. Bear with me."
Aaron continued. "The Second Empire is in a consolidation phase,
securing what it holds, before it reaches out its grasp for more."

    "Uh huh." I said.

    Things changed.


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