#maybe she should have trusted that something that has been keeping the Vulcans and Klingons in peace for hundreds of years would work

[45780]

Spock: I want to apologise for my role in last night's dinner

Chapel: you don't have to apologise. None of this is about you.

Spock, brother of Michael Burnham the woman who Starfleet says started the Klingon war despite her not succeeding in her mutiny and if she had succeeded would have saved his girlfriend from having PTSD: *internal screaming*

#christine chapel #star trek #star trek discovery #michael burnham #star trek snw #s'chn t'gai spock #spock #strange new worlds #i saw your eyes mister STOP FEELING GUILTY #blame Prime Georgiou for not listening to either your sister or your father #maybe she should have trusted that something that has been keeping the Vulcans and Klingons in peace for hundreds of years would work #Michael Burnham did not start the Klingon war #she was just a scapegoat

[sshbpodcast]

Tales from the Holodeck: DS9 Fanfic: Chris’s Story

Not only has A Star to Steer Her By wrapped all of Deep Space Nine, but your podcast hosts are also celebrating our fifth anniversary of bringing you through all of Star Trek! As a treat, we’ve concocted DS9-themed fanfic stories and teleplays in our much-celebrated “Tales from the Holodeck” series that you can listen to us cold read here (this one starts at 39:05). Read on for the transcript of Chris’s Weyoun-Ee’char story below, that might pilot a whole new series we’re all asking for!

[images © Paramount/CBS]

“Dude, Where’s My Ee’char?”

By Chris

Random picks: Weyoun, Ee’char

“Tea, earl grey, hot?”

Miles O’Brien instinctively glanced up at those words. Surely not. Sure enough, a lanky Andorian walked up to the counter and accepted the drink that had been called out. Admiral Picard – well, not Admiral, anymore, but even thinking of him as “Jean-Luc” was bizarre to O’Brien – had less than no reason to be hanging around Starfleet Academy. Or Starfleet anything, for that matter.

“Not that I can entirely blame him,” he mused to himself, going back to the PADD containing last week’s warp field dynamics exam. “Nothing’s felt right since Romulus was destroyed. And then Mars…maybe Keiko’s right. Maybe it’s time to retire.”

He sighed and put down his stylus. Twenty years of teaching at Starfleet academy and even he could see how things were shifting. The students grew less and less enthused, dropout rates going up, those that did stay becoming so by-the-book when it came to everything that it was maddening.

“They’re just lacking in imagination,” he’d moaned to Keiko one day. “If I’d thought like them we’d’ve never got the Defiant working like she did. They think the deflector array is just for deflecting things.”

He had immediately realized how ridiculous and old-mannish it had sounded. But even his wife had been on Starfleet ships long enough to get it. Everything on a ship potentially had a purpose no one had ever dreamed of, and dreaming it up in that critical moment could be the difference between getting the ship home and a warp core breach.

“Professor O’Brien?” came a strangely-familiar voice from behind him. He turned and saw what he thought, at first, must have been a Romulan because they were smiling. And there was a sardonic edge to the tone that didn’t seem terribly Vulcan, either. But the fellow had that waxlike pallor that was unique to the latter, something their cousin species had evolved away over their centuries apart.

“Yes. Can I help you?”

“No, but my employer believes he can help you.”

Well, this was shady. Was Section 31 out for belated revenge? Maybe someone had finally slipped in Starfleet Intelligence and the Orion syndicate found out he’d worked undercover against them? Could it be that some T’Lani was still cross about what he and Julian had revealed about their corruption? The grudge could’ve gone further back; someone related to the incident at Setlik III had tracked him down. Christ, for someone who’d only ever been an engineer he’d sure managed to pile up a list of old enemies that could come calling. Ought to at least make him an honorary Commander for that.

“And he would be?”

“An old friend.” The mystery man reached into a pocket and pulled out a small, red figurine. The coonskin cap was unmistakable. “He said this would explain. He remembers the hours you and the good Doctor spent on this.”

So it wasn’t Julian, but someone who knew how they’d passed their time in their DS9 days. Didn’t rule out Section 31, or necessarily a few others, but it did make him feel a little better. He realized the man was still holding out the figure to him, so he reached out and took it, putting it in the bag he’d been carrying his PADD and some miscellany in.

“My employer understands that you’re too cautious a man to just meet somewhere.” The man’s voice – what was it that was so familiar? – had dropped even further. “Be at your desk in twenty minutes. A signal will come in. Use the code on the bottom of the figure.”

The man turned without another word and strode off. O’Brien raised his eyebrows and watched him go. He’d have to tell Julian about this next time they talked; he’d be jealous. Goodness knows how long it had been since his old friend had been involved in any cloak-and-dagger shenanigans.

*

Despite everything O’Brien was a little surprised when, back at his desk, his computer began to chirp. The text on the screen read “incoming external transmission”. External transmissions were always supposed to go through central comms; only an Admiral could bypass that procedure, normally. He turned the little figure over and punched in the numbers he saw there.

“Ah, my dear Professor O’Brien!”

“Ga-” O’Brien stopped himself. For some reason he felt if he said the full name of the Cardassian now grinning at him from the screen it would just summon the whole of Starfleet security. Just behind him and to his left stood the mystery Vulcan/Romulan from the cafe.

“You look well, Professor,” Garak continued, not acknowledging whether or not he had caught the Engineer’s odd outburst.

“Having you call me that is a bit weird,” O’Brien admitted. “How about Chief? I think that’s still technically my rank.”

“Very well, Chief. I believe you know my associate?”

“Not that I can remember.”

“Oh, how silly of me,” the man said, reaching up. “I still have the mask on.”

His hand slid down his face, and the telltale webbing of a holographic disguise flickered to life as the pallor, eyebrows, and eyes vanished. Instead there was a very different kind of pointed ear, skin like powder, and violently violet eyes.

“Weyoun…”

“Yes, it would seem there were, in fact, a few leftover despite what we had been told.” Garak smirked in that old, familiar, entirely unsettling way of his. “It seems they just meant their Alpha Quadrant supply.”

“Of course, I’m now the actual, final one,” Weyoun added. “Garak here found me right before I was…discarded. My predecessors had not been quite so lucky.”

“Is that where you’ve been the past two decades then?” O’Brien asked. “The Gamma Quadrant?”

“Mostly.” Garak raised his brow briefly. “Someone has to keep an eye on the Dominion. Starfleet Intelligence can hardly be trusted to do it on their own, the Romulans are too busy trying to keep their culture intact, and Klingons have never had a spy agency in their entire recorded history.”

“I see.”

“I came across a story that I thought might interest you.” He glanced down and pecked a few buttons just off-camera, and a ping sounded on the Chief’s computer. “Look particularly carefully at the upper left-hand corner of the screen. It was a pleasure to see you, Chief.”

“Wait…”

But Garak was already gone. O’Brien knew there’d be no point in asking for a trace. Should he report this? He was supposed to, certainly. But this was Garak. O’Brien…well, okay, to say he trusted Garak would be a staggering lie. But he certainly felt like both the Federation and he personally owed him enough that he could be allowed this little indulgence. At least once.

Decision made, O’Brien opened the message he’d been sent. He winced when he recognized rather quickly the world of Argratha. It had all the appearance of a news story of some kind. But the Universal Translator hadn’t caught up to the shift, so he started over and paused it.

Argratha. He’d been twice. The second time some fifteen years later, to testify at a public hearing about his experiences the first time. What his false-memory twenty year imprisonment had been like. There was talk at the time of abandoning the practice; it made the judicial process too casual, too many false guilty charges because, for those who’d never experienced it, what was really lost? The Chief and countless others had told them. How real the time felt, and how cruel the simulation was. He’d told the Special Envoy who’d arranged for him to go that he felt he deserved a medal for how calm he’d been during his testimony. The Envoy had chuckled until the Chief’s expression had told him he had very much meant it.

He started the story up again. When he’d not heard anything for months after his testimony he’d assumed the reforms had failed and the sick practice was still going on. But in fact it had simply taken a bit of extra time and work. The story was about the closing of the final facility that had run such incarcerations. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to weep or go celebrate. He was going to call Keiko straightaway, that much was…

The upper left hand corner.

“No.”

He had almost forgotten to look.

“No.”

Despite it being the entire reason Garak had dropped by.

“Fuck.”

Ee’char. His “imaginary” cellmate. Standing among the crowd of politicians and other self-congratulatory types formally shutting the program down. Almost identical to the twenty-year-older Ee’char from his memories, though one that had clearly lived a somewhat less wretched life. One who’d gotten proper meals and sleep and care, just like O’Brien had.

But did he have the false twenty years that still occasionally wafted into his nightmares and had him waking in a cold sweat? Did he still, on rare occasions, almost set aside a bit of his meal before realizing saving it wasn’t necessary?

“In short, friend,” the Chief said aloud. “Who the fuck are you?”

*

He was glad the stopover at DS9 to switch transports had been short. None of the old crew were there, anymore, but he was fairly certain he was at least vaguely acquainted with some of the Stafleet staff that still maintained a presence on the Bajoran station, and the last thing he wanted to be was some old man wandering around his old posting looking worn and nostalgic. Even Quark had shipped out for Freecloud. A part of him had been tempted to see if Morn was still at his usual seat in whatever the bar was called now, assuming it was even still a bar. But he had just stayed in the docking ring and then made his way to the next leg of his journey.

He spent the flight through the wormhole standing by a window with just about everyone else. He realized that he’d never gone through it after the War had ended, so it was his first time making the journey in ages that he wasn’t expecting to potentially die on the other end. It was so nice to just watch it, to get lost in its beauty, and vaguely wonder if Sisko was watching him just then.

*

O’Brien stood in the space between two homes, watching as a car slid noiselessly from the sky and halted in front of the house. Finding his old friend had been much easier than he’d expected; Garak had encoded everything he needed to find the man in the newsclip he’d sent. A door hissed open and the old Argrathan stepped out. He exchanged inaudible words with someone in the vehicle before the door shut and it lazily drifted back into the sky. O’Brien glanced around. No one else seemed to be coming. He watched as the other man walked towards the his home.

The Chief darted from the shadows and jogged across the street. If Ee’char heard him he showed no sign. O’Brien reached up, paused, and then gently tapped the other man on the shoulder. He gasped and spun.

“Yes?” he asked.

“I’m…ah…I’m Miles O’Brien.”

“Oh. Oh! Yes, yes, I remember watching your testimony.” He held out a hand “Ko’vax.”

“A pleasure,” the Chief replied, taking his hand and shaking it.

“But why did you come to see me?”

“We…well, we were cellmates, you see.”

“Were we?” He nodded slowly. “Well. Someone had quite the sense of humor.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve been arguing against our mental prisons for a very long time.” His lips went slender and he glanced off. “Please. Come in, have a warm drink.”

“I…sure, thank you.”

*

“I never had the misfortune of experiencing what you or so many others did,” Ko’vax explained, putting down what seemed effectively to be a mug in front of O’Brien. “But my father did.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Thank you.” He picked up his own mug, almost took a drink, but didn’t and put it down. “His story was similar to so many others. To yours. Adjusting was so hard. Too hard. They don’t offer any kind of help to reintegrate to society. To help you deal with the fact that you’ve not actually lost any time but it still feels like a huge swathe of your life is gone. That might be worse than actually losing time. I don’t know.”

“Neither do I. I’ve never had the real version.”

“He lasted…half a year. My brother found him.” Ko’vax paused and took a sip of his drink, and the Chief finally did automatically. Not that he took any note of the flavor. “I’d already started writing letters, but I got more active after that. Showed up at politician’s doorsteps. Showed up and shouted at meetings that had nothing to do with it. Became a real pain.”

“Must’ve been afraid they’d…well, you know.”

“Oh, sure. But I didn’t care. Let them. Let them put me in a fifty year dream, a century, I knew I’d be fine. I’d have my rage to see me through.” He sighed. “I was so angry for so long. I mean, I never stopped being angry, but you can’t be as constantly angry as I was at first. That would be impossible.”

“So what happened?”

“I lived my life. But I never stopped my campaigning. Whatever free moment I could scrounge up was spent talking with others who shared my goal. I guess someone thought it would be a good laugh to have a cellmate based on the man who hated them and their program so damn much.” He smiled. “But then I got to be there today. When it all ended. Thanks to so many people. Like you.”

“I…” The Chief paused. “I’m glad I could help.”

“So what made you come to see me?”

“I wasn’t sure who you were, to be honest. Outside of looking like Ee’char. That was his name.” He paused. “I guess a part of me was almost hoping you’d been part of it somehow. So I could let you have it. And feel less bad about…how things went between me and the other you.”

“We didn’t get along, eh?”

“We did, eventually. And then for a long time. But then, towards the end…”

“It gets particularly bad, yes. Everyone says that.”

“Well. Glad to know it wasn’t just me getting special treatment, I suppose.” O’Brien took another drink. Now that he was paying attention he realized it was very pleasant. He’d have to find out what it was and bring some home. “We fought. You…he…I killed him.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You’ve nothing to apologize for. I killed you. Sort of.”

“I’m sorry on behalf of a government that will never properly apologize fo anyone affected by their sick little program because they think it’s just fine. They are giving it up with great reluctance you can be sure.” He paused. “And I’m sorry you were driven to that. I know we’ve barely met but you don’t seem the type. So it must have been truly awful to drive you that far.”

“I guess so. I hope so.” He paused. “I don’t know. I’d killed before. Served in one war already by then. But this was something else. Something that still comes up at me in the wee hours. Every time I’d killed before then I could justify it as having been for my survival. And that’s what I told myself it was that time, but I’d not actually proven that first. I told myself it must have been so I could.”

“I wish I could help. I’m almost sorry I’m not who you thought I was.” He shrugged. “If it helps, well…I didn’t go what you went through, but I saw firsthand what it does to people. I know how real it can seem, even to those who go in knowing it isn’t. You had no idea. I’m sorry they used my face as part of your torture. But, if it helps…well, I forgive you. On behalf of the false me. And I only wish you the best.”

“Thanks.” He smiled, nodded. “That actually is nice to hear, somehow.”

*

The wormhole again. Its eddies and currents and majesty unchanged even as the twenty years around it had entirely altered O’Brien’s world. Why had the gone all the way to the Gamma Quadrant? What would he have done if Ko’vax had been involved somehow? Certainly not killed him. Shouted for a bit? What good would that have done? But what good had this done? No. Time to move on. Figure out what’s next. He’d been in neutral for far too long, and…

“Oh, I know that look,” came a voice to his side that he scarcely believed he was hearing. “That is the look of the Chief when everything seems against him. When things have stopped making sense.”

O’Brien turned. There, not looking a day older when he’d last seen him, still in the now very out-of-date uniform, stood Captain Sisko.

“Well, Chief. It’s time for things to start making sense again. And I’m going to need your help.”

The End

—

For more DS9 fanfic, check out Caitlin, Jake, and Ames’s stories from this round of Tales from the Holodeck! And be sure to keep listening to new episodes every Thursday on SoundCloud, follow us on Facebook and Twitter, and stay out of brain jail if you can. Jay-sus.

#star trek #star trek deep space 9 #ds9 #fanfic #star trek fanfiction #ds9 fanfiction #weyoun #ee'char #miles o'brien #garak #hard time

[summahsunlight]

This Way Became My Journey, Ch. 23

While the computer was running its diagnostic on the alien device, B'Elanna Torres had snuck away to the mess hall to grab a ration pack for lunch. Well maybe she hadn't really snuck away; Captain Janeway had after all given her permission to take a small break. But it sure felt like sneaking away, with Michael breathing down her neck wanting to know every little thing that came up about the device. Snatching a ration pack up she went to join a Bajoran, by the name of Seska, who was sitting at a table in the middle of the room.

"I didn't think Janeway was ever going to let you leave the bridge," Seska drawled with that sly grin of hers as B'Elanna took a seat.

B'Elanna shrugged her shoulders. "I think she felt bad that her kid was watching over everything I did. Anyways I don't have a lot of time. I need to get back up there to finish working on that device that Chakotay brought back from the planetoid."

"If you ask me this is a waste of time," Seska replied, pushing her empty ration pack to the side. "We shouldn't be chasing after any aliens that like to harvest organs. It could end up getting us all killed."

"Neelix could die if we don't track them down," B'Elanna said, slightly shocked by her friend's cold tone.

It was Seska's turn to shrug her tiny shoulders. "The Doctor has kept him alive this long; that's better than most people can say if they had just had their lungs stolen."

"And what if it was Chakotay that had been attacked? Or Harry? Would you feel the same way?"

"Of course. Neelix should be counting his blessings while the rest of us get to the real work of finding dilithium to help the power shortage," Seska answered, her dark eyes studying B'Elanna's face. "You don't actually agree with Janeway's decision to go chasing after these aliens do you?"

B'Elanna averted her eyes. "To tell you the truth, I think it's rather noble."

Seska scoffed. "One noble deed doesn't make up for her selfish decision to strand us here."

The hatred for Janeway that was laced in Seska's voice was not lost on B'Elanna and the young Klingon woman suddenly found that she was not hungry anymore. Pushing the tray away from her, she looked her friend, or someone she had once regarded as a friend, in the eye. "Seska, I know it hasn't been easy the past month, adjusting to life on a Starfleet ship, but believe me when I say that Captain Janeway has the best intentions of this entire crew at heart."

"You didn't think that way a month ago," Seska pointed out.

B'Elanna shook her head. "No, I didn't. But the past few weeks I've worked closely with her and my opinion has changed. If we had used the array to get home, there would have been people back in the Alpha Quadrant who thought her decision to sacrifice the Ocampa selfish. Either way, she couldn't win."

Seska got up from the table angrily. "You're starting to sound like all those delusional Starfleet idiots."

The Chief Engineer watched as the Bajoran left the table and stalked out of the mess hall. B'Elanna wasn't sure why Seska was having the hardest adjustment out of them all. Perhaps she felt like she had been slighted by Janeway when she wasn't given a higher rank, after all, she was Chakotay's former lover. And then there was B'Elanna's promotion to chief engineer. It was never spoken between the two, but B'Elanna knew that Seska was jealous of her friend's promotion and the trust that Janeway put in her. She also knew that Seska wasn't too keen on all time the B'Elanna had taken to hanging out with Harry Kim in the mess hall or for a stroll on the holodeck. But Harry had been the only one nice to her, on the Starfleet side that is, for their first few days, and she was grateful for that.

It wasn't her fault that she was sliding into fit with the crew and Seska was struggling. She just needs to make friends outside of the Maquis, that's all. 

B'Elanna decided that the next time Harry joined her for dinner she was going to ask Seska to join them. She was sure that Harry would be friendly and make an attempt to befriend Seska no matter how unreceptive Seska seemed.

Speaking of Harry, B'Elanna was sure that Janeway had given him a fifteen minute break to eat something as well. Maybe she had missed him when she had first come in the room. Glancing around she soon found that it had been easy to miss him. He was seated at a corner table with Sarah Barrett. B'Elanna instantly felt…jealousy.

She was shocked by this, at first. There was nothing romantically going on between her and Harry so she shouldn't be bothered if there was something between him and the counselor. But then she remembered Elle Platt, back from her Academy days. Elle had the same dark, coffee brown hair as Sarah, same enticing sapphire eyes. B'Elanna had thought Elle had been her friend and had told her about her crush on one of their classmates. They never spoke of it again, until B'Elanna had seen Elle with her crush, cuddling on the lawn one warm afternoon. Elle later told her some story about wanting to keep B'Elanna safe because she only would have been hurt, that her crush never would have dated a half Klingon.

B'Elanna, who had always resented human girls, with their silky locks of hair, and smooth foreheads, had shortly left the Academy after that. So was it this fact that Sarah looked so much like Elle that she was jealous of the time she spent with Harry? And if she ever did want to be more than Harry's friend, how could she compete with the perfection that Sarah was?

She was shocked at this realization. Being more than Harry's friend? He was Starfleet, a nice guy, but still Starfleet. Well what's so wrong with that? They had been through so much together on the Ocampa home world, she had connected with him in a way that she had yet to connect to anyone else on the ship, with maybe the exception of Chakotay. And that's when her emotions switched to jealousy to downright anger.

Sarah could have any man she wanted on this ship, with the bat of her pretty little eyelashes, why was she with Harry? Good, even Tom Paris was eating out of the palm of her hand and she had taken the one guy that B'Elanna actually felt…feelings towards. It figures the one nice guy on this ship— 

"Seat taken?"

B'Elanna glanced up to see Tom Paris. She shook her head. "No."

He sat down and dropped his ration pack tray in front of him. His grayish eyes looked up to see what she was looking at and he frowned.

This peaked her curiosity even more. Was Tom's feelings about Sarah more than just wanting a date? B'Elanna suddenly didn't feel so bad that she was not the only one who was jealous on this ship. "Something wrong with the view?" she teased.

Tom only frowned more as Harry and Sarah got up and left the mess hall together, laughing about something. "No, nothing's wrong with the view."

"If I didn't know you any better Paris, I'd say you were jealous," she continued teasing getting up from the table and going to recycle her tray. It was time to get back to working on the alien device and the diagnostic. She would have to push thoughts of Harry aside until further notice.

However, the thoughts of Harry and Sarah eating lunch together, sharing a laugh, just would not escape her no matter how hard she tried to get her work done. Michael Janeway was still standing over her shoulder, soaking in every last bit of information that the computer was coming up with. If that kept up he could his mother the report and B'Elanna could return to engineering where her real work was.

Mindlessly drumming her fingers on the console she noticed Tuvok raise an eyebrow. "Does that form of activity make the computer scan faster?" the Vulcan questioned her.

"No, but it keeps me occupied while we wait." The doors of the bridge swishing open brought her attention about and Paris strode back onto the bridge, no trace of the frown he had worn in the mess hall. How can he let it go so easily? Oh, that's right, he's a pig. He probably has another love interest lined up behind Sarah and the Delaney sisters.

The computer beeping brought her attention about. "Captain," she called out, getting Janeway's attention. "We've completed our diagnostic on the alien device."

Janeway strode over to join the group, which was an odd mix when you really thought about it; a Vulcan, a five year old human boy, and a half Klingon. "What have you got?"

"It appears to be more than a weapon," B'Elanna reported. "It's also a very sophisticated medical scanner and surgical instrument."

"From what we can tell," Tuvok said, handing the device to Janeway, "it uses a neural resonator to stun the victim while a quantum imaging scanner begins a microcellular analysis of the entire body.

"The amount of information this thing can gather puts a tricorder to shame," B'Elanna continued. "You fire this at someone you learn everything about their anatomy, right down to their DNA sequencing."

Janeway turned the device over in her hands. "So we're dealing with aliens who've developed a technology specifically designed for extracting organs from other beings. The question is…why?" Chakotay demanded her attention and she mindlessly put the device down onto the science console.

"The alien ship has dropped out of warp," the first officer reported. "It's approaching a large asteroid."

The captain went to stand on the command station next to Lieutenant Barrett while Tuvok took his own station. "On screen."

"It's entered the asteroid captain," Paris reported.

"Hold position."

There were very little options that Janeway had at this moment. She could either take the ship into the asteroid if it was wide enough or she could try to flush the aliens out some how. But that could take hours, and Neelix didn't have hours. Even though the Doctor had come up with a solution for the time being, no one really knew how long he could survive using holographic lungs, not to mention that if ship's system ever went down and the emitters went off line, Neelix would die.

"MICHAEL!"

The shear volume of Lieutenant Barrett's voice startled everyone on that bridge and all eyes snapped about looking for the child.

The boy was standing at the door to the ready room and immediately Janeway could see that he had the alien device clutched in his little hands. The captain had moved the baby into the ready room so she could comfortably nap and she had no doubt that her son was about to test the device out on his baby sister. How could I be so careless with something that dangerous around? She hadn't even seen Michael move from his spot near the science station, for that matter, neither had B'Elanna. Michael was terribly clever, a trait that Janeway knew had been inherited from her; he could easily slip away from baby sitters, his mother, etc.

So how had Sarah seen it?

Michael looked sheepishly up at his mother. "I just wanted to see Ava's DNA."

His mother gestured that he give her the device back and he complied.

"Sit there," Janeway instructed, pointing to her chair.

Chakotay cleared his throat while the boy did as he was told. "Uh, Captain, we've determined the asteroid is man made."

Fascinating. What's even more fascinating that Sarah knew Michael had that device; another question for another time, perhaps. 

"I think I've located where the alien ship entered the asteroid, Captain," Paris was saying bringing their attention about to the situation at hand. "There's an open crater on the limb of the asteroid."

"Let's see it," Chakotay ordered and the viewscreen changed from the image of the asteroid to the opening that Paris had found.

Janeway crossed her arms over her chest. "How large is that crater, Mister Paris?"

"Two hundred meters in diameter."

"Captain," Tuvok cautioned. "May I suggest that you consider carefully what you're about to do?"

"How do you know what I'm about to do?" Janeway asked, raising an eyebrow and glancing at Tuvok.

"I could describe you in detail the psychological observations I have made of you over the past four years," Tuvok answered, calmly. "Which lead me to conclude that you are about to take this ship into the asteroid, but suffice it to say, I know you quite well."

"One of these days, I'm going to surprise you Tuvok," she replied, with a wry grin. "But not today."

Janeway moved back into the command station and briefly looked at her counselor. "I've already consider other options. If Neelix has any chance of surviving, we have to act fast. Red Alert. Mister Paris lay in a course. Mister Tuvok maximum shields, phasers at the ready."

The Captain turned about in the command station and looked hotly at Michael, "And you stay right there and don't touch anything."

"Yes ma'am."

Voyager glided into the asteroid while Janeway made her way down the command steps to stand next to Chakotay and behind Paris. Her eyes watched the screen intently as the cavern's walls began to narrow.

"Captain," Paris said. "I'm reducing power to the aft-thrusters only. This passageway is getting a little too narrow for my taste."

"Use your discretion Mister Paris," Janeway replied, turning towards Tuvok. "Any sign of the alien ship, Commander?"

"We're still following the ion trail," Tuvok answered, "but electromagnetic interference is limiting our sensor range. I'm only able to scan five hundred meters a head of us."

Chakotay asked the next question. "Are there any indications we're being scanned or probed Mister Kim."

"Not yet."

"Sick bay to Bridge. May I enlist the services of Counselor Barrett please?"

Janeway glanced up at the lieutenant. Was it her imagination or did the Doctor sound anxious? "Certainly Doctor, she's on her way, Janeway out." For a moment the women made eye contact. "You heard the Doctor, he needs your help, we're just going to have to handle first contact without you."

#star trek voyager fanfiction #kathryn janeway #chakotay #janeway x chakotay #tom paris #sarah barrett (oc) #tom paris x ofc #harry kim #b'elanna torres #kes #neelix #tuvok #the doctor (emh) #this way became my journey

[jedwashere]

A Billion Years Away - Chapter One

Empty In The Valley Of Your Heart.

***

It’s empty in the valley of your heart,

The sun, it rises slowly as you walk,

Away from all the fears and all the faults you’ve left behind.

***

Stardate 2507.03.22

U.S.S. Enterprise NCC 1701-I.

Whether deliberate or not on the part of several generations of Starfleet engineers, the Starships Enterprise almost all looked like ‘the’ Enterprise. There were design features that were common across the board: maybe not common to all ships, but there was always one of the key features present in every design. A saucer section, an elegant neck leading down into a sleek stardrive section, long nacelles swept back and extending out from the body of the ship. Oh, sure, a ship might miss out the long nacelles, or the swan neck might be shorter and more integrated, but there was never any mistaking the Enterprise when you saw her.

The U.S.S. Enterprise-I was the latest in that illustrious lineup of ships, and in many ways harked back to an older age. Starfleet, after a century of crises that had ranged from temporal manipulation to renewed hostility with Klingons to an invasion from outside the known universe (hadn’t that been a fun way to spend the 25th century?), had made a conscious effort (and not for the first time) to return to an age of exploration, hope, optimism. This was reflected in the classic lines of the I: her elegant swan neck leading from a round saucer to a cylindrical stardrive section, a glowing orange deflector array and thin, elegant pylons leading backwards to a pair of nacelles that were short, but stretched just far enough back to give the impression of length, movement, and speed.

This ship, Captain Alyn Jallistra had thought, when she first saw the Enterprise in drydock, was built for boldly going.

She had held onto that thought for the ten years she had commanded her, never letting it go. An unjoined Trill, Jallistra had always preferred the notion that life was short, to be lived, and then to be ended. Where all her colleagues and friends on Trill had been so eager to go and join with symbionts (or at least try to), she had been content to go to Earth, go through Starfleet Academy, and get her commission the old-fashioned way. Not that people still didn’t occasionally think she was a joined Trill.

It was an old irritant. Any time one of us is competent, or calm, or thoughtful, it’s never on our own merits, it’s because a symbiont’s doing it.

Still, she thought as she sat at her ready room desk, reading an old book. She had served as the Captain of this ship for a decade. Any old issues she might have had, she had long since gotten over.

The book was an older one, a prose adaptation of a holonovel: Captain Proton and the Dark Mirror. Written as an homage to science fiction books of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries by the late Tom Paris in the mid 25th century, it told of Captain Proton’s Encounter with an ‘evil universe’, and a gripping battle against dark forces.

It was all make-believe nonsense, of course. Real parallel universes, even the most extreme examples that Jallistra had read up on, were never so simplistic. Still, it was entertaining in its - what did they call it? ‘Campiness’?

Her computer beeped just as she reached a climactic moment where Proton had cornered his mirror self, the evil Captain Neutron (these names are ridiculous). Sighing, she marked her spot and put her PADD down, before tapping her computer's control panel.

“Authorisation Jallistra, Three Six Beta Upsilon,” she said with practiced ease.

A moment later, the image of a striking woman with brown eyes, greying hair, pale skin and the barest hint of a set of forehead ridges popped onto her screen, a soft smile upon her face.

“Captain Jallistra,” Admiral Kathryn Paris said evenly. “Good to see you,”

“Admiral Paris,” Jallistra replied evenly. “What can we do for you?”

“We’ve picked up something strange near your neck of the woods,” Paris replied. “It’s some kind of anomaly, originating in the Harlak system.”

“An anomaly?” Jallistra repeated. “What kind of anomaly?”

“We don’t know,” Paris replied quietly, “but it’s off the charts. You’re the nearest ship to the anomaly, so we’d like you to go take a look.”

Jallistra smiled. “Of course, Admiral. I’ll have us divert course immediately.”

“Good,” Paris said. She paused. “Be careful, Captain. If it turns out to be more than just a standard anomaly, I want you to pull out.”

Jallistra nodded. “I will take all the precautions I have to, ma’am.”

Paris smiled. “Good. Good luck, Captain. Paris out.”

Her image disappeared, to be replaced by the Federation’s symbol. After a moment, Jallistra let out a sigh, and tapped the intercom.

“Bridge, this is the Captain,” she said. “Please redirect our course to the Harlak system, warp six.”

“Aye, aye, ma’am,” the voice of Liam West, her alpha-shift Conn officer, said.

Well, there we go, Jallistra thought. Now we just have to see what happens next.

***

Erlös.

Lorca wasn’t used to comfortable beds, and so perhaps could be forgiven for making full use of it. He was lying down, the cover sprawled over his pyjama-clad body, his eyes staring blankly at the ceiling. The diffused light was brighter now, and he was forced to wince, but the light change was slower, so he accepted the pain.

He was lost in a flow of thoughts. One minute he was thinking of how he was going to pass off who he was - again - and the next he was remembering Michael Burnham, her eyes staring at him with…

… with what? Horror? Pity? Revulsion? All of the above?

I should never have gone back, the thought came, too quickly to be strangled in the crib. I should have stayed. Had medals pinned on me. Kept doing… what did they call it? Kept ‘boldly going’. Taken the hard jobs and won them for the Federation. I’d have been a damn legend.

And Burnham… Burnham with her gratitude, Burnham with her intellect, Burnham with that human heart that even a lifetime among Vulcans didn’t quell… she would have stayed with him. Been his officer. His protege. He’d have been able to leverage her commission, been able to win anything for her. In many ways, she was much easier than the Michael Burnham he had loved: his Michael had demanded an Empire, but all the Federation’s Burnham wanted was freedom, exploration, space.

All the things I love, Lorca thought. Or rather, all the things he had come to love. Perhaps it was the same thing.

There was a knock at his door, and before he could answer, a woman in more elaborate robes than Laurien’s entered the room. She was just as pale as Laurien, with white hair: despite this, however, she didn’t look a day over thirty. Lorca sat up.

“Captain Gabriel Lorca,” she said evenly. She looked around the room, before meeting his gaze. “I trust that the accommodation here has been sufficient for your needs. We have had few of your ilk here.”

Lorca gave another of his winning smiles. “Well, that bed’s certainly comfier than any starship billet I’ve ever been in. Any Starfleet Officer who doesn’t think that’s up to scratch probably needs a bit of a reality check.”

“I am glad,” the woman said. She smiled. “I am Eloise. I am the leader of the settlement here on Erlös.”

“Pleasure,” Lorca said. “I’m grateful you found me.”

“Perhaps you are,” Eloise said coyly. Before Lorca could ask what that meant, she continued. “Laurien reported that you say you command the starship Buran.”

“That’s right,” Lorca said, keeping his face neutral. Don’t give them an inch.

“Our people eschew technology,” Eloise said. “Dannik - did Laurien mention him?” At Lorca’s nod, Eloise continued. “Dannik is the one among us chosen to work with technology. I wanted to be sure of the details of who you are. And where you came from.”

Lorca found it was an effort not to frown, but he persisted. “Is there some confusion?”

“A little,” Eloise said. “When we found you, you had a stab wound that was quite severe, to the point where we had to have Dannik use our medical technologies on you.”

The way she said ‘technologies’ sounded like she was talking about magic. And yet she knew what Starfleet and the Federation was.

“You were also clad in clothing quite distinct from that which we are accustomed to Starfleet people wearing,” Eloise continued. “Much of it was burnt or otherwise damaged, but it was definitely not a Starfleet uniform.”

Not one you’d recognise, anyway, Lorca thought. Time to try out a story.

“That’s because it wasn’t one,” Lorca said grimly. “It was… it was the sort of attire my captors wore.”

“Your ‘captors’?” Eloise repeated.

“It’s… difficult to explain,” Lorca said. Gotta sell it, Gabe. “They were… it was…”

He shook his head, trying to give an impression of trauma. He’d certainly played that role before, thanks to his time playing Lorca of the Buran to Cornwell (damn her), Terral and just about anyone else.

“I understand,” Eloise said, apparently buying it. She smiled. “If you like, we can show you around while you’re waiting here for your people.”

Lorca nodded. “I’d be much obliged for a tour. Though, uh…” He motioned to his clothes. “Maybe if you’ve got a spare uniform lying around, I could swap into that? Walking around half naked doesn’t seem right to me.”

Eloise nodded. “Dannik will replicate a uniform appropriate to your rank, after he has sent the transmission. I will send Laurien with it shortly.”

“Thanks,” Lorca said, inclining his head. “I’m grateful.”

And despite himself, he was. These people had apparently patched him up: they didn’t have to, and if it had been his world, they wouldn’t have.

“And when we speak again,” Eloise continued, “we will speak of the means of your arrival.”

With that, she turned and exited the room, leaving Lorca to his thoughts.

‘Speak of the means of my arrival’, he mused. Be nice if I knew that myself.

***

Next Chapter

Previous Chapter

#star trek discovery #fanfic #fan fiction #captain lorca #alternate universe #plot bunnies made me #not my fault lorca was awesome

[writesandramblings]

The Captain’s Secret - p.99

“Sigh No More”

A/N: Covers the remainder of episode 14, "The War Without, the War Within," and continues into episode 15, "Will You Take My Hand?"

I decided to split this chapter; I thought it was getting a little too long. That means technically there are still three left after this. Same content, nothing's being added, just slightly different numbering than I intended and hopefully a slightly easier reading experience.

Full Chapter List Part 1 - Objects in Motion << 98 - A Fate Worse Than Death 100 - The Captain’s Secret >>

As they walked down the corridor, Saru considered the woman beside him. "Scan me," she had implored, suggesting there was physical proof of her claim to be Mischkelovitz. She had said other things, too—things that confused him, like "my quarters" when Mischkelovitz did not have quarters and slept in a hidden burrow in the walls of her lab.

Then there was the issue of the implant overloading, wiping Mischkelovitz's mind clean, and a miraculous recovery. Equally confusing was Groves’ panicked assertion this woman was Petrellovitz and subsequent reversal. This detail, at least, was potentially cleared up by a conversation he had once had with Groves and O'Malley about religion. I'll take a comforting lie over a truth any day.

Saru suspected Groves had done just that and the person walking next to him was Emellia Petrellovitz.

She was, for the moment, entirely docile. Saru sensed nothing that alarmed him other than the fact she was not who she claimed to be. She was making no attempt to retake Discovery and both the Mudd protocols and Brig Chess had been removed from the system, so it was unlikely she could.

He walked her to Lab 26 and wondered what to do. If she could fool scanners as to her origin and if Groves, her own brother, was going to back her claim, how to approach this without seeming entirely paranoid? He needed evidence.

The walls of the lab were open, panels stacked to the side of the door. Exposed conduits and controllers evidenced Tilly's efforts to remove Mischkelovitz's system modifications. Saru wondered if Petrellovitz would comply with the order to finish disassembling the lab to preserve her cover. "Now that your research into Klingon cloaks is no longer needed, I assume you will be leaving Discovery?"

"Why?" she intoned, voice low and hollow. "This is a science ship and I am a scientist. Provided the humans win the war, this seems like a fine place to work."

"Provided we all win the war," Saru corrected.

Her face darkened as she realized her mistake. "Yes. Because there are so many aliens here."

Nothing in Saru's words should have tipped her off as to his suspicions, but she was making it very hard for him to pretend he did not know. "Dr. Mischkelovitz, are you feeling alright? Perhaps residual damage to your brain..."

"Tell me something. If Gabriel had told you who he was from the outset and asked you for a chance, would you have given him one?"

Saru was taken aback. His first thought was that she was saying these things because she had no intention of letting him leave the room alive, but nothing in her body language, tone, or demeanor indicated any sort of danger. Slowly, Saru said, "I would like to believe that we would have."

"Then, would you give me one?"

He could not answer.

"I realize I can't maintain this pretense as well as Gabriel did, but if you help me, I won't have to. I think his mistake was not trusting you." She did not trust Saru either, she was simply beginning to understand that in this universe, you had to make people think you trusted them if you intended to work with them.

Perhaps it was a mistake on Lorca's part, but it seemed more of an intentioned plan. "I think Lorca was in a far more confusing position. A position I now find myself in as well. I assume you have prepared some form of retaliation if I deny your request?"

"No. If you deny me, I'll simply leave this ship and continue on my way. You'll never be able to prove the truth about what I am, because the truth is, I am the me from this universe." This was it, the big bluff Petrellovitz needed Saru to buy in order to secure her place in this universe. "My neural implant—her implant. When the Klingon attacked me, I activated an emergency failsafe to transfer my consciousness into her body. Because our neural structures are identical, it worked. Unfortunately, there's no evidence of what I did, so it would be your word against mine and Johnny's." (Ironically, Petrellovitz had accidentally suggested something the real Mischkelovitz's implants could do, but then, the genesis of their ideas came from the same place, even if their expertise had diverged slightly.)

"There are security monitors in this room," noted Saru. "This conversation is evidence of the truth."

Petrellovitz pointed up to the corner. "It would seem your engineer has presently disconnected them." That was the problem with trying to disassemble someone else's undocumented changes. There was no telling what would happen in the process. "I can reconnect that for you. You can keep an eye on me if you want. I don't mind. I should warn you I prefer to work naked."

This conversation was not going at all how Saru had expected it. "I do not wish to assist you with this deception."

"Then I will leave the ship. We'll pretend this conversation never happened. After all, no one can prove it did."

"A mind meld would provide proof."

Petrellovitz stiffened. "Vulcans," she said disdainfully. A side effect of placing so little value on aliens was that Petrellovitz sometimes forgot that some species had abilities and advantages humans lacked. "Are you trying to convince me to kill you?"

"Certainly not. But I am not the one who can approve your desired course of action. I will present your offer to Admiral Cornwell."

"Please don't," she said flatly, her tone entirely impolite. "The more people know, the less credulous my denial becomes. The last thing I need is anyone in command learning about it. As it is, maybe I can... beat a mind meld somehow." She rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "I was hoping you'd give me a chance, as a fellow scientist. Allow me to prove my intentions. You're probably the most qualified person to run such an experiment. But if you're not interested, then let's forget I said anything and part ways. No mind melds, no need to go after one another. A truce."

Saru considered that. If Groves maintained his support of her, it was unlikely she would be convicted of any crimes based solely on a mind meld; they were easily challenged in trial. At best, she would be kicked out Starfleet and then there was no telling where she might end up. If she remained on Discovery, he could enlist the aid of people he trusted and hopefully obtain enough evidence to prove her true identity and prevent her from running amok somewhere else.

There was also a chance, slim as it was, that she was sincere. The experiment she was proposing might be a necessary one now that there were three Terrans in this universe. "If I allow you to remain here, your access will be heavily restricted. You must also remain clothed while you are on duty."

"We'll see," said Petrellovitz.

"That is not optional, lieutenant."

Petrellovitz hiccupped, surprising herself. (Having never truly laughed, her brain was not quite certain how to do it.) "Commander? I won't pretend I'll like you, but..." She smiled, and while there was something predatory in it, there was also something curiously hopeful. "Michael was right. This is a world bursting with potential. In my universe, there was no one else like me, who loved science for its own sake. All anybody cared about was what science could do. Now it turns out there are people like me. Here, in this universe."

It was, thought Petrellovitz, Lorca's best miracle yet.

Sadly, there were no further miracles to be found in the lab. When she opened the Mischkelovitzs' research notes on quantum mechanics, Petrellovitz discovered they were all audio files in a language she did not understand. It seemed she was going to have to restart her research from scratch.

There was only one other person who could potentially stand in Petrellovitz's way, but as he woke up disoriented and confused in sickbay with no knowledge of the events of the past few days, his first concern was not his sister, or Groves, or even Lorca.

"Hang on, is this stardate right?"

The one person on Discovery for whom the knowledge of their nine-month misstep meant the most was the last person to learn it had happened. His reaction was utter panic. By the time Saru arrived, the nurse was attempting to administer a sedative.

"Don't you dare sedate me! Let me call my wife!"

"Colonel," said Saru.

"Oh, thank god. What is going on, commander?"

O'Malley was forlorn to hear the full scope of the news. He asked to look at the tactical map and Saru could see the grief and worry as O'Malley brought up the Antares sector in detail and watched a replay of nine months of battle actions in the space of a minute. "Oh god, oh god," he whimpered under his breath as Klingon strikes appeared and the sector turned red.

"There are many who are seeking news of their loved ones," said Saru. "Our best course of action for now is to continue the fight."

There was one other matter. Saru considered not telling O'Malley, not yet, because the loss of one loved one was probably enough for now, but he also knew how it felt to have painful truths kept from you. "I must inform you of another issue..."

He had never seen a human break like that before, to fall so completely into abject despair. It reminded him of L'Rell's reaction to realizing the Voq she had once known was no more. Then, her Klingon scream had seemed to shake the ship to its bones. O'Malley's whimpering wail did not rise to this level of ferocity, but it also did not resolve itself into a state of ultimate coherency, and when the nurse came again with the sedative, there wasn't enough of O'Malley present to object.

Their attempt to reach Earth under Cornwell's command was unsuccessful. The Klingons had occupied Starbase 1 and as Cornwell stared at the sigil of House D'Ghor on the side of a base that had once housed eighty thousand people and was now devoid of all human life, Saru learned something both Captain Lorcas had long known: Katrina Cornwell was not suited to starship command. She sat there in the captain's chair staring as Klingons closed in around them, unable to issue any orders, until finally Saru took charge and issued the orders for her.

Discovery fled. There was no victory to be won here, only a chance to live and fight another day, and because they might only ever get one more day, they had to make it count.

Emperor Philippa Georgiou smiled darkly when they came to her. A decisive strike to take down the Klingons was what they needed, and as repugnant as Georgiou found all the humans in this universe, she still hated nonhumans even more.

Discovery made its way to the Veda system to execute the first step in a last-ditch effort to win the war once and for all: grow a crop of Prototaxites stellaviatori and restore functionality to the jump drive. They had a single sample of mushrooms to draw upon and the energy of a full set of terraforming probes to feed the crop. The ship fired the probes down onto the moon's otherwise barren surface and a forest of mycelial light sprang up below.

It was a lovely sight for Lalana to wake up to. She vibrated away the gel from her filaments and asked the computer to locate Lorca.

"Unable to comply," the computer responded. She asked for Groves and received the response again. Finally, she tried Saru, and this time she received an answer.

"Admiral Cornwell has been waiting to speak to you."

Lalana was utterly unconcerned with this information. "Certainly. Where is Gabriel?"

Saru was unable to answer this openly on the bridge, but Lalana had kindly provided him with an alternate narrative to fall back on. He answered, "His body has been incinerated."

"Well, that was rude, I would have liked to eat more of it," said Lalana cheerily and settled in to watch particles drifting in the air of her room while she waited for Cornwell. The wait was not a long one.

"You had better have a damn good explanation, or so help me—"

"Katrina, how lovely to see you. Can you tell me where Gabriel is?"

Cornwell responded with angry shock. "Gabriel is dead!"

"Not Hayliel, Gabriel. Or has the Federation instituted a death penalty for impersonating an officer in the time we have been gone from this universe?"

"You..." Cornwell took a deep breath. "Do you think this is a game?"

"Would you prefer if I adjusted my voice modulation to seem more serious? I understand you humans believe tone alters the meaning of words somehow. That has always been a very curious thing to me. How can one word mean a different thing simply because of the note that is struck by your vocal cords?" There it was, the crux of ten years of misunderstood communication. The monotonal lului tongue did not allow for tone variance in language.

It was easy to fall into Lalana's little verbal traps and engage her in one of her frivolous asides designed to distract from the actual subject at hand. Cornwell was having none of it. She said with resolute focus and angry determination, "You knew—this whole time—and you said nothing."

Speaking the words aloud, Cornwell found her breaths became labored and her eyes stung. The psychological effort required to finally confront the full truth felt like a massive physical undertaking and produced the same physiological reactions.

"What would you have had me say?"

"The truth!"

Lalana's head tilted to the side. "I never lied to you about Gabriel. I always spoke the truth."

Technically that was true. In San Francisco, she had said point-blank that Lorca was not their Gabriel. She had simply neglected to explain why that was the case and had framed the statement between sentences that, to Cornwell's human ears, made it sound like there was an implication of metaphor in the words.

It was very possible that Lalana had never used an actual metaphor in her entire nine-hundred-year life. To her, the idea that someone might liken the sound of rustling leaves to falling rain made no sense, because these were two entirely different sounds. Similarly, that someone could believe the words "he is not our Gabriel" reflected a mere change in emotional state was ridiculous. The sort of ridiculous that made her laugh, so she played with words this way every chance she got, and in doing so simultaneously told the truth and kept Lorca's secret.

"Some people would call what you did a lie of omission," said Cornwell. "But that's letting you off too easy. What you did was unforgivable. You let that man destroy everything Gabriel stood for. You helped him do it."

"Is that what you think I did? Then you have not seen him for who he is. It’s true that he is not your Gabriel, but he could become such if you would simply let him. He possesses much of what our Gabriel had."

"You can't replace someone with their doppelganger," said Cornwell, shocked by the suggestion.

"I am not suggesting you replace him, but I did love Hayliel more than any other human I have ever met. More, in fact, than any member of any species I have encountered. There is no one like him. He is irreplaceable. However, I have found that there is great happiness in the fact I can continue to see his face even though he is gone. That is the face of the human I love. I am glad it still exists in this universe."

"Do you know what I see when I look at that man? A reminder that our Gabriel died and I didn't even know." The sting in Cornwell's eyes became unbearable and she squeezed them shut.

"Perhaps I should have told you. Because of the way humans view death, I thought it would make you happier if he were still living. I also thought, and I believe correctly, that this Gabriel Lorca needed to be a captain and have a command. He needed it more than anything and so I gave it to him. Thank you for helping me do that."

Cornwell shook her head, her eyes watering. "You tricked me. I can't forgive you, either."

"You can, but you must first forgive yourself."

Cornwell started to quietly cry. She knew how important forgiveness was but she would probably never forgive herself for not realizing the truth sooner. Even if the cards had been stacked against her by both Lorca and Lalana, she felt like she should have known.

"If it is too much, I understand," said Lalana. "Perhaps in time. I do think that Gabriel would like a chance for you to know him for who he is. That bitterness and rage he holds within him, you could help him with it. Perhaps even come to see, as I have, that he is in his own way a good man. He did not come to us as such, but we have made him that, Hayliel and I. We showed him how to be this man. That is how Hayliel lives on: in spirit." Her eyes glinted as the striations of her compound irises shifted.

If lului could cry, Lalana would have cried in happiness at the idea. Many years ago, she had expressed disdain for the human concept of spirit, viewing it as a peculiarly human folly. Only when she had invoked the concept to offer comfort at a time when Hayliel stood at a crossroads had she begun to understand what it meant.

Invoking it again now, she discovered she understood and believed in it. Perhaps it was simply a ghost of a memory, but so long as she had those memories, Hayliel was with her. He had never left her. In her mind she would never leave him.

Cornwell did not share this outlook. "No. He's gone and we both need to accept that."

"I will never accept that," said Lalana. "For as long as I live. And I can live for a very long time."

"I just want out of here. I can't take this."

Lorca looked up from Larsson's book. Groves was lying in his bed, plucking at the strings of the guitar on his chest and staring at the ceiling. He had abandoned the violin. Not, he said, because he could not hack the computer with it, but because he had realized there was probably no point.

"Stop fixating on it," advised Lorca. "The more you think about it, the worse it is."

The lights went out and they heard the toilet flush. The first time this had happened, Lorca and Groves had been left wondering if something had gone wrong on the ship or if this was some kind of punishment, but in the end they realized the lights and toilet were simply set to an automatic cycle. This, for whatever reason, was the hour someone had decided should be bedtime.

Groves fumbled in the darkness as he put his guitar away. On his return trip to his bed, he tripped over one of Lorca's boots and landed half on top of Lorca. Lorca pushed him off to the floor.

"What, you don't want to cuddle?" quipped Groves as he picked himself up. "With the lights out, you can pretend I'm Michael."

"Dammit, Groves, what the hell."

"Or would you rather pretend I'm Mac? I've seen the way he looks at you."

"You have a serious problem. Didn't your mommy ever teach you not to poke at bears?"

"Sure she did," said Groves, which was probably a lie, "but I'm an agent provocateur."

"You're something all right," sighed Lorca, rolling his eyes.

Groves managed to find his own bed. "Maybe I just like poking the bear and getting bit."

"You like getting locked up? This fun to you?"

There was a long pause. "Makes me feel alive."

Lorca sighed again, this time in mild sympathy. Groves' bark was far worse than his bite. "I'll be sure to tell Mac what you said. He'll give you a good bite."

"Why would he do that?" Despite the darkness, Lorca thought he could hear the twist of confusion on Groves' face.

"That man is entirely too devoted to his wife."

"Maybe, but you're the new Anton."

It took Lorca a minute to remember where he had heard—or more accurately, read—that name. Anton Nguyen, from the QORYA trial transcript. The other male scientist on the project. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means all anyone's ever doing is reliving their own personal trauma. Whatever damage we get, we replay over and over again in our lives."

That, at least, was accurate.

Lorca wasn't the least bit tired and there was no way to read Larsson's book in the darkness, so he asked in his most pleasantly inviting voice, "We got nothing but time. How about it, who's Anton?"

The pause this time was very long. "That's not my story to tell," Groves decided.

The comms came online.

"We've all mourned the enormous loss of life due to this war," began Cornwell's shipwide announcement. As she decried their foes as lacking honor and outlined a mission to map vulnerabilities of the Klingon homeworld for a single, decisive strike against the heart of the Klingon Empire, Lorca rolled his eyes. At least the Federation was finally going to try and actually do something instead of floating around space like a fleet of Klingon punching bags.

Then Cornwell said something that shook Lorca down to the very fibers of his being. With three words, she stripped him of everything.

"Allow me to introduce you to the person who will chart your course to Qo'noS: Captain Philippa Georgiou."

"Thank you."

"Though long presumed dead, Captain Georgiou was recently rescued in a highly classified raid of a Klingon prison vessel. She was transported aboard Discovery..."

Cornwell had found the perfect revenge.

As the rest of the announcement played out, Groves heard some sounds underneath it that did not at all match with his perceptions of Lorca. Uncomfortable, he got up and made his way to the bathroom, using the manual override to close the door. This has nothing to do with me, he told himself, the same words he had thought to himself years ago as he hid in the QORYA facility walls and other children were dragged out screaming around him.

Part 100

#Star Trek #Discovery #fanfic #fanfiction #Admiral Cornwell #Katrina Cornwell #Gabriel Lorca #Captain Lorca #Mirror Lorca #Commander Saru #Saru

[avatarsymbolism]

The Full Avatar Trek AU

I  felt bored, so I decided to do a follow up on all of @yinza​‘s awesome Trek/Avatar crossover art by creating a timeline (with episodes) of all the Avatar Trek shenanigans. Also because I’m a huge nerd and there are just SO MANY THINGS that kind of parallel each other in really weird ways despite their differences.

I’ll start off with ATLA and make a post later for Korra. 

Anyway, let’s begin!

Note: This was made pre-”Star Trek: Discovery” so, unfortunately, there won’t be any Lorca/Zhao parallels…yet. I did add one “Discovery” related thing though. 

Avatar

Avatar is the story of a Vulcan-Trill hybrid named Aang who commands the Appa, one of the most prized ships in the Vulcan fleet. Aang himself is a prodigy of sorts, so much so that only he was deemed worthy of the Avatar sybiant–one of the oldest symbiants known to the trills–despite not being fully Trill himself. And, to make the Klingon’s hunt for the Avatar make more sense, I guess we can maybe say that because it’s an old symbiant the Avatar has access to some kind of higher plane of power? That, or maybe the Avatar just tends to be very powerful?

He was merely a Lieutenant Commander serving as first officer to Captain Gyatso when the Klingons attacked the Vulcan homeworld. After Gyatso was fatally wounded in one of the Klingon’s initial assaults on Vulcan, Aang took the initiative and tried to steer them towards safety. 

But, as luck would have it, the Appa got caught in some kind of space anomaly which forced Aang to land on the nearest planet–a small Bajoran colony–which is where our story begins…

Book 1

The Man in the Anomaly 

Katara and Sokka are two Bajorans hunting for food to bring back to their village. The situation on Bajor (and the Bajoran colonies where Katara and Sokka live) is a mix of the ATLA and DS9 canons While there are no signs of camps, the Klingons have frequently raided the Bajoran colonies and tried to harvest their resources in order to weaken Bajor Prime. 

Anyway, Katara and Sokka are out hunting when a space vessel decides to land a few hundred feet away from them. Sokka cautions Katara to stand back, fearing that it might be some kind of Klingon trick. But, when the doors open, the only person to step off the ship is an exhausted looking Aang. 

Meanwhile, on a worn out looking Klingon warbird, Lieutenant Jee informs Zuko that they’re receiving a strange signal from a nearby planet. Zuko investigates. This is rather odd, since last he checked the Vulcans began masking their signals to protect them from the Klingons long ago. Hell, he didn’t even know how many of them were left alive–unless…

And that’s when Zuko decides to head a course to the planet. 

I guess I shroud probably also add that the space anomaly that Aang encountered whipped his ship through time and space. 

The Avatar Returns

The kids’ grandmother informs everyone that a Klingon ship is coming their way. Everyone panics, and Aang is banished from the village by Sokka, who still doesn’t quite trust the guy. 

Enter Prince Zuko and his awesome bat’leth. Zuko demands to know the location of the Avatar–basically a similar situation to what actually happened in canon. Aang appears, offers himself up on the condition that Zuko leaves everyone alone etc., etc. 

Back at the village, Katara and Sokka investigate the ship–a few canonical things happen–and they end up taking control of the vessel to go and save Aang. 

Canon stuff happens–and Katara and Sokka end up managing to teleport Aang back onto the ship. 

As they make a run for it, Aang thanks his new friends and appoints them as officers aboard the Appa (Later on, Katara becomes the chief medical officer and Sokka becomes the science officer).

Also, I just realized that there should technically be a ton of dead bodies on the ship…no idea when/how they’d be removed yet. 

Return to Vulcan

The Gaang travels to Vulcan (just go with it) where they try to look for Vulcan survivors, knowing that not all the Vulcans were actually killed in the Klingon attacks. This leads to some Aangstig when our captain voices regret about not tending to Gyatso when he had the chance, and not being there when his people needed him. Katara assures him that that was nothing he could do anyway (which makes this episode a mix of “The Southern Air Temple” and “The Storm.”).

Meanwhile, Zuko meets Gul Zhao (Yes, he’s a Cardassian and you can’t tell me otherwise. Also, there’s been a long standing alliance between the Cardassians and the Klingons and Ursa was a Cardassian which is why Azula looks like  a Cardassian and Zuko looks like a Klingon in @yinza‘s fan art), and some canon taunting happens. Also, Iroh is not a fan of red leaf tea. He does like prune juice through. “A warrior’s drink!” That, and blood wine.

[filler stuff and exploration I guess] 

I guess instead of a waterbendding scroll, the Gaang could be after some kind of prized Bajoran manuscript?

I was also going to suggest that, with Rene Auberjonois playing one of the tribal leaders in “The Great Divide,” that that episode could be about Bajoran orbs but, that would still be a very boring episode, I think. 

The Storm

BACKSTORY TIME!

After some asshat spouts bullshit, Aang and Katara find themselves in a cave where Aang recounts the events leading up to his landing in the future.  

Meanwhile, the crewmen of Zuko’s ship are threatening mutiny and bringing up the prince’s dishonor. Iroh intervenes and explains Zuko’s story because everyone respects General Iroh (I feel like he’d get along well with General Martok for some reason…man, I need that au now. Meanwhile, Zuko and Worf can talk about how they restored the honor of their families.). 

Cut to Aang’s story. Aang’s busy serving under Gyatso when the Klingons attack. Everyone’s on red alert. Gyatso is busy captaining and trying to get the Appa away from the Klingon flank. Gyatso gets hit, but instead of tending to Gyatso, Aang takes the helm. Aang voices regrets about leaving Gyatso to die saying that he should have been by his side. Katara assures him that that there was nothing he could do (Hmm, since this is partially a repeat of “Repeat to Vulcan,” this may need some work).  

Cut to Iroh and the story of Zuko. Zuko is a young, enthusiastic youth eager to learn how to rule. He wants to observe a war meeting etc., etc.

(Oh, and fun fact: Daniel Riordan, the guy that voices General Bujing–the guy that Zuko speaks out against–played a Klingon in Star Trek: Enterprise. What kind of Klingon lets someone else fight his own challenge!) 

Zuko speaks out of turn…dual…Zuko gets a quarter of his face cut by his father’s bat’leth and is discommendated and banished from Qo’nos until he manages to find whoever holds the Avatar symbiant. 

The Blue Spirit 

Similar premise to the actual episode, although it may need a better name (btw, instead of being a theater geek, the Zuko of this universe is a big fan of Klingon opera). I keep re-imagining Aang’s speech from this episode as something that sounds like it may have come from Captain Picard. (Hmm…Kuzon and Kurzon…).

The Siege of Bajor

Zhao’s plot in the latter half of this season is basically the final arc of Gul Dukat’s plot. I have a few words for you all:

I AM A LEGEND NOW. CARASSIA WILL FOR GENERATIONS TELL STORIES OF THE GREAT ZHAO WHO CONQUERED BAJOR! THEY WILL CALL ME ZHAO THE CONQUEROR, ZHAO THE GODSLAYER, ZHAO THE INVINCIBLE! 

Zhao tries to destroy the orbs or something like that, but Aang manages to get the Prophets to intervene and Zhao is killed the same way as Dukat. That, or Aang just shows up, doesn’t intervene with the Prophets and it’s Zuko that watches Zhao get destroyed by the Prophets…or maybe Aang. I don’t know how Zuko fits into all this. 

Book 2

So, after the Siege, Pakku decides to travel from Bajor to some of the settlements to help them rebuild, and gives Katara some kind of special Bajoran poultice thing…I don’t know–something like the spirit water that Pakku gives Katara in ATLA canon. 

Meanwhile, Zuko meets up with Azula, who tells him that Ozai has apparently decided to restore his honor. Canon stuff, big fight. I can’t decide how Iroh and Zuko would try to disguise themselves. Maybe they just try to blend in, somehow? There’s no way they could just do reconstructive surgery or something since they’re fugitives. 

I’m also wondering if there could be some stuff that makes the Avatar symbiant more significant. I don’t know what though. 

The Cave of Two Lovers

The Gaang’s plot would probably play out differently, but the cave could be some kind of alienish thing that the Gaang encounters. 

The idea of having Chong and co being hippie aliens makes me laugh though for some reason (Oh, I bet it’s because of the drug psa episode of TNG). 

The Swamp

I feel like this could be a variant of “If Wishes were Horses,”  or better yet “Where No Man has Gone Before.” Huu could even be a traveler or something that the Gaang meets. Maybe this planet has some sort of alien property that connects them to the universe in such a way that they almost become enlightened just by being there for a period of time. 

Katara sees a vision of her dead mother, Sokka sees Yue, and Aang has a vision of a girl wearing a VISOR, standing beside a flying boar. 

(Another fun fact: Buck Bokai is Jeong Jeong, Also, Wesley Crusher is the pet shop owner in “City of Walls and Secrets,” and the circus trainer that hurts Appa? Yeah, that’s Lt. Barclay.)

The Blind Bandit

So, the Gaang is trying to find their  way to Earth when they meet Toph in some kind of arena.While there, Aang tries to talk to her but, Toph doesn’t really give a shit. 

Later they manage to find the Beifong household, and Aang meets Toph. Just like in canon, Toph’s parents try to shelter Toph s much as possible, not thinking that she could manage anything on her own, even with her VISOR. 

Later, Aang and Toph talk, and she tells him about the VISOR. By the episode’s end, Toph decides to join the Gaang as their engineer. 

(Wait, this now brings up the valid question of who’s running the ship before all this and whatnot. Maybe we can have a few episodes about the crew and whatnot like we had in TNG? Granted, I don’t think Aang’s crew would like it all that much if he just randomly approved two Bajorans as his science and medical officers. Maybe there could be some other officers and Sokka/Katara/Toph can eventually work their way up? That, or somehow Aang is the only one left on the ship.) 

Zuko Alone

Zuko disguises himself with a hat (yes, we’re doing that), and enters a small village in one of the Earth colonies. There, he gets in trouble with some Terran officers (since we can’t really do Starfleet at this point. Although, Starfleet being like the URN would be cool–Oh, so THAT’S why Raiko is so incompetent. He’s one of those asshat Starfleet command types that knows diddly squat about what he’s doing.)

Zuko meets Lee’s family, and we get some nice character development an some flashbacks.

In this universe, Zuko’s family has a monopoly on the Chancellor position (that or it has become hereditary). General Iroh has laid siege to Earth for 600 days when his son is killed in a Terran counterattack. Devastated by the death of his son, Iroh ends the siege.

Meanwhile, Ozai meets with Azulon and asks that he be made his father’s heir instead of Iroh. Azulon is offended by Ozai’s request and orders Ozai to kill Zuko.

Ursa intervenes, and thanks to some chance events, Ozai is made Chancellor after Azulon;s death.

(It is also at this point that I’ve come to realize that Zuko would basically be the Avatar equivalent of Alexander Rozhenko…I hated that kid. Zuko is 1000 times cooler and less lame. Although, Zuko’s lack of fighting skills as a kid and his empathy probably puts him on par with Alexander…somewhat.)

Lee’s mom meets up with Zuko and tells him that the Terran soldiers are threatening to take Lee away. So, Zuko decides to help her get Lee back, and we get some canonical stuff with a fight.

Well, Zuko’s hat comes off (man, that just sounds really stupid. I’ll come up with something more clever, eventually…maybe) and everyone find out that Zuko is a Klingon. Also, prejudice just like the actual episode.

The Chase

I feel like this would be another fun episode to Star Trekify. You get lots of action, fighting, wisdom etc. Maybe Toph still meets up with Iroh, and she doesn’t realize that Iroh is a Klingon so the two of them drink tea and share wisdom (wait, the VISOR would tell her he’s a Klingon. I’ll have to fix that sometime.). . 

The Serpent’s Pass

This will probably need a name change. But, this could probably have the Gaang traveling through an asteroid belt or something. Meanwhile, Zuko and Iroh are ALSO on their wa to Earth, and Zuko meets Jet. I’d love to see a Star Trek version of their relationship. It would be interesting. 

(Ok, this now brings up the question of: if Jet realizes that Zuko and Iroh ar Klingons, why doesn’t he just remove their hats? This hat problem is now sounding ridiculous.)

City of Walls and Secrets

The Gaang arrives on Earth and tries to meet with the United Earth Council Finding that they’re having difficulty meeting some of the higher ranking officials, the Gaang decides to sneak into one a gala hosted by Kuei. 

However, things don’t go quite as planned when the Gaang gets taken captive by Long Feng, the head of Section 31. Long Feng tells Aang to stop distrupting the state of peace that’s been maintained by him and his agents. For here they are safe. 

Meanwhile, Jet tries to reveal Zuko and Iroh’s identity and fails, being taken prisoner by Section 31 and is brainwashed. 

(Also, what if, in this univrse, Long Feng tries to steal Aangs ship so he can better keep tabs on him or something?)

Ok, the Book 2 plot definitely needs to be reworked so ‘ll just skip to the finale. 

The Earth King

(Or, rather, the equivalent of)

The Gaang manages to show the Council that Long Feng and Section 31 have been running a massive conspiracy, and Long Feng is arrested. 

Meanwhile, Azula (Cardassian), Mai (Klingon), ad Ty Lee (a human presumably from a Klingon colony or something), infiltrate the United Earth Council and are ‘caught’ by Long Feng. 

The Crossroads of Destiny

Plotwise, this episode is pretty much the same as canon.

The Star Trekified differences are that the Appa, Azula’s ship, and Zuko’s eventually meet up. 

Zuko and Kaara were busy having their canon conversation when Katara is beamed away to the Appa, and Azula takes her place. 

The Gaang waits anxiously, all the while wondering what the hell is going on. 

Azula teleeports back to her ship..

Zuko’s ship readies to fire…and the Gaang realizes that they’re about to to get attacked!

Katara is heartbroken! A hit surges through the circuits and Aang gets zapped in his captain;s chair!

Madness endues!

The Gaang just barely makes it out alive, and Katara ends up using some Bajoran medicine to revive Aang 

Book 3

Book 3 pretty much follows canon, so I don’t think I need to explain much. The Gaang travels from place to place, meets different people,there’s an equivalent to “The Day of Black Sun” (not sure what exactly it involves, but maybe they use the cave systems mentioned in “Star Trek: Discovery”) and then the finale. 

#aang #zuko #katara #sokka #iroh #toph #suki #admiral zhao #long feng #king kuei #azula #atla mai #au headcanons #avatar trek #star trek

[calliecat93]

ST: The Next Generation S4 Watchthrough Episodes 2-5

Family: I fully expected the episode after the whole Borg thing would just be another typical episode that maybe brought it up, but otherwise be business as usual. Thank God that they didn’t go that route. This was the follow-up needed, a calmer, more introspective episode. No aliens. No politics or social issues. No heavy action. Just a cool-down, character-driven episode to let the audience breathe and allow character development. Picard of course is the big plot, going back to France (is this a joke because Patrick Stewart is British?) to reconnect with his family and deal with the trauma of the Borg assimilation. Robert is kind of an ass… but he does care about Picard and does ultimately help him open up about the trauma. Seriously, Patrick Stewart’s acting in that scene? 100% perfect. I like his sister-in-law and nephew as well and I liked finally seeing Earth outside a Starfleet base/an area not technologically advanced. We also met Worf’s adopted parents! While they’re a little much, they clearly love Worf, did their best to adjust in properly raising a Klingon child, and I’m just glad to see some actual competent/caring parents in something. Crusher and Wesley’s plot isn’t much… but not gonna lie, if my mom hadn’t been in the room I’d have likely cried. Wesley watching the hologram of his deceased dad… while Wil Wheaton’s acting was a little underwhelming… yeah God that hit far too close. My dad died three years ago and I still get choked up about it sometimes. And when Crusher was going through Jack’s belongings and picking up his uniform? Just… damn. I’m so glad to see an episode that just… lets the characters develop and grow without having to add a whole bunch of melodrama or an over-complicated plot or anything like that. It’s about family, and it was freakin’ perfect. 5/5.

Brothers: Well… I should have seen this coming eventually. Lore is back folks. Oh but it’s not just him. After three seasons, we finally meet the infamous Dr. Soong. Guess this is why Data wasn’t in the last episode, his family issues needed one all their own. So first… Brent Spiner deserves every freakin’ acting Emmy ever because he played all three of these characters. Yep, all three at the same time in the same episode. And he plays all three with great distinction and character and… the man is freakin’ good. The whole episode was just… damn. The first half where Data essentially hijacks everything.. yeah if Data ever went evil, everyone would be screwed. That was legit horrifying… though why they left Data alone on the bridge when something was clearly wrong with him I’ll never know. As for Dr. Soong himself… I’m not sure how to feel about him. Oh as a character he’s great. Brent Spiner really put a lot into him. I’m just not sure whether to call him out or feel bad for him… but maybe that’s part of the point. And Lore? Well… while he’s certainly evil… I actually felt bad for him? I can’t blame him for being angry and resentful because… yeah him being deactivated/disassembled while Data got to live out a life and shown clear favoritism is very understandable. He truly feels like the angry older brother whole Data is the younger, more inquisitive brother not quite sure what to think. Soong does seem to regret decommissioning Lore, especially now that he’s dying (which Lore’s actual emotional reaction… it was possibly an act but IDT it was, again excellent work by Brent Spiner), and it does feel like he summoned the two (even if Lore was unintentional since he didn’t know he’d been reassembled) to make some form of amends, but IDK if it’s legit regret or some form of ego. It really feels open to interpretation or perhaps a mix of both. Despite that, Soong being killed by Lore who escapes with the emotion chip not designed for him implanted to wreak havoc again in the future… yeah him accepting that it’s over and his and Data’s goodbye with Data calling him ‘father’… again, just perfect. This whole episode was perfect, Event the subplot with the two kids was done well and served as a good parallel to the Data and Lore situation. Those two were able to forgive… but I don’t think it will be that simple for Data. I’m still hoping that Data gets happy things later (WHEN DOES HE GET HIS KITTY?! I WANT HIM TO GET HIS KITY!), but still a fantastic episode. 5/5.

Suddenly Human: So in this episode, we have a human boy who was raised by an alien culture known as the Talarians. Due to being raised among them, he acts and views himself as a Talarian moreso than he does a human. Well… that’s certainly an interesting episode topic. It’s kind of like with Worf, a Klingon, having been raised by humans, albeit they did try to keep his Klingon heritage intact as much as they could. I think that this may be the first tme we’ve had a human being raised in an alien culture? Spock may have kinda counted, but he was half-Vulcan, half-human, and still had both parents so that’s still a different situation compared to someone born and raised human until his parents died and was taken into the very group that caused their deaths. I guess the title character in Charlie X back during TOS may have also counted, which I do get similar vibes from especially the whole ‘captain super awkwardly stepping up as a father figure against his will’ part… albeit I feel more sympathetic towards Jono than Charlie who went thoroughly power-mad, plus Charlie very clearly didn’t want to go back to the aliens. Jono just wants to go home. Honestly… IDK how to feel about the situation. I get wanting to have Jono connect to his human roots and being concerned about him being among the Talarians who have a… rather ruthless, very patriarchal lifestyle. However, the man who took him in does genuinely love him and it does seem like he’s been accepted into their world and he’s content with that. It’s where I get the crew’s concerns and while a little too excessive Crusher’s concern about Stockholm Syndrome does make sense somewhat… but I’m also like ‘this is his choice, if that is what he wishes then grant it to him.” . Trying to make him get in touch with his roots as though they know what’ best for him when they absolutely don’t, no matter how well-intentioned… yeah don’t agree with that. Even if he has remaining family on Earth, then as sad as it is, he gets to make that choice for his life no matter what the consequences may be. IDK is they intended to bring up the moral complexity of these kinds of situations because there are solid arguments that you can make for all sides here, but I do think it’s there and is very much a relevant topic in today’s world. I’m very much on the ‘make the choice for yourself and allow one to make that choice’ opinion. Allow them to learn about their heritage and the truth about how they ended up where they did, and let them decide what they’d like for themselves/how they’d like to lead their lives. Ultimately that’s what Jono did. He understands what happened and he finally expresses missing his parents and the trauma he endured due to it… but he also chose to remain with his adopted father and those who raised him, but maybe now more open in getting in touch with his Earth/human heritage. IDK if it was the right or wrong choice, but it was his choice. 4/5.

Remember Me: 🎶Though I have to say goodbye. Remember me, don't let it make you cry.🎶 Sorry, the Disney/Pixar nerd in me required me to do that XD Okay in all seriousness... guys they did it! They made an episode centering on a female character (Dr. Crusher) aND IT WAS ACTUALLY GOOD! So we have huge chunks of the crew disappearing and everyone’s memories of them wiped… except for Dr. Crusher. So… I won’t go into the plot twist here. Like with The Survivors it is really something I’d rather not spoil. But damn, I already liked Dr. Crusher… but this made me love her. The poor woman keeps questioning her sanity because of all the disappearances/memory gaps. To everyone else, nothing is out of place. To her? Everything is breaking down. I do like that the crew does listen to her and take her fears seriously. No one questions her going insane, Troi even telling her that if she thinks that something is wrong, then she’s acting as she should. Even when it’s only Crusher and Picard, despite clearly getting tired of it… Picard still listens to her and trusts her word. With how in both this and TNG they sometimes have dropped in common sense, it’s just so nice to see them treat this situation seriously and carefully and not act like Crusher is just a hysterical woman. Which she is not. While she understandably is freaked out and upset, she acts competently and intelligently especially when it’s only her left. Again, without spoiling anything, the way she gets out of it shows just how freakin’ awesome she is. Just an overall really good episode and Thank God that Dr. Crusher finally got the focus that she deserved. Sorry Pulaski, but them ditching you was worth it for this~! 4.5/5.

Wow we are off to an excellent start! Brothers may be my favorite episode in the whole show thus far. Much more to go, so hopefully the quality remains consistent. We shall see~!

#st watchthrough

[zenosanalytic]

Discovery: Despite Yourself

Ok, so obvsl I’ve already watched this one so it’s a second viewing, but I tried to get at my initial reactions even if, now, from a perspective of having seen up to ep 12.

Saru says “almost nothing else is where it’s supposed to be!” having the position of celestial bodies be different in the Mirrorverse is wonderful attention to detail ouo Having even their targeting computers and sensors confused is another great way to convey that the MV is different down to the atomic level.

“Quantum signature” is typical technobabble, but functional and better than the obsession with “resonance” in the more string-theory-obsessed 90s.

I’ve never noticed it before, but one of their casting directors is named Orly Sitowitz. Imagine living to see your perfectly ordinary name rendered unfortunate by Memes :|

Another clue for Lorca’s jump double-cross I missed the first time: he claims Stamets was “eager” to work with him on multiple universe tech after the war. Taking advantage of Stamets’s non-responsive state puts a time-limit on his plans which I’m not sure really fits with how nebulous they end up being, but I guess there’s little choice. Also: maybe he was hoping communication with Discovery would be difficult once he got Burnham off the ship.

The cloak algorithm! The first time I watched that I didn’t really think about it, but if Discovery ever had made it back, then Klingon cloak-tech would have been useless. So either 1)Discovery doesn’t make it back or 2)this is a way to allow the Klingons to still get their cloak tech from the Romulans as pre-Disc canon states; the Fed has a solution to their “native” cloak tech, but then they bought a different vers from the Romulans that was invulnerable to the algorithm.

Unrelated, but I just realized that the way Disc establishes Klingon cloak -as a secret specific to T’Kuvma’s house before the war- works really well with the idea of Klingon tech being based mostly on salvaging from Hur’q tech after they were driven off. If the only surviving Hur’q ship with a cloaking device able to be studied belonged to T’Kuvma’s ancestors for some reason, then it’d make sense that they’d keep its secrets to themselves in an aristocratic society like theirs. I doubt that’s what they were going for, of course.

He waves them off even LOOKING at the NavLogs: yeah that wasn’t suspicious at all X| X| I do like, however, the way the writers have him do that -defraying suspicion by blaming himself, bamboozling them with a believable but technical explanation, then using emotional appeal through hyping the danger of the situation to direct their attention elsewhere-, which is the way an actual manipulator would protect themselves in that situation. Stuff like this is the difference between writers who know what they’re talking about, and writers faking it by writing what they think a certain type of character should be like based on tropes.

Tilly is so great, and I love that they allow her to know things, and to use that knowledge creatively. Rare to see women characters written like that, and rarer still when the character is not just allowed to be emotionally competent, but the Most Emotionally Competent person on the show. Ditto with Culber on that actually: emotional competence does not preclude technical competence and I’m glad for at least one show that doesn’t argue it does.

“Paul is your superior officer; he gave you an order. You’re not responsible for this.” Can I also just say how wonderful this portrayal of a sensitive, nurturing, truth-abiding military organization which cares about the people who make it up Discovery continues to be?

Discovery’s virtual U-Is are excellent, and I like how they activate and use them through specific hand-postures. I don’t really talk about it much, but the “chunkier” sci-fi aspects of Discovery like this are very satisfying.

The intersection of brainwashing, dubcon, secret-agent, double-life, hurt-comfort, psychdrama in the Voq storyline -and particularly the Prayer scene- is just so Delicious&Ficcy owo owo owo

It is both supremely painful, and supremely sympathetic, to watch Burnham open up to someone in a way she never has before, to trust them in a fashion her Vulcan culture completely discourages, and see it used to betray her. I do wish we’d see more flashes of Vulcan in this second half of the season, though.

Tilly’s first attempt at Evil!Tilly ans Issac’s Scottish accent are Wonderful and Good u_u Also well acted.

This is kind of detail oriented but: the “comet” the Fed uses on their command insignia strikes me as almost an inversion of the sword through earth insignia the Empire uses. Don’t know if that’s intentional or just some iconoclastic observation of my own but, if it IS intentional, that’s another great little world-building detail.

That the Emperor would 1)send Burnham to deal with a rebellion personally, and 2) personally respond to Burnham’s death, when their initial intel spoke of a “faceless emperor”(suggesting a buffering bureaucracy) is a big sign they had a personal connection.

The “Destiny” exchange was weird at the time, but much creepier knowing Mirror!Lorca’s history of grooming Burnham.

Obvsl there was nothing on Defiant in the datacube. The Rebels Burnham finds know nothing of the Federation or Defiant(if such intel were on a random datacube, it’d have to be well-known), and the files accessible from Shenzhou are under heavy security(such that Burnham has to access them clandestinely), only to those captain or higher, and heavily redacted even then. And the complete, unredacted files are only available from the Palace-ship. There’s no way the rebels would have gotten access to that.

I feel like Tyler not, actually, being Tyler is going to be important to the Lorca plotline somehow. Like: Perhaps Lorca knew Mirror!Tyler, and that’s why he recruited him, and he’s relying on Tyler to act in certain vague ways like the Tyler he knew(as he is with Burnham and others), but at some significant point Tyler’s going to do something Voqish that upsets Lorca’s plans significantly.

“Well my mother would definitely approve” at her straightened, blonded hair, is such a small line, but it adds so much more nuance to Tilly’s relationship with her mom which, until now, has been portrayed as entirely positive(at least, iirc). Also a bit disappointing that negative attitudes towards curly and red hair still persist in the 23rd century |:T |:T

Burnham’s mastery of metaphor is… Masterful(X| X| X|) “Painted Rust” damn! I wonder if that’s a Vulcan thing; they do love aphorisms

I don’t like that they killed Culber. I understand the narrative inevitability of it -there has to be a payoff to Tyler being, I’m pretty sure, an engram patterned over a surgically altered Voq and Culber’s the only doctor we know on the ship- but given the persistence of “kill your gays” writing, and how good this show typically is on that and many other fronts, I’d have preferred them writing something else. Even if they find a way to “resurrect” him.

Voq knowing all the access codes on Discovery is… Ominous :| :|

The short, shifting look of pride/affection/approval/attraction on Keyla’s face when Burnham walks into the bridge over Connor’s corpse gives me Life u_u

I feel like there is A Lot of Voq in that speech Tyler gives to Burnham at the end of the ep; as if he’s speaking from Voq’s own experience hiding among enemies without realizing it.

#Star Trek #ST: Discovery #ST: Disc s1 e10 #Despite Yourself(Episode) #Discovery Spoilers #Gr8 Art #zA's Outside Viewing #TV Reviews #Reaction Posts

[speedygal]

The evolution of a average trekker writer

I thought of making this post because when you think about it. IT’S TRUE. For trekkers learning the robes in writing each character, of course.

Bones ran after KiRK DOWN THE HALL WITH HIS HYPOSPRAY IN HAND GOING PAST SEVERAL WOMEN AND MEN SCREAMING OFF THE TOP OF HIS LUNGS,” GET BACK HERE JIM!” Kirk was terrified.

McCoy ran after Jim down the hall with a padd in one hand, speeding past security officers and some science officers, while shouting off the top of his lungs, “Get back here, you little infant!” Nyota came to the side watching the two men engage in a chase. Jim was avoiding paperwork, again. His vaccines were just last week.

Kirk was walking down the hall without Spock. His first officer had made good pointers. And there was something about those lips. Those thighs. Those wist. Those cheeks. Those hands.  And his entire being screamed to be on top of him. Kirk had a fantasy about hooking up with his first officer. They barely knew each other. Just had been thrown into space. But there was a emotional connection to a man who wasn’t was. Despite how Selek had tried to prevent a emotional transference. He failed. He saw all the memories. A emotional, comforted, loving relationship built on trust and respect and dotting over each other and--- Kirk wasn’t worth of it. He just wasn’t. How could he be worth of a Vulcan like that? So loyal and trust worthy.

Jim was walking down the hall without Spock. The corridor was empty. Spock had made a good point. Thee was something about him that Jim liked. Was it being correct? Having his back? Being a nerd? How drop dead handsome he was. Was it those brown eyes? Was it all the memories and emotional transference, the ambassador Spock Prime, had dumped on him? Was he even worthy of someone like Spock? Spock was different. A ocean of violent emotions being controlled at bay. Why was he suppose Spock’s soulmate? He had a record. Spock didn’t.  He was thrusted with responsibility, greatness, and . . . How could he be saddled with a loyal crew like that? Let alone a Vulcan? He trusted a Vulcan. Because they were calculative and knew what they were doing.

Spock couldn’t keep himself restrained. Every touch by the captain was arousing--

No improvement there.

Uhura eyed at the two men. He LIKED he captain. SHE KNEW IT!!!!!

Nyota eyed at the captain and first officer. Then to Christine tending to a security officer’s injuries. She looked back toward her ex-boyfriend who appeared to be worrying over his captain. Part of her felt it was supposed to be that way. She didn’t know how to start a conversation wit a nurse. Like, hello? How do you say,  “Hi, I have a crush on you” without sounding like a bit creepy? McCoy looked over toward Nyota’s direction then walked right over toward her.

“MOWE, MOWE, MOWE!” Chekov shouted. “I KAN DO IT!”

“And so the cow said, “Moo?” Pavel said. “And the Russian said, “Moo?”

 Sulu pulled the leveler down.

“Pasha, I have a plant in botany you might like.” Hikaru said.

Scotty was behind the console.

“Aye aye, captain.” Scotty said.

“Keenser and I are goin’ down to shore leave, Romaine,” Scotty said. “Ye sure ye dinnae want tae come down and enjoy the ladies?” Scotty raised his eyebrow up. “I am on medical shore leave for that head injury in engineerin’.”

“Scotty, I would love to but I am not on shore leave.” Romaine said.

Scotty frowned.

“Ahh,” Scotty said, leaning back. “All right. See ye after shore leave, Romaine.”

Demora was four years old.

No improvement because she is adorable as hell. It was supposed to be Joanna.

Joanna was three years old.

“Daddy!” Joanna grabbed McCoy into a hug.

“Pumpkin!” McCoy reciprocated. “How is my little nurse doin’?”

“Mom doesn’t want me to be a nurse.” Joanna said. She was eleven years old. “I want to be a doctor just like you and help people in space!”

Jocelyn divorced him. And still bitter with him.

“Hey, how is our grumpy bear?” Jocelyn asked.

“Fine.” McCoy said. “And you?”

“Better than  I was before,” Jocelyn said. “Did you say yes?” Her eyes widened in hope. “God say yes, your daughter won’t stop talking about  Uncle Spock and Uncle Jim. I want her to say daddy Spock and father Jim instead of Uncle.”

Winona, Jim’s mother--

“Miss Miller?” Spock asked.

Winona smiled, giving the ta’al.

“Greetings son in law.” Winona’s cheeks were a hot shade of pink. “I heard you nearly lost him in the amazon.”

“That is a understantement.” Spock said. “He nearly lost me there.”

Pike died.  And has a mysterious daughter.

“Can I attend your public wedding?” Pike asked.

“Sure.” Jim said.

“Okay I am bringing my wife and daughters---” Pike said.

“Wait you have daughters?” Jim asked.

“Yeah, do you know any girls I can hook them up with? They haven’t been out dating since they got out of high school. They need some new girls to hang out with.” Pike looked at him. “Do you?”

“Sorry, no.” Jim said.

“Damn. Maybe I should introduce the girls to the Orion cadets I met earlier.” Pike said. “They are so picky.”

That man was not Khan Noonien Singh--

“Ambassador Spock!” The officer said. “You destroyed the botany bay!”

Spock Prime looked in their direction with a hard glare.

“The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.“ Spock Prime said.

Kirk was leaned against the wall behind the glass door.

Jim was leaned against the glass door with dead skin. The radiation had done its toll on him. His once pretty face was scarred. His chest wrecked in pain. His saphire eyes looked up toward the Vulcan whose hands were on the window. He closed the door then reached his hand out expressing sorrow through their bond. It was funny, Spock should be here. He died defending a alien ship from the Enterprise. He was dying from helping people be saved from his ship that went under the control of a virus.

It was fun.

And humbling.

To have served with Spock and the crew.

His T’hy’lara now had two.

His Bones can take care of him.

He had to.

“James T. Kirk? How did you find me?”

“Jim?” Spock Prime stood there in sheer amazement looking down on the old man sat down on the snow of New Vulcan. “How did you find me?” The sheer emotions clouded down upon the elder as he held a hand out for the human. “I did not think you would come after me.”

Kirk Prime took Spock Prime’s hand with a grin.

“You can’t get rid of me that easily, old friend.” Kirk Prime grabbed Spock Prime into a hug. “No Klingons here this time.” Spock Prime’s hands wrapped around the elder man’s backside.

Spock softly whispered, “T’hy’la.”

Kirk Prime would explain, later, how he found his husband.

“Her name is Carol Marcus.”

“Hhis name is David Marcus.” Carol said, gesturing toward the little boy in her arms.

Jim knelt down to the little boy with hazel eyes.

“He has my moms eyes.” Jim said.

Amanda is dead. After falling to her death.

“Mother!” Spock said.

Amanda was showing off the baby pictures of Spock and Sybok to both Jim and McCoy.

“That’s your husband chewing on I-Chaya’s ear.” Amanda said.

“Daww, I never realized he was that cute.” McCoy said.

“I love it.” Jim said.

George was a constant figure over Jim’s shoulder--

“Jim, get a boyfriend.” George said.

“Dad, no!” Jim said.

“I can trust you with my brother’s corvette.” George said. Frank was a terrible father figure. That George knew but the car was his to wrek not Jims. Which was why he hid the damn keys. “Get a boyfriend who knows how to drive.”

“I know how to drive.” Jim said.

“No, you don;t. I tried, and you largely ignored it.” George said.

“You taught me to drive a hover car.” Jim said.

“Honey, he is yours!” George said. “Shore leave is over!”

Sarek chewed out Spock. And never was seen again.

“Your kid a terrible driver too?” George asked.

“He cannot drive a motorcycle. He prefers to walk.” Sarek said. “He prefers to climb the mountains.” No wonder Spock is bold and patient, George thought, here I was trying to iron my kid out from being under my brothers care and he does better than I!

“Hey, lets in a motorcycle game. Sarek.” George said.

“A motorcycle game?” Sarek asked.

“Gang, I meant.” George said, rubbing his forehead. Sometimes the words sounded better in his head.

“That would be a reasonable use of our time.” Sarek said.

“Yeah, WHEN YOU ARE NOT BUSY BEING A AMBASSADOR!” George drives away on his motorcycle leaving the Ambassador to the dust.  Winona and  Amanda were exchanging stories on the porch over sweet tea with Eleanor McCoy in between them. They were laughing at the startled Vulcan. George was giving the middle finger as he left.

You can rearrange any of these scenes into a full on story.

#Star Trek: Alternate Original Series #Sarek #Amanda Grayson #George Kirk #Winona Kirk #James T. Kirk #Montgomery Scott #Leonard McCoy #spirk #nyota uhura #chahura #christine chapel #pavel chekov #hikaru sulu #Spock Prime #carol marcus #Christopher Pike #Kirk Prime #Demora Sulu #Joanna Sulu #Jocelyn McCoy #s'chn t'gai spock #mcspirk