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KenJennings

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Everything posted by KenJennings

  1. I've brought up these guys a number of times, but I can't stress enough how underrated they are. Dredg
  2. Twenty Seven minutes of crunchy, goofy, indulgent prog-perfection:
  3. Wait, you're seriously saying Jimmie didn't earn any of his 6 championships? Including 5 STRAIGHT... I think he legitimately earned 3 or 4 of them.
  4. Dead Captains Don't See "How long until the Romulan ships are within weapons range, Mr. Chellaud?" Commander Aznia Toma ordered the report from Tactical. The Pakled tactical officer reported back, "Two Minutes." "Toma to Rahall," Aznia tapped her badge, "How quickly can you install a cloaking device?" Chief Engineer Rahall's voice rang back across the communicator, "Three... maybe four minutes." "You have two, prepare to beam to the freighter!" Aznia ordered. She tapped her badge again, "Transporter room, beam Rahall and one of our auxiliary cloaking modules directly to the freighter immediately." "Aye sir, energizing." a crewman's voice answered. "Mr. En'thaas, set a course for the Romulan ships. Let's intercept them and buy as much time as possible." The Aenar helmsman maneuvered the ship toward the ominous warbirds. "Captain, they're locking on us." "Evasive maneuvers." She turned toward Tactical "Mr. Chellaud target the smaller support vessels with a phaser cannon spread, let's see if we can pull them off course." Aznia ordered. "Support vessels are pursuing, the lead warbird is breaking toward the freighter, 30 seconds to range." The Federalist shook violently, sparks flew across the bridge. "Shields are at 30%." The Tactical officer reported. Aznia turned to Science Officer Haln, "I want you to dump all power except shields and structural integrity into the deflector dish. Let's see if we can generate a gravity well to hold that warbird back." The Saurian Science Officer engaged the deflector as the energy transfer blew out several relays, but the particle stream generated a field that slowed the Warbird's progress. "Get whatever power is remaining back to weapons!" Aznia ordered as the strained ship tried to juggle it's various tasks. "Fire at will on the Warbird!" The phasers inflicted significant damage on the Romulan lead ship, but the support vessels swarming them were decimating their defenses. "Shields offline!" The Pakled Tactical officer shouted. "Hull integrity down to 29%!" "Keep firing until the freighter cloaks! Once they're clear, give me warp power!" The bridge overloaded with energy feedbacks, "We won't have warp power!" En'thaas reported, "We're losing core contain-" A shower of sparks cut off the officer's report, as the holodeck program ended. The crewmen found themselves within the empty holomatrix on level 1 in the Starfleet Command building. En'thaas stepped toward Aznia, setting a hand on her shoulder, "Good attempt." he consoled her. The holodeck doors opened, two Starfleet officers walked in, "Interesting method." a grey haired Admiral announced. He looked around the holodeck, "Thank you for participating, you're all dismissed." The crew shuffled out of the room, except Aznia. "I thought I could give the freighter time to make repairs by cloaking them." Aznia explained her actions, "I was only fighting for time... I'd hoped we could hold out long enough to secure them, then jump to warp ourselves." "You don't often get the time you expect," the Admiral explained, "but your approach was commendable." "Is there any chance I could see how the rest of that simulation turned out?" Aznia inquired, "The Kobayashi Maru may still have escaped." "No you can't see. You died. Dead Captains don't see." Admiral Deet taunted the failure. "You must accept the consequences of your losses. Not knowing what happened to that freighter is a very small consequence, compared to losing those 400 men and women aboard your ship." Commander Toma shook her head in frustration. "You did fine, Commander." Deet reassured her. He looked over to the other officer in the room, "Have you met Commander Daniels? He's in charge of the simulations department here at Starfleet Academy." Daniels extended his hand to Commander Toma, "Nice to meet you." he smiled politely. Aznia smiled and greeted Daniels similarly. Daniels looked in the Admiral's direction, "To be honest, I think Commander Toma's attempt was one of the best I've seen in my time here. I'd hate to think my program is getting soft." He smiled coyly toward Aznia, "Admiral, if you don't mind, I have some questions about the simulation from the user's perspective. Would you mind if I spoke to Aznia in my office?" "Of course." He nodded to Daniels before addressing Aznia, "Commander, report to my office tomorrow at 1400 hours, we'll go over your results and I'll let you know your next assignment." Admiral Edinger Deet smiled at his subordinates as he turned to leave, nodding as if to say 'good day'. Toma and Daniels stood at attention as the Admiral vacated the area. Once he was clear, they began to speak casually. "You've served with the Admiral, right?" Daniels asked the straightforward question. "I was his Chief of Security aboard the L'Étoile du Nord for three years," she answered "I consider him a mentor... and a friend." "I suppose that's good to hear," Daniels smiled, "With his promotion, I'll be working under him here at Starfleet Command. I'm interested in knowing what I'm in for." Daniels led Aznia out of the holodeck, walking a short distance down the corridor to Daniels' office. The office was small; it was on the interior side of the corridor, so there were no windows. PADDs were stacked on every surface, listing reports and assignment rosters for ships all across the quadrant. Aznia smiled at the messy workspace, "It looks like you keep yourself busy!" "Oh, I'm sorry about the mess." Daniels looked around. Aznia smiled back, "No... don't be! I feel like I'm at home." The door slid shut behind Daniels, "Commander, I'd like to speak to you about something classified. This can't go beyond these walls, not even to the Admiral." Aznia was too curious to turn away, "Um... Go ahead." she nervously permitted him to continue. "Computer, lock office doors." Daniels walked behind his desk, unlocking a cabinet with a retinal scan. "Have you ever heard of Section 31, Commander?" "Of course I have." Aznia's attitude changed to disgust, "If Section 31 still exists, and if you're working with them, we can end this meeting now." "No, Commander. I do not work for Section 31. In fact, Section 31 hasn't existed in over 180 years." He sat down, setting an unusual piece of technology from his cabinet on the desk, "And that's the problem we face." he tapped buttons on the device which illuminated the room with a stream of complex holographic data and imagery. Aznia was stunned by the imagery for a moment, she forced her composure past the sight to discuss the so-reviled topic at hand, "Section 31 was a criminal organization that corrupted the best facets of Starfleet!" She leaned in, "How many people died because of their actions?" "You're right. Section 31 was brought to light when their efforts to instigate a war with the Klingons backfired. Their unfrozen, genetically engineered, super soldier wreaked havoc on Earth, Starfleet Command, and the Enterprise. The incident led the people of earth to route out their operatives and to remain vigilant in stopping any rouge intelligence operations like them." Daniels leaned in closely to match Aznia eye-to-eye, lowering the tone of his voice, "None of it should've happened." "Then we agree." Aznia eased back, "Section 31 should've never existed in the first place." Daniels grinned, "Well... we don't agree. Section 31 should exist. They should still exist." he struggled to make his point, "Don't get me wrong, the Section 31 that you know should've never existed. They should've never been pushed to such aggressive lengths. They should've never overplayed their hand like they did." Aznia was confused by the nebulous debate, she cut straight to the chase. "So, why are we discussing this." Daniels stood up, and began to interact with his holography. "This is a timeline. It shows time as it should have played out." "'Should have played out'?" Aznia quoted back in a dismissive tone. "Are you saying that the timeline has been altered?" "Right." Daniels expanded a section of the timeline, "Right here. The destruction of the U.S.S. Kelvin" information about the event expanded onto the holographic globe surrounding them. "I've read about this." Aznia stood up and walked in closer, "That was the same ship that destroyed Vulcan. That was when it arrived." "So you're aware that the timeline has been altered." Daniels argued his point. Aznia contemplated the statement, "Who's to say that this isn't the 'correct' timeline? Nobody is qualified to rewrite 200 years of history!" Daniels chuckled, "It's quite a responsibility, but it's an important job to do." Aznia gazed back at him sharply, again cutting directly to the point, "Who are you, Daniels?" Daniels sighed, "I am a temporal agent from the 29th century, I've been trapped here for the past 22 years, monitoring intelligence reports, forging credentials, evaluating officers, making calculations, and waiting for the right time to act." "What are you waiting for?" "Like you said," Daniels answered, "A chance to rewrite history. And I need the help of a good officer." "I can't be a part of this!" Aznia scoffed, "I won't take lives into my hands like that." Daniels turned back to his timeline, bringing up the profile of a Vulcan officer, "This is Doctor Span, one of your best friends and most trusted confidants." "I've never seen that man." Aznia shot back. Daniels brought up a picture of Span with his wife and son, "Because Vulcan was destroyed, he was never born. Neither was his son." he pulled up another profile, "His wife, Elsie Walesa. She should be your first officer; someone with an illustrious and meaningful Starfleet career... instead, she's running a courier service in Idaho." "I don't know these people at all." Aznia shook off the information. Daniels moved the timeline again, "And then there's our war with the Dominion/Romulan alliance. That isn't going very well, is it?" "I'm still confident that we can persevere." she hoped aloud. Daniels shook his head, "This war should be over. It should've been over almost 50 years ago when we liberated Cardassia." "Liberated? We left Cardassia leveled, their population almost extinct, hardly a military victory." Aznia lamented. "Just another entire race of people that we can save." Daniels shot back. "If Section 31 would've been involved in the Dominion war, their actions would've led to a cease fire at Cardassia. They would've coerced the Romulan Senate into maintaining the Treaty of Algeron." Aznia covered her mouth with her hand, exhaling softly. Before she could answer, "How about the fate of the entire Federation?" Aznia set up sternly, "What happens to the Federation?" "I can't be sure. I don't know this future any more than you do. But what I do know is that my attempts to contact my century's Temporal Investigations department have gone unanswered, as if they're not there at all." Daniels explained, in the future that I know, the Federation barely survives a number of threats. But they do survive. Even if they win this Dominion War, it will leave a weakened, pitiful Federation that is completely unprepared for the Undine, the Fen'Domar, the Iconians, or the Sphere Builders." "Who?" Aznia was giving Daniels her full attention. "Just know this." he tapped his finger against the desk, "With this past, we have no future." Aznia was sold. "What do we need to do?" "Just be prepared for further instructions. Make sure you're on time to meet with the Admiral tomorrow. And remember, this information doesn't leave this room." Daniels switched off his device, the cluttered office reappeared around them. He manually opened the door by pressing a control pad on the wall. "Commander Toma, I appreciate your feedback on the Kobayashi Maru simulation." he gestured for her to leave the office, "Feel free to contact me if you have any other feedback!" Aznia left the office questioning her whole world, not knowing where to turn. --- A short stroll from the transporter hub in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, Aznia found herself outside of a building marked 'Lakul Courier'. She walked in the front door, greeting the clerk, "Hello. I was wondering if I could speak to Elsie Walesa." "Let me see if she's available." The clerk walked away. Aznia took a moment to look around the room, noting a series of pencil sketches. Some appeared to be family portraits, but several were different starships, a Tuffli freighter, a Whorfin class transport, and even a striking sketch of the Excelsior class Enterprise-B. The clerk returned, "She has a full schedule today, is there something I can help you with?" Aznia insisted, "Please. It's a matter of personal importance. I have some brief questions for her." The clerk sighed and disappeared around the corner again. A moment later he returned with Walesa in tow. Walesa entered with an annoyed tone "Is there something I can..." something about Aznia struck her as familiar, stopping her in mid-sentence, "Deet? Your name is Deet." she said. Aznia was surprised, "No, but I do know someone by that name..." Walesa led Aznia to her office. It was a tidy and well organized place, with more pencil sketches adorning the wall. In the corner was a lighted drawing table. "Are these pencil drawings your own?" Aznia asked. Walesa smiled, "Yes, it's a hobby of mine. I've always got visions running through my mind, and I feel a need to put them to paper. In fact, I have one I want to show you." Walesa reached into a large desk drawer, removing a portfolio. Several additional drawings were inside. "When I drew this picture, the name Deet came to mind." Walesa showed Aznia a picture that bore a striking resemblance to herself. "I must know you from somewhere." "Fascinating," Aznia admitted, "Do you have others?" She wondered how she would end up joining with the Deet symbiont. Walesa showed Aznia a number of drawings, some of Span, some of Federation starships, some of a half-Vulcan child. "These people... it's like I have memories of them in my head, but I don't know who they are. Sometimes a name accompanies the image, but it's like an afterimage." Aznia smiled and nodded, "Tell me about your courier service. When did you start Lakul Transport?" "I didn't start it, it's a family business." she explained, "My grandmother was an El-Aurian. She was the Captain of the S.S. Lakul, which transported refugees to Earth after their homeworld was decimated by the Borg. Interestingly, she barely made it to Earth in one peice. The ship was caught in an energy ribbon, and was fortunate to have been towed to safety by the Enterprise-B. She was lucky the Enterprise was outfitted with a tractor beam that very morning, Starfleet protocol wouldn't let them leave drydock without one. The Lakul's sister ship was destroyed, but my grandmother made it to Earth with one of her vessels in tact. It was all she had when she arrived. She used it to start this business." Aznia nodded, "Did you ever have any aspirations of joining Starfleet." "I suppose I would have... but the family trade has always kept me busy." She chuckled, "...and my drawing." "And your drawing." Aznia echoed. "Do you ever wonder why you have these visions you draw?" "I think it's an El-Aurian trait. My grandmother had similar visions, much more intensely. It's like there's an awareness of something else out there. I really can't explain it." "I think you're right, Elsie." Aznia leaned in, lowering her voice, "I think that there's been a horrible change to our history, and it may be up to me to fix it." Walesa laughed aloud, "...and people think I'm crazy." "Please, Elsie. For Span, for your son..." she tapped her finger on the picture of the half-Vulcan boy, "...consider what I'm saying." Walesa turned serious, locking eyes with Aznia for a long moment. "Alright. I believe you." --- The next afternoon, Aznia arrived at Admiral Deet's office in San Francisco. Aznia wanted to tell the Admiral what she'd discussed with Daniels, but she also realized the importance of keeping such information secret, Daniels had yet to contact her, so she was unsure of how to proceed. "Aznia, come in... take a seat," the Admiral greeted her as she entered his office, "I've gone over your Command training records with Starfleet, they were reticent to give someone so young a command at this point; but I got a report in on my desk this morning, and we need good Captains more than ever." he smiled widely, "Congratulations, you're due for promotion this evening, and they're giving you command of the newly commissioned Tactical Escort, U.S.S. Federalist. Your first assignment will be on the lines in the Orellius sector." Aznia was excited by the news, "Admiral, thank you. I don't know what to say." "You could start by saying 'Yes, sir.'," the Admiral joked, "We'll hold the promotion ceremony at 1800 aboard the Federalist. Pack up your things and get ready to report aboard." Aznia stood up, preparing to get to the task. Before leaving the room, she turned back to Admiral Deet, "Have you, by chance, spoken with Commander Daniels since yesterday?" "He helped compile the data from your evaluations, but we didn't speak at length. Why do you ask?" Edinger inquired. "We had an... interesting conversation. He suggested some interesting things about time travel and alternate timelines," Aznia decided to hold back, "...but I'm sure it was just banter." Deet raised an eyebrow, "Alright, Aznia. You'd better get ready. I'll see you this evening." Aznia left the Admiral's office, and returned to her temporary quarters at Starfleet Command. She packed up her things, and had them transporter aboard the Federalist. She decided to take a shuttle into orbit so that she could visually inspect her new ship, as it awaited in dry dock. The shuttle launched from San Francisco and reached orbit in minutes, a Saurian ensign piloted the shuttle, "She's a beauty, Captain!" he said proudly as they approached the Escort in drydock. "Yes she is, Lieutenant. But I'm not Captain quite yet." She quipped, "Are you serving aboard?" "Aye, ma'am," the Saurian responded, "Lieutenant Jr. Grade Dewoh. I'll be working ship's security detail!" Aznia immediately began to size up the situation, "Let me ask you, Lieutenant. If my orders seem unusual, even in our first mission, would you have any doubts?" "Every situation is unique, Captain... Commander," he corrected himself, "I go where I'm ordered, and I will have your back." Aznia smiled at the dark red alien, "Thank you Lieutenant." The shuttle approached the Federalist docking doors, the large panels slid open, allowing the shuttle to access the ship. The shuttle's rear hatch opened as crewman awaited their commanding officer at attention. A formal whistle sounded, greeting Aznia aboard. En'thaas and Rahall were two of the first officers to welcome Aznia, having just been transferred aboard, "I can't think of anyone I'd rather serve with," En'thaas assured the Captain. "Congratulations, this is quite a ship," Rahall added. "Well, I know she's got a fine helmsman and chief engineer!" Aznia complemented her senior staff. "I'd like to see the bridge before the reception ceremony." "This way Captain Toma," En'thaas led the officers to the turbolift. They walked aboard the bridge, as it all seemed strangely familiar to Aznia, she eyed up the Captain's chair, "I suppose that's yours," Rahall gestured for her to sit down. Aznia sat in the seat, immediately pressing a few buttons on the arm, "Comfortable fit... just needs a little lumbar adjustment." she joked. "The command transfer reception will be starting shortly in the deck-3 banquet room. I'm going to go see if I can find my dress uniform." En'thaas reminded the group. "Officer thinking, I'm about to go do the same." the ship's new commanding officer stood up, as the crowd parted. --- A few members of Starfleet brass arrived with Admiral Deet to the reception, a crowd of crew and dignitaries enjoyed good food and a mildly festive atmosphere, "Attention everyone!" Admiral Deet boasted from the central lectern, "Attention on deck!" Another ceremonial whistle blew, stopping the crowd in their tracks, Aznia stood alongside in anticipation as Edinger gave the orders. "For services performed on behalf of Starfleet and your crewmates, it is my honor to promote you, Aznia Toma, to Captain, with all the duties and privileges thereunto." Edinger pinned an additional pip on Aznia's uniform as the crowd began their applause, "Hold on... Hold on..." Deet settled the group lightheartedly, "Captain Aznia Toma, as of stardate 87355.47, by the request of Admiral Edinger Deet of Starfleet Command, you are hereby requested and required to accept command of the U.S.S. Federalist... Computer, transfer all command codes to Captain Aznia Toma, voice authorization Admiral Edinger Deet Pi-Omega-Six." The computer chimed, it's cold voice repeating the order, "Transfer complete. U.S.S. Federalist now under command of Captain Aznia Toma." "I relieve you sir," Aznia stated. Edinger smiled, "I stand relieved." he reached out to shake Aznia's hand, "Congratulations, Captain." He quickly looked out toward the crowd in the room, "Now go ahead and clap." Laughter and applause filled the room. As the festivities continued. "It's all a little overwhelming," Aznia mused. Edinger raised and eyebrow, "This is overwhelming? Just wait until you've got a wing of Jem'hadar assault ships chasing you from behind, and two Romulan Warbirds ahead of you..." "Well when you put it that way, maybe I'll just have another drink." Aznia joked. Edinger praised the new Captain "I'm proud of you Az, you're going to do well here." Aznia was overwhelmed with the support she'd received, and felt compelled to be more forthcoming with her Commanding officer. "I wanted to talk to you about this afternoon, remember I mentioned that conversation I had with Commander Daniels?" "Yes, you mentioned he said something unusual to you?" Deet was suspicious. "Well, to make a long story short, he suggested that he was from the 29th century and that changes made to the timeline needed to be corrected." Aznia raised her hand to assure the Admiral, "I wouldn't mention something that seemed so outlandish, except... he had some compelling evidence." "What kind of evidence," Deet inquired sternly. Aznia sighed, "He had some impressive holography, complex and detailed knowledge of history, back stories on individuals he couldn't have possibly otherwise known." she went on further, "And I went out of my way to check out some of these stories, and it all seems to hold up." "What does he want you to do?" "Well, ultimately, his goal is to restore the timeline- in his words." Aznia replied, "He asked me not to discuss this with anyone, and said he would follow up with additional information." Deet was puzzled, "I'm glad you've come to me with this, clearly we need to find out what he plans to do. For now, I want you to wait for his instructions and get back with me. We need to stop whatever he's planning." "But what if he's right, Admiral?" Aznia was concerned about Deet's dismissiveness, "What if this is all wrong, and we are on the wrong course." "We've got our own history to protect, Aznia. The temporal prime directive demands we prevent incursions into the timeline as much as possible." Deet drove home the lesson, "Whatever he's asking you to do, if he can't bring it before Starfleet command, there is no place for it on the bridge of your ship. Do you understand?" "Yes, sir." Aznia acted confident in the order, while hiding her substantial doubts. --- Aznia retired to her quarters, ready to spend the first night aboard her new home. She began to unpack her personal possessions. A panel on the wall chimed to summon her attention. She walked to the panel activating the comm line, "Captain Toma here," "Captain, you're getting a message on a secure line." the communications officer informed. "Go ahead and put them through." Aznia answered. Daniels' face appeared on the uplink. "Congratulations, Captain. I trust everything went well with the Command Transfer?" "It did, and I've been able to confirm much of your story as well." Aznia informed him. Daniels explained, "I'm uploading information into the Federalist's computer about a phenomenon that will be passing through the Orellius system in the next few days." "The Orellius system? That's where we're being sent on assignment." Aznia stated with a questioning tone. "Right. You'd be surprised by the orders you can divert and sway when you work for Starfleet Command." he got back to the point, "This phenomenon is a conflux of temporal energy. The bottom line is that it will allow you anyone who enters it to leave anywhere, at any point in history." "Just that easy? Sounds too good to be true." Aznia shot back. "Well," Daniels sighed, "Not quite. The ribbon has proved incredibly destructive to any ship that is pulled near it. 120 years ago, two El-Aurian transport ships were rescued from the ribbon by the Enterprise-B. It can be a very dangerous phenomenon." Aznia remembered the same story from Elsie, "How do you suggest we proceed?" Aznia asked. "First off, I'd like you to familiarize yourself with the history regarding the U.S.S. Kelvin incident. When you leave the ribbon, you'll be traveling to the year 2233 and boarding the Narada, a Romulan vessel that arrived in our space through a temporal anomaly exactly at that time. You'll need to bring several officers who each need to be briefed on the situation in detail. The more trusted officers that you can muster, the better. Based on what I know of the phenomenon, each officer who enters the ribbon will be enticed by a fantasy that will tempt them to stay, they need to resist it, so I hope you can find disciplined minds for this mission as well. Ultimately your goal will be to commandeer or destroy the Narada from within, as soon as you arrive, and at any cost." Aznia replied, "Understood, and how do we get into the ribbon?" Daniels braced himself for a negative reaction, "I've arranged to have a crate placed aboard your ship. You will find it in Cargo Bay two marked as '5000 Self-Sealing stem-bolts', in the crate, you will find all of the necessary components and instructions to modify one of your quantum torpedoes with a trilithium warhead." "Trilithium?" Aznia recoiled. "You'll need to fire the warhead into the Defera sun in the next 72 hours in order to change the course of the ribbon so that it intersects with Lae'nas III. I'm sending over all of the data you'll need." Daniels explained the plan. "That will kill everything in the Defera system!" Aznia shouted down the plan, "I won't have any part of it!" "If you succeed, none of it matters! Those lives will be restored!" Daniels pleaded. "I think you're a little too confident and comfortable playing god, Daniels." Aznia reasserted herself, "I was already unsure if I wanted to go along with your plan, and now you're asking me to murder billions of people?!" "I am asking you to save billions of people," Daniels demanded, "I've been waiting for years for a chance to access this anomaly. The time is right to set everything straight. If we succeed, the consequences of this timeline are erased!" "If we succeed... 'If'." Aznia scoffed, raising another matter, "Tell me Daniels, what happens to Admiral Deet in your other timeline?" "Admiral Deet?" Daniels was thrown by the question, "What do you mean?" "I spoke to someone who seemed to have some knowledge of your timeline. They suggested my name was Aznia Deet." Aznia raised an eyebrow, "Why else would that be my name? Why would I end up with the Deet symbiont?" Daniels rolled his eyes, "Edinger Deet died in service of his career as a doctor. In my universe, he was a great healer who gave his life on a mission that saved millions of lives from an environmental disaster, and thankfully you were there to save his symbiont when things went south." "So, if this mission is a success, the Admiral dies." Aznia cut to the chase. "Yes." Daniels admitted, "And I'm asking you to restore his fate as a hero and a healer, and to save all of those lives that he already sacrificed himself to save once. Aznia, I'm asking you to affirm the decision he's already made." "Daniels, I'm not destroying that solar system, and that's the end of the story." Aznia shut down the conversation, "Goodbye, Daniels. I'm sorry I can't help you." she pressed a button to turn the monitor black. Aznia sat down on the edge of her bed, contemplating the situation for a good long while. After several minutes she made a decision, "Computer, establish a communications like to Lakul Transport in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho." --- The Federalist arrived in the Orellius sector. Aznia had spent hours pouring over the data sent to her by Daniels. She hailed Admiral Deet, "Admiral, I wanted to let you know what Daniels was planning." "Go ahead, Captain." the Admiral gave her his full attention. "He had a trilithium warhead placed aboard the Federalist. He wanted me to use it on the Deferi star, so that the gravitational forces in the sector would shift, and a temporal nexus would intersect with Lae'nas III. He then wanted me to enter the temporal nexus in order to change history." "He wanted you to destroy a star?!" The Admiral was shocked. "That's right, I suggest you have him brought into custody immediately." Aznia insisted. "I want that trilithium device, Aznia. Not only would it be important evidence against Daniels, but that is a weapon of mass destruction that I do not want aboard one of our ships on the frontline." Deet was concerned. "Do you want the Federalist to return to Starbase?" Aznia offered. Deet responded, "No, I'll take the L'Étoile du Nord to rendezvous with you tomorrow at Defera." "The Federalist will be there, Admiral." Aznia nodded, "Aznia out." --- The Federalist and the L'Étoile du Nord rendezvoused in orbit of Defera, Deet hailed the Federalist to initiate contact. "Hello, Federalist, are you prepared to transport the device?" "Lieutenant Corbin Bohannon here, Admiral. We're transporting it now." a junior officer answered. Deet was curious, "Where is Captain Toma?" "She left yesterday along with several members of the bridge crew. She said it was a top-priority matter, and placed me in command. That's all I know." Bohannon struggled to explain. Deet ended the communications without warning, "Computer, are there any known temporal anomalies passing through this sector?" "A conflux of temporal energy is currently passing near the Lae'nas system." Deet grabbed his helmsman by the shoulder, "Set a course, maximum warp!" --- Aznia, Dewoh, En'thaas and Rahall stood with Elsie Walesa on the bridge of the Lakul. The rusty old El-Aurian transport rattled and hummed as they plotted their strategy. "No matter what you see in that ribbon, you need to remain focused." Aznia insisted, "We need to focus our attentions on emerging in the Narada's engine room as soon as it enters our space. Once we're there, we do whatever we can to detonate their singularity core. At all costs. Remember, if we succeed, the timeline will reset, and we all take our chances on an entirely new fate. We aren't giving our lives here." The crew was ready to trust the Captain, no matter the consequences. A chime rang on a nearby control panel, Elsie moved to investigate. "It's a Federation starship, Aznia." she warned. "Can you hail them," Aznia asked. Edinger appeared on screen, "Aznia, what are you doing?" "Daniels' methods may have been abhorrent," Aznia admitted, "but his goals were admirable. We need to fix this timeline. I believe you would've want it that way." "I want to see the timeline preserved, Aznia. You need to remember your oath to the prime directive." Deet began to lecture. "It's time to heal what's been broken," Aznia confessed, "In another world, you would understand that. At least I hope you do." Edinger responded, "I don't know what any of this means, Aznia; but you're sacrificing a lot by pulling this stunt." "Admiral, however this ends, I want to thank you for the faith you've put in me. I'm doing my best to live up to it." Aznia clenched her teeth, knowing she was sentencing this man to death, "...and I'm sorry for whatever changes for you. But I believe you'd really want it this way. Toma out." the screen went to black. Aznia hung her head in sadness for a long moment, as the L'Étoile du Nord attempted to engage a tractor beam. "Polarize the hull to break free, then set a course into the ribbon!" Walesa ordered to Rahall, who manned the navigation console, "Let's get to the cargo bay!" The team rushed to the ship's cargo bay as the ship careened on auto pilot into the ribbon, as soon as they were all in, Walesa reached for a control panel, hesitating for a moment; "Are we ready!?" "Let's go!" Aznia shouted back as Walesa pressed the button. The cargo bay doors blew open, jettisoning all five of them out of the ship and into the ribbon violently. As Aznia was pulled out into space, she watched the energy of the ribbon blasting into the Lakul's hull as the ship was rocked to pieces, for a moment she wondered if the plan was going to work as her breath was forced from her lungs by the frigid vacuum of space. --- Aznia found herself standing in a woodland meadow, walking in bare feet walking through the softest grass she'd ever felt. A stream peacefully babbled nearby. She looked around briefly forgetting her mission altogether. It was the most serene setting she'd ever seen. After a moment, she shook her head... "No. This is an illusion," she reminded herself. She closed her eyes tightly, and before any more enticement could fall her way, she willed herself out of the Nexus. --- The singularity core of the Narada was in a large dreary room- a stark contrast from the meadow she'd found herself in moments before. Aznia appeared there with Rahal, Dewoh, En'thaas and Walesa together, surprising several Romulan officer who drew their weapons on the intruders immediately. Dewoh was shot down first, the others took cover. "Rahal, can you overload the core?" Aznia shouted over the disruptor fire. She answered, "I'll need a minute, Captain!" Aznia darted across the room, drawing the fire of the Romulans. She ducked behind a console, then rolled out to focus their attention as much as possible. She pointed for her other crew members to do the same, all while giving Rahall a chance to work at destroying the ship from within. En'thaas lunged out from behind a console and attacked one of the Romulans, he knocked the guard's disruptor loose, but was shot by another guard in the process. Elsie ran the opposite direction, hoping to give Aznia time to get to the loose disruptor. Aznia sprinted for it diving to grab the device, but Walesa was shot before Aznia could draw down on her assailant. Aznia briefly looked to see Rahall still working on the singularity core. She pulled up the disruptor hoping to buy just a few more seconds. Aznia fired, downing one Romulan. In the process, she drew the fire of another, and took a fatal bolt to the chest without ever seeing Rahall complete the job. --- "Ahh!" Aznia Deet gasped awake in a cold sweat. "Computer, what's the time?" Deet found herself in her bed aboard the Federalist, stunned by the odd dream. "The time is 2334 hours." the computer dispassionately reported. She climbed out of bed, "Water, 2 degrees Celsius." a glass of water appeared for her in her replicator. She drank it quickly, trying to shake off the vivid nightmare she'd just endured. Against her better judgment, she tapped her combadge, "Deet to Walesa." A groggy voice answered the hail, "Yes, Capitan." "I'm sorry to bother you this late, but I have a strange question for you." Aznia suddenly felt silly bothering someone about her nightmare. "It's alright Captain, go ahead." Walesa answered. Deet asked, "Was your grandmother El-Aurian?"
  5. As time goes on, I find myself rooting for Jeff Gordon more and more. As of today, he's now win 89 races, all in the modern era. He's a four time champion, and those were all won the old fashioned way- when you actually had to put together a complete season. His four Winston Cups are far more impressive than Jimmie Johnson's 6 Sprint Cups, because he actually earned them. If you tally points under the old system, he should be a legitimate six time champion right now, and again, that's competing in the modern era. This guy should indisputably be considered a top-5 driver all-time. My question is, with 11 wins left to 100, and at age 42; will he reach triple digits before he hangs up his driver's suit? Also consider that he's leading the NASCAR points, and is a probable post-season participant given today's win. Does he finish his career with four hard-fought, well earned titles; or does he join Tony Stewart as the only other driver to win titles under both systems? It's almost shocking to me how NASCAR has begun to take this guy for granted, he's almost looked at as 'just another competitor', but it's really only because NASCAR has tilted the playing field away from his style of driving. This guy's a living legend, he's been a fantastic ambassador to the sport, and I really hope he wins 100 and at least one more title.
  6. At no point in Danica Patrick's career has she ever had a stretch of four races where she has averaged a finish better than 20th. That includes the last four races, which includes today's 7th place finish.
  7. Jeez. Best career finish. Where was this performance when I put a little faith in her a couple weeks ago.
  8. Here's an interesting one: Who will finish higher in a fast car tomorrow? Ryan Blaney driving for Penske or Danika Patrick driving for Stewart Haas. Both have pretty fast pieces, from two of the best teams in the sport right now. Ryan Blaney is making his first career start, Danika has a year+ under her belt. My money's on Blaney.
  9. Chrome has given me little problems over time, but they get ironed out... still, it's given me fewer problems than any alternatives.
  10. Not in the poll, but it sneaks under the bar in 1989... one of my favorite video games ever: http://www.thepinballcompany.com/ProductImages/usedarcades/IronOffRoad.jpg Ivan 'Ironman' Stewart's Super Off Road My dad was on a bowling league, and he used to take me along, and give me five bucks to play in the arcade as he bowled... I learned this game inside and out... to the point where I would take whatever money he gave me, and see how little of it I could spend over the course of a night, by continuously finishing in the top-2 to get another free play. I got so good, I could play a few hours on just a dollar.
  11. I'm betting we don't hear any Dream Theater.
  12. http://31.media.tumblr.com/e35b765951211cc1cb8ee99372c27dfd/tumblr_mrtlirsPaH1sppmago1_500.gif http://oi58.tinypic.com/2di5a1c.jpg http://www.mybs.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/milhouse-camping.gif
  13. My big question? Is Ha-Ha Clinton-Dix a real first round draft pick? Or is that just a quote from Monica Lewinsky?
  14. I miss the Leno/Conan lineup. Just solid all the way through.
  15. This story has been in my mind for a long time, and I've tried to write it a couple different ways, and I could never quite tell it right. I still feel like I missed a lot of things that I wanted to do with it, but I'm fairly satisfied with the end result. Fait Accompli "Captain, I'm picking up a Federation distress signal." The Ferengi officer reporter from the tactical console. "This far out?" Deet was surprised. "Any message? Can you identify the ship?" "No, Captain. It's a general distress call, definitely on a Federation carrier wave. It seems to be heavily distorted... coming from an uncharted star system on a course of 529 mark 3." "Lay in a course, Mr. En'thaas." The Aenar helmsman tapped the raised braille buttons on his tactile helm interface. The Federalist changed course before jumping to warp. "Estimated time to arrival?" The Captain asked her helmsman. "One hour, 22 minutes." he responded. "Mr. Atom, what is the closest Federation ship to our position?" The Android accessed his positronic database "The U.S.S. Revere is currently assigned to survey systems in the Eridan Belt." "Could this be a signal from them?" The Captain inquired. "Highly unlikely, Captain. We passed near the Revere last week. If their course had brought them here, that course would have been roughly parallel to our own. They would have shown on our sensors all along." "It seems that we have a mystery." Deet's curiosity was piqued, "But whoever they are, they apparently need our help." --- The Federalist arrived in the unexplored system. The signal led them to the orbit of the fourth planet in the system. "It is a class M planet, readings from the surface are... sporadic." Atom reported unsurely. Aznia walked over to the science console to look over his shoulder. "What is causing all of this interference?" she pointed to a garbled display. "I am trying to get a scanner lock on the source of the distress beacon... the atmosphere seems to have a strange chronometric flux that is distorting the image." The Android did all he could to enhance the image. "It appears to be debris consistent with a small craft... I am also detecting what appear to be three distinct humanoid lifesigns." "Can you beam them out?" Aznia's tone turned urgently toward the wellbeing of the survivors. "Not at this time. The interference would distort the transporter signal." Lt. Atom responded, "...but I do not believe this interference would pose a significant threat to a shuttle?" "I'd hate for one of our shuttles to fall prey to the same conditions that took down this ship." Captain Deet raised a valid point. Commander Walesa stood up, "Captain, we don't know what took that ship down... I specialized in atmospheric flight training at the academy. I'd like to volunteer for this mission." Aznia looked away for a moment, pondering the situation. She exhaled quickly through her nose before accepting the advice of her staff, "We certainly can't leave them down there. Take Doctor Span and a medical team along to treat the injured." Walesa walked toward the turbolift, she gestured toward a red shirted security officer, "Mr. Wrinn, I'd like a you with me on this one." The Xindi-primate Ensign followed the first officer. Walesa tapped her combadge, "Mr. Span, meet me with a medical team in shuttlebay one." The turbolift doors slid shut behind her. --- Shuttlecraft Shepard departed the Federalist. Walesa sat at the helm with Span sitting at the adjacent console. Wrinn sat on the port side bunk seat meticulously adjusting tuning his phaser to the appropriate frequency. The medical team consisting of Lieutenant Kelis and Ensign Lanning checked over supplies in the medkits from the starboard side bunk seat. "Hold on folks, we're entering the ionosphere." Walesa alerted the group. The shuttle rocked slightly, everything seemed well for the first few moments. "Commander," Span broke the silence, "I'm detecting a strange buildup of..." The shuttle suddenly lost all power, dropping into a uncontrolled free fall. Span swiveled his seat to face the power transfer console. "We've lost engine power, can you get me anything from auxiliary?!" Walesa ordered. Span tapped hopelessly at the console, "Nothing is responding!" he raised his voice dispassionately, "All ships power is simply gone." Walesa quickly opened an access panel beside her console, "There's nothing going through these ODN lines! We need to find a power source quickly!!" Span quickly climbed back to the ships reactor control access, he opened it and found all circuits dead there as well. The reactor was completely offline. Span took a moment to look up at the view screen, seeing the ground approach quickly. He reached over and grabbed the phaser from Wrinn's terrified, clenched hand. "What are you doing!?" Wrinn asked in confused shock. Span ignored the Ensign, "Commander, prepare to level our descent!" He detatched an ODN relay jamming the hand phaser into it's connection coupling, he increased the power output to the weapon's maximum. "NOW!" he shouted, firing the weapon. Walesa mustered a small, but meaningful, adjustment to the shuttle's course. They went from complete free fall to a managed crash course as the phaser's power blew out every relay on the ship, before venting from the maneuvering thrusters, and nudging the ship into the pilot's control. "Brace for impact!!" Walesa yelled loudly as the ship soared into a forest. The shuttle sheared through several trees, and glanced off of a small rock precipice, which tore the starboard side of the ship open like a tin can. Kelis and Lanning were thrown from the ship as the bulkhead gave way. Wrinn and Span clinged onto the port bunk as Walesa remained dedicated to her console, still futilely trying to control the craft. The ship finally tumbled to a rest at the base of several large trees. The three remaining crew members struggled to their feet. Span was the first one up, the Vulcan officer's body proved more structurally durable to the jarring crash. He lifted Wrinn onto the bunk, helping to stabilize what he diagnosed as a broken arm. When he realized the injuries were not fatal, he turned to Walesa. "Commander!" he grabbed her by her shoulder as she sit slumped over he control panel. Walesa struggled to consciousness, wincing in pain at the light flooding back into her dilated eyes. She simply groaned to acknowledge Span's concern. "You appear to be concussed commander." He examined her pupils carefully before checking over the rest of her, "We should get out of the shuttle." smoke was venting into the cockpit from smoldering parts scattered all around. Span escorted the other two survivors out of the craft. The forest outside was accommodating, a comfortable temperature, plenty of sunlight shining down through the trees. In different circumstances, it would almost be a serene place. He found a spot for Walesa to sit and rest, while he tended to Wrinn's arm. "I need to set the bone. You will experience significant pain, Ensign." Span informed the patient dispassionately. Wrinn sighed, hanging his head. "OK." he murmured through clenched his teeth. Span acted immediately, he didn't give Wrinn time to brace, as to minimize muscle resistance. Wrinn screamed at the top of his lungs, he cry echoing through the vast forest. He whimpered as he cradled the wounded limb. Span turned back to the shuttle. He began to dig through the crashed craft for any usable supplies. The port side lockers were in tact. In them, he found one medkit, a hand phaser, a tricorder, three boxes of federation emergency rations, and four folded blankets. The starboard side locker was gone along with the upper folding bunk. The lower bunk was broken away from the wall, lying on the floor. Span retrieved a small fire extinguisher from center console between the pilot's seats, he conservatively discharged it just enough to stop any components within the fuselage from smoldering further. Span looked around the craft one last time before tearing a loose piece of hard resin conduit from the ship's exposed environmental system. He returned to his patients, Walesa was already up and trying to find a branch to help splint Wrinn's arm. "Commander, sit down. I am authorized to make that an order." He reminded her sternly of his medical authority. "I believe this piece of conduit will serve as a fine splint." He held the hard piece against the wounded arm as Wrinn grit his teeth, he wrapped one of the survival blankets as a sling around the arm and behind his neck to immobilize the wound. "You found a medkit?" Wrinn inquired. "That is correct." Span acknowledged. "There should be some kind of analgesic or sedative in there. Please, I'm in a lot of pain here." Span scanned Wrinn with the tricorder. "I'm sorry Ensign, I do not doubt that you are in a great deal of discomfort, but you are in no immediate risk of shock or further complication. We need to ration our supplies." The Vulcan tried to temper his dispassionate tone as much as possible within the bounds of logic. "Come on, Commander. I'm sure we'll be rescued soon!" Wrinn pleaded. "Wrinn!" Walesa shot a disapproving tone in his direction. "Rest. Do the best you can." Span returned his attention to Walesa, "Please, Commander. Do not exert yourself." He removed a hypospray from his kit trying to remain discreet. "This is a serious concussion. We need to reduce the swelling." He pressed the anti-inflammatory hypospray against her carotid artery. Wrinn looked over seeing the administration of the drug. He scowled, believing that his superiors were conspiring against him to hoard the supplies for themselves. His gaze remained fixed on Commander Span, who callously ignored the clear disapproval. Span looked over the tricorder a little bit more. He stood between the two injured officers. "You are both under orders to rest, keep your emotions under control, I know that we will survive this." "How could you know that?" Wrinn shot back pessimistically. "The initial shuttle crash that we detected had three survivors. We detected that reading right here, at this exact location on the planet's surface." Span informed his colleagues. "When we entered the planet's ionosphere, I briefly detected a buildup of chronitons that discharged our ship's power core. The subsequent reaction sent us backward in time. We are the survivors we came to rescue." --- "Where did they go?!" Aznia demanded an answer. Lt. Atom quickly tapped at his console, accessing as much sensor data as possible. "We detected a buildup of chroniton particles at the shuttle's last known location, then a massive plasma discharge, and the shuttle simply disappeared." Aznia's concern grew, "Was the shuttle destroyed?" "I do not believe so, Captain." Atom added, "I am not detecting any debris, no dust. The size of the discharge was not significant enough to account for the shuttle's destruction." "Captain," En'thaas chimed in, "I'd like to point out that the shuttle was on a trajectory that would've taken them down in close proximity to the rescue site. The wreckage below is consistent with the size of our shuttle, and we did detect chroniton particles. A temporal anomaly may be at work here." "So we sent them to rescue..." Aznia began to say. "...themselves." Atom finished the sentence before turning back to his console to scan the anomaly further. "How long have they been down there?" Aznia asked. The Android didn't know, "Until we better understand the phenomenon at work, we can not tell." "We need to get them out of there. I want options!" --- In the week that had passed since the crash, Span and Walesa developed a routine around their base camp. They'd recovered the bodies of Kelis and Lanning, burying them nearby. They were using the shuttle as a makeshift shelter, the weather was stable and warm, they'd found sources of food in many of the indigenous plants, and a stream nearby provided an endless flow of clean water. Survival was difficult, but things could've been much worse given the situation. "This is becoming intolerable," Wrinn lamented, "How long until they come?!" "One day less than when you asked yesterday." Span retorted. "We simply can not know. It may be a matter of a hours, it may be a matter of years." "Years?" Wrinn panicked. "I suggest you focus on the fact that we will ultimately be discovered. Before we crashed, we detected three life signs, which means that we will survive." Span offered encouragement. "I have no doubt that Captain Deet will find a way to bring us home." "What if..." Wrinn began to think "What if we did something to change our future?" "That is not possible." Span shot the idea down, "Whatever actions we take, the result will be us, here, when the Federalist discovers us. If it wasn't the case, we would have seen a different result." "Hear me out," Wrinn added, "I've been looking over the shuttle, if we can rebuild the reactor, I think we can get to orbit." "Are you crazy, Wrinn? Half of the hull is gone!" Walesa shot down the idea. "I've been thinking about that," Wrinn explained, "I remember hearing about hand phasers being modified to project a containment field around hull breaches." "I doubt the disbursement field could be set wide enough to contain this hull damage." Span answered. "Even if we were able to seal the breach, such a method would work as nothing more than a stop-gap measure." "We have to try something!" Wrinn exclaimed. "Wrinn imagine that, against all odds, we get the shuttle's power systems back online. And imagine, also against all odds, we get the shuttle off the ground. Now imagine, again- against all odds, that we're able to seal the hull with the hand phaser. Once we get in orbit, then what? We've traveled back in time. Who will be up there?" Walesa explained the ridiculousness of his plan. "We'll have to set a course for DS3." Wrinn stated without considering the facts. "DS3 is 25 light years away. Even if you get the shuttle flying at warp 8 again, which isn't going to happen with only one functional nacelle, it would take 12 days to arrive at DS3." Walesa was tiring of the conversation, "The firing mechanism on this phaser couldn't project a containment field for 12 hours of continuous use, let alone 12 days!" Wrinn stomped away frustrated. Walesa and Span looked at each other nervously. "He's got a point, you know." Walesa suggested. Span raised an eyebrow, "I fail to see how." "How long do we wait before we try to change the course of our survival?" "I don't believe we can, our fate is sealed. I suggest we concentrate our efforts on affecting a more comfortable survival. Our stay on this planet may be long." --- Lt. Atom and Chief Volor called the Captain to the Transporter Room, she arrived to find them preparing a test object for transport. "Captain, we've discovered something interesting." Volor announced. "We've completed some modifications to the transporter, and we were ready to beam this test object down to the surface, it is a standard ten kilogram test cylinder comprised of 80% Duranium and 20% Nillimite." "I'm familiar with these, crewman." The Captain cut to the chase. Volor continued, "Well, I randomly selected a set of beam down coordinates on the planet's surface; and I found something interesting." Deet looked at the readout, the computer detected a ten kilogram Duranium-Nillimite alloy cylinder at the exact coordinates Volor had randomly selected. "You already beamed one down?" she asked. "No we have not." Atom responded, drawing the Captain's curiosity. "The odds of such a similar object already being at these coordinates are roughly one in..." "Clearly not a chance encounter." The Captain cut in. She wanted to know more, "Lock onto it, beam it up." A second test cylinder materialized alongside the one that was already present. It appeared to have weathered and tarnished slightly, but was clearly the same object. Aznia leaned in to inspect it more closely, "These have a unique code, don't they?" "Should be right on the corner by that top seam, Captain." Volor answered. She read from the weathered test cylinder "91791-47B." She checked the clean cylinder "91791-47B. It's the same object." "How can the same object occupy two slots on our transporter pad?" Volor asked. "Well," Aznia pointed at clean test cylinder. "beam this one down. Same coordinates." The cylinder vanished from the transporter pad. "The transport cycle reads complete, but I've lost contact with the object." "It's right there, Chief." Aznia pointed at the weathered cylinder they'd beamed up moments before. "You've beamed the clean cylinder into the past. We've already retrieved it." Atom conducted a close scan on the weathered cylinder, "Captain, this cylinder has been on the planet's surface for... over four years." --- Fifteen months had passed. Base camp had become a fairly comfortable place. The three survivors had constructed some basic amenities to raise the quality of life around camp significantly. Still, they were tired, dirty, and growing weary of their isolation. Wrinn peeled back the husk of a native fruit, "If I never see another one of these pine-flavored bananas, I'll die a happy man." "Unfortunately, Ensign, they are our best source of carbohydrates, fiber, and vitamins." Span stated matter of factly. Walesa interjected, "I'm not fond of them either, but they're all we have." "I'm going off to gather more of them, I suppose." Wrinn wandered away from camp. "I don't know how much longer he's going to make it here," Walesa waned Span, "He's growing more and more irritable and lately he's been isolating himself from us as much as he can. Span sighed, and lowered his head showing an uncharacteristic moment of vulnerability, "Commander, it is not Ensign Wrinn who I am worried about." Walesa raised her head in surprise. "Do you think I..." Span cut her off, "No. Commander. You've been... very strong in the face of this crisis." he was audibly shaken, some level of emotional compromise setting in. "I am speaking of myself." "Span, what's wrong?" "I am suffering the initial stages of a Vulcan neurological imbalance. If we were aboard the Federalist, I would be taking a leave of absence to seek treatment on Vulcan right now. It is a potentially fatal condition..." Walesa was concerned. She couldn't help but think about how she'd grown very close to Span over the past few months, "How can I help?" She grabbed his hand. "We can't get you through this." Span looked up at Walesa, sensing a level of connection he'd failed to consider so far. "If I were on Vulcan, this would be the time in my life when I would take a mate." he reticently confessed. "I can set out into the wilderness on my own, and through deep meditation and concentration, I might be able to endure the symptoms." "Span, maybe it doesn't need to be that way. You're not the only lonely person here." She grabbed his arm, looking up to see that the coast was clear, "Wrinn usually leaves for a few hours at a time... Let me help you." --- Another week had passed, and the symptoms of Span's Pon Farr had mostly subsided. The relationship between Span and Walesa had visibly warmed, much to the chagrin of Ensign Wrinn. The sun was rising on another day, and Walesa was the first to wake. She rustled around outside, waking Span and ensign Wrinn. Span exited the shuttle. "Elsie, are you alright?" "I'm fine, she emerged from the bushes, I just had to use the... bush." she chuckled nervously. Span nodded, "You almost never wake this early." hw moved toward their fire ring, and began to build up the day's fire to boil some water. Wrinn remained in the shuttlecraft, stirring up some noise. "What is he doing in there?" Span inquired. Walesa answered, "Anything to keep busy. Let's leave him be a while." Span looked back at the shuttle making sure Wrinn was out of earshot, "About last week, I want to thank you again, Elsie. I don't know how you feel about our future, but I have grown fond of your presence." he looked as bashful as a Vulcan could. Walesa smiled, "Span, about that, I need to tell you..." A shower of sparks shot out of the shuttlecraft, interrupting her mid sentence. Span and Walesa stood up in surprise, they did not know the shuttle's power systems were even online. They ran to the shuttle, opening the hatch. "Wrinn, what are you doing in here." Span sternly demanded an answer. Wrinn was curled up in the corner, shielding his head from the blast that had occurred. He did not move. Span approached him, grabbing him by the shoulder. Wrinn stood up suddenly, drawing his phaser. Wrinn stood behind span, holding the phaser in front of Span, pointing upward against his neck. "You two aren't going to keep me here anymore..." Wrinn was losing it. "I'm getting off this rock one way or another. As you can see, I've got the power systems flowing again." "Wrinn, you've got systems overloading, you've got a breached hull, you've got no chance of getting this ship out of here!" Walesa reminded the deranged Ensign. "At least then our fate isn't sealed! If I die in this shuttle, then the wreckage won't be here, there won't be three survivors!"" "Put the phaser down, Wrinn." Walesa pleaded. "We can work this out!" "No we can't. I've been watching you two subvert my efforts for too long. You've been in charge of this debacle from square one, and we've got nowhere. I'm done with you. In fact, I might just kill Commander Span right now... Just so we both know that there will not be three survivors." Walesa considered the paradox he was raising, three unidentified lifesigns, one very likely to die in the next few moments. She considered how she'd just awoke to a sense of nausea, a sense of morning sickness that drove her from her sleep earlier than usual; suddenly she knew what it all meant. One of these men was going to die. Instinctively, she kicked as hard as she could at Wrinn's phaser, dislodging it from his hand. Wrinn pushed Span into her and reached for the navigation panel, Walesa grabbed him by his shoulders to prevent him from launching the shuttle. She punched him as hard as she could to immobilize him and end the fight, but he fought back and threw a wide fist at Walesa. She ducked the punch as Span stepped in. Span, still feeling some lingering neurochemical imbalance from his Pon Farr, slipped into a moment of rage. He wound up and punched Wrinn directly in the face as hard as he could. A loud crack accompanied the blow as Wrinn slumped directly down in his footprints. Both officers stood stunned for a moment by what had occurred. Span regained his composure and dispassionately knelt down beside Wrinn's body. "He is dead." Walesa sighed, resting her face in her hands. "Span, you did what you had to do." "Commander, I am guilty of murder." Span stood professionally, as composed as possible in his dirty uniform and shaggy beard, "If we are rescued, I should face court martial, and I will plead guilty to my crime." "Span, no... Do you want your child to grow up with their father in a detention cell?" Walesa broke the news bluntly. "Child?" He was visibly taken aback, "The third survivor..." Walesa smiled, she walked over to Span's side and grabbed him by the arm. She guided his hand to her belly. "The third survivor." Span and Walesa gave Wrinn a proper burial beside Kelis and Lanning. They stood before their miniature graveyard in silence for a moment. "I can not justify my actions, Elsie." Span said mournfully. "He didn't give you any choice, Span. He was a threat to both of us... to all three of us... you knew that. The fact that you felt a moment of rage does not diminish the logic of your decision." Walesa condoned Span's action, "I'm still your superior officer. I'm ordering you to accept that." Span looked up, sadness still in his eyes. "I'm not sure I can follow that order." --- Aznia stood in the Federalist's transporter room with Atom and Volor. "Four years??" She was stunned. "Does that mean that our away team has been..." "...yes, Captain." Atom informed her, "They have been down there for about four years." "Is there any way to reverse this... to beam them out at an earlier date??" Aznia pleaded. "I do not believe so. The time has already passed for them, to use a human aphorism, their future is written... in stone." Atom dispassionately used the expression, "Fortunately, I believe our the transporter enhancements will work, so we can beam them up on your order." "Four years stranded down there... while we've been here only a matter of moments... It's unimaginable. What will this be like for them??" Aznia closed her eyes for just a moment, shaking her head in resignation, "Mr. Volor, Energize." Three patterns materialized on the transporter pad, two adults and one small child- barely able to stand on his own. Span and Walesa stared in shock at their Captain, Walesa began to weep tears of joy, Span stood back and immediately looked down at his frightened son, he reached out his hand to the small half-Vulcan boy, "We are home now. You have nothing to be afraid of. Things will be better now." The boy relaxed as he held his father's hand tightly. "Welcome home," Captain Deet was shocked by the sight of the young boy, she knelt before him, engaging him eye-to-eye, "I'm Captain Deet, what is your name?" "Calvin." The boy said timidly, overwhelmed by the foreign experience of leaving the only home he ever knew. "Congratulations, Elsie, Span." Deet softly smiled and nodded at each of them, "I'm so glad to have you back." "After so long, it almost slipped my mind that anyone was coming for us." Walesa fought back tears. "I have to ask, what happened to Kelis, Lanning and Wrinn?" The Captain returned to sad business. "Kelis and Lanning were killed as the ship crashed," Span began to report. Walesa cut in "...and Wrinn never recovered from the crash." the statement was half-truth enough for her. Span looked down at the boy holding his hand, he was ready to be more forthcoming about the incident, but realized that the half-truth served a greater good than the full truth. Span simply nodded to acknowledge the comment. The Captain was satisfied. "Let's get you three to sick bay."
  16. The Yes Album just missed the cut on my list too.
  17. I always knew Sheldon was a flamer.
  18. I'm not going to order them. Selecting 10 is hard enough... Black Mountain - Wilderness Heart Bob Seger - Stranger in Town Dido - Safe Trip Home Dream Theater - Images and Words Dredg - Catch Without Arms Frost* - Milliontown Garth Brooks - Double Live Porcupine Tree - Stupid Dream Rush - Vapor Trails (remixed) Spock's Beard - V
  19. SOCN is actually extremely civil as far as internet political discussion goes.
  20. Right? I'm sick of this hostile environment! I'm going back to civility- where we only talk about politics and religion!
  21. ...and if you really want to rip my heart out, you'll remind me that Wisconsin has produced two NASCAR champions, while Minnesota has only produced two NASCAR fans.
  22. I'll let you know when it happens. coming from a guy living in MN.... oh...kay Oh, come on! Wisconsin's greatest contribution to the world is that it protects Lake Superior from Illinois. What about the LOMBARDI TROPHY?!? What about those world series championships?
  23. I'll let you know when it happens. coming from a guy living in MN.... oh...kay Oh, come on! Wisconsin's greatest contribution to the world is that it protects Lake Superior from Illinois.
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