Good Morning everyone. This, as you may well know is a new chapter of 'TimeWeave'. The USS TimeWeave is attacked! Oh no! And Brian surprises us all, even me! Now, I hope that you like this chapter because it's going to be the last one for a while. Now, let's make this clear - I'm not stopping writing completely, but I'm going away for a month and I'm not going to have any access to a computer where I can write. It's unavoidable, sorry. But, I can still send and get my e-mail so make sure to write to me!
Now then, I've gotten a lot of e-mail from people over the last while, and I know that I haven't been able to respond to any of it, my e-mail server is completely messed up. They claimed that they were 'upgrading', but I don't think I've seen any sign of that, so I'm changing my e-mail address in the short term to shiningstar@hotpop.com. I'll still be checking the other one, but any replies that I send will be from that address, I don't think that I'll be able to reply to the mail that I've collected (about 50 messages over the last week) so sorry if you sent something to me, I've read it and I really love reading it. Don't let it stop you from writing to me please! Or, if you don't want to do that, then post a message in the guestbook on my website - http://stories.i8.com. At the moment I'm trying to update it before I go away, I hope to get that done before I leave.
Make sure and read 'Powers Within', the new 'Powers That Be' series, I posted a new chapter tonight.
None of this is true. The celebrities mentioned are not aware that I'm doing this and I doubt that they'd be pleased to know that I was. Events in this story bear no co-relation to real events, and if you think that they do then please apply one piano to head, twice a day. I am not aware in anyway of the sexualities of the celebrities; all other characters belong to me, so they can do what they want. If you're too young, then don't tell me when you e-mail me.
And I know, I'm lazy. I used the same author's notes for both stories. Sorry, I'll try better next time.
"Captain." Said the Doctor. He'd been surprised to see me. "I was just going to call for you."
"How is he?" I asked. I'd come down to Sickbay only an hour after seeing Brian relapse. I'd decided, with advice from one of the ship's counsellors, to leave them alone to talk through what they knew to have happened. Nick was taking things very calmly but the others... they were very distressed.
"He's regressed into a critical condition."
"Why?" I asked. "I thought you said that he was going to be up and about in a while."
"I thought he was. I can't find any reason for him to be in the condition that he's in, physically, he's fine and I've never known any mental condition that could case such a severe a reaction."
"Great." I said. "Another mystery. I want it figured out Doctor."
"I know. I'd like to bring the rest of the group in, maybe something about them will give me a clue about his condition."
"Very well. I suppose it would be best if I were to get them." I said. They'd had limited contact with the crew. I didn't know how they'd react to seeing other species. I left Sickbay and headed for the nearest turbolift. "Deck seven, section twenty-four alpha." I said. The familiar hum started and less then thirty seconds later I was outside the group's room.
"Come in." Said someone. I identified the voice as Nicks. He still sounded calm. I entered the room, from further advice of the counsellor there were no windows to the outside. He was sitting on one of the chairs, humming a tune.
"What's the tune?" I asked.
"Something for an album that we're doing. Its called 'Shining Star'." Explained Nick.
"Computer." I said. "Play the song 'Shining Star' by the Backstreet Boys." Because the song was so old the computer took more then it's usual millisecond to respond.
Nick gaped. "How did you? But it's not even out yet!" Then he laughed softly. "Of course, it is out isn't it? For a couple of hundred years."
"You're taking all of this very well." I commented.
He shrugged. "What choice is there? I could take it badly, but what would be the point?"
"Where are the others?" I asked.
"In the bedrooms, sulking, I think. How's Brian?"
"The doctor doesn't know what's wrong with him." I said softly.
Nick took this well too. There was something wrong with the way that he was accepting everything happening. I decided to try to shock him. "What's it like, being homosexual and in the public light, in this time?"
That did the trick. "What? How?" Then he calmed down. "When?" He asked.
"You're going to... come out - is that the term? - in a couple of years time." I said. "Do the others know yet?"
"The rest of the group? Of course, we're really really close. We share nearly everything." He said. The light in his eyes flickered, as if he was debating with himself about something.
"Could you get them? The doctor wants to scan you to see if he can get any clue about what's wrong with Brian." I asked. Nick nodded and went to get the rest of the group. When they all emerged from their rooms they looked very sullen, but they were all momentarily surprised to hear the music that was playing. Without saying anything they followed me out into the corridor. Nick caught up with me and walked beside me.
"Don't mind them, they're still very shocked by what's happened." He explained.
"I don't blame them." I said. "In fact, it's amazing that you're taking everything so well." Again I witnessed the internal struggle in his eyes. The turbolift doors opened in front of me and they filed in around me, even Nick stopped talking because of the awkwardness. I was relieved to leave them in Sickbay but only twenty minutes went by before the Doctor let me know that it was hopeless, there was nothing that he could learn from them, they exhibited none of the symptoms that Brian did. I couldn't take bringing them back to their quarters so I told the Doctor to find someone else to bring them back.
"Come." I said. I was in my ready room and someone had just pressed the buzzer on the door. Nick Carter entered, escorted by a junior security officer. He had a very troubled look on his face.
"He insisted on coming up here captain." Said the security officer, whose name I couldn't remember.
"Very well." I said. "You're dismissed." The officer left promptly. "What is it Nick?" I asked.
"You said that this was a time ship?" He said.
"That's right."
He frowned, as if working through a complex problem. "So, have we time travelled?"
"Not in the way that you understand it. You see, there is a sort of force field around the ship that keeps us slightly outside the space-time continuum, which means that we only ever occupy one point in time."
"Huh?"
"Right, you know that when you travel in distance, you are only ever in one place? It's the same for this ship, in time. So, if we travel into the past we won't meet a past version of ourselves, Understand?" I asked.
"I... think so." He said.
"When you passed from the outside of the force field to come onto the ship you underwent a slight temporal flux, that's all."
"Are there any side effects from the 'temporal flux'?"
"There's a slight build up in temporal particles, but nothing noticeable..." I finally saw where Nick was going with this. I tapped my Com badge. "Doctor, have you scanned Brian for temporal particles?"
"No. There was no need." He answered.
"Could you scan him now?" There was a couple of second's silence.
"He's got a near lethal dose! I don't understand this!" Exclaimed the Doctor.
I glanced at Nick and then got up from my seat, we both rushed to the Main Sickbay and were greeted by a very agitated doctor.
"No wonder he was reacting like he was! The effects of the ship's temporal flux on someone with that many temporal particles! I've got to purge him, now!"
I held up my hand. "I know what you're going to ask, and we can't do it. Under no circumstances can we drop the temporal shields."
"I would suggest a jump to the twenty-fourth century, but he wouldn't survive it! We've got a temporal chamber in storage, it has got to be done in the next five hours or it'll be too late."
I mulled over the options for a minute. "Could he take a passage through the temporal shields?"
The doctor consulted a PADD that he was holding. "He could, but then we'd only have two hours to purge him."
"Take one of the delta's (Voyager's 'Delta Flyer' design had come into widespread usage, it was the ideal cross between a shuttle and a large runabout.) and modify it to your needs. Use what ever people you need."
"I'll get right on it."
"This is the USS Blackwing requesting clearance to dock." Said the smug sounding Doctor, I knew he'd managed it.
"USS Blackwing, you are cleared for the Main Shuttle bay, how did it go?"
"We were successful. He should be awake in the next hour." Said the Doctor.
"Data, you have the bridge." I said. I wanted to bring the good news to the rest of his group.
"He should be awake in the next hour or so." I concluded, having explained what had happened. They'd warmed up to me after realising that Brian was going to be fine and that we weren't trying to kill him.
"Thank you." Said Nick, grinning from ear to ear.
"It's you who should be thanked." I said. "But how did you know?"
Nick squirmed. "It was only a guess. I did a project on time travel in school."
"Well, anyway. He's going to be fine."
"Can we go see him now?" Asked Kevin.
"Sure. You can stay with him until he wakes up." I said.
Coincidentally, when we got there Brian was just starting to wake up.
"It's far earlier then I was expecting." Said the Doctor. "But it's a very positive sign."
Five of us were gathered around the bed when he opened his eyes but the first person that he looked at was me. He rubbed his eyes and then looked at me again. He spoke. "Captain, I formally seek asylum."
My mouth dropped open in shock. "Did I hear you properly?"
"I hope so." He said, now fully conscious and sitting up.
"Very well, your asylum request will of course have to be reviewed with full disclosure on reasons, but until a formal decision is reached you have the full protection of the United Federation of Planets." I said, operating on automatic.
He nodded, as if that was what he expected.
"Can I speak to Brian privately please?" I asked.
The Doctor nodded and went into his office, but the others weren't that easy.
"I want to stay." Said Kevin. AJ agreed with him while Nick and Howie remained quiet, but didn't leave.
I looked up at Kevin. "I need to talk to Brian alone."
"Anything that you've got to say to Brian you can say in front of us." Said Kevin adamantly, folding his arms across his chest. Nick pulled on his arm.
"Come on Kev, let's just leave the room, I'm sure we can come back in in a minute." He said, looking to me for assurance on the last point.
"I only want to talk with him for a minute or two Kevin." I said.
"No!" Shouted Kevin, surprising me. "I'm sick and tired of being pushed and pulled around! I want to talk to my cousin now!"
Brian got off the bed. "Kev, just go will you?" He said gently, but the words were strong enough to register with Kevin.
"Why do we have to do everything that he says?" Yelled Kevin.
I tapped my Com badge. "Security to Main Sickbay." I said.
"That's typical! You can't win your own arguments so you get someone else to do it for you!"
All the noise had attracted the Doctor who started scanning Kevin. Kevin lashed around and his hand passed through the Doctor.
"Please don't do that." Said the Doctor crisply. Kevin stared in shock and the two security officers came in the door and from an eye signal from me they stood beside Kevin.
"It's a classic case of stress. Understandable really. I'd like to scan you all." Said the Doctor. He caught my eye and smoothly continued the sentence. "...In the Sickbay on deck seven. Please escort these gentlemen to it." He said to the security officers, who looked at me for approval. I nodded and they left with four of the members of the Backstreet Boys, the Doctor quickly picked up a couple of things and left. I sat down on the Bio-bed opposite to Brian.
"Now." I said. "Why don't you tell me what this is all about."
He sighed. "I don't know where to start. Have you heard of the Chalimilarians?" He asked.
I thought for a minute. "Binary star system on the edge of Plesarian space, always at war with the Vorkrans?" I ventured.
He sighed again. "That's what we're known for, always being at war with the Vorkrans? Do you know the history of that war?"
"I have to confess that I don't." I said.
"It's painfully simple really. The Vorkrans are a jealous race, always jealous of people who have what they don't. In our case it was our excellent relationship with the Plesarians, of course, that's not what they said. They claimed that our king snubbed their rulers at a diplomatic function. You see, our kingship is not hereditarily determined, the first person who's born after the king dies becomes the new ruler, so in the child's life, it isn't necessarily taught how to rule. This flaw resulted in a diplomatic error, despite all the best efforts of the royal courtiers. The Vorkrans swore then and there that they would rid the universe of Chalimilarians, our culture, heritage and knowledge. They waged the most terrible of wars against us and despite our technological prowess, they defeated us." A tear dropped from Brian's eye. "We devoted our time to medical and beneficial studies, we were no match for them! The Plesarians tried to help, but they had their Romulan borders to defend an couldn't spare enough ships to do anything but hold off the inevitable."
I didn't know what to say to him so I stayed silent and let him continue.
"You must be wondering what I've got to do with this." He said. "I was the Chalimilarians greatest creation, most prized possession and their only hope."
"But you're human." I said.
"Physically. But the knowledge of an entire civilisation is stored in my head and I carry enough genetic information to ensure that, if I ever get the chance, the Chalimilarians can start again."
"But why humans?" I asked.
"We've always looked to the Federation as the embodiment of what we were about, so it was natural to choose it. As for choosing Earth, we knew that the TimeWeave would be in orbit, protecting the planet. And this time seemed the most suitable. Up until the creation of the Federation, it was the longest peaceful period of time in Earth's history." He explained.
"But why didn't our sensors detect your interruption in the timeline?"
"Because we didn't interrupt it. The scientists scanned a couple who were expecting a child, took its genetic information and replaced the child with our version. Our time travel may be sloppy at best - I guess that's why I'm in Sickbay, they couldn't figure out how to reduce the particle exposure. - But our temporal mechanics were perfect."
"They killed a child?" I asked, feeling sick to my stomach.
"Of course not! It was still only a four-celled organism when they took it, nothing more." Said Brian, clearly as disgusted by the idea as I was.
"Why didn't the Doctor find all the genetic material when he scanned you?"
"I can only presume that it was because of our superior medical technology and ability."
"Then how did the Vorkrans find you?"
"I don't know. Maybe they found some record of me that wasn't destroyed, or they incorporated our scanning technology into their ships." Said Brian.
"Does Nick know all of this?" I asked.
"Some. I told him 'my' temporal particle theory, so that he'd ask someone about them if something like this happened to me."
"Captain to the bridge." Said the computer.
"Are you familiar enough with federation technology to find your way to the others?" I asked.
"I can work any of the ships basic systems, if that's what you mean." Said Brian.
I nodded to him and left for the bridge. He'd given me a lot to think about. It was clearly my duty to protect him, and because he was part of the timeline I had to get them back to Earth properly. I exited the Turbolift onto the bridge.
"What is it?" I asked as I went to my seat, which Data rapidly cleared. That was my one problem with him. He didn't warm up seats.
"Two unidentified vessels that aren't answering our hails are heading directly for the solar system."
"ETA?"
"Seven minutes until they reach Pluto's orbit."
"They're fast." Commented Lt. Paris.
"Hail them again." I said.
"Channel open." Said Tuvok at Tactical.
"Unidentified vessels, on your current heading you will enter a protected region. Either come to a full stop or alter your heading."
"They received it. No response." Said Tuvok.
"Break Earth orbit. Intercept them as quickly as possible." I ordered. "Do we have any idea of who they are?" I asked.
"The design is unfamiliar." Said Data.
"Captain, I'm detecting a slight temporal imbalance." Said Seven.
"When?"
"We're too far away to a positive lock, but I'd say late twenty-fourth century.
"Great." I grumbled. "Just what I need, more time travellers. Data, send someone to get Brian Litrell up here."
"Security, please escort Brian Litrell to the bridge." Said Data.
A minute later, while we were approaching the alien vessel, Brian came on to the bridge.
"We are within visual range." Said Tuvok
"On screen." I said. As soon as it came on the screen I heard a gasp from Brian. I knew my assumption was right, they were the Vorkrans.
"You can't let them approach Earth captain, they'll destroy everything to get me!" Said Brian.
"Don't worry, this ship has got a couple of surprises."
"Hail them again Commander."
"Channel open." Said Tuvok.
"Vorkran vessels. This is your last warning. You will not be allowed to enter this solar system. Break off your approach immediately."
"They are responding Captain."
"On screen."
"Federation vessel." Said a sneering voice, not unlike a Ferengi's. "We will not be dictated to by you, stand down or we will destroy you."
"I not going to stand down." I said emphatically.
"That is unfortunate." Hissed the commander of the lead ship. Then he broke off communications.
"Red Alert. Raise shields and ready all weapon systems." I said. "How do we compare, tactically?"
"We have far superior weaponry. The are no match for us." Said Tuvok.
"Status?" I asked.
"They're almost in weapons range."
"Don't let them pass Tuvok." I ordered.
"Firing phasers... direct hit on their propulsion systems, minimal damage. Boosting to maximum power. They're firing some kind of ion weapon. Shields down five percent."
"Launch the shield drones. Use them to boost the main shield power." I ordered. Apertures opened along the hull and spherical objects shot out into space. The shield drones were nothing more then a power source coupled with shield grids and a minimal propulsion system. Surrounding the ship, they augmented shield power. There were pulse phaser drones too, but since phasers weren't proving to be very effective I decided not to use them.
"Shields are at one hundred and forty-five percent. They're making another pass."
"Torpedoes, full spread, fire when ready."
"Torpedoes away." Said Tuvok. On the viewscreen blue points of light hurtled towards the approaching ships and impacted on their shields. "Their shields are down ten percent each."
"Then keep firing them. Maybe they'll take the hint." I said.
"They don't take hints." Said Brian softly. "If you send them away now they'll be back, with more ships. If you destroy them more ships will come to retaliate. Right now they'll be transmitting telemetry constantly to someone else, so that next time that they attack they'll know more about you, they'll be a more prepared. They're the Borg of the Alpha quadrant."
"I am detecting a constant datastream being broadcast." Said the Lieutenant at Ops
"Why didn't you detect it before now?" I asked, angry that something like this had escaped our attention.
"It's an extremely low energy signal. It's difficult to pick out in all this weapons fire." Explained the lieutenant.
"Broadcast a jamming signal."
"If you do that then reinforcements will come immediately." Said Brian, as more impacts rocked the ship.
"Then suggest something!" I said, frustrated by the limited choices available to me.
"You're going to have to destroy them, but do it suggests that you've extended your systems to the maximum, that way the force that they send won't be great next time.
I started firing orders to people in rapid succession. "Tuvok, switch to photon torpedoes, mask the signature of the quantum's, make it look like we've run out. Withdraw the drones, make it look like they've got an extremely limited power supply. Lieutenant Paris - cut manoeuvring thrusters to half power and commence evasive manoeuvres. Ops, begin high resolution scans of every aspect of their ships, I want to know everything that can be found out about them."
Five minutes later and the ships still hadn't stopped firing on us, despite the fact that one more torpedo each would finish them off.
"What are your orders captain?" Asked Tuvok.
Well, that's it for chapter two. Make sure and e-mail me at my new address - shiningstar@hotpop.com. I don't know how long I'll have that address for though. See you in a month!
Make sure and read 'Powers Within'!
Tim.