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Eric had been pacing for twenty minutes trying to figure out why not only his long term memory files, but also the ship's computer memory, showed there was not a single hologram on this ship during the twenty-one years it had been in operation. To top off that mystery, Eric was confused as to why everyone was now a child. His short term memory showed that he had been a hologram, but had no recollection of what happened to change that. As he paced the bridge, the sound of the computer going offline caught his attention.
After clearing his short term memory Eric called out, "Computer what is the current condition of the crew?" Eric waited a few seconds, the computer still did not reply. "Computer, please respond!" Clearly getting flustered, Eric was just about to blow his top when the turboshaft door opened.
Walking on to the bridge, a young boy who appeared to be thirteen walked up to Eric, "Please stop shouting, the Starfleet Computer is currently down, and for some reason I can't leave my construct hologram to return to the ship's computer."
Smiling at the new person, Eric commented. "You have got to be kidding me! The last thing this ship told me, before the computer went down, was that holographic technology did not exist and I was an android." Eric wondered, could this person really be part of the ship's computer?
"Hold up, did you say it said you were an android? How the hell is that possible? You would have been talking to Hal, Shay or myself?" Devaintre stated with worry and concern in his voice.
Eric approached this unknown person with caution and asked "First, don't get me wrong, but who the hell are you?"
"Well, Eric, I am so glad you asked; my name is Devaintre. I know who you are and when you were brought online. I have been on this ship since the AI was completed. I started out as just a test imprint of the AI Developer's Mind. Later on, a Holographic construct was programmed, and now I don't know what the hell is going on here." Devaintre rattled off still slightly confused, but not worried about what Shay would say.
Eric remained quiet after learning this person knew him and when he was activated. Looking around the bridge Eric let a soft, sad moan out. "We need Marky up here A.S.A.P!" After touching his comm badge, Eric ordered, "Marky to the bridge." After waiting for a response and not getting one, Eric began fussing about the age and quality of the construction of the ship, or lack thereof.
Devaintre looked up, linked in to the communications system and stated firmly "Marky, Shay, Hal, to the bridge; any Medical personnel not already in the sickbay please report there immediately." After taking a breath, he added "Any crew members with medical or rescue training, please begin to search the ship for injured personnel. Get them to sickbay for critical injuries, or to the cargo bay for non-critical injuries. Thanks, that is all."
"Do I even want to know how you just used the communications system without a comm badge?" Eric asked, somewhat miffed.
"Eric, I know I have always had the ability to do ship wide pages, however, now it would be accessing a program called communications, then following the program prompts." Devaintre spoke while watching Eric try to find the program.
Before they had time to find the program, Shay, Hal, and Marky arrived on the bridge. Marky began processing the injured before him. While Hal was helping Marky, Shay approached Devaintre with a look Devaintre had never seen before.
"Dev, when things calm down, could I have a moment of your time?" asked Shay with a flood of emotions streaming across his face.
Confusion was clearly written on Devaintre's face, "Um, sure thing Shay." he replied, still confused by the change in Shay's attitude.
A new voice growled out, "Starfleet Communications link established. Error, Stardate invalid. Location has been updated."
Eric looked from Devaintre and then to Marky "Computer, what is the Stardate currently according to the ship's log, and what does Starfleet show as the Stardate?"
An almost ancient, elderly voice rattled out; "Captain, our current SD is 68700.51 based on computer's clock. Date and Time based on Starfleet time beacon is Saturday, November 6th 2004, 9 am GMT. "
Everyone turned to Devaintre almost at the same time, yelling, "How the heck can that be right?"
"Jinx, you owe me a coke," Shay shouted, causing everyone to jump and look at him like he was loony. "Don't tell me you forgot if everyone says the same thing at the same time... oh never mind," he stated, seeing the blank looks everyone was sporting.
Before anyone could recover from Shay's shout, Devaintre questioned the computer again; "Please state your version, computer," and then turned to Eric, sighing, "I'm really afraid to see how much has changed for the computer."
At that moment the bridge lights turned a rather disgusting green hue. "Devaintre, it is stated in my programing to lock down the bridge upon being asked to initiate a version check. It is one of the many codes embedded in my system. Please state the security code to deactivate the lock and perform the level four diagnostic you have requested." After the computer finished speaking to Devaintre, the screens all started a five minute countdown.
With an exaggerated sigh, Devaintre began looking from Eric to Shay. "Ok, it's program is functioning properly, but it does not sound or talk like the system installed by Starfleet." Looking up at the security terminal, Devaintre stated "Computer: structure set code Vertra-One, Disable Self Destruct, Disable Version Protocol, Enable Breakaway aux program function set, Devaintre Gamma Nine Four Three Charlie Victor Four Echo." Sighing, Devaintre wiped his forehead.
"Loading Parameters, Disabling Self Destruct, Loading Advanced Programming and Removing Protection Protocols," the computer spoke with what sounded like a smile.
"Computer Version Check" Devaintre stated again, causing everyone around to stare at him like he had three heads.
Marky turned to Devaintre with a look of fright. "Dammit, are you trying to get us killed, I really don't want to go around space as a lost isolinear chip without a ship."
While the lights on the bridge returned to normal, the computer spoke again. "Good Evening, Devaintre." The view screen came to life, with the image of an older gentleman "Well now, I am surprised to be active. Oh, sorry sir."
"I am Bartholomew."
Software version: A13-9634-PB4
Hardware: C001-SF4114.4-S31.03
Security client version: V99.224-01-0.980
Ship Designation: NCC-31911
Ship Name: USS Saratoga
Ship Designed for Research, Exploration, and Ensuring S31 Secrets.
Total Computer Cores: 5
Standard Cores: 3
High Density Compressed Cores: 2
Ship Built for: Section 31 and Starfleet Command Joint Operations.
Original Functions: Classified By S31, information available if required.
Program Type: VI Computer, with limited learning due to overrides.
Program Designed by: Rodger Thornton and Charlie Wilkins
"I believe the displayed information is correct."
While everyone else had paired off to check those who were still out cold, Devaintre and Bartholomew continue chatting while checking all systems to verify computer stability and verify ships status. After five minutes of constant checking of the system Devaintre heard Nicky stir.
Devaintre turned to Nicky, asking, "Nicky, are you alright?"
Nicky, for the most part, sighed, "I feel odd, but I am functioning." Still holding his head and looking around the bridge, he asked, "How are my ship and crew?"
Turning to Nicky, "Well, the ship has quite a bit of damage and our crew is still not all accounted for." The momentary look of loss on Nicky's face caused Devaintre to inhale sharply.
Internally, Nicky was worried about what Q had said, "If you go, there will be some changes to your crew. Some will exist, some will not, but it is a chance to escape death and have a chance for life. I just cannot say who will or won't make it."
Eric looked to Shay and Hal. "Alright, I know this ship has secrets, because my repair index doesn't list all areas of the ship. We need to fix the ship quickly, since we are somewhere unknown to us. I need your help to do what needs to be done."
"Eric, I know you are programed for engineering, but we need to update you to this ship." Hal almost giggled out, seeing the perplexed look on Eric's face and then continued on. "Eric, check your updates catalog, get everything on the list and load it."
Eric began processing the catalog information, "S31 Labs, Life Support Module two, Restricted Operations Rooms, Computer Cores SE one thru three, Computer Core S31 High Density, Communication Override for Sector, Replicator and Large Scale Replicator, Borg Technology Research Lab, Ship Wide Defense System, Imprinting Technology, Cloak and Shield Labs. What the hell is all this, Hal? Why, do I have the feeling the ship has had a much darker roll in Federation Security."
Running his hand through his hair, Hal replied, "Look, there are a lot of things not really openly known, but for now just download the damn packs so we can ensure your safety working on this ship. Besides, we need to ensure the well-being of the crew and find a place to perform repairs since we are not in our own known galaxy."
Eric nodded his agreement; while he began accessing all the files he downloaded on this ship. "As far as a place to perform repairs, we are on course for a nebula, so we will be hidden while we do repairs."
Hal turned to face Eric, while standing with his hand on his hip, "Eric, yes the ship is on course, but please either opt to use your tactical program, or load the one in the update catalog and think WE DO NOT KNOW WHO OR WHAT COULD BE HIDDEN THERE!"
If looks could kill, the look Eric shot Hal would have been a death shot. "Look, I'm sorry if I have a lot on my plate and have only been online for less than a day. I will try harder to think more about our disadvantage of not knowing this universe. If you feel it would be better for you to be the Captain then I will allow you to take control."
Conditions in sickbay were crazy, nurses running from bed to bed checking on patients. The exception was two boys surrounded by six Bengal tigers who were accompanied by Naomi, Noland and Bradley who were keeping a close eye on the young boys.
While Naomi was praying silently for the boys to get well, she was also hoping Noland would ask her on a date. Yet, she was full of hope he would be friends with her no matter what. She had seen people act like he does, shy or trying to stay hidden; often she realized they were gay, but believed no one would accept them. Of course she didn't understand why people would not accept them, since it wasn't a crime to be different. So they would shy away. Naomi had always tried to be there for them, because she knew it wasn't a personal decision, but just who they were; and she could care less if a person was this or that. All she wanted was them to be happy and honest with themselves.
While Naomi was deep in thought she felt a nudge to her leg, looking down she spotted one of the Bengal Tigers. "Oh, what is wrong? Don't worry our doctor will fix them all up," she stated, pointing to the boys on the beds.
"Meww, rarrrr mew," Sebrina tried to tell the girl that she knew they would be alright, and tell her everything would be fine between her and the boy she was scouting out. But, if only Naomi could sense how much the boy reacted to her it would be funny. This boy was interested in her and was afraid to tell her.
After about ten minutes the readings on the bio beds stabilized for all of thirty seconds, but then took a sharp turn for the worse. With a sickening cry, Bradley called for the doctor. "Marky, their vitals are falling, blood pressure is dropping, and we are losing them."
At the same moment Naomi noticed the tigers all falling limp on the floor, she rushed to the nearest medical tricorder, grabbed it and nearly collided with another nurse on her return trip. Before she could make it to the first of the tigers, she watched as Noland collapsed. Then everything went dark for her as she felt blinding pain and hurt from her fall.
Bradley turned as he heard Naomi's body hit the floor with a painful thud and a crack, like a bone broke in the fall. "Doctor we might have a problem..." Before he could continue, his body dropped to the floor in a crumpled heap.
Marky, noticing the happenings at medical beds seven and eight, and all the people crumpled on the floor around him, slapped his comm badge hard. "Nicky, I need your help in the medical bay as quickly as possible."
Turning to Devaintre, Nicky asked, "So where are we going to be doing repairs to the ship?"
Before an answer could be stated, Marky's voice boomed across the bridge; "Nicky, I need your help in the medical bay as quickly as possible."
Devaintre turned to look at Shay, while Buddy did something no one expected, "I don't have time to ask, I am beaming the four of you to medical; they need you." Buddy then told to the rest of the bridge crew. "I need everyone to perform to the best of your ability over the next few days and help where needed. Between crew members who did not make it from our galaxy, and those we will more than likely lose over the next little while, we will need to make sure our Captain has the support he will require."
Buddy's picture on the main view screen changed to a picture of the corridor near engineering. Laying there in a heap was Annika, everyone knew her and the Captain shared a special friendship, but according to Buddy's internal sensors she was dead. With an internal sigh, Buddy attempted to transport her to cargo to verify his readings, but before he could, the body of Annika faded away. Confused, he started an internal scan of the entire ship, "Buddy to engineering. B`Elanna can you check these sensor readings? There seems to be something happening here."
Standing outside the door, Ensigns Hamilton and Dallas were bickering back and forth. This was their first ship assignment, and entering the Captains quarters to search for downed officers had not come up on their training for engineering; never mind the fact that they did not know the proper way to access most areas of the ship. "How in the heck are we going to access his quarters, Hamilton?" Dallas spoke, flustered due to the last five rooms having told them access denied on attempted entry.
Holding up his hand to give the universal stop sign, Hamilton stated, "Perhaps we should consider asking the ships computer either for access or ask it how we are to search for injured crew?" As he was smiling at Dallas, he was interrupted by a kind, but elderly, voice.
"Why is it everyone wants to do things the hard way?" Buddy spoke with a smile. "In case of an emergency, next time just ask me to open the doors to begin your search, oh, and my name is Buddy".
Hamilton looked toward Dallas, "Did the ship's computer just say its name was Buddy, and did it just answer a question without being asked?" he asked, slightly freaked out by Buddy. Before he could ask anything else, all the doors in the corridor opened.
Smiling, Dallas commented, "Well, with an invitation like that, come on Hamilton," grinning the whole while.
Upon entering the personal quarters of the Captain, they noticed it looked as if a massive explosion took place. Looking toward the replicator, there was nothing but a hole in the wall like a photon torpedo went through it. They crawled and climbed under and over debris of what once was the living quarters of the captain and his wife. The same quarters which they both had spent time with Leslie and Nicky, either for dinner or just family time. Rounding the corner approaching the bed, they both stopped at the sight before them. Laying in a pool of blood was Leslie, one of the ceiling supports had caught her sleeping when it fell and pierced her body, crushing her ribs and anything else in the way. Dallas approached the bed and ran the tricorder over her body. Looking over the results and verifying the findings, "Ensign Dallas to Captain Nicky"
A brief moment passed and Dallas looked at Hamilton who was on his knees, crying over the woman who talked him into joining the fleet. She was like a mother to him, and now she was gone.
"This is Captain Nicky, Ensign Dallas, how can I help?" Nicky responded, energetic even though the ship was in shambles and so many people had died or were injured badly. He always felt that he needed to sound positive, even when things were their worst.
Dallas let his eyes fall to the floor, while he tried to use every bit of his internal strength to keep himself from passing out due to the news he was about to report. "Captain, I have some news to give you, but I must ask you either sit down or have someone nearby in case you aren't able to take the news." The last part was said with tears rolling down his face and his voice breaking up.
"I am ready for your report" Nicky said in a very hesitant voice.
After almost three seconds there was still no report, and it sounded as if the communicator stopped working.
With the day Buddy had been having, he was surprised when his communications systems picked up a signal from Earth. He was even more shocked that it was directed to him, or at least his ship, on an engineering private channel.
"Saratoga, this is Clan Short Intelligence. You have been detected by our ship, the D'Kyr, and are not in our current database. Please respond, Bartholomew." an obviously early pubescent voice stated.
"This is Bartholomew, but please call me Bart, Barty, or Buddy. With all that has happened, I can't begin to tell how we got here, but we are definitely here and our ship is the Saratoga NCC-31911-A." Knowing these people were not trying to offend him, Buddy cooled off, hoping they understood his request about his name.
"I'm Director Tracy Butler, Alligator Alley Division, Family Clan Short of Vulcan," Tracy replied. "According to the data Cam retrieved from you, I believe some huge aspirin for a temporal paradox are in order."
"Para docs, no we only have one, unless you mean the Captain?" Buddy commented before remembering he was still transmitting. "It is a pleasure to meet you Director Tracy Butler" Damn, what he must think.
"Why you groaning, Daddy? That was funny!" a young voice giggled. "You're funny, Bart!"
"I'll explain bad puns later, Wayne," Tracy's voice replied. "Buddy, while we have a pretty good idea of your status as of fifteen minutes ago, is there anything we can do to help you re-sync with your new home?"
After some fast but careful thought Buddy replied "Tracy, we are having a time locating some of our crew who seemed to have faded or phased out. We also have numerous structural integrity issues. Plus, we would love to know where and when we are. This is like flying around with navigations out and no star map." Buddy wondered if they thought he was just rambling on or what.
"Hey Karl, upload a copy of 'History of the World' parts one, two, and three. George, I need the full history curriculum uploaded as well." Tracy stated. "That should help, Buddy. I've got Teddy updating your star maps after archiving them."
Suddenly, the crew of the ship and those in Fort Lauderdale heard singing. "The inquisition, the inquisition, what a show!"
"Devaintre to Buddy, what was that? The entire ship just heard singing." Devaintre stated while looking at the computer terminal trying to find out what just messed up.
Buddy, while just being a program, wished he could still do a simple face palm, "Devaintre, there is not a system error causing the singing, but I will get to the bottom of it." Buddy replied, smiling internally. "Dev, can I get back with you after I get off a subspace call?"
Buddy unmuted the channel and asked, "Tracy, did you say you have aspirin available?"
"Sounds like you liked the Mel Brooks version better, too!" Tracy giggled. "Just how bad are the structural issues?"
"Port Nacelle strut is fractured, and structural integrity fields are down to forty seven percent." Buddy rattled off, while checking for other issues which would require help to fix.
"Power status?" Tracy asked.
"Warp drive is down. Impulse is just barely functional. Shields are offline, and the main power is offline, running on secondary systems for power, life support and communications." Buddy started to worry about what Shay would do if he was found in communication with anybody and discussing the status of the ship.
"Someone get a Pinto to give that thing a shove," George giggled.
A new voice came on the channel. "Buddy, this is Teddy. Stand by for incoming assistance. We are dispatching the Mikyvis Construction Corps for mechanical repairs, and Ezra is refreshing his data from his Uncle Cory, then he will arrive to assist with Engineering. The Chief Engineer of the Lafayette will arrive with Ezra to assist."
"Which shuttle bay should we attempt to ready or are you transporting in?" Buddy asked.
"They're arriving by taxi in the main shuttle bay." Tracy giggled. "One second, someone just walked in that wishes to speak to you."
An adult voice came on the channel. "Buddy, this is Master Chief of the Fleet Casper Watson. I have been instructed by the CIC of the Clan Short Fleet to authorize any assistance necessary. As of this moment, you are considered as under Red One, Tracy assures me that you understand the meaning. You are hereby authorized to reset your transponder to "Clan Short Fleet Intelligence", and are to refer any Federation inquiries to Clan Short Headquarters. The Starfleet CNO is now aware of the addition of another ship to the Clan Fleet."
Buddy paged in a loud, but nervous, voice, "Attention, Attention. Captain Nicky to main shuttle bay, Priority One. First Contact initiated! Engineering crews clear all debris from the main shuttle bay."
On a secure channel to Shay, he added, "I have been in contact with people to help us; please don't get all pissed off."
"We will discuss proper protocol later if required, but for now it seems to be spot on," responded a slightly agitated and confused Shay.
Moments later, in the shuttle bay, "Captain on Deck" was yelled out by an engineer's mate.
A youth pedal car, looking like a panel truck and painted like a taxi with a teddy bear driving it, suddenly appeared in the bay. The back doors flew open, and a prosthetic leg jumped out. It was immediately followed by six boys, who somehow had fit into a space of about four cubic feet. Just as the teddy bear drove off and vanished, another 'taxi' appeared, identical to the first except for being driven by a panda. A kid with an inverted "V" Mohawk in multiple colors climbed out, followed by a seven-foot-six African-American with arms bigger than Shay's legs.
Nicky did a triple take and looked to Hal, "Can you tell me how they fit in the pedal car and how it could be possible logically, let alone mathematically?"
Hal looked to Shay and Nicky, to see his only answer was a roll of his eyes and a shoulder shrug.
Shay turned to Nicky, "Not going there boss."
"Welcome to Clan Short, where impossible is a disproved theory," the large man chuckled. "Commander Steven Charles, Clan Short Fleet Engineering. Permission to come aboard, Captain?"
After Nicky responded in the affirmative, Steve gathered his cohorts. Taking pity on the young man in front of him, Steve grinned, "The boy with the interesting hair is Ezra, and the blond boy passing out hardhats is Peter, the one helping him and wearing the hardhat with a feather on it is his boyfriend Galen. All three are a branch of humanity known as Mikyvis; they are inter-dimensional energy beings of the same level as the Q. The limb missing the rest of his body is Leg."
At the mention of all this information, Nicky hit the floor, and yet again Buddy was issuing orders across the communications system. "Marky to Main Shuttlebay, Captain is down".
"You guys achieved one-hundred percent on the shock scale... AGAIN!" Steve stated with a shake of his head.
Shay turned to look at the new arrivals, smirking, "Have you ever thought to send a detailed document Warning of the Dangers of first contact with your clan?"
"We thought of it, but that would ruin the fun. I'm Eli, by the way." Eli responded from above his head, where he was inspecting one of the struts. "Who is available to give us a quick rundown on the operation of your replicator?"
Walking near to where Eli was floating, Shay said, "Eli, my name is Shay; I have all information on our replicators and will give you a quick run-down; or if you will allow me to upload it to your PADD, you will have it for easy access."
Eli floated down, and entered a complex series of characters and motions into his PADD. "Okay, ready for upload. I had to reduce the security level temporarily to something your systems support."
Looking at the PADD, Shay started to say something. Instead, he opted to bite his tongue and not speak a word. He simply authorized the PADD on to the local grid, then gave access to the information.
Hal looked to Shay, "What's wrong with you Shay? You are too terribly quiet."
At the sound of the turbo shaft doors opening, Hal turned and spotted Marky running over like he was on fire.
Noticing the look that crossed Shay's face, Eli explained, "While you guys have an expanded S-31 protocol, in this particular universe the current security protocols of the Clan are running on base-25. Due to my position in the Clan, I'm usually set to one of the highest levels when on-duty."
"Why is it today everything is off or going off? Let alone crew disappearing, or suddenly losing people. And now the Captain has gone thermal! I'm a medic, not a technician!" Marky continued to rant even while ignoring the new arrivals.
"Marky, I think I can answer part of that," Ezra stated. "You crossed through a time rift, and right now the universe is trying to stabilize the intrusion. The crewmembers that still have their souls in the other universe are returning there, while those of you that brought your souls with you are being absorbed into the local timeline."
"Shit, they're starting to get that dazed, Rimmer parent look," Eli noticed.
"VALIUM ALERT!" Sammy and Benji shouted.
Rolling his eyes and focusing them on Ezra, Marky quipped, "I know that was meant to be an answer. I somehow feel like I just sat in an advanced temporal mechanics lecture." Marky then smiled and asked, "How, pray tell, do Androids take valium?"
"They swallow it," A new kid stated as he appeared next to Marky. "Hi, I'm Cameron; I'm a drone for Cameron of Archnania. My home system is updating your medical database; I'll assist you locally until you are familiar with the upgraded systems."
"Cameron a drone for Cameron of Archnania?" Marky started chanting back and forth until finally it was too much to process for him.
"Attention, Attention! Eric, please report to Main Shuttle bay." Buddy rattled off in rapid fire followed by, "Cameron, I have deactivated Marky to prevent an overload. Unfortunately, the Captain didn't have the same shutdown protocols."
"Obviously I need to look at upgrades..." Cameron muttered as a cable appeared in his hand. "Time to try out the new Universal Buffer."
Cameron connected in, and a minute later disconnected. "Okay, it appears that somehow their security protocols have modified the base program. Grandpa Marc is reviewing what needs to be done to repair the programming; he states it should be ready in about a half-hour at most."
After a second to process what was said the intercom fired up, "All Androids remaining online, report to Main Shuttle bay for software integrity testing. That is all!" Buddy announced with a grin, thinking let's not have a thermal occur again.
Approximately thirty minutes later in sickbay, Tom was pacing around the six medical beds holding his android friends. "Well isn't this great; I am back in sickbay. My only available nurse is a bouncing leg, the Captain, his son, the ship's doctor, and all three of the original ship's programmed intel and assassins are all out cold after either thermal overloads or needing a system update." he muttered to himself. With an agitation that would not go away, Tom continued to tap away on the console to an old song.
"Here, try this, one of our Division Heads finds it really relaxing," Cameron stated as he appeared and handed Tom a PADD with Pissed-Off Chickens preloaded and running.
"I do appreciate the game, but I am currently trying to keep watch on them. Plus, I have to keep an eye on all the medical situations going on the ship." Tom may have been ranting to begin with, but after a few tactical maneuvers on the PADD Tom started to relax.
"Please relax; I am able to interface with the beds through my base station. I will notify you if anything abnormal occurs; we have medical staff remotely monitoring the readouts." Cameron assured Tom.
"Cameron, thanks for your assistance. Please understand, I don't mean to be snappy, but let me go check on the reports for the rest of the crew and I will be back." Tom walked from sickbay, shaking his head.
Tom left the sickbay and turned down the corridor heading for the turbo shaft; five feet from the turbo shaft, the stress of the day had taken its toll as Tom slid down the corridor wall to land Indian style on his bum. As he sat there looking at the walls he called out, "Tom Paris, to Buddy."
In the main computer core, Buddy was furiously working to compile a current crew status. He noticed it was becoming easier as the new arrivals were helping bring systems online. As he finished his list, a crew member had requested a communications link. "Buddy here, Tom, how can I be of assistance?"
With a rasp of breath, Tom asked, "Buddy how many of our crew and passengers are accounted for and how many did not make it?" Tom was beginning to find the wall seemed to be comfortable.
Bradley was sitting in the Corridor with everyone else whom had disappeared to find themselves unable to communicate with the rest of the crew or even Buddy. He still was acting like a nurse and helping with anyone with injuries, but now he was worried as Tom had just walked out of sickbay. Tom had looked haggard in appearance and stressed, but the wondrous thing to Bradley was Tom was sitting between Sparkles and Franklin and sitting right across from Bradley.
Franklin turned to look at Sparkles, "Ok, Sparkles, what's wrong, you seem a little worried?"
"Meww, Meewi, rawii," was quickly rapid fired out of Sparkle's while he looked between Franklin and the corridor to the right.
As Franklin looked to his right, he spotted a kid with cool looking hair approaching, "Sparkles, do you remember him being a part of the crew, or is he new to the ship?"
"Meewww, wmaww," Sparkles replied, followed in quick order by Sparkles performing one of his rare face paws to indicate the absurdness of the question.
"Guys, I hate to interrupt this, but it appeared as if Tom just received some bad news." Bradley just wanted to be there for Tom, because for as long as Bradley could remember he had never seen him cry.
"Hey, I'm Ezra." The kid said as he came to a stop. He got a huge grin on his face as he asked, "Just out of curiosity, does any of the six of you know who is in phase for sure?"
"Umm, Bradley did he say there is six of us? There are three of us and a Tom who can't see us," muttered a flustered Franklin.
"Ezra, my name is Franklin. Sorry, I didn't mean to seem rude, but there are only four of us," Franklin said, and he began to stand and attempted to shake hands with Ezra, hoping he was real.
"Only four that you can see; don't feel bad, the other two are just as confused as you are, since they can't see anyone other than each other and me," Ezra explained.
"Ezra, are you on something from sickbay? I only see you in this corridor." With as bad as his day had been, Tom let out a small chuckle and smiled.
"Naw, I'm a Mikyvis. We don't need drugs, but I hear that the stock price on Valium has skyrocketed since we evolved a couple of months ago," Ezra giggled.
"Okay, what are Mikyvis?" Tom asked while rubbing his temple.
"Bradley, does Tom need a shot of something for a headache?" Franklin asked while he looked at Ezra.
"I guess the best way to explain us is to say that we're like the Q, only with a funnier sense of humor," Ezra stated. "Cookies and milk in my head, y'all; then I'll give you a temporal tune-up."
Sparkles looked around trying to figure out where the cookies were. "Meeoowwh, mew, mewwy" he stated, all the while his nostrils were attempting to locate said cookies.
Almost as suddenly as Sparkles had asked the question, the corridor disappeared and the four of them, as well as two new people, appeared in a cozy, comfy room decorated with purple walls and three large sofas with various print styles all having the same purple theme.
"Hey y'all, look, there be cookies, brownies, and milk!" Franklin shouted out, since it had been a while since he had smelled such delicious aromas. "Sparkles; there is even a bed by the couches with your name on it."
Bradley, who was in awe of the room, slowly turned his attention to Tom, who seemed lost and bewildered. "Tom are you alright" Bradley walked to Tom and wrapped him in a hug.
Tom accepted the hug and snuggled in close to his friend while just slightly shaking his head back and forth to indicate, no, he wasn't alright.
Off to the side of the room, the two new people were watching the scene before them; they too embraced in a hug to comfort each other, due to not knowing anyone else in the room.
Sparkles strutted to the table and snatched a cookie, then sat back and saw the new people and wandered over to them. The entire way, he could smell the fear emanating from them. He slowly looked up to their eyes, and then walked over and gently rubbed against their legs. "Mewwy" The whole time he was attempting to calm them down.
After a few moments had passed, he had begun to walk over to the bed, yet he stopped after the older one started scratching his ears. "Mewwwwww, Purrrr" he commented as all forward motion was halted.
Ezra looked over the group. "Okay, first off, all y'all are safe, and I think that you'll find that you have a few things in common. Get to know each other, and I'll be back once I have your bodies tuned to their new home."
After comforting Tom, Bradley slowly let go and worked his way over to the new people in the room. "Hi, my name is Bradley." Although he could see a little apprehension in the eyes of these new people, he held out his hand to see if they would return the gesture.
After what seemed like thirty minutes, they unwound themselves from their hug. "Alevrian of Talbret, this is my mate Frevidian of Talbret." Alevrian looked at Bradley and smiled. "Our normal greeting is to rub our palms together while holding our hand in the air, but first connections can create new greetings."
Bradley grinned inwardly as Alevrian of Talbret held out his hand. One of the many things Bradley had learned while being with Starfleet was never judge by appearance. While waiting for the handshake to begin, Bradley had a gander at the new people, sure they were different. Alevrian and Frevidian were approximately five foot two inches tall and they had slightly larger ears than humans. They also had only two fingers and a thumb per hand and two toes per foot. They also appeared to have a larger, more defined set of nostrils. He had to assume for now they were from a world where the gravity was higher due to the lack of fat cells on their body.
As the handshake was ending he asked "Do you want to be addressed by your full name, or do you have a nickname?"
"Meoow mwweeoo" Sparkles purred while Frevidian was still petting him.
Franklin nodded to Sparkles, while telling Bradley, "Sparkles believes them to have an almost cat like heritage, due to the pronounced nostrils and features they have."
Alevrian wiggled his ears as he asked, "Where are we? I recognized some of your technology as being from a probe we intercepted. It had spent hundreds of our generations traveling, and the information it contained suggested that the Centari Federation of our home universe had designated our area of the galaxy as quadrant Zeta, if they ever were to explore our region."
At that moment Tom returned to his normal self, or at least he thought so. "As nearest of a guess as we have is that we are in an alternate dimension in the Alpha Quadrant, not far from their Earth, but would it be our Earth since we no longer have a dimension?"
"Hey, I'm supposed to be the one giving confusing time descriptions! No fair!" Ezra's voice giggled.
"Sorry, Ezra. Then if you can get us up to date, then I will try not to spoil your fun with temporal time paradoxes."
Ezra popped back into the room in his head. "Okay, now that everyone's body is back in sync with the universe, where were you on the confuddlement?"
"Confuddlement is a new word to me, where is my PADD? I need to add that in," Franklin began giggling while attempting to not pee himself.
"Ezra, where in the blue blazes are we?" Tom asked while attempting to not smile.
As Franklin looked to Sparkles, he was confused to see him curled up and being held by Alevrian, who was purring into Sparkles ear.
"We are located in my head," Ezra stated before munching down on a cookie.
Franklin looked to Tom and burst out laughing; then when he could speak he quipped, "Well, I don't know about blue blazes, Tom. However, I do love your new blue blazer."
After everyone recovered, Ezra explained, "You have been temporally transferred to the root of the multiverse. You are now in Alpha Prime. You are en-route to Earth, or Terra, or Anchronia, mattering which it was called in your previous home."
Tom turned to Ezra, "Are we in tow? I need to be on the bridge." As he rattled this off, he was wringing his hands like a child who needed a bar of chocolate to calm down.
"You are under your own power already, at impulse power. Admiral Kirk has been asked to remotely coordinate things until we have all navigation systems re-certified."
"Did you say Admiral Kirk? The Admiral Kirk?" Tom decided he needed a cookie and milk and sat back down.
While he sat and enjoyed the comfort of the couch, Tom asked, "Hey, Ezra, where can I get a set of couches like this for my cabin? They are extremely comfortable."
"I'll have George get you a set; Dad has some just like them." Ezra replied.
"Cool, umm, who is George?" Tom asked as he laid his head back on to the couch."
Alevrian turned his attention to were Tom was and let out a giggle purr, "I don't think Ezra will have the chance to answer who anyone is because it looks as if the one called Tom is out to dream."
Frevidian scratched Sparkles ear for a few seconds more and put him down on the ground. Turning to Alevrian, he stated, "Maybe sometime soon we can have a guide like Sparkles."
"The possibilities are endless, possibly even a friend like Sparkles would seem better. From our talk he seems to be more than a guide." Alevrian walked toward the nearest table and picked up a glass of milk and a brownie, and walked over to a chair in the corner.
"Ezra, do you have a blanket and pillow?" asked a concerned Franklin."Tom looks really tired."
"You guys are still in my head, so I can do even better!" Ezra giggled as a bed fit for a king appeared, with Tom suddenly on it.
"Reg, please wake up," Harry said as he slightly shook Reg's arm. "Dammit, wake up! This music is really loud, please wake up and turn it down."
"Damnitz, to Harry." Damnitz already had a feeling this was a mis-page, but then again, maybe someone would need his help.
"Harry here, we really need to fix the auto page feature of this ship. Any chance you would be able to join me in Club 99?" Maybe he knows how to turn down the sound system, Harry thought to himself.
"Buddy to Harry," came the mysteriously new voice across the speakers.
"Harry here, how can I help you Buddy?" Harry asked in utter confusion, thinking 'who is Buddy?'
"Well, perhaps I can help with the mis-paging error," Buddy said in a humorous, giggling voice.
"Please tell me you have found the problem," Harry said while still trying to shake Reg awake.
"Be glad to tell you as soon as Damnitz has entered the room and turned down the Dolby CP500 sound processor in the audio rack in the back room." Buddy thought it was killer to have such an old sound processor connected to the ship, but it didn't help he could not control it.
Just as Buddy had stopped speaking, the doors to Club 99 opened to Damnitz. He looked around as he plugged his ears with his fingers. "Holy Moly, someone has really got to be deaf!"
"Oh, there you are. Can you turn down the music?" Harry stated to Damnitz while holding his ears.
"Come with me and we'll turn down the system via the presets," Damnitz said as they walked to the back room. Harry looked around and found photographs hanging from the walls, they were photos of him.
"Here we are. You see this grey and red box? Push the preset labeled 'Harry', and the sound will drop to background music mode; or if you think it's too low, press the preset labeled 'Party' and watch the bulkheads rattle!" explained Damnitz with a huge smile.
"Okay, now the bulkheads are no longer rattling to the sound waves produced by the vintage sound system and matching speakers," voiced a relaxed Buddy. "So Damnitz, what has happened was that you pissed off an AI; and the then-assassin AI, instead of removing your presence from the ship, pulled an odd move for him. He reprogrammed auto page to automatically call your badge when people said Damn, Dammit, and other version of those words, even if it was said in other languages."
Harry, still befuddled by the thought of death for pissing off the AI, asked the key question, "What did he do to piss off the AI?"
"He ran into him in engineering and did not say he was sorry," Buddy's voice was no longer blaring out of the intercom, but rather came from a young person standing beside them.
While watching the other members of his team scurry about, Reg was thinking about how odd it was to have all of deflector control's computer consoles up, but locked out. "Well isn't this something weird, all systems are working and all output is normal, but anyone Lt. Commander and below are locked out." He commented while he stood there wringing his hands as if magically it would fix the problem.
"Commander, according to my PADD the ship is under remote command and control" Ensign Pulaski stated with some concern as he looked to Reg; "Umm, Commander, who is Admiral Kirk?"
"Maybe I should answer this question," a voice rattled out of the comm badges around the room. "James Tiberius Kirk, Admiral Starfleet Command, Captain USS Enterprise 1701-A, Retired, Advisor to the Family Clan Short Vulcan Fleet Commander."
"Back up! First, who are you? Second, how is it that Admiral Kirk can be back from the dead?" Reg asked while he still looked at his fingers and tried to count the titles mentioned of someone who he only knew of from his history courses.
"Please reference your PADD and read up on current events of today, let alone read when and where we have traveled to through the rift. Oh, and call me Buddy." The mirth and happiness was excruciatingly pleasant.
"The latest information made available stated we are en route to a Nebula to start repairs." Reg waved his hands madly in the air. "We had assumed the ship was stopped so we could do repairs, but we are in motion; therefor while under remote operations we are working to try to make the consoles work when it is in a safety lockout!"
"Reg, please take me up on an offer, go to club 99 and relax! That goes for your entire team." Buddy announced, while he changed the picture on all screens to a flyer for Club 99.
Cameron turned to the sound of the door to sickbay as it closed. He watched as a young lad walked in with a tattoo over his left eye.
"Cameron, My name is Chakotay; as soon as Nicky is online please ask him to visit me." Bad news always made Chakotay dislike being a counselor, although there cannot be good news without bad news.
"Chakotay, he is right over there, and he will be online in thirty seconds. Just give him a few seconds to verify the software loaded correctly." Cameron told him without taking his eyes off of the readouts being displayed on the medical terminals.
After a little time had passed, Nicky sat up and started going through his system load check. Looking up he spotted Chakotay. What caught his attention was the look on Chakotay's face. "Spill it, Tay! Why are you wearing the sad face?"
"Please sit back down on the bed. Cameron, could you please keep an eye on his systems?" Chakotay was hoping this did not put his friend offline again.
Cameron nodded, while Nicky just sat back down. Nicky knew it must be something bad for Tay to be playing it so professional.
"Captain, your wife was found by Hamilton and Dallas. She was found crushed by a collapsed support beam in your quarters; fortunately she was asleep and did not feel any pain. Hamilton and Dallas have since been transferred to the non-emergency ward which was set up in cargo bay one." As he looked straight in to the eyes of the Captain, he added. "Captain we are all sorry for your loss, and we will be here for you in case you need a friend."
"Tay, let everyone know I will be fine and thank you," Nicky replied while letting a few sobs escape. Nicky remembered he could not just fall apart. Knowing his wife and her thoughts, he pulled it all together. "Tay, Cameron, it's time for me to return to duty."
"Well, since you just put it that way, I'll replicate you some toilet paper." Buddy, responded with a giggle on the Captains communications badge. He knew it was the wrong time for jokes, but he also knew the Captain needed one laugh.
As Nicky smiled at the comment he walked up to Tay and hugged him. "No matter how inappropriate Buddy's comment was, it helps me to see and put things into perspective what Leslie once said about this crew. They will make you smile when you are hurting, and cuss when you have looked at something wrong." As he let go of Tay, one lone tear ran down his cheek.
As B'Elanna had continued to rant about the ship and the quality of its construction, she was interrupted by the entrance of a massive man in an older style Starfleet Engineering uniform. "Who are you? What are you doing here? And most important, why are there plates of cookies appearing on the Engineering consoles?"
"Well, my name is Commander Steven Charles, Chief Engineer of CSF Lafayette." he smirked, watching as the eleven year old Human-Klingon hybrid tried to stare him down (or is it stare him up, way up?).
Another plate of cookies appeared, this time with a note. Commander Charles smiled and pointed at it, "And I think that will answer your other question."
B'Elanna looked down at the note, then back up at the Commander. She opened the note, blinked, and then handed it to the man. As he read it, she ate a cookie.
Commander Charles grinned, for on the note was one simple line.
'Shut up and eat. Love, Elf.'
"Now as far as this outdated equipment goes..." Steve commented as he grabbed a cookie. "Nice, still warm. Gotta love our elf!"
"Bad enough having uncontrollable rage to deal with, but not having the ability to reach half the consoles without dragging a ladder around is insanely aggravating." B'Elanna ranted while she watched the Commander walk from terminal to terminal and adjust settings with an ease which she missed. While she watched him, she grabbed another cookie.
Another plate appeared, with an open note that simply said, "Good girl. Love, Irritating Elf."
"Who is this Elf that keeps..." B'Elanna started raging, but another cookie plate appeared with another note.
"You'll find out. Love, Cuddly, lovable, cute Elf... now eat..."
"Good thing Tom doesn't know about the cookies, Elf would be bankrupt of cookies," she mumbled, spraying cookie crumbs on the nearby console.
"I have infinite supply... as Tom has found out..." came a whisper in her ear... but no-one was there.
"Commander? Maybe I should go to sickbay, I am hearing disembodied voices," she stated as she wiggled a finger in her ear.
"Is that all? Wait until you have to deal with time loops!" Steven chuckled. "By the way, I ordered access platforms for you; I had to get them for a certain airheaded blond midget Fleet Commander who likes hanging out in Engineering."
"Oh, was I invisible again? Gotta learn to turn that off," grinned the most impish looking Vulcan teen that B'Elanna had ever seen as he appeared with a flash of silver flame. "Hi there, Commander. We've not met yet, I'm..."
"Sa'ren Joel Short. Yes, Captain, I know you."
B'Elanna just blinked at the new arrival. "I have a headache," she mumbled.
"Eat more cookies. Always helps me," the blue eyed Vulcan smiled down at her.
To her eyes, he looked about twelve, just a bit taller than her. His uniform, however, was considerably different to what she was expecting by his title of 'Captain'. Armour. Silver Armour. That glowed with a life of its own. And a Sword.
As she sat back down, looked to the Commander, and back to the Vulcan Captain who had just appeared out of thin air. "Tom, honey, can you come to Engineering? Please?"
"Sure thi..." came from over the comm. "...ng!" was what the twelve year old boy who appeared with a pop of silver fire finished.
"Cookie?" Sa'ren offered the newcomer, a NEW plate in his hand.
"Honey, what's the matter? Do you need an aspirin or perhaps a cookie break?" Tom asked, knowing he might just get decked considering the look B'Elanna shot him with.
"How come you aren't affected by this, Tom?" she shouted at the top of her lungs.
"Well, these are the best cookies ever! Everyone has been extremely nice; and even with all the weirdness encountered, it is better to be here than where we came from." Tom gently laid his hands on B'Elanna's shoulders and tried to work out the cramped muscles.
"And he's eaten way more cookies than you..." Sa'ren grinned. "... they make everything better. My brother Tommy said so."
B'Elanna sighed and continued munching.
Tom took a long hard look at the Vulcan then asked, "You're the Elf those purple eyed boys are talking about?"
"Sure am," came the response.
"Why are you here too? They said you were on Earth."
"I am."
"Pardon?"
"I'm different, and they don't fully get it yet," Sa'ren explained. "Levi does... and he gets more than that... bad me, back to point... I'm here to make sure something happens... ah, there it is. Okay. All's cool."
"What?" Tom asked, looking around. "What was it that..."
"I had to repair something Uncle Q fucked up," Sa'ren answered, rolling his eyes. "You're one person down, someone who died long ago to you that shouldn't have."
"Oh?" B'Elanna queried, still eating.
In through the door walked someone she had met only a few times, but never expected to see again. The only adult from her universe that was still an adult here.
"And now I've got to leave and continue being where I am that you don't understand yet," the impish Vulcan grinned before disappearing in a burst of silver flame.
Commander Charles looked at the newcomer carefully. A Starfleet Lieutenant Commander. Gold skinned. Gold eyes. Black hair.
"Commander Data?" Tom Paris squeaked in shock.
"That is my name according to my memory," Data spoke in an unwavering voice.
"I have been told often cookies go best with milk. Would you like some to go with those cookies?" Data was thinking of all his time spent in ten forward.
B'Elanna, mouth full of cookies, caught herself before she spluttered out an affirmative. Then she shrugged and nodded, "Yes please," she mumbled, giving up and just being a kid.
"Thanks... dad," Tom grinned, also nodding.
Data blinked, cocked his head to one side, put to one side of his multilayered positronic brain the oddness of these midget Starfleet officers, and the unusual method of his arrival, and turned to go fetch the milk. He found a small message put to one side of his memory and accessed it. A sudden download of information to most other systems would have overloaded them, but not to him. Now he knew where he was, what had happened to this crew... and that, from now on, he was to be "Daddy Data" to most, if not all of them.
He accepted this with a simple shrug as he decided to turn back on his emotion chip. He figured that he was going to need it....
B'Elanna finally finished the cookies with the help of Data bringing her milk. "Data, I will need to check with Buddy to see if we can connect your systems to the ships systems so you can access information more effectively on the ship."
"We really need to find him a set of quarters, too," Tom said, still in shock to have Commander Data on this ship.
Tom turned in time to see Nicky walk into the room. He looked a little off from his normal persona, but he would ask later.
"Hi, Captain. I don't know if you have met Commander Charles. He was sent to help adapt our systems over to something more modern. Plus, we have Commander Data who just walked in the door." B'Elanna stood as she tried to dust off the cookie crumbs too small to eat.
"Hi Commander, Hi Da... Data! Didn't you...?"
"Yes."
"But..."
"Yes."
"How...?"
"I don't know, but..."
"Interesting. I wonder..."
"Most likely..."
"What the fuck is going on?" Tom exclaimed, and then winced. "Sorry, sirs." He grinned, giving Data the honorific due to him being who he was, even though a lower rank. "Um, but what's going on?"
"We're on the same wavelength, it seems," Nicky mumbled. "I'm still shocked by you being here, Commander Data."
"As am I, but the message from the 'Cookie Monster' says that I'm here to help you. So," smiled the android, "here I am."
"Captain, maybe we should have a staff meeting to see where we stand on repairs, find out who we are missing and see if there are any other surprises." B'Elanna suggested while eyeing the plate of cookies.
"Excellent idea, plus someone needs to find out why Buddy hasn't updated the entire crew as to our visitors and other events," Nicky said, looking toward the ceiling.
"Well, Captain, I was not given the permission to alert the crew. Second, there has been so much that has occurred on board which has kept me busy." Buddy said while he walked up to the Captain in his new body.
Just then, Peter popped in, wearing an elephant-trunk speedo and a multi-chromatic purple hardhat. "Random Hug!" he exclaimed as he quickly gave each of them a hug before popping out again.
Nicky reached his hand up to rub his temples. "Did I just receive a random hug?" he muttered as he let out a long held breath. "Oh well, maybe I need to sit down and have a cookie."
"So, Steven, what is Sar'en Captain of? He left before I could ask it of him?" B'Elanna asked while still wiping cookie crumbs off of her uniform.
The Commander grinned at her, "Depends which rank of Captain you're referring to," he chuckled. "He's a Captain in the Vulcan Special Ops group, the UNIT, the Clan's military arm; a Captain in the Vulcan High Command under Fleet Commander Cory Short, his brother... and just yesterday made Captain of Starfleet's Flagship, the Enterprise-A."
Tom looked to B'Elanna after counting as the titles were listed off, "Well, Honey you asked the question and the headache received from it is all yours."
"How... ca... can... that... be?" B'Elanna asked while sitting down to have another cookie.
"Is there any way I can book a tour of the Enterprise-A?" Tom asked, as he shook with extreme excitement.
Two plates of cookies appeared, one in B'Elanna's hand, the other in Tom's. The note with Tom's said 'Sure thing!' while B'Elanna's was a novella sized booklet with "This is My Life" printed in cookie scented writing on the front.
"Tom, I think it's time for a nap and a visit to Marky," she commented while rubbing her temples.
"Do you want me to accompany you to sick bay?" Tom asked as he slowly tried to back away without being spotted.
"Umm, so Bartholomew, where did you acquire the new body? I know we haven't been in this universe for the time required for Tom to have one built." Nicky stated while looking at Buddy.
"Now I'm not telling you, you son-of-a-bitch-captain-sir..." came the giggling response.
"Fine don't tell me Bart, I just hope it isn't borrowed," Nicky chuckled out expecting more fire from Buddy.
As Nicky walked in the door to Club 99, he burst in to uncontrollable laughter at the sight he beheld.
Up on the stage, holding a microphone in his toes, Leg was hopping around. Over the speakers, with the crowd singing along, he heard Leg singing "...Feeling like a little kid. I'm still standing after all this time..."
Nicky let out a laugh, while he walked to the side of the stage and whispered to Reg, "Hey, when this act is over, please let everyone know we will be starting the meeting with all the departments. Then just announce me and I will take the stage." After a second to rethink the last comment, "Reg, by the way, I'm not up next to sing!"
"Thank you!" Leg stated as he finished and took a bow. "Next up, our favorite Captain, doing an opera version of .38 Special's 'Somebody Like You'!"
"Reg, please set the system to 'Party' and let's rumble the house," Nicky stated, the audiences response overcoming his reluctance. He began to compose himself as the system began playing the intro of 'Somebody Like You!'. "Shoulda... keep... my... di... stance".
He grinned with a devilish smile as he continued to belt-out extremely loud and thundering lyrics.
As he finished up, he asked, "After my performance, anyone needing aspirin see Marky, and those needing refreshments see Reg, and then we will begin the meeting."
"And those needing cookies, just wave your hands in the air and one of the Mikyvis will provide them," Eli added as he stepped out from behind the curtain.
After the masses retrieved what they required, Nicky began. "Alright; time to start the meeting. Tom would you please let us know how the crew is doing since we have arrived?"
"Well Captain, crew morale is up. We have only lost four crew members by death. We gained before arrival nine new people, after arrival two people from yet another realm and a long lost member of Starfleet; his crew status has been re-activated. So, we now have a crew of two hundred seventy eight; which means we have eight people more than we left our galaxy with." Sighing, he added "Let us have a moment to remember those we lost, and commit to keeping them in our hearts." After a few moments of exacting silence, he continued. "Now, once this meeting is over, please let's have a meet and greet with all the new people on board."
"Time bubble! I ain't letting any of you miss one second of the party!" Ezra exclaimed as he popped in, three cookies hanging from his mouth.
"Hold up, let's get through the meeting first, and then we will party till the cows come home," Tom giggled.
"We have cows?" Damnitz asked with a hand on his forehead.
"With a moo-moo here, and a moo-moo there..." B'Elanna sang. Then she stopped and sighed, "I blame that on the cookies!"
"Timmy's gonna kill me, I was supposed to invite Bertha and Blackie!" Ezra exclaimed as he popped back out, returning a millisecond later with a heifer and a bull. The bull was wearing a large kilt, while Bertha was in an orange tu-tu.
B'Elanna stood up. "Can I book a one way shuttle offa this madhouse, Captain?"
"No."
"Awww, but whhyhyyyyyy?"
"Just No, B'Elanna."
All the while Devaintre sat in his chair and munched on his cookies, smiling over the happiness being displayed by the crew.
Along with Data, who was also watching with a soft smile on his pale lips. He did, however, pull out his violin and started playing "Old Macdonald Had a Farm", just to keep the mood going.
Bertha and Blackie wandered over, and mooed the lyrics along with Data's music.
Getting into the mood, Nicky started belting the lyrics to "Who Let The Cows Out", followed by "Cows With Guns".
"So, all we need now is... no, I'm not saying it. I'm just not," B'Elanna stated.
"What?" asked Tom. "You can't say something like that and then not reveal your thoughts!"
"No... just..."
"Huff!"
"OH IN THE NAME OF KAHLESS, WHO BROUGHT THE SEHLAT?!" B'Elanna shouted at the top of her lungs as the sehlat in question nudged her with his wet, cold nose.
Ezra giggled, "No-one. He brought himself. That's I-Cheya, and he belongs to the Elf!"
'He belong to me,' I-Cheya sent as he started to try to undress B'Elanna right there to bathe her. She was having none of it, however.
But she was now faced with an insistent Sehlat-Spirit-Guardian who had never had to take 'No, you great slobbering pu'tak' for an answer before.
Nobody noticed the mini helicopters flying off to the side, recording the meeting for all eternity.
"Shay, what is the status of your department?" Nicky asked the question and realized he had messed up. "Never mind, you don't have to answer, just tell me later."
"Seth is syncing with Earthside," Ezra replied for Shay. "He should be up-to-date within the next few minutes."
"B'Ellana, what is the condition of Engineering?" Nicky asked while watching as she smiled, and the smile turned into a devilish grin.
"We will need a few more coats of paint due to having to climb up the consoles just to reach the upper controls. Engines are still running at impulse, although if given a few more people, we could have them running at warp within a few hours. Structural integrity is at ninety nine percent." As she looked down to the PADD on her table an odd song began to blare out of the speakers, "Calling all cows". She began to sing while trying to dry off from her Sehlat bath.
As the song finished the beeping of her PADD got her attention due to a message from Steven. As she hit accept the message played across the sound system. "B'Elanna, warp drive has been restored."
"Now he can start Uncle Cory's updates." Ezra commented. "Uncle Joel says that some of the stuff that Uncle Cory fixed in our universe is still broke in your old universe."
"Well if it's broke there and fixed here, then what about the things broke in both places or working in both places?" Chakotay asked as he walked up with Annika to visit with Nicky.
"We'll break the fixed stuff and fix the breaked stuff!" Ezra giggled.
"Hal, do you have anything to report on?" Tom asked, only because Hal was secretively whispering to Shay.
"Yes, your wife sings so much better than Nicky. Even though she is a little off key." Hal knew he was treading a little too close.
Before there was an explosion, Buddy interrupted. "Nicky, Cam says I should tell you that my core update to base twenty-five, otherwise known as balanced trinary, is completed. My VI imprint has been successfully merged into my new AI core. Alligator Alley estimates full core peripheral upgrade to the new language should be completed by morning."
"Buddy, will the upgrade require the rest of us androids to have an upgrade, or are we compatible with your core?" Shay asked looking around the room.
"Shouldn't we be someplace more private to test compatibility?" Buddy giggled. "I swing both ways, so I'm game!"
"That wasn't exactly what was meant, but can we get together later and discuss compatibility?" Shay said with a blush which continued to his neckline.
"Sure. Your cabin or mine?" Buddy replied with a grin.
"That reminds me, Tom, have you assigned cabins for all the Android's, AI, and new people? Oh My." Nicky asked while thinking of the Wizard of Oz.
Tom couldn't respond, as he was watching Buddy with amusement.
Buddy walked over to Shay, stating, "Uncle Karl says I need to test a data transfer." He then pulled Shay into a hug, and laid his first lip-lock on another being.
Suddenly, the Stevie Wonder hit 'If You Really Love Me' played on all decks at maximum volume. Dancing their butts off, Buddy and Shay led the entire crew.
As the song finished out, Shay asked a simple question barely over a whisper. "Captain, can I be excused and updated later, please?"
"Sure. Shay, try to be a gentleman," Nicky said barely above a whisper in return. "Reg, turn the system up and let us really party!"
After a few moments Annika stood up walked over to the stage while asking Reg, "Can I have a shot at singing tonight?"
"Sure, Sev... I mean Annika," almost calling her by her Borg designation. "What would you like to sing?"
Looking over to Chakotay while giving her most endearing smile. "Pat Benatar - Hit me with your best shot"
Reg only nodded, but he understood the true meaning and simply loaded the requested song.
As she walked to the stage her skin held a warm glow due to the slight blush. As the music began to play everyone turned to her.
Her voice was powerful and enchanting, "You're the real tough cookie... " but as she sang other audio elements started to creep in to the song.
"Let's see how you do it," flowed from Annika's lips as the song progressed.
Shay's loud giggling almost drowned out Buddy cackling, "Is it supposed to get like that?"
"I don't recall those being part of lyrics, not to this song, anyway," Jack stated, looking to the stage to see if Annika was going to protest to someone interrupting her song.
Chakotay chuckled, but still keep smiling at Annika.
The devilish smile crept across Annika's face, "Fire Away..."
As she walked away from the stage she walked up to Naomi and told her in a whisper, "Tell him and tell him with this song." Annika passed Naomi a PADD which already had the song ready to play.
Naomi nodded and walked to the stage holding the PADD in her hand. The music began while she began to smile. "Never know how much I love you," she continued to gaze at the one person who held a place in her heart.
On the far side of the room, Sebrina was looking on while carrying on a conversation with Naomi's mom in tiger. Samantha, however, was hearing her as if she was speaking normally. "She really likes him and he seems to have the problem most do with expressing this want for a relationship."
Author Notes: Hopefully this is a delightful read for everyone but, I know I can't please everyone. So please comment on the forums.
Also, I would like to Thank Ilu, ACFan, and TheEggman for their input and encouragement to help write and edit this chapter.
Thanks Brynmor.