| The U.S.S.S. Minnow |
| Episode 2- The Wormhole |
| �Ah, this is the life.� Klik sighed, putting her feet up on a cushion and sipping at a glass of iced tea. The fact that she was in a holding cell in the brig of her own Starship didn�t seem to bother her in the least. Poetty was not saying anything as she sat in her own holding cell. She merely honed in on the various forms of dust in the room and fuming silently on her inability to reach them. To her credit, her own holding cell was completely dust-free. On the other side of the scale, Spek was not taking this latest development with any sort of the legendary Vulcan calmness. In fact, she was reacting in quite the opposite manner, namely, throwing objects, not to mention herself at the invisible force field that separated her from the rest of the world. She was also screaming anything she could think of at the guard in charge. Klik winced as another round of insults flew from Spek�s mouth to the hapless guard, who had gone decidedly red in the cheeks. �Well, so much for peace and quiet.� Klik got to her feet and walked up to the force field. �Spek, put a lid on it.� She said pointedly. Spek did not want to listen. �I detest being detained!� Spek once more threw herself into the force field wall. �Let me out of here!� �You�re going to hurt yourself.� Klik pointed out. �Besides, it�s not like we�re going to be in here forever.� Spek calmed somewhat. �Allright, smarty-pants, when are we going to get out of here?� �I�m not sure�� Klik looked to the guard. �You, what�s your name?� The guard stood to attention. �Ensign Sulig, Ma�am!� he exclaimed. �Sulig, eh?� Klik smiled. �Would you be so kind as to find out the status of Commander Terra�s mission?� Sulig saluted and immediately turned to a panel behind him. �It�s not going to work, you know.� Came a deep voice from the cell to the left of Klik. Klik was understandably confused. �What�s not going to work?� �Your escape plan.� The voice answered, sounding tired. �Just because the guard�s back is turned doesn�t mean you can get out of your cell.� Klik frowned. �Who said anything about escaping? I just want a progress report.� She smiled in satisfaction as the guard approached her with a data pad. He took down the force field, handed it to her, and put the field back up. �Ah, Thank you Sulig, nice work.� Sulig saluted, then returned to his guard duty. �How did you do that?� The voice asked, suddenly interested. Klik ignored the voice, instead focusing her attentions on the data pad. She frowned a little and her eyebrows came down. �Well?� Spek�s voice demanded from the cell on the right. �What does it say?� �What? Oh, right. It says that several federation starships have been detected following our trajectory.� Klik replied. Spek paused a minute before answering. �How many Starships?� Klik consulted the pad. �Well, it says here�six�all warships.� �Six warships to capture one broken down exploration ship?� Spek asked incredulously. �What are they trying to do, kill us?� �Wouldn�t surprise me.� Klik mumbled. �That Admiral Bennett really hates me.� �Yeah, well, I don�t think he�s overly fond of me, either.� Spek growled. �I guess our only hope is weather or not Terra can hide this ship somewhere where Bennett�s armada can�t see us.� �Excuse me.� Said the voice in the left cell. �But�who are you people?� Klik jumped. She had forgotten that the other voice was there. �Oh�sorry. Where are our manners, Spek?� �Out with the space debris, I think.� Spek replied sourly. Klik shot the right wall of her cell an exasperated look. �Anyway, my name is Jamie E. Klik, and the grouchy Vulcan over there is Comm�er�Spek.� �Commerspek?� The voice asked. �That�s an unusual name, isn�t it?� �Its just Spek!� Spek growled. �Sorry.� The voice seemed to be confused. �Er�Jamie?� �Klik.� Klik replied. �Excuse me?� The voice asked, bewildered. �Call me �Klik�.� Klik elaborated. �Oh, Klik, then�how did you get that guard to hand you a data pad?� Klik was suddenly nervous. She didn�t think she would be sharing secrets with a disembodied voice. �Well�you see�um�� Suddenly the ship gave an ominous lurch, throwing Klik to the floor. A string of curses beside her indicated that Spek had met a similar fate. Getting to her feet Klik found that the ship was still shaking violently. Klik hit her comm. Badge. �Terra, what on earth is going on up there?� She demanded, still trying to keep balanced. �Your stupid ship just jumped to warp five!� Terra�s voice answered shrilly. It seemed to Klik that the only company she�d had lately was a bunch of voices, but she shook it off. �This ship doesn�t even GO to warp five!� �Yeah, well, tell that to your warp drive!� Terra screamed back. �It seems like it wants to overload itself, or something.� �Anything else I should know about?� Klik asked, dreading any answer that Terra could give. �Well besides the fact that the whole ship is threatening to fall apart, we�ve lost helm control. The ship seems to be steering itself.� �Perfect.� Klik groaned. �I leave you in charge for two hours, and look what happens! No wonder your ship was almost dead when we found it.� �Shut up and get up here, I need your help.� Terra�s voice finished. �Sulig!� Klik shouted to the guard who seemed to be having trouble keeping on his feet. �Let Commander Spek and I out of here now!� �Yes�Captain�� Sulig stumbled over and shut down their cell doors. Klik and Spek shot out of the brig as fast as two people trying to run on a lurching floor could, and soon found themselves in Turbo lift 2. �Bridge!� Klik screamed, praying that the Turbo lift made it. By some act of sheer luck, the turbo lift made it unscathed, and the two commanding officers fell out of it unceremoniously onto the floor. Klik fought her way to her feet and, hugging the railing, made her way to the captain�s chair. Spek appeared beside her a second later, managing to stay on her feet better than the rest of them. �Report!� Klik demanded, and a young woman answered. �Terra is attempting to shut down the warp drive, and Dec is fighting to regain Helm control.� Whoever Dec was escaped Klik, but she let it slide. Looking over, she could see Terra underneath one of the command centers, pulling out wires and other manners of hardware. �Is anyone scanning to make sure we�re not going to run into anything?� Klik yelled to no one in particular. The young woman answered again. �Actually, that�s Dec�s job, but he�s�� �Whatever!� Klik cut her off. �You do it, then!� �Yes, Ma�am.� The woman disappeared. After a few moments her frightened voice delivered the news. �We�re headed directly for a wormhole!� �There are no wormholes in this part of space.� Klik said, almost to herself. �Forgive me, Captain, but we don�t even know what part of space we�re in.� Spek spoke up from Klik�s side. �Good point. How�s Helm control coming?� �Getting there, Ma�am.� A male voice answered. �I just need a couple more seconds�� �Yes!� Terra cried in triumph, pulling free the correct wire. She had succeeded in shutting down the warp drive, as well as everything else. As the ship ground to a halt, every system shut down, leaving the crew in total darkness. �Never mind�� Dec�s voice finished, followed by a sigh. �Whoops�� Terra sounded sheepish. �Terra�� Klik warned. �I want power back�now.� �Gimme a sec�� Terra fumbled around with the wires in the darkness until she found the right one. Power seemed to suddenly flow back into the ship, lighting up the bridge. Klik half expected the ship to suddenly shoot forward again, but it didn�t. They had ground to a complete halt, and on the view screen was one of the most impressive and beautiful sights Klik had ever seen. It seemed to be a spiraled mass of pink gas, swirling slowly around a giant hole in the middle. The whole thing was positively gigantic. �Is that�?� Klik began, getting to her feet and staring at the wonder before her. �A wormhole.� Spek finished, also taking a step forward. �I�ve never been this close to one before.� �Beautiful, isn�t it?� Klik smiled at the sight, moving even closer to the view screen. She was marveling in its slow, relaxing movements when the image suddenly changed and Admiral Bennett�s angry face appeared. �Klik!� He bellowed. Klik nearly jumped to the roof. She took two quick steps backwards, clutching her chest and regaining her composure. �Geeze, Admiral.� She scolded, returning to her seat. �You could warn a person before you do that, you know. The Admiral ignored her. �Klik, you are charged with Treason, for collaborating with the enemy. How do you plead?� Klik blinked. �Collaborating�for crying out loud, she�s my cousin, what is wrong with you?� �I am taking that as your answer.� Admiral Bennett answered, �Prepare for battle.� His image disappeared. �They�re charging weapons.� The woman who was still scanning pointed out. Klik didn�t have a chance to answer before the ship gave a sudden lurch. �Shields at 30 percent!� �Do we have weapons?� Spek demanded, one step ahead of her captain. �Negative!� someone yelled, as another phaser shot rocked the ship. �Captain, we�re swerving dangerously close to the wormhole!� the woman at the scanning post informed Klik. �One more shot and we�ll�� She didn�t have the chance to finish her sentence before yet another shot hit the Minnow. There was a minute of complete silence and then� The crew was thrown backwards as the ship was suddenly propelled forward. The entire bridge was assailed with blindingly bright orange light. Everyone held on to whatever they could to keep from being thrown around, while ordinary objects zoomed from one end of the room to the other. Suddenly all was silent. The bright light was gone, replaced by the darkness of space. The crew held their breath, waiting. Finally Klik could take no more. �Where are we?� �I don�t know�� The woman at Operations answered. �Nothing I�m scanning is in the computer.� Klik rubbed her forehead exasperatedly. �We�ve left the quadrant�perfect.� The rest of the crew was silent as they digested this. They weren�t sure what to think. On the one hand, they had gotten away from the Admiral�s fleet alive, but on the other hand-well, they were possibly millions of light years away from their families. Not a single person knew what to say. �Where�s the wormhole?� Klik demanded at once. The operations woman was caught off guard, and it took her a minute to find out. �Gone, captain, it seems to have collapsed in on itself.� �Good, that means that Admiral Bennett can�t follow us here, which means we�re safe�for the moment.� She turned to Terra. �I want you to start on repairs immediately-anyone with engineering skills join her. The rest of you, I want you to submit resumes. It looks like this ship is going to need a crew, and I�d like to assign you to the proper jobs.� She looked the bridge crew over. �Dismissed.� * * * * Klik got off the Turbo lift and stepped back into the brig. The security guard was still on duty and he saluted when Klik stepped inside. �Come for another visit?� He asked, trying to make a joke. Klik smiled. �You could say that. I�d like to have a word with your other charge, if you don�t mind.� �Not at all.� He answered, returning to his post. Klik approached the cell that had been next to hers and found a young man lying on the cell�s only piece of furniture, a cot. His light blonde hair was cut in a neat military-style way, short and to the point. He cracked open one blue eye, spotted Klik�s captain�s uniform, and sat bolt upright as if he�d been shot. �Captain.� He acknowledged matter-of factly, although there was a hint of nervousness in the tone. �Call me Klik.� Klik answered, looking the man over again. Now that he was standing, she could see his posture labeled him as a ready and able military mind. Also, he seemed respectful of power. �What�s your name, soldier?� Klik asked, trying to look at him with the calm levelness a captain was supposed to show to a potential threat. �Izzer, captain.� He answered without hesitation. �And I�m not a soldier�always wanted to be one, though�� Klik held up a hand to silence him. �I�m curious to know why you are down here, Izzer.� Izzer replied immediately. �I was a member of the Ladybug�s original crew, ma�am. When commander Terra took control, I was the only one unable to escape, so Terra had me locked in the brig until she could think of what to do with me.� He paused before continuing. �I hope you�ll forgive me for saying this, but I think she forgot about me.� Klik nodded knowingly. �I wouldn�t doubt that. My cousin can be a little�forgetful from time to time.� She fixed him with what she hoped was an authoritive stare. �Would you object, Izzer, if I were to make you an officer aboard my ship? We are very far away from home, and I can use every officer I can get.� Izzer proudly puffed out his chest. �I would be honored, captain.� �Well, then that settles it doesn�t it?� Klik turned to Sulig. �Release him from the cell.� Sulig wordlessly pushed a few buttons, and the force field went down. He kept a hand to the phaser at his side to protect his captain should the prisoner turn violent. Moments passed, and Izzer didn�t move from his spot. Captain Klik waited a while longer before continuing. �Go to the mess hall on deck 11, and you will receive quarters, uniforms, and basic officer equipment. Make sure that you fill out one of the resume templates we have set up, so we can collect information on you, and assign you to the best job according to your abilities.� She waited, while Izzer stood there. Klik wondered briefly if he even understood what she was saying. �Dismissed.� She tried, and Izzer bowed and walked past her and into the turbo lift. Klik shook her head and turned to Sulig. �Now that there is no prisoner down here, there seems little point to keep you here, Sulig. I want you to go to the mess hall, as well.� Sulig nodded and entered the turbo lift with Izzer. �Are you coming, ma�am?� �No.� Klik answered, giving them a smile. �I think I�ll stay here for a while.� The two new Starfleet officers shrugged, and let the turbo lift take them to Deck eleven. |