THE MORNING AFTER

The Bridge was always noisy. The sounds from the computers mixed with the voices of the various officers giving reports or having conversations, together with the steady drum of the warp engines made a background noise, that until you got used to actually was quite loud. Once you had spent some time on the bridge you hardly noticed it anymore…unless it suddenly had vanished.

Captain Mackenzie Calhoun stepped out of the turbolift and all conversation suddenly ceased.

He looked around at his officers.

“Is there a problem?”, he asked, very aware that every set of eyes on the bridge was focused at him.

“No, Sir, no problem!”

“No problem, Sir!”

“No, Sir!”

“Well, then why are you all looking at me like that?”

  Once again there was silence amongst the officers, until finally Miranda spoke up.

“Well, captain…it’s just…is it true you had sex with the computer last night?”

Calhoun almost choked. How the hell was it possible that anyone could know? They had been in a sealed off holodeck the hole time.

“Well…”, he began, but Miranda had already looked away, blushing.

Lt. Chandra, the betazoid conn operator smiled at him.

“Please tell us, Mac…was it good?”

“How is it possible for rumors to travel faster than warp 10 on this ship?”

Calhoun slowly sat in his command chair, and supported his head in his hands.

Chandra cleared her throat, looked at the others for confirmation, and finally spoke:

“Well, ensign Hargensen in engineering was going over some of the data files of Indy’s sensor readouts last night, when suddenly…ahem…her tactile center became very active. Hargensen thought it was a malfunction, and she accessed the file…which incidentally meant that she looked out of Indy’s holographic eyes. And you know Chris Hargensen…she could not keep her mouth shut if the entire federation depended on it.”

Marcktock, the Klingon security chief mumbled something from his post. Calhoun whipped around and faced him.

“What was that, lieutenant?”

“Nothing, Sir.”

“Speak up, Marcktoch. What did you say?”

“I said…that there is no honor in seducing a hologram. One must find a real woman to court, or it will mean nothing.”

“I think, I’m capable of handling my own love life without turning it over in a public forum. Thank you, all. Carry on with your duties.”

The bridge crew returned to their posts, most of them with a broad grin on their faces. It was not as if they did not respect their captain…but sometimes it was nice to know, that the ones higher up in the command hierarchy also made embarrassing things.

The first officer, Jennifer Glenn, exited a turbolift, and strode across the upper bridge level. She had on her “determined” look, which told Calhoun something was up.

“Captain Calhoun…can I have moment in private?”

“Of course, commander. Chandra, you have the conn. I’ll be in my ready room.”

Calhoun walked briskly into his ready room, and sat behind his desk.

“What can I do for you today, Jen?”

As the doors closed behind her, Glenn put her hands on her hips and locked eyes with him.

“Is it true?”

A sudden sense of dejá vu struck Calhoun.

“Didn’t we already have this conversation?”, he asked, but Glenn cut him off:

“With all respect, Mac, do you REALLY think, that sleeping with a holographic version of the computer, made up like some kind of fantasy woman is ANY good for the crew’s morale? Not to mention the computer’s functions!”

Calhoun looked up at her. “Sit down, please, Jen.”

“I’m fine, thanks.”

“Sit. Down. Please.”

Glenn quickly fell into one of the chairs in front of the desk.

“Jen, there is something I have not been completely honest about with you. It was on a need to know basis, but…I don’t see the harm – sooner or later, everybody on this ship will know.”

“Know what?”

“Jen, Indy is not just a very smart computer. She’s a living, sentient being. She experiences emotions. She can feel joy, sorrow, anger and…well, love.”

Glenn’s forehead became furrowed.

“Are you telling me, the computer has a crush on you?”

“In a sense, yes.”

“And you decided to…humor Indy by sleeping with it…her?”

“Again, in a sense, yes.”

“And what do you suggest, we do about this?”

“Do about it? We can’t DO anything about it. Indy is a member of this crew, same as anyone else. By the laws of starfleet, sentient machines are given the same rights and privileges as humans. Commander Data designed the computer core on this ship himself, and I was informed by captain Matthews, that it was to be an experiment to see if you actually could make a starship sentient. I guess it worked.”

Glenn glared at him in total disbelief.

“But it could be a potential security risk! What if you tell her to self destruct, and she refuses?”

“I guess, I’ll  just have to say pretty please.”

“MAC!”

“All right, it has an override code, which I’d rather not use. I can, in effect, pull rank on it. But self destruct has been reset to the old version. The one, where 3 senior officers has to each give their command code to order the destruction. Then, she will recognize the seriousness of the situation, and comply with the order. But I don’t see a problem. She will still act like a normal starfleet computer most of the time.”

Glenn grunted.

“This will be trouble, Mac. Wait and see.”

“Fine. We’ll talk about it, when it becomes a problem. Until then, I expect you to treat Indy like a member of the crew. And now, I want you to follow me.”

“Where are we going?”

“To make a social call – and a business proposal.”

 

The Vulcan Zurak paced his cell for the 35^th time today. He was following a very simple pattern. First, he would sit for a few minutes – even half an hour – completely motionless on his bunk. Then he would get up, and pace the cell for 10-12 minutes. Then he would stand directly in front of the force field and stare at the ensign assigned to watch over him and his fellow terrorists. And finally he would tell the ensign to set him free. This was the only place he varied his schedule – sometimes he would threaten to simply kill the boy. Sometimes to maim him in different ways. Other times to feed him to a pack of sehlat’s or some similar animal. It was driving the ensign mad – which of course was Zurak’s intention. He delighted in inducing pain and madness. And if this was the only way he could satisfy his urges…well, so be it. It was only logical to make use of the options given to you.

In the cell next to his, the Ferengi Qworn was reading from a padd. He looked up at Zurak once in a while, but every time the Vulcan launched into one of his threatening monologues, Qworn snorted with contempt and kept reading. He suspected the Vulcan had a few drops of Romulan blood in him. He sure was dedicated.

Qworn did not see what all the fuss was all about. Of course, he had not had as much personal involvement in the cause as the two others. He was only providing the services, he had been paid to perform. It was not his fault, if they had been caught. He was even looking somewhat forward to the federation penal colony. It would give him a chance to brush up on his rules of Acquisition, while relaxing an making some profitable business with the inmates. He had always been good with people.

The third member of the terrorist trio was also the most quiet one. He sat in his cell, in the corner, with his hands over his face. In front of him was a bucket, and once every 17 hours he would change himself into a shining liquid and float into it.

Saso, as his name was, was not the only shapeshifter in the alpha quadrant after the Dominion war – a few of them had stayed behind, trying their luck on their own without the great link breathing down their necks – but he was the first to join a new cause. He was also the first to be caught. And he found the situation extremely embarrassing.

The large metal doors slid open with a rumble, and all the prisoner’s eyes turned to the newly arrived.

“Ensign Davies, you can take a break. Commander Glenn and I wants to have a chat with the prisoners.”

Ensign Davies left the room, and to people stepped into the center area of the brig.

The first was a young woman of about 18. She had reddish-brown hair, large eyes with an intelligent look in them and a beautiful smile. She wore a red uniform and commander’s pips on her collar.

The second…and this made Qworn take in a sharp breath between his teeth, Zurak lift an eyebrow and Saso lift his head out of his hands – was a boy of maybe 19. He had dark hair, purple eyes and a strong, angular face. He had a scar, that stretched from his  left temple to a few centimeters above his chin. But what amazed them most was, that he wore the insignia of a starship captain.

“Who are you, boy?”, Zurak asked coldly.

“I’m captain Mackenzie Calhoun, the commander of this vessel.” The boys eyes locked with Zurak, and did not waiver.

“Where is captain Matthews? What happened to the him?”, Qworn demanded to know.

“Captain Matthews and the commodore are dead. So are the adult part of the crew. We are all, that’s left”, the girl replied.

“And you are running the ship now?”, Zurak asked.

“Yes, we are. We are fully capable. But we are a bit short on the crew-side. Which is where you come in.”

The boy pointed to the three terrorists.

“Come in…what do you meen? Aren’t we going to the penal colony on Hades IV?”, Qworn asked confused.

“Well…”, the boy and the girl exchanged looks, “that’s going to be sort of a problem. You see…Hades IV is just over 85.000 light years away by now.”

“Eighty five…How?”

Saso was suddenly at his feet and in front of the force field. His featureless face showed signs of excitement.

“We went through a black hole by mistake, while trying to save a science ship. We wound up on the other side of the galaxy with half the crew dead. How’s that for a shakedown cruise?”, the boy…the captain…asked with a sarcastic tone in his voice. “But now that we are here, you three and I need to talk.”

“Talk about what?”, Zurak asked.

“About your opportunities on this ship. The way, I see it, you have two options open to you. You can stay in your cells, the way you are now. You will remain under guard and you will of course be taken good care of – as any prisoner on a federation ship. At some point, we may have to remove you, and put you in locked off quarters – we may need the brig for other prisoners.

The second option, is to come out of the cells and join us as members of this crew.”

Glenn looked alarmed at Calhoun.

“Mac, are you sure you know…”, she began, but Calhoun interrupted her.

“I come from Xenex, gentlemen. We are considered savages by most of the galaxy – and maybe we are. But we have a saying: “Konza’aar tu kontvek turi!” , or loosely translated: “only a fool does not deserve a second chance”. We are a long way from the Federation, and a long way from the Vulcan Symmetrist movement. If we can put our differences behind us, I am sure we will make a good team.”

“I will join you!”

Qworn and Zurak both looked at Saso, who was standing so close to the force field, that small blue sparks flashed on it’s surface.

“I have nothing to loose, and your motives seem to be good. I like that saying – it was the lack of something similar, that caused me to leave the link.”

“I’m glad to hear it, Mr. Saso. Now, how about you, Mr. Qworn?”

“There will be nothing gained by rotting in this cell. I’m a businessman, captain. I hope, you have need for such a person on your crew.”

“There’s always room for one more misfit, Mr. Qworn. It looks like you are the last one left, Mr. Zurak. Care to join a Starfleet crew?”

“There is a logic to your words, captain Calhoun. Since I do not wish to remain here, it would be logical to join you. However, I’m not sure, someone with my…talents…will fit well into you crew.”

“Captain!”, Glenn exclaimed in a low voice, but Calhoun had turned the deaf ear on his first officer.

“Let me worry about that. I will be glad to have you on my crew. But before I open these cells, let me outline a few basic facts: I’m the captain of this ship. I won’t have you questioning my orders. You will be given a rank and commission, same as anyone else on this ship – but with rank and privileges, comes duties and responsibilities, which I expect you to take on as well. And last, but not least – in the beginning, people will most likely react to you in a funny way – much like my second in command here did before. I am sure you can see the logic in this – as well as in the fact that no amount of mutiny will get us home faster. I intend to make use of all recourses, and everything within the limits of Starfleet principles to get us home. If you have problem, come to me and talk about it – don’t try to take over the ship. Because you would be making a grave mistake.”

“What would that be”, Qworn asked curiously.

“You would have made me very, very mad. Computer, lower the force field!”

The blue barriers shimmered out of existence, and the three prisoners stepped carefully, slowly out of their cells.

“Computer, I’m going to need three uniforms, suited to our three new crewmembers. One blue for Mr. Zurak – I’m putting you on medical duty for the time being. One red for Mr. Qworn – you will be pat of our planetary survey and contact teams. And one yellow for Mr…..” Calhoun looked at Saso, and saw that the shapeshifter already had changed his appearance to mimic a yellow Starfleet uniform.

“Yes…that’s fine. You will be part of our security force. I hereby grant all of you a field promotion to ensign, with all the rights and privileges of that rank. Gentlemen…welcome aboard!”

And with these words, captain Calhoun turned on his heels and walked out of the brig, with his first officer close behind him. The doors had hardly closed, before her voice was clearly being heard in the corridor.

The three terrorists looked at each other and on the uniforms, which had appeared in a neat little pile in the replicator.

“Well…”, Qworn said, picking up the red shirt, “maybe this will turn out to be an exiting trip after all!”

Zurak lifted an eyebrow.

“Indeed.”