This is the first chapter of an uber i've been working on, more or
less dilligently, for the past four/five months. I wasn't exactly
planning on posting it untill i'd finished a few more chapters but
someone asked me to save her from..... from what exactly i'm not sure
but here is it.

Disclaimer, i don't own startrek or anything trek related. I am not
making any profit just having fun etc.

rating pg=13 or thereabouts
paring T/7

Hope you enjoy.


Different Directions

Life always has a funny habit of going in different directions to the
one you expect it to. For Ella Tor this was truer than she cared to
think about.

Her life had started on the desolate colony world of Kertra, with a
mother who barely acknowledged her existence. At least the woman had
cared enough to raise her. Her father had left them when she was only
six years old.

Kertra, situated on the outskirts of the Hardomian Empire, was a
barren planet. Why anyone had ever bothered to colonise the planet
was something the young woman could never understand. The planet was
nothing more than a bare rock with an atmosphere. It had no natural
resources and, because it was located at the edge of the empire,
there were no commercial shipping lines anywhere near the sector.

With an unemployment rate of nearly seventy percent, the prospects of
its inhabitants were not worth mentioning. Most people wanted nothing
more than to leave the poor metropolises of the planet. Basically
there were only two ways for a person to leave the colony; buy
passage on one of the few trading vessels that did visit the planet
or by joining space force.

Only a very few had the means for the former and space force had
several requirements a prospective recruit had to meet before being
accepted.

The foremost requirement was that you had to be literate.

And on Kertra only five percent of the population knew how to read
and write.

From early childhood on, Ella had believed that joining space force
would be her ticket off the planet that she had learned to hate. When
she turned seventeen - the earliest age recruits were accepted - she
had immediately gone to the recruiter's office. According to the
recruitment officer she would have been an ideal candidate if it
weren't for the fact that she did not know how to read and write.

Although disappointed, this setback had not fazed the young woman one
bit. She was fully aware that, considering her circumstances, she was
a very lucky person, professionally speaking.

From as early as she could remember she'd had a gift for fixing
anything and everything she could lay her hands on. She almost
instinctively knew how to repair any broken device or appliance, and
even if it wasn't broken she could often improve the performance of
the machine.

This amazing ability had gotten her what so many others on the planet
did not find - employment. She had a job at one of only two small
shipyards Kertra boasted. Her skills not only made her valuable to
her boss but also appreciated, if not necessarily liked, by her co-
workers.

She was a relatively small woman but, thanks to the genetic
modifications some unknown ancestor of her's had undergone, she was
stronger by far than any of her male colleagues. She was a hard
worker who never shirked her duties and could always be counted on to
lend a hand.

Ella was no fool, she realised that if it weren't for her talents her
life would have been much harder. Even so she loved to simply tinker
with all sorts of devices, learning their uses, and found a simple
joy in this action that she found almost nowhere else. It was her
escape from everyday drudgery. She was also confident of the fact
that her abilities would buy her a life off planet.

All she needed to do was to find someone able to read who would teach
her that skill in exchange for jobs he or she needed doing. And since
on Kertra everybody was always in need of some job or another she did
not doubt that she would find a tutor.

But then Ella's life took an unexpected turn on the path she had
mapped out for herself.

Intent on finding an able teacher, Ella arrived home deep in
contemplation of her next move.
To her surprise she found her mother waiting for her. Her hackles
rose and she prepared herself for the inevitable argument. It did not
come.

Instead her mother had forestalled any possible argument by coming to
the point immediately. She had a job lined up for the two of them, if
Ella was interested. It would pay very nicely but they would have to
be very discreet. Absolutely no questions asked.

Ella had wanted to snort as her mother told her this. If she had not
proven her ability to be discreet she would not have lasted longer
than a few days at the shipyard. You did not ask too many questions,
on Kertra this was the way of life. However as her mother was
actually putting her trust in her daughter for the very first time
Ella could remember she too made the effort.

And after hearing all her mother had to say and asking the few
questions she could, she accepted the job.

Via a series of roundabout ways they rendezvoused with a silent guide
at the edge of the metropolis' slums who then led them to one of the
many deserted areas of the planet.

They were actually transported by a silent, smooth-going ground
vehicle and Ella had enjoyed the ride, even though the journey had
been spent in absolute silence. It was the first time in her life
that she had ridden in something other than the ramshackle conveyance
system that passed for public transport. The young woman had long
since given up on that particular mode of travel, instead walking
wherever she needed to go.

After a two-hour voyage, the driver suddenly stopped the vehicle and
softly spoke a couple of words into the communicator clipped onto his
wrist. Just as Ella was getting a little suspicious a ship suddenly
appeared right in front of them. As if by magic, the largest vessel
Ella had ever laid eyes on appeared seemingly from nowhere.

The young mechanic had never seen one of the fabled camouflage
devices in action but it did not take a genius to figure out that it
had to be a camouflager what made the ship appear so suddenly.

As a ramp started to open and they started to drive right into the
belly of the vessel it started to disappear again. Only this time
with them in it.




***


As they rode up the ramp Ella could not help but notice the scorching
from weapon's fire on the ship's exterior. A bit of apprehension rose
in her as she steeled herself for what they would find inside.

The area that they entered was not in too bad a condition. Largely
due to the fact there was nothing in the loading bay into which they
entered, hence the damage was not too obvious. Only two holes next to
the entry were evidence of the ship's unfortunate state.

Their guide motioned for them to follow him and when he led them
through several corridors Ella and her mother could see the real
extent of the damage the ship had taken.

Everywhere, panels were dangling from the ceiling. Cables were
visible all over and the place smelled like several fires had made
their way throughout the ship.

Ella wondered just what the hell had happened and she could see the
same questions running through her mother's head. She had, however,
promised not to ask any questions so, like her current companions,
she just kept quiet.

One of the questions that was foremost in her mind was what she was
doing here? It was obvious the vessel needed extensive repairs and
she was only one mechanic. The shipyards on Kertra were much better
equipped to make the numerous repairs and, because of their
clientele, discretion was pretty much guaranteed.

Finally they reached their destination: the ship's engine room.
Several people were hard at work there. Their guide cleared his
throat and called. "Captain."

A tall, dark man looked up at this and noticed the new arrivals. He
nodded at them and then went right back to work. This obviously
satisfied their guide as he nodded in return. He turned to his
charges and told Ella to wait where she stood motioning Miranda to
follow him, which the woman did.

From her vantagepoint close by the Engineering entrance, Ella had a
good view of the entire room. It was compact but still larger than on
any vessel she had seen before.

The set up of the engine room was pretty much the same as on other
ships. No matter what vessel you were on, propulsions systems were
located in the centre of the room, maintenance stations to the left
and diagnostic equipment to the right. There were a couple of
stations that the mechanic did not recognise the purpose of at first
glance. She strongly suspected that this particular vessel would have
a few surprises in store for her if only she was given the chance to
explore it.

Ella's wandering gaze was met by a woman who was working on one of
the workstations in the centre of the room. The woman smiled
encouragingly at her and then went right back to work. There was an
urgency to her that was apparent in all the woman's co-workers.

The young woman was startled out of her musings when someone put a
hand on her shoulder. She looked around and saw the captain gazing at
her.

Charles `Chuckles' Atay was a tall man, at least a head and a half
taller than Ella. His close-cropped hair had quite a bit of grey in
it but what was most distinguishing was the black tattoo he had over
his right eye.

The man put out his hand to his guest. "Charles Atay, you must be
Miranda's daughter. Your mother told us you are one hell of a
mechanic. And as you can probably see for yourself we need all the
help we can get."

As Ella shook the man's hand she wondered just when her mother had
told him this. As if in answer to her unspoken question Atay spoke.

"Your mother and I are old friends. When I contacted her a few hours
ago she immediately offered to help us. Her help, appreciated though
it is, is not what I needed. What I need is someone who is familiar
enough with propulsion systems to get them going again within a
twenty-six hour period. She was quite confident that you would be
able to do so."

Ella looked at all the people hard at work in the engine room. Would
not one of his regular people be more familiar with the ship's
propulsion systems?

"Two of my crew were responsible for the engines. One of them was
killed when we were attacked. And Roy is currently in a coma in
sickbay." The captain's tone had turned grim. "I have several people
who are qualified to perform maintenance on the propulsion systems.
Under less extreme circumstances there would be no problem. We
certainly would not need your help."

Ella could not help herself as she asked. "What happened to your
people?"

"We had a string of bad luck."

Ella could tell by the tone of his voice that that was all the answer
she would get. Shrugging it off she decided to have a look at the
propulsion systems. As she neared the main workstation she threw a
questioning look at the tall captain, asking his permission to
proceed.

At his affirmation, Ella accessed the systems and when the computer
showed the extent of the damage, she wondered if Atay had gone crazy.
No matter how good she was at fixing stuff this was beyond a
challenge.

She said as much to the Captain.

"If you cannot fix this, a lot of lives will be lost, kid. Ours among
them."

Ella looked up sharply, it did not seem the Captain was making a joke.
"Besides, your mother said you'd be able to get the old girl moving
again, and she has never lied to us before. Now, you had better get
to work, all our resources are available to you. Need any help, it's
yours for the asking."


***


In the end, Ella had gotten the job done. She had needed to recruit
four of the ship's crew and it had taken over forty-nine hours. That
was well beyond the dead line Charles Atay had given, but it had been
the best she could do.

As her free day had long since passed, the girl had needed to call in
sick at work, which was easily done with the ship's communication
equipment. They had very easily managed to hack into the town's
communication network. As she had never called in sick before, her
boss had no trouble believing her and all he said was that she would
not get paid for the days she missed.

Bone tired, since she had only managed to get three hours sleep in
the two days she had been on board the vessel, she made her way to
the Captain to tell him repairs were done. After asking directions
from a member of the crew she had no trouble tracking him down in his
office.
As she walked through the corridors she was impressed by all the work
the Carintia's crew had been able to do in the relatively short time.
Despite the damage, the loss of several people and limited resources,
they had all the key systems functioning again as well as the worst
of the debris, that had littered the corridors when she had first
arrived, cleared up.

She was actually sad that she would be saying goodbye to the ship. It
was remarkable how quickly she had gotten used to the ship and its
crew.

As she approached what had to be the Captain's office, she noticed
the door was open. Grimacing, she figured that was also a result of
the ship's unfortunate encounter with whoever, as all the doors on
this vessel would open and close automatically when someone passed
through them.

As she drew closer, she picked up the captain's voice and then her
mother's deep voice. It was not her intention to eavesdrop, but as
she neared the office and she heard her name she stopped to listen
what they were discussing.

"It has to be El's choice, Charles. I have not made a decision for
her since she was seven. She did not need it. We are not exactly what
you would call close." A pause, before Miranda continued, "You are
asking the wrong person."

"I did not want you to think I was asking her this behind your back,"
he replied.

"Like I said you are asking the wrong person. I'll miss her though.
She would not believe me if I told her that, but I will miss her."
Miranda's voice had a definite touch of sadness in it.

"Do you think she will take my offer?" he questioned

"Oh yes. Ever since she was little she has been trying to get off
planet. She was exactly like me when I was her age. Anything to get
off this rock, and out to the fabulous worlds we so often hear about
here. She wants to join space force."

"Just like you," he said laughingly.

Ella was startled by what she was hearing. She hadn't known her
mother had wanted to join the military. She almost missed the next
bit.

"We are more alike than either of us likes to admit. We are both too
stubborn for our own good and too proud to admit when we are wrong.
I know I should tell her about all the mistakes I have made in my
life, but it would do no good. Ella has to make her own mistakes and
learn from them, just as I did."

"There would be a place for you on my ship as well."

"Thank you Charles, but you know I can never go back into space
again. I just cannot handle that anymore." Ella could detect a small
tone of wishfullness in her mother's voice.

"Just promise me you will take good care of my daughter. She is all I
have left. I need to know you will protect her."

"You have my word on it." Atay sounded almost solemn as he made that
promise. "You know she really is one of the best engineers I have
ever seen. I truly believed the engines were beyond repair but she
has nearly gotten it done. Just like you said."

"Yes, that girl of mine has quite a talent." Silent, honest pride was
evident in Miranda's voice.

Ella thought her tiredness had taken its toll on her. Never had she
heard her mother talk about her like this. For a moment Ella felt
anger surface, why had her mother never told her this? But a little
voice answered that question, `because you never gave her a chance.'

Yet old habits die-hard and Ella simply did not know how to deal with
this new information. She filed it away for later contemplation even
as part of her was warmed by the knowledge that her mother might care
for her after all. That was more then she had known a few days ago.

As she heard someone approaching in the corridor, she quickly knocked
on the doorframe of the captain's office. After receiving his
permission to enter, she did not let on that she had overheard the
conversation that had been going on inside.

The Captain asked a lot of questions on hearing her report, but
finally seemed satisfied with the answers he had been given.

"I'll be giving the order to depart then. We really have been here
too long, and we need to get going. I don't suppose you would
consider coming with us?"

So that was what that conversation had been all about! Uncertainly
Ella looked at her mother, silently asking her advice. This in turn
seemed to surprise Miranda.

"You have wanted to leave Kertra for as long as I can remember. And I
strongly believe this is better for you then joining space force."

"What do you mean?"

"I was in the space force once." Miranda noticed her daughter was not
surprised by this news. "You may have all the skills necessary for a
long career in the force, but you have to be able to deal with
following orders Ella, even those that make absolutely no sense to
you. You don't tolerate stupidity and you rarely keep your opinion to
yourself."

A small smile crossed her mother's face. "Trust me on this, I know…
for we are very much alike in this and it happened to me. Learn from
my mistakes."
Miranda half expected her daughter to throw her words back in her
face but the young woman only asked.

"Why did you never tell me this before?"

"I didn't think you were ready to listen to me, and I think it would
only have made you more determined to join the military. Now, Charles
here is an excellent and fair Captain. He will teach you everything
you could ever hope for and you will get to places worth seeing."

Both women looked at Captain Atay then. The man had respectfully
remained silent during their conversation, but it was with some
urgency he finally spoke.

"I realise this offer comes out of the blue, and since we really have
to leave in a few hours it does not give you much of a chance to
think about it, but I could really use you. You did more than good
work here and with both my engineers gone for the moment, I could use
you more then ever."

"Does your vessel often get in this kind of predicament?" Ella dared
asking now. "No offence but I have no interest in joining a
smuggler's ship. I have been offered positions on those before, but I
really don't have any interest in signing on to such a ship."

Atay laughed, he could understand where this question came from and
quickly reassured the young mechanic.

"Actually I run a very respectful ship, I really cannot tell you what
happened to us, I cannot even assure you it won't happen on the first
flight you take with us. However, once we offload our cargo we can go
back to our regular business."

"What is that?"

"I am an independent transporter but I have a contract with Way
Industries to deliver to and from several outlying colonies. It's all
very legal."

Ella could see the man had trouble keeping in his laughter and
thought he was mocking her. It must have shown on her face for the
man added.

"I was just thinking how much trouble I would have believing me.
After all we land here in secrecy, and Carintia has more holes in it
then my dad's shower head."

The youngest woman looked at her mother again for advice. This
trilled the older woman more then she thought possible.

"Ella I really believe you won't get a better offer than this."

The mechanic and her mother talked things over for a little while
longer, and Atay respectfully left his office to give them some
privacy. In the end Ella took his offer.
She did not have any time to pack her things but there really wasn't
anything she wanted to take with her. Clothes and food would be
provided and, aside from her precious tools that she had acquired
over the years, she did not have any personal possessions she wanted
to take with her.

In the end, she promised her mother that she would be back to pick
them up.

And so Ella's life took the turn that would lead her to space, having
no idea where she was heading next.




tbc.