Fan Fiction Competition - March 2010

Welcome to Stonewall Fleet's first creative writing contest.

Reading some of the amazing stories posted already in the Holodeck, it is obvious that a lot of our members are very talented writers. So we are starting a monthly creative writing contest to encourage you all to write more and maybe get a few members who have not tried to post a story yet to give it a try.

The rules are simple. Stories should be suitable for all members to read, so PG13. Stories can be as long or short as you wish, we don't believe a word count makes for good stories. Stories will be judged on merit not on spelling. Only stories posted in this thread or with links posted in this thread will be entered. Most importantly, to make each story easier to compare when it comes to choosing a winner, the story must start with the following sentance:

The rain was noticable as I materialized, but it helped me realize I was alive, I had managed to escape the...

The rest of the story is up to you. The closing date for this contest is Saturday 20th of March. The winning story will be featured in the March edition of the Stonewall Times.

Good luck to you all!

The rain was noticable as I materialized, but it helped me realize I was alive. I had managed to escape the brig aboard the I.S.S. Razor,

but the phaser burn on my shoulder reminded me the it had been a narrow escape indeed.

Suddenly someone or something slammed into me from the side knocking the wind out of me and sending me sprawling into the mud against a

wooden walkway. A wagon rumbled by being pulled by two animals resembling horses. If I hadn't been knocked aside, it would not have been

going by, but rather over me. My shoulder screamed in agony as I tried to push myself up out of the mud, and blackness threatened to

consume me. Shaking my head to clear the fog from my brain I felt two hands gently helping me over onto my back. I noticed a small crowd of

people gathering around me and a strange looking alien kneeling beside me looking at me with silver reflective eyes, set into a redish

tinged face. He, at least I assumed it was a he by the deep voice and somewhat masculin features, was talking to me in a language I didn't

understand. he looked at the wound on my shoulder. I couldn't understand a word of what he was saying, but his firm hands urged me to lie

still and he motioned for another to help him. Letting my head lay back in the mud with the rain gently falling on my face, I closed my

eyes.

I must have lost conciousness, because the next thing I was aware of was laying on a soft blanket in a room lite by a simple flame bearing

lantern. Quickly taking inventory of my surrounding told me that the inhabitants of this planet were a simple folk, and definatly not as

advanced as the federation. A small fire burned in an alcove on one side of the room, and a metal pot hung over it by a hook. My shirt and

jacket had been removed and my wound had been dressed and was covered by a strange smelling moss. Touching it experimentally I noticed the

pain was gone. Whatever this stuff was, seemed to be working well. from a doorway across the room my savior enetered. He was about 6 foot

tall and lean, dressed in simple overalls and a plain shirt. His head was roughly huminoid, but with pointed ears, a ridged brow and nose,

and a redish pink tinge to his skin. His eyes were no where near human. One solid silvery color with no pupils.

"Forgive me Captain, I was not aware that you were awake"

I looked up and smiled, "Just woke up actually...Wait, you speak english?", surprise clearly shown on my face.

He let out what sounded like a small laugh and said, "I do now. Please forgive me. When you lost conciousness I needed to know that our

treatments would not injure you further, so I entered your mind. Thus I learned your language and all about you. This is never done amongst

my people without permission, but given the circumstances, I was left with little choice"

Blushing slightly I asked, "So you now everything about me?"

"Yes. You are Marshal Palen, Bajoran, but born on Earth in Illinois. You enetered starfleet at 20 years of age. Your ship is the U.S.S.

Imbrium. Your mate, the vulcan/human hybrid Bryan disappeared when the Klingons attacked..."

"Stop!" A flash of anger had mad the comment come out more harshly than I had intended. Bryan had died during a klingon raid almost 15

years ago, but the pain was still there. And although he hadn't meant to be insulting, calling Bryan a "hybrid" had put me on the defensive

immediately.

"Forgive me Marshal, I had forgotten that you humans process your emotions differntly than we do. Do not be alarmed as I am the only one

who touched your mind, and your secrets are safe with me." A small smile creased his lips. "Now you must be hungry. You have been sleeping

for 3 days.

A loud growl from my stomach told me he was right. He helped me off the pallet that i was on and steadied me me when the blood rushed to my

head and my legs threatened to dump me back onto the floor. We enetered a small simple room with a wood burning stove and a small table

with two bowls set at each of the chairs. After setting me in one of the chairs, he turned and filled my bowl with a spicy smelling stew.

Taking a small spoon, I tasted it, and was surprised that it tasted like clam chowder. One of my favorite dishes. I began to eat quickly as

hunger overode my thoughts of everything else. Halfway through my bowl my host sat opposite me and set a small piece of bread beside my

bowl. Realizing I was making a pig of myself, I swallowed and appologized.

He laughed, sounding almost like a turkey gobble and said, "No appologies Marshal, eat and be well." With that he began shoveling the stew

into his mouth almost as rapidly as I had done. Smiling I tucked back into my meal. And three bowls later we were both sitting back and

enjoying a companionable silence.

The light outside the window had began to fade and my mind wandered to the events of the past few days. It was hard to remember what

exactly had happened, and the events that lead me to be marooned on this primative planet.

"You say you know everything about me, but I am having trouble rememberng the last few days. Would you mind gong over some things with me,

so I can try and get it straight in my head."

My host looked at me with those strange eyes for a few moments then said, "I think I can do better than that. With your permission, I can

join with you again, and relay the memories that I have to you directly. This will relay days of memeories in but a few moments."

I was skeptical about letting this guy back into my head again, but after thinking about it for a minute realized, he had already been

inside my mind. He knew everything about me, including things that I had never told anyone. I looked at my host and nodded. "Alright, let's

try that." I knew a telepathic link would not only be faster, but clearer than trying to describe was each other was thinking.

"Very well, shall we find a more comfortable place. I must warn you that the sharing is rather," he paused for a moment searching for the

correct word, "intimate"

Thinking he meant "intimate" as our minds would be joined like a vulcan mind meld, something I had experience with Bryan a few times, I was

not too worried. We walked into another small room where he pushed two chairs to face each other closely, and helped me into one of them,

sitting opposite me. I was about to ask if there was anything I needed to do when he placed his hand on the side of my head and pulled me

forward. pressing his lips to mine. As soon as our lips touched a rush of mental imagages flashed through my head. Many of the memories

were not mine. Later I would realized that I was seeing all of his, and only then did I realize, I had never asked my saviors name. Tiam

The images slowed and I saw myself sitting in my ready room on board the Imbrium, packing my bag for a bit of shore leave on Risa. A friend

was meeting me planetside for some doctor ordered rest. My new ships doctor has nearly come unglued when he had seen how long I had been

aboard ship with no time planetside save the occassional away mission. With the war going on, and starfleet being short on ships, there had

been litle time to think about R&R. When we had stopped to change out personnel, or give the crew some time off, there were systems to

repair and modifications to make and test. Being an engineer had been in my blood, and I was always working on something while my chief

engineer was on break. Trying to convince the Doc that to me that was a vacation was futile, so under threat of being relieved of duty, I

agreed to a week on Risa.

The transporter hummed and light filled my vision as I felt myself dematerialize. When the light faded i stood face to face with 4 red

shirted security personnel with phaseres pointed at me. Their com badges told me that these were not starfleet. The mirror universe crew

had somehow highjacked my transported beam and now had me prisoner. I was escorted out of the transporter room and into an interrogation

cell, where their commander had asked me several questions about earth defense protocols, and security decrytion keys. I refused to answer,

and this seemed to make the captain happy. "I so love a challenge. A mind meld will give me all the information I need, and the more you

struggle against me, the more I will enjoy shredding your defenses and tearing through your memories like a phaser cutting through

duranium."

The guards leveled their phasers at me and the force field lowered...when the vulcan captain reached for my gface, I sprang into action. My

hand snapped into his nose breaking it and driving he bone fragments into his brain, he staggered for a moment, then began to slump

forward. I shoved hard and threw him into one of the guards turning to kick out into face of the other. when he fell i continued my turn to

face the first guard and reached for his phaser. We struggled back and forth, and one of us inadvertantly changed the weapon's setting from

heavy stun to a narrow cutting beam. The phaser fired, burning my shoulder and then continue to lance across the face and eyes of the

guard. He screamed as his eyes burned, and loosened his grip. I pulled the weapon free, quickly adjusted the settings and fired point blank

into his abdomin knocking him out cold. Taking one of the guards uniforms i left the brig and hurried toward the transporter room. Although

there were slight differences, the ship design was that of a Miranda class light cruiser, like my first command. As soon as I entered the

room red lights began flashing and the klaxon sounded. My escape had been discovered, and it would only be moments before they shut down

the transporters. I quickly keyed the panel to lock out external controls and began programing the unit with an equation I remembered from

my transpoter theory class, something I continued to study after i left Starfleet Academy. Captain Scotts transwarp beaming equation. I

tied in the long range sensors and entered a subroutine to erase my destination after the beaming sequence had completed. I set the timer

and was about to step onto the pad when another red shirt entered through the doorway. My surprise must have told him I didn't belong, and

to his credit he assesed the situation quickly and rather than try to draw his weapon before I fired, punched out at scored a hit directly

onto my shoulder. I screamed in pain and he kicked the phaser from my hand, grabbed my wrist and flipped me onto the transport pad. Rolling

as best I could, I barely regained my feet when the beaming sequence energized, sending me to god only knew where.

His lips left mine, and only then did I realize that I had opened my mouth and was actually kissing him. I hadn't kissed another man since

Bryan had disappeared. Or anyone for that matter. Maybe it was my way of holding on to the hope that he was alive somewhere. Waiting for me

to find him.

Something came to mind then. "You have a subspace transmitter here."

"Yes. Your ships is enroute and will arrive tomorrow. We contacted them when you arrived, and I was able to gain the knowledge form your

memories. There was a minor incident which had to be dealt with before they could divert to our location, but there is no need for concern.

Although we choose a simple life, we are not primative captain. My species was traveling the stars well before the humans were."

Now was my turn to laugh. Look like my luck was changing after all.


Not a writer, but figured I would give it a shot. Would love to here some honest feedback, so if you don't like it, feel free to tell me why, and maybe I can improve. Don't be afraid to be blunt, I don't bruise easily :P

The rain was noticeable as I materialized, but it helped me realize I was alive. I had managed to escape them, though for how long I could not be sure. Looking through the fading haze of jade and violet light, I understood inherently where I needed to go. Free from the transporter beam, I ran towards the swampy grove of dark, twisted trees that promised my freedom. Surely I would not be alone here for long and I had much ground to cover in very little time.

Entering the mire, with my feet sinking into the muck with each step, the trek was slow-going and dangerous. I knew this would be the case but, due to the nature of my escape, was unable to dress appropriately for the terrain. Momentarily looking behind me, fearing that I was already being pursued, I failed to notice the danger signs of the upcoming mud hole. I sank up to my chest, slimy soil coating my arms and hands now. My folly cost me valuable time as I struggled to free myself.

Reaching up for a sturdy-looking vine, with my fingers only inches away from grasping it, a bright flash of energy grazed my hand. It burned and bled, no doubt countless bacteria seeping in to attack my body from the inside. Still, I had to carry on. Lowering further into the muck to present a smaller target to my attackers, I finally reached the edge and dragged myself up with the aid of an old, gnarled root. Another bright pulse thwooshed past me, scorching the tree to my right.

“You are wanted alive,” steely determination sounded in my hunter’s voice. “If you come with us now, we will not harm you. But if you flee,” his tone embraced a sneer, “we will savor the screams of your dismemberment.”

Captured and alive OR dismembered, captured, and alive: I, of course, preferred neither choice. Thankfully, the memories embedded by my predecessor gave me an idea. This area was known for its rather violent wildlife—that’s part of what made it such an attractive escape avenue—and I knew I could use that to my advantage.

“Alright,” I called out, assuming that smugness my people are known for, “You’re right. I cannot run and I do not wish to die. I will go with you,” I raised my arms to show my willingness to cooperate.

“A wise decision. Now, sit down!” He gestured to the base of the tree with his rifle, raising a communications device to his mouth. “I have found him. We will await your arrival here. He is, as yet, unharmed.”

“We have your location and will be there momentarily. You’ve done well, Third.”

“Victory is life,” the Jem’Hadar soldier replied proudly. Clearly, he was pleased with himself as well.

“Third Tiktana’Ran,” I formally addressed my captor, “I am injured. Attend me.”

“Be silent,” he growled, “or I will injure you further.”

I could tell from his eyes that he was quite serious about that. Rubbing my injured hand slowly, I could feel the blood flowing around the gunk gathered inside the wound. The anti-coagulants carried by the blast refused to allow my body to stop the bleeding. And for this, I was pleased. Wincing with the pain, I further agitated the wound by forcing more of the mud into it. I knew that it would not be long now…

“Be still while I secure you,” Third Tiktana’Ran crossed the distance between us and removed a set of wrist-restraints from his belt. Bending down, he grabbed my wrists and began to shackle them.

“Third,” I smiled, again lavishing my tone with all the smugness that a Vorta could muster, “if I were you, I would be more concerned with killing our friends here…” I could see them from my position and knew what was about to happen.

“I told you to be silent!” That’s when he struck me across the jaw, his armored fist slashing my face and shattering my cheekbone. It was a pity (for him) that he did not listen to my rather informed suggestion. With a bright splash of my blood now coating his hand, he resumed attempting to restrain me.

Some Vorta have telekinetic abilities and I happen to be one of them. With a sigh, I closed my eyes and pushed with my mind. The push threw the Jem’Hadar backward, falling to the ground so near the creatures I’d seen gathering there.

They attacked him swiftly, scurrying from the dense undergrowth and attracted by the smell of blood so near. Fortunately for me, the mud coating my hand wound worked to mask much of the scent. As I slathered the gash on my cheek with more of the slimy dirt, I was thankful for the Third’s violence. Now painted with a purer source of attraction on his own hand, I was free to escape in the chaos that ensued.

The vicious rodents, unusually sized compared to most, tore into the Jem’Hadar’s pebbled skin with vigor. He shook his body, whipping around his arms and flinging some of the animals off of him. He returned to his feet and with a few bursts from his plasma rifle, he even took some of them out. But there were simply too many and he was quickly overrun. I heard him scream terribly as he was made a meal of. Like I said, it was a pity…

Guided by my implanted remembrances, I carried onward. Unfortunately, the mud’s ability to mask the scent of my blood wasn’t complete. That’s why the rodents came in the first place, and that’s why some of them were chasing me now. Still, I was almost there. I knew that my salvation lied ahead and so I ran harder, jumping across another swallowing puddle and, once I hit the other side, dashed into the clearing.

There it was, just as I “remembered.” My predecessor, the ninth clone of the Bearis model, had planned everything out very well. Having been forced to work for the Alphas as an engineer (something the Bearis line is very talented at, I might add), the soldiers would occasionally hunt him in the swamps as part of their training regimen, only to activate a new clone to resume the work once he’d been eliminated. Understandably, he grew rather tired of working, dying, and being reborn so consistently.

By implanting memories into his forthcoming replacement’s genetic code, he was able to ensure the freedom of his line, even though he, himself, would not be the one to go free. Knowing what was waiting for me, I was still relieved when the Starfleet craft came into sight. It was the Niagara--a Danube class Runabout abandoned there years ago—and it was the key to my escape. As I opened the side hatch and darted in, I was greeted with stale air and darkness. Quickly slapping the controls, the hatch slid shut behind me and I rushed to the forward compartment.

As an engineer whose predecessors heavily studied Federation technology, I was quickly able to power up the engines and bring the other systems online. Though unused for several years, the ship responded perfectly. At my tactile command, it rose into the air steadily. Below, I could see several Jem’Hadar breaking through the treeline, drawn by the sound of my escape. Their weapons impacted uselessly against my shields as I continued to ascend.

When I reported for my duties that morning, freshly cloned and activated, First Tiktana’Ran warned that any disobedience would lead to my death. That routine declaration activated the implanted memories that brought about my freedom. I was quite sure that he did not expect treachery so soon after my creation. If he had, I never would have been allowed to perform maintenance on the transporter array that delivered me to my waiting ship, over two light years away.

It wasn’t long before I broke for orbit and found myself amongst the stars. Directing the computer to set a course for the nearest Starfleet installation (at least, according to its now-outdated records that is), the Runabout selected Deep Space Nine. I, of course, was pursued (though I had a sizable head start). Luckily for me, being a Dominion engineer lends one quite a few tricks for fooling your own technology. I was able to lose them, though I had no idea what would happen once I reached the Federation…

The rain was noticeable as I materialized, but it helped me realize I was alive. I had managed to escape the incessant concerned glances, worried looks, and half-hearted "are you ok?" questions of the crew. Sometimes I don't know what is worse: being alone after I lost you, or being constantly surrounded by caring souls who didn't know how to help, but felt that they should. Everyone wants to do that, you know. Help. Especially in Starfleet. If there's a problem, you fix it. It's everyone's first reaction. You keep finding solutions until you land on one that works. You never give up.

Unfortunately, sometimes the best solution is to do nothing at all. I wanted to let time heal the wound, I really did. While the Pandora was back at Earth receiving repairs after the attack on Vega, I did everything I needed to do. I went to your funeral, I cried with your family, and I decorated my face with the Romulan symbols of grief; the same ones I remember on my mother's face when father died. I did everything I needed to do. I was accepting and getting ready to move on. What I didn't plan on was the fact that nobody else was.

From the moment I arrived back on the ship, all anyone could do was ask how I was doing, check up on me, talk about what happened. They were all so determined to help me that they couldn't see they were only dragging me down deeper and deeper. Everywhere I went, I was reminded of you; in the looks that people gave me, the questions they asked me, the memories they recounted to me. I know they all wanted to help, but I sometimes wonder if that help was meant for me or for themselves. No one was willing to let me let you go, probably because that meant they would have to let go as well.

In the end, of course, not even you would let me let go. It was bad enough that the crew wouldn't let me have my peace... but you? I don't think I'll ever be able to forget that look in your eyes, you know. As you staggered toward me, your figure perverted with black steel and green wiring, I could see it in your eyes. Underneath the implants and the voices of the collective, I could see you, and you wanted only one thing: me. You wanted me to join you.

Did you know that, for the briefest of moments, I was going to let you take me? It actually didn't sound too bad. You and me, together, surrounded not by the thousand pinpricks of a thousand questions from a caring crew, but instead the unfeeling voices of an indifferent hive mind. No one would care about us enough to drag us down into despair, and we would be left alone in a sea of chatter. I was going to let you take me... until the captain became the one person on the bridge with the sense to shoot you. That's when I realized what you really were and what you had become.

I remember being so frustrated and so angry. How dare you? After all that I had been through after losing you, after all that my friends had done to keep me shut in my prison of despair, how dare you be the one to turn the key and lock the door? Then you had the nerve to leave again, to return to your collective and its sweet, uncaring solitude. You almost even got death out of the deal, but I stopped it from happening. It probably came close to costing me my rank, but I don't care. I don't care about anything else anymore.

It's fitting that the Pandora has come back to Earth. The last time I was here, it was to mourn my loss and to cope with your departure. Now I've returned, only to vow to bring you back, no matter the cost. I even visited your grave, in the pouring rain, and stood there staring at the marker. I don't remember how long it was that I stood there in the sweet loneliness of the rain, clutching a lily in one hand and a tricorder in the other. At some point though, I placed the lily on your grave. You know the kind; my bouquet was full of them. When I held them, we vowed never to part until death and, fortunately, you're not dead. You're just locked away, same as me. In my tricorder, I have the key that will release us both. I've probably broken ten regulations getting it, but I just don't care anymore.

I'm bringing you back, because everyone just wouldn't let me let you go.

Thankyou All for your amazing stories. The competition is now closed.

Judging will take place this week and the winning story will be featured in this months edition of The Stonewall Times.

As all the stories are so equally brilliant, I am excusing myself from the judging panel, and will instead select 5 fleet members at random who do not appear on any of your friends lists to decide the winner.

Of course anyone is welcome to provide constructive feedback or comment on the excellent entries.

Note: This thread will not be archived after a winner is chosen ensuring that everyone will have a chance to read your stories for a long time to come. I hope you all decide to continue posting your stories in the Holodeck forum for the enjoyment of the entire fleet!

Quincytyger wrote:

The rain was noticable as I materialized, but it helped me realize I was alive. I had managed to escape the brig aboard the I.S.S. Razor,

but the phaser burn on my shoulder reminded me the it had been a narrow escape indeed.

Suddenly someone or something slammed into me from the side knocking the wind out of me and sending me sprawling into the mud against a

wooden walkway. A wagon rumbled by being pulled by two animals resembling horses. If I hadn't been knocked aside, it would not have been

going by, but rather over me. My shoulder screamed in agony as I tried to push myself up out of the mud, and blackness threatened to

consume me. Shaking my head to clear the fog from my brain I felt two hands gently helping me over onto my back. I noticed a small crowd of

people gathering around me and a strange looking alien kneeling beside me looking at me with silver reflective eyes, set into a redish

tinged face. He, at least I assumed it was a he by the deep voice and somewhat masculin features, was talking to me in a language I didn't

understand. he looked at the wound on my shoulder. I couldn't understand a word of what he was saying, but his firm hands urged me to lie

still and he motioned for another to help him. Letting my head lay back in the mud with the rain gently falling on my face, I closed my

eyes.

I must have lost conciousness, because the next thing I was aware of was laying on a soft blanket in a room lite by a simple flame bearing

lantern. Quickly taking inventory of my surrounding told me that the inhabitants of this planet were a simple folk, and definatly not as

advanced as the federation. A small fire burned in an alcove on one side of the room, and a metal pot hung over it by a hook. My shirt and

jacket had been removed and my wound had been dressed and was covered by a strange smelling moss. Touching it experimentally I noticed the

pain was gone. Whatever this stuff was, seemed to be working well. from a doorway across the room my savior enetered. He was about 6 foot

tall and lean, dressed in simple overalls and a plain shirt. His head was roughly huminoid, but with pointed ears, a ridged brow and nose,

and a redish pink tinge to his skin. His eyes were no where near human. One solid silvery color with no pupils.

"Forgive me Captain, I was not aware that you were awake"

I looked up and smiled, "Just woke up actually...Wait, you speak english?", surprise clearly shown on my face.

He let out what sounded like a small laugh and said, "I do now. Please forgive me. When you lost conciousness I needed to know that our

treatments would not injure you further, so I entered your mind. Thus I learned your language and all about you. This is never done amongst

my people without permission, but given the circumstances, I was left with little choice"

Blushing slightly I asked, "So you now everything about me?"

"Yes. You are Marshal Palen, Bajoran, but born on Earth in Illinois. You enetered starfleet at 20 years of age. Your ship is the U.S.S.

Imbrium. Your mate, the vulcan/human hybrid Bryan disappeared when the Klingons attacked..."

"Stop!" A flash of anger had mad the comment come out more harshly than I had intended. Bryan had died during a klingon raid almost 15

years ago, but the pain was still there. And although he hadn't meant to be insulting, calling Bryan a "hybrid" had put me on the defensive

immediately.

"Forgive me Marshal, I had forgotten that you humans process your emotions differntly than we do. Do not be alarmed as I am the only one

who touched your mind, and your secrets are safe with me." A small smile creased his lips. "Now you must be hungry. You have been sleeping

for 3 days.

A loud growl from my stomach told me he was right. He helped me off the pallet that i was on and steadied me me when the blood rushed to my

head and my legs threatened to dump me back onto the floor. We enetered a small simple room with a wood burning stove and a small table

with two bowls set at each of the chairs. After setting me in one of the chairs, he turned and filled my bowl with a spicy smelling stew.

Taking a small spoon, I tasted it, and was surprised that it tasted like clam chowder. One of my favorite dishes. I began to eat quickly as

hunger overode my thoughts of everything else. Halfway through my bowl my host sat opposite me and set a small piece of bread beside my

bowl. Realizing I was making a pig of myself, I swallowed and appologized.

He laughed, sounding almost like a turkey gobble and said, "No appologies Marshal, eat and be well." With that he began shoveling the stew

into his mouth almost as rapidly as I had done. Smiling I tucked back into my meal. And three bowls later we were both sitting back and

enjoying a companionable silence.

The light outside the window had began to fade and my mind wandered to the events of the past few days. It was hard to remember what

exactly had happened, and the events that lead me to be marooned on this primative planet.

"You say you know everything about me, but I am having trouble rememberng the last few days. Would you mind gong over some things with me,

so I can try and get it straight in my head."

My host looked at me with those strange eyes for a few moments then said, "I think I can do better than that. With your permission, I can

join with you again, and relay the memories that I have to you directly. This will relay days of memeories in but a few moments."

I was skeptical about letting this guy back into my head again, but after thinking about it for a minute realized, he had already been

inside my mind. He knew everything about me, including things that I had never told anyone. I looked at my host and nodded. "Alright, let's

try that." I knew a telepathic link would not only be faster, but clearer than trying to describe was each other was thinking.

"Very well, shall we find a more comfortable place. I must warn you that the sharing is rather," he paused for a moment searching for the

correct word, "intimate"

Thinking he meant "intimate" as our minds would be joined like a vulcan mind meld, something I had experience with Bryan a few times, I was

not too worried. We walked into another small room where he pushed two chairs to face each other closely, and helped me into one of them,

sitting opposite me. I was about to ask if there was anything I needed to do when he placed his hand on the side of my head and pulled me

forward. pressing his lips to mine. As soon as our lips touched a rush of mental imagages flashed through my head. Many of the memories

were not mine. Later I would realized that I was seeing all of his, and only then did I realize, I had never asked my saviors name. Tiam

The images slowed and I saw myself sitting in my ready room on board the Imbrium, packing my bag for a bit of shore leave on Risa. A friend

was meeting me planetside for some doctor ordered rest. My new ships doctor has nearly come unglued when he had seen how long I had been

aboard ship with no time planetside save the occassional away mission. With the war going on, and starfleet being short on ships, there had

been litle time to think about R&R. When we had stopped to change out personnel, or give the crew some time off, there were systems to

repair and modifications to make and test. Being an engineer had been in my blood, and I was always working on something while my chief

engineer was on break. Trying to convince the Doc that to me that was a vacation was futile, so under threat of being relieved of duty, I

agreed to a week on Risa.

The transporter hummed and light filled my vision as I felt myself dematerialize. When the light faded i stood face to face with 4 red

shirted security personnel with phaseres pointed at me. Their com badges told me that these were not starfleet. The mirror universe crew

had somehow highjacked my transported beam and now had me prisoner. I was escorted out of the transporter room and into an interrogation

cell, where their commander had asked me several questions about earth defense protocols, and security decrytion keys. I refused to answer,

and this seemed to make the captain happy. "I so love a challenge. A mind meld will give me all the information I need, and the more you

struggle against me, the more I will enjoy shredding your defenses and tearing through your memories like a phaser cutting through

duranium."

The guards leveled their phasers at me and the force field lowered...when the vulcan captain reached for my gface, I sprang into action. My

hand snapped into his nose breaking it and driving he bone fragments into his brain, he staggered for a moment, then began to slump

forward. I shoved hard and threw him into one of the guards turning to kick out into face of the other. when he fell i continued my turn to

face the first guard and reached for his phaser. We struggled back and forth, and one of us inadvertantly changed the weapon's setting from

heavy stun to a narrow cutting beam. The phaser fired, burning my shoulder and then continue to lance across the face and eyes of the

guard. He screamed as his eyes burned, and loosened his grip. I pulled the weapon free, quickly adjusted the settings and fired point blank

into his abdomin knocking him out cold. Taking one of the guards uniforms i left the brig and hurried toward the transporter room. Although

there were slight differences, the ship design was that of a Miranda class light cruiser, like my first command. As soon as I entered the

room red lights began flashing and the klaxon sounded. My escape had been discovered, and it would only be moments before they shut down

the transporters. I quickly keyed the panel to lock out external controls and began programing the unit with an equation I remembered from

my transpoter theory class, something I continued to study after i left Starfleet Academy. Captain Scotts transwarp beaming equation. I

tied in the long range sensors and entered a subroutine to erase my destination after the beaming sequence had completed. I set the timer

and was about to step onto the pad when another red shirt entered through the doorway. My surprise must have told him I didn't belong, and

to his credit he assesed the situation quickly and rather than try to draw his weapon before I fired, punched out at scored a hit directly

onto my shoulder. I screamed in pain and he kicked the phaser from my hand, grabbed my wrist and flipped me onto the transport pad. Rolling

as best I could, I barely regained my feet when the beaming sequence energized, sending me to god only knew where.

His lips left mine, and only then did I realize that I had opened my mouth and was actually kissing him. I hadn't kissed another man since

Bryan had disappeared. Or anyone for that matter. Maybe it was my way of holding on to the hope that he was alive somewhere. Waiting for me

to find him.

Something came to mind then. "You have a subspace transmitter here."

"Yes. Your ships is enroute and will arrive tomorrow. We contacted them when you arrived, and I was able to gain the knowledge form your

memories. There was a minor incident which had to be dealt with before they could divert to our location, but there is no need for concern.

Although we choose a simple life, we are not primative captain. My species was traveling the stars well before the humans were."

Now was my turn to laugh. Look like my luck was changing after all.


Not a writer, but figured I would give it a shot. Would love to here some honest feedback, so if you don't like it, feel free to tell me why, and maybe I can improve. Don't be afraid to be blunt, I don't bruise easily :P

Overall a very good job. The pacing was good and steady so it kept my interest. Though very short, there was a fair amount of character development. I would be interested to read more about Capt. Marshal & Tiam. The only negative part for me was purely visual as the breaks in the lines of the post were distracting. Good job.