#him just be the 'firing phasers' guy after a certain point

[bumblingbabooshka]

Forever wishing we had an episode about why Tuvok chose to go into security instead of science (especially since he started out as a science officer like Spock and T'Pol)

I don't think it has to do with violence...Like, an outlet. He isn't a violent person. I think it has to do with him liking puzzles so much...the strategy of it - the endless combinations...and perhaps just a bit the thrill of it being life and death. That pressure to make the best possible choice every time. And him growing orchids specifically to be displayed - competition and beauty... In 'Learning Curve' he says "The strongest tactical move is always the one in which you will reap the highest gain at the lowest cost." You can tell that he's really a tactician and I think because of that he'd solve problems a lot differently than Worf, or Tasha Yar. Also, there's his decision to mind meld with Suder in 'Meld' - the fact he can't leave it alone is so character-building to me. He has to know why Suder did this, it isn't enough to catch and capture him if he doesn't understand the motivation behind such a brutal action. It fits into his portrayal as a detective in 'Ex Post Facto'. Someone who'll pursue the truth diligently no matter who it implicates. There's also the fact that despite Tuvok coming off as a very cold and uncaring person in episodes like 'Learning Curve' where it's implied he might be willing to allow others to die if it'd be the best move tactically - he's shown to be very willing to protect others like in 'Innocence' where he sides with the children against the adults, going so far as giving one of them a phaser to protect herself and 'Muse' where he stays up for 10 days straight trying to find B'Elanna and Harry or even how in 'Random Thoughts' when Nimira (someone he's only met just recently) says she needs his help and he replies "Then you shall have it." Noss falls in love with him partially because of how he immediately saves her without even knowing her name AND he's with Janeway when she makes her decision to help protect the Ocampa, ultimately agreeing with her logic that it's the right thing to do. It's interesting for a Vulcan to be in Security. Sarek in TOS is against Starfleet partially because he views it as being a forceful, militaristic organization which doesn't achieve real peace. In TOS we don't see any other Vulcans in Starfleet - I'm not saying there aren't any (I think we'd hear about Spock being the first if that were the case) but Sarek's attitude might be a cultural one which I'm sure shifted over time, especially with Spock's rise in fame, but I can't help but wonder how it affected Tuvok's decision to change from Science to Security, if at all. Especially since he's shown to be a very traditional person. Does it seem a brutal occupation to a Vulcan? Vulcans have a reputation for pacifism, does it lead to him being underestimated? He had already established a family by the time he re-entered Starfleet, how did they react to him going from a professor to that? Speaking of brutality, In general there's a violence to the other security officers' pasts. Tasha lived amongst ceaseless violence at every turn for 15 years, Worf is very proudly Klingon and lives by their warrior's code, Odo was raised/working during Cardassian's violent occupation of Bajor...but Tuvok doesn't have anything remotely like that in his past, which is also interesting. You might be tempted to think a Vulcan who'd take a job like that would be accustomed or connected to violence but again, that doesn't seem to be the case with Tuvok. If anything, he's very much representative of the opposite - staunchly, unabashedly Vulcan. He nearly underwent the Kolinahr, only stopping to raise a family instead. He uses the word "Postpone" when he speaks of this, implying he hasn't ruled the Kolinahr out as a possibility in the future. It's very interesting to me!! I wish it was explored more...

[ladyideal]

Away Mission Gone Right

Pairing: Leonard McCoy x Reader

Word Count: 3279

Warnings: cursing, mention of injury, slight description of said injury, lots of angst, couple medical procedures, people arguing(?)

Summary: You fight with Leonard in the morning, and had yet another bad-luck-filled away mission. Getting back to the ship injured, you admit to yourself that Leonard was right all along. With that, you apologize and make up. Requests and headcannons are open, and my masterlist is up. Link below. 

A/n: Oh look, 2 stories in a week and back to back. Hooray. 4am addled mind can really conjure something interesting up. Not something I would really recommend though

“Have you lost your corn-fed mind?” A snarl echoed from behind you. You rolled your eyes, impatiently waiting for the lift doors to open up so you wouldn’t be hearing yet another lecture.

“It’ll be fine, Leonard. I’m a grown ass adult. I can take care of myself,” You argued, hurrying out of the turbolift.

“Fine my ass! You’ve got over four hundred crew that could take your place in this forsaken away mission,” An angry Chief Medical Officer nipped at your heels, following you closely like a lost puppy. “Yet here we are, once again, barreling towards certain death.”

“It will be okay, Len. It’s a routine supply drop,” You tried to explain again for the umpteenth time. “Besides, I’ll have a couple of security guys and Jim with me.”

“Don’t come to me to kiss your boo boos when you get injured again,” He growled, a permanent scowl on his face now. “Same goes for you too, Jim.”

Jim slung an arm around Leonard’s shoulder in an attempt to placate his best friend. “I’m here to protect her. Besides, the natives are no harm towards us.”

The mother hen of all mother hens grumbled something about idiots under his breath.

You understood his worry, and you would too if the places were swapped. However, this was your job. You signed onto Starfleet to explore beyond the Alpha quadrant, to see what else was out there. Danger was a risk everyone took when they were first accepted into the academy.

“The natives are friendly towards the Federation. Simple down and back,” you tried once more. “I’ll be back before you know it.”

“And how the hell do you claim to know that?” Leonard took a step towards you, face livid.

“Len, it’s my job to know these-,” You started, but he continued on as though he didn’t hear you.

“Tell me you’re not acting just as reckless as Jim is right now too. Tell me that you’re actually responsible for yourself for once on this goddamn ship,” Your boyfriend spat out. 

“Leonard, please.”

“I thought you would listen to me this one time! If we lose you, we lose the captain of this damn tin can.”

“Leonard McCoy! Could you at least listen to what you’re saying right now?”

“And I suppose, why I should listen to myself when you don’t listen to me?” The doctor paused, catching his breath. “Whatever, forget it.”

The entire transporter room was silent as everyone watched him turn on his heels and stalked away. Some eyed you nervously, unsure of your reaction. Slowly, you let out your held breath. Jim placed a comforting hand on your shoulder.

“You okay?” He asked quietly, as you stood at your place on the teleporter pad.

You briefly looked up at him, but shook your head. “Everyone ready?” you called, glancing around at the others that were going down with you. Sagely, the affirmative was given. 

“Energize.”

The entire trip towards the settlement, you were quiet as you went over Len’s words. Wordlessly, Jim walked beside you, filling in the silence with small talk to avoid the awkwardness that the away team witnessed. 

“I know couples are supposed to fight, that it’s a sign of getting through hardships together,” you mumbled, only loud enough for Jim to hear. “But it’s never been this bad and I don’t get why he doesn’t understand that it’s my job.”

“Bones is just scared of losing you,” Jim explained. “Now that he’s got you in his life.”

“Maybe he could care a little less angry?” You desperately wiped away your unshed tears with the back of your left hand. “How do I look?”

“Gorgeous as always. But Bones being angry is how he cares.”

You sighed. “Let’s just get this over with first, and I’ll figure out how to apologize to him later.”

As the team broke through the tree lines, guards rushed forward with their weapons drawn. Calmly explaining them that you were from Starfleet, from the starship Enterprise, and that the team were carrying supplies for the town. Looking begrudgingly, the guards parted, escorting you and the team into the heart of their village. 

Huts of varying capacities were neatly structured in rows, both men and women were gathered outside doing chores and tending to their campfires,kids of all ages ran past the team, giddy with their little games, while the elderly followed with their careful eyes. Most inhabitants paused what they were doing to gaze curiously at the newcomers, while the young ones pointed at the team.

“The Enterpwise! The Enterpwise! The Enterpwise!’ A few danced up and down, tugging on their parents’ clothes in hopes of satisfying their curiosity.

You chuckled, winking at them, delighted that you would receive such a warm welcome. Your team stopped before a smaller gathering, away from the hubbub of the center.  A man strode forward from the security of his group.

“I am who they called, Imam,” He spoke, a stoic expression on his face. You glanced warily back at Jim, whom only shrugged at your silent question. This wasn’t whom you were expecting to meet. “You are Starfleet.”

You cleared your throat unsuccessfully. “I am Captain Y/N Y/L/N of the USS Enterprise, and these are my crew,” You introduced with a wave of your hand. “But I was supposed to meet someone else by the name of Loren.”

At the mention of the name, the group hushed. Clearly, something had happened during the last twelve hours after contacting the natives that the Enterprise will be arriving. 

“Yes, Loren,” Imam spoke, almost reverently. “He was killed by the neighboring tribe, one that does not like the Federation. May the gods above take him back home. I was his second.”

You stilled, completely caught off guard by the revelation. Once again, you glanced at Jim, and some of the other red shirts around you with a grim look. This wasn’t expected, but you never heard of the other surrounding tribes having trouble with the Federation. Forcing your worries down, you quickly thought of your next words. The previous leader was a staunch Federation supporter, but Imam? You didn’t know.

Catching yourself, you composed an apologetic smile towards the new leader, now understanding how fresh the death was. “I’m sorry to hear that, he was a great man. We’ve brought some medical supplies along with what you requested when we received the distress signal.”

Something was odd, but you couldn’t put your finger to it. There was noticeable tension in the air, as if a ticking time bomb was ready to be let off soon. Jim caught your eye, an equally worried expression on his face. It wasn’t a gut feeling anymore, you realized, everyone felt it. 

“Thank you for your generosity. The Federation has never ceased to be helpful. I wish you all good luck and safe travels,” Imam spoke carefully, as if he himself was about to be the bearer of bad news.

“But we can not let you leave.”

“What do you mean, we can’t leave?” You spoke after a shocked moment, as a shiver of dread coursed through you. Regarding the vicinity, this wasn’t good, not at all. The trees behind you could offer you some protection, if only the rest of the team knew. 

“Once we turn back for the trees, we will be out of your hair,” You emphasized, desperately hoping that the others understood.

“I’m afraid not,” Imam spoke, as the guards around him pointed their weapons at the team. Before you could speak, the others raised their phasers, ready for a fight. “I swore to Loren’s son, Sgiern, that this would never happen again, that the Federation would never arrive and take away what’s ours.”

Although you too had reached for your phaser, your brows furrowed in confusion. “Excuse me, but take what away? We were never informed of anything else, but to deliver supplies.”

“I’m sorry, but I can not take back what I’ve sworn,” Imam took a step backwards before turning away altogether. 

“Shit!” You cursed, grabbing your phaser out of your combat boots and running for the trees as arrows flew overhead.

Desperately returning shots behind you as the team dived for cover amongst the tree lines, you fumbled around for your comm.  

“Y/L/N to Enterprise!”

“Hear yer loud and clear, lassie,” Scotty replied through the communicator.

“Now is not the time for- fuckin’ Lieutenant, duck, will ya?” Your eyes scanned through the foliage, until you had found a large stump.

“Captain?”

“Scotty, it would be really appreciated if you can beam us back right now!” You yelled back, hopping over roots and branches that littered the forest floor.

“Uh I cannae Captain,” The Chief Engineer sounded strained. “Something is disrupting the transporter from grabbing a hold of ya.”

“Well, figure it out soon, Scotty. We are in a bit of a bind, and have medbay on standby.”

Coming to rest behind the stump, you carefully looked around you, hoping for signs of the armed guards. They couldn’t be far. At the moment, all you could hear were the distinct sounds of phasers firing, someone screaming, and arrows thudding against tree barks. Out of nowhere, a figure slammed into your very spot, knocking your head hard against the rough stump.

“Oh god’s sake, I’m sorry, Y/N. Didn’t see you there,”Jim grimaced, catching his breath.

“Have you seen the others?” You gasped out, rubbing the back of your head tenderly. 

“Last I saw, they’re all together. Injured, but still in one piece,” he reported. “You’ve seen better.”

In the mad dash to the trees and your frenzy of keeping the attackers at bay, you had failed to take stock of your own injuries. 

“Cuts and scrapes. Let’s go, and get the others. Scotty’s working on getting us beamed back up.”

With a nod, you crouched away, letting Jim lead as you watched his back, sides, and your back. How did it come to this? First, it was Leonard. Now, the away mission went completely sideways. Perhaps if you didn’t come, the outcome would be different. No, it would still be the same. The natives already had a change of heart, whomever beamed down didn’t matter. 

You nearly crashed into Jim when he stopped momentarily, and brushed some ferns away, revealing the rest of your exhausted team. Other than mud on exposed skin, a couple nasty cuts, two sprained ankles, and a broken arm, everyone was still alive. Thank god for that at least.

“Stick together,” you whispered. “Lieutenant, take the lead. Ensigns, stay in the center. We move at your pace. Jim, you’re with me.” Everyone nodded in understanding. “Move out.”

As quietly as a group of six could maneuver, you shook your head a couple times. Leonard was right all along. He knew that you knew the consequences of what could happen if this mission went sideways, when every mission was risky business. You mattered too much to him, you knew that too, and that losing you would devastate him far more than anything else. 

But everyone else had people that cared for them, that loved and cherished them in one way or another, be it family or friends. There was someone waiting back at home, and you had sworn to protect lives, not to take it away. If there was a way to save your crew in any way possible, crazy or not, you would do it. 

“Enterprise to Captain Y/L/N.”

“Pipe down, Scotty,” you scowled into your comm, even though you knew he couldn’t see you. “It better be good news.”

“Once ya out of the trees, we can grab you,” He quieted down.

“Thank god,” you mumbled back, sliding your comm back into your pocket. 

Jim arched an eyebrow at you, a silent question that you returned with a sharp nod. With some hurried whispers, the rest of the away team understood. Listening to the sounds of the forest and the jumbled shouts of the natives behind, you held up one finger.

Two.

Three.

On three, the team burst out and into the clearing.

“Scotty!” You heard Jim roar into his comm. 

Before the golden threads grabbed you, an intense force came from your sides, and a radiating pain bubbled up. Almost as though time was comically slowed down, you slackened onto Jim. As reality rushed back, you screamed in pain, and collapsed. Before you hit the ground, Jim caught you before gasping out at your injury.

“Shit, shit, Y/N, hang on. Bones is gonna murder me,” Jim secured you in his arms, moments before you were all beamed back onto the safety of the ship.

As the team materialized back in the transporter room, you let out a weak cry of pain. All the crew that stood in stand by, were in shock at the bloody mess in front of them. Leonard's stomach dropped at the bloody sight of you in Jim's arms. After a heartbeat, medical converged as Doctor McCoy beelined first for the captain.

“What in god’s name happened down there, Jim?” He frantically knelt down, firmly pressing a gauze to the gaping hole on your side. “Sweetheart, can you hear me?”

“Natives turned hostile,” Jim explained as you groaned in answer to Leonard’s question. You watched him blearily as your vision had gone fuzzy along the edges. Another minute gone by as nearby tricorder buzzed over you, and a hypo was pressed to your neck, releasing its sweet, sweet contents.  

“Len, I’m-.”

He shined a light. “Follow my fingers.” An order, not a request; nothing like the Leonard you knew behind the calm mask.

“Put her on the stretcher, Jim,” Leonard continued, watching you closely as Jim did so. You cried out again, this time coming out as a groan. Sparing his friend another glance, you were rushed down to medbay. 

Your eyes threatened to close as the gauze was repeatedly changed, time and time again. There was no need to look down at yourself, you knew that you were heavily bleeding out. You barely felt the pokes as an IV was put in, and another hypo pressed to your neck. The tricorder,  placed so close to your face, whirred constantly. For the first time today, you shivered, as a cold settled in.

"Keep your eyes open." Another order.

“Len,” you rasped out, gaining the attention of his hazel eyes. “About earlier, I-.”

“We can talk when you’re better. Just try and stay calm for me first,” he interrupted, as his emotions finally broke through the professional mask he had on. There was urgency in his voice, panicky even. In your weakened state, you could tell he was on the verge of crying. For you, he had to pull himself together. Looking away, he continued barking orders left and right at the nurses around.

Weakly, you grasped his sleeve, ignoring the red that immediately stained it. You wanted to tell him, needed to tell him that you were sorry for fighting with him earlier in the day. 

“I’m sorry.”

With that, you passed out before you could hear his response. 

~

It was an ache that woke you, steady and uncomfortably persistent. Next thing you figured as your senses slowly warmed up, was that one of your hands were sweaty. Opening your eyes, you took stock of the room, realizing that you were in a private room of the medbay, a luxury that only the sickest could afford. While the heart monitor pinged alongside yours, you followed the hand that clasped yours, and towards its owner with a mop of dark hair, snoring on the small cot beside. 

Leonard. You hated waking him up when he looked so peaceful in his sleep. Nevertheless, you concentrated on your fingers and squeezed his hand.

Leonard’s head shot up, confused for a minute. His eyes widened when he saw yours was open too, and immediately jumped to his feet. 

“Thank god, you’re awake, Y/N. Welcome back,” He studied the numbers above the biobed. Satisfied that you were indeed stable, he looked back down at you. “Are you in pain?”

You shook your head. “Just an ache,” you rasped out, feeling like your throat went through a sandstorm.  

“Darlin’, can you sit up for me first?”

Checking that you didn’t have a concussion, he pressed a button on the side of the biobed, slowly sitting you up. Once you had your fill of water, you laid back down, trying to find a more comfortable position

“Tell me if it hurts where I press,” Leonard continued. You nodded in assent as he started palpitating around the stitches. 

“I had to take you in for immediate surgery. You were bleeding out on us. Here?” He started. You flinched. “Your pancreas, gallbladder, and liver were a mess. I was on limited time to stitch you back together before you bled out on my table. How about here?” You winced. “Needless to say, you don’t have a gallbladder anymore. I thought it was easier to have you sedated while everything was getting regenned. You’ve been out for a couple of days. Here?” You held in a breath, but nodded. 

When the doctor was done, he pulled the blanket back up to keep the chill away. Sitting back down in his chair, you finally noticed the dark bags under his eyes, and the stubble under his chin. 

“Leonard, I-,” You started again, but was cut off with Leonard shaking his head. 

“Your vitals aren’t near as good as I liked them to be first.” He replied firmly, as your shoulders relaxed. “We can have the conversation later when you get some rest first.”

The next time you woke up, the ache was still there, but was considerably a marked improvement from whenever you first woke up. As if you had some magic that could call the doctor, Leonard strode right into your room, just as you were wondering where he were.

“Hi sweetheart,” He looked much better too. “How are you feeling?”

“Better. Can you help me sit up?”

While he did so, a silence fell between the two of you. Soon, all that was left was Leonard staring at your hands.

“Len, I’m sorry. You were right with what you said,” You opened up the needed conversation. “I should have known better to have gone down, and forget who I was leaving behind. You were right to be pissed at me. I would be the same too if our places were switched.”

He listened to you, quietly taking in your words for a moment. “I’m sorry that I yelled at you earlier. You know I lose my temper every time I see you do something reckless with your life, and your health. We are in this together now, darlin’, and I want you to remember that. You’ve got me, and I’ve got you as a team.” He paused, taking a deep breath. “After that fight, I thought I pushed you away, that what we had was it. I was afraid you would never come back to me again.”

You reached for his hand, but he was faster. He gripped yours as though you were his lifeline. 

“We fight, we learn, we make up,” You murmured softly. “And that’s how we grow together. Isn’t that right, Doctor McCoy?”

Slowly, your CMO brightened up at your words, a smile gracing his features. A rare sight that not many were fortunate enough to see. “Dammit Y/N, I’m a doctor, not a counselor.”

You chuckled, knowing that the past was behind you. Whatever happens in the future, your favorite doctor would be right by your side.

Here’s my slowly growing masterlist.

Tags: @cuddlememerrick @mapachefaerie @floreatetona (if you would like to be tagged, please send me an ask)

[nicostolemybones]

The Battle of Area 51

“This is not a game,” Nico lectured sternly, and Percy snickered. “This is no laughing matter, Jackson! Okay, let’s run through the plan one last time! Ares cabin, Clarisse, you’ll lead the charge, take down the guards, lay down cover fire for the Naruto runners! Poseidon Cabin, Zeus cabin, you guys whip up a storm to help the Ares cabin! Apollo cabin and Hunters of Artemis, you’re the snipers, I want you on high ground firing arrows at them! Aphrodite cabin, charmspeak those guards to let us past and to give us access codes to all the rooms and spill all the secrets! Hecate cabin, use the mist to make decoys! Nemesis cabin, remember, this is vengeance for all the imprisoned aliens and that’s why you’re here! Demeter cabin, slow the guards down with thick vines and poisonous plants! Athena cabin, you’re working on infiltrating and hacking all the computers! Hephaestus cabin, burn down gun stations, jam missiles, Festus can burn down doorways, I want to see you guys working on all the technology we steal and I want you all to figure out all the machines inside and use them for our advantage! Dionysus cabin, get them drunk, make them temporarily mad, weaken their defences! Iris cabin, use your abilities to disorientate and distract the guards! Hypnos cabin- CLOVIS WAKE UP- send the guards to sleep when you can! Hermes cabin, you’re stealing and sneaking in whilst the guards are distracted! Hades cabin- well Hazel- summon obstacles and summon weapons, shadow travel aliens to safety. The rest of you, just fuck shit up with your abilities! Romans; same rules apply, and follow the orders of your Praetors, do not go against orders unless necessary!”

“LET’S CLAP SOME ALIEN CHEEKS!” Connor yelled. Nico glared at him, whilst the younger campers plus Percy erupted into giggles.

“There will be no clapping alien cheeks,” Nico sighed in exasperation, “no alien cheeks will be clapped by anybody, by Olympus what the Hades is wrong with straight people?”

“Wait you’re gay?!”

“Yes but that’s not the point, just- go blend in with the mortals! Solace- you’re with me, we’ll go in with the Naruto runners and you need to make sure we don’t infect the aliens and they don’t infect us, and treat the wounded.” Percy wolf-whistled, so Nico summoned a skeleton to smack him round the back of the head. The group of demigods dispersed amongst the mortal army- which wasn’t much, but between the Kyles, weeaboos, tumblr trash, and Naruto runners, there was a fair few, and some cosplayers, DnD players, and medieval recreation nerds seemed to have a fair amount of weapons and armour- even if most of it was plastic light sabers, Klingon Bat’leths, and various other fantasy weapons.

Everything was quiet for a while, and the battle was more a staring down contest between the guards and the civilian raiders. Phones were beginning to live stream, and that’s when the Stoll brothers yelled the immortal battle cry “DO IT FOR THE VINE!!!” and the mortal crowd roared and cheered, repeating the battle cry.

“PEANUT BUTTER!!!” Tyson yelled as the crowd surged forwards. Nico screamed, Naruto running as fast as he could towards the guards, summoning skeleton armies of Naruto runners to back them up, but as soon as the guards opened fire, many Naruto runners gave up and turned away running back, or decided it best to run “normally”. One dedicated man had turned his electric wheelchair into some kind of turbo charged mini tank shaped like a Dalek. Fortnite dancers fortnite danced as they charged, Harry Potter fans desperately yelled out Unforgiveable Curses. Stargate fans dressed as Jaffa and Goa’uld warriors charged with staff weapons and pellet guns, some wearing “Free Thor” t-shirts- but not Marvel’s Thor or the Norse God thor- but rather the tiny alien guy Nico recognised from when Will made him watch Stargate. The Stargate Atlantis fans came dressed as Wraith instead. Marvel fans were clad in full superhero gear, although some fights had broken out between them and the DC fans. Star Wars fans dressed in Jedi robes. Clad in armour, the demigods didn’t look out of place. Nico was pleased to see the Egyptian magicians being lead by Sadie and Carter Kane, Magnus Chase and Samirah al-Abbass leading the Valkyries, Alex Fierro next to Frank Zhang shapeshifting into whatever they could. Alex stopped occasionally so she could spray mace into the eyes of Terfs.

Nico shadow travelled at the last minute, grabbing hold of Will and pulling him through the shadows. Will didn’t slow down when they emerged, and the image of Will Naruto running headfirst into a wall was going to be a source of laughter in Nico’s mind for many years to come. Thankfully, he didn’t do a Jason and knock himself out. “Ah fuck, I can’t believe you’ve done this!” Will gasped, and Nico raised his eyebrow. In the distance, they heard Grover cause a Panic- although it didn’t affect the guards about to shoot Will in the face, so Will let out a shrill whistle and Naruto ran for it.

“Dork,” Nico jibed, pulling Will into the shadows again. Nico meant for them to land inside an aircraft hangar- but it soon became clear that they were inside some kind of alien spaceship.

“Holy Hera,” Will gasped, “Nico THIS SHIP HAS A STARGATE! NICO LOOK THAT IS A STARGATE, IMMA DIAL ABYDOS-”

“Focus, Solace,” Nico warned, “we can do that once we get this back to camp. I wasn’t allowed to drive the sun chariot so I’ll drive this time.”

“I get the feeling I’m gonna die if I let you drive,” Will replied, and Nico huffed.

“That’s if I don’t kill your stupid face first,” he retorted proudly, and Will snickered, looking around the ship.

“OH MY GODS NICO THERE’S A LIGHT SABER HERE!”

“DIBS THE RED ONE,” Nico yelled, rushing over and grabbing one, almost decapitating Will in his excitement.

“We should summon up a certain ghost,” Will grinned.

“Are you suggesting we prank call Castellan?”

“Nico, dude. You have to, for humanity. Do it for our children.”

Several runs to McDonald’s later and Luke Castellan’s ghost was confronted by Nico in pitch black armour and a light saber to speak the immortal words: “Luke, I am your father.” Luke’s ghost laughed. The gods applauded from Olympus. Will was unable to get up off the floor through his raucous laughter.

After several minutes of exploring the craft, the two demigods were armed with phasers and now possessed the infinity gauntlet- although they both agreed not to let Percy near it in case he dabbed rather than Thanos snapped at monsters. Nico shadow travelled a fair amount of the loot back to camp, where Chiron stood facepalming and shaking his head. This is when Nico learned that the Party Ponies had joined the raid and found out that Monster Donut were sponsoring Area 51. Nico returned to find Will making a flower crown for a baby alien he’d found hidden in the glove compartment. “Is that what I think it is,” Nico questioned, and Will smiled.

“An alien? Well yeah.”

“No, I meant a baby. Are you seriously holding a baby?”

“Yeah, a cute little alien baby, I made them a flower crown and put a bow in their hair! Well I hope it’s a baby otherwise I just told a whole-ass adult I’m their daddy now.” Nico choked- Will didn’t appear to realise the innuendo his words would have turned into if the alien was an adult. Will appeared to have adopted an alien child and that somehow melted Nico completely. Stupid son of Apollo being a perfect dad to an abandoned alien baby found in the glove compartment of a space ship.

“You can’t just raise a child, Will, the parents won’t pay child support and you’re like- fifteen and you look- you look twelve, okay, you look like a foetus!”

“Nico I’m only two months older than you,” Will laughed, “I’m still fourteen like you are, idiot. Although technically you’re ninety, you can be the grandpa.”

“I’m not going to be your daddy, Solace,” Nico replied, forgetting how it may have sounded like an innuendo, and Will choked and spluttered.

“That word is officially banned,” Will squeaked, and Nico quickly nodded in agreement. Thankfully before it could get any more awkward, the alien child started to cry. “Oh my gods Nico what do I do with it?”

“Does it have an off switch or batteries you can take out like the babies they give you in school?”

“Um- I can’t see any off switch, Nico, what do I do?!”

“You’re the doctor! Sing to it! Just don’t do a Hera and yeet it off a mountain or out of a window, I don’t need you Percying this into a worse situation than it already is!”

“Oh my gods I’m a single parent before I’ve had the talk,” Will whined, trying to hum a lullaby to the alien baby, which screeched, turned into a bug, and ran. Will shrieked and Nico accidentally summoned a pile of alien skulls. “Hey! My singing isn’t that bad,” Will protested, and the alien bug screeched again and shot some kind of web at Will’s face. Will squealed, trying clumsily to wipe the webbing off his face. Once Nico stopped laughing, he helped to pull the webbing out of Will’s hair, although once he managed to detangle the last of the webbing, he found himself enthralled by the soft bouncy texture of Will’s hair. It was curly like Nico’s, but dryer to the touch, probably a testament to the hours of sunbathing Nico figured Will had to do in order to stay tanned all year round. He didn’t realise he was obsessively caressing his best friend’s hair until he felt Will’s hand on his shoulder. Nico gasped, snapping his hand back and muttering an apology, but Will merely smiled and gods that smile melted Nico. “Fellas, is it gay to kiss your homie at Area 51,” Will asked to nobody in particular, and Nico found himself turning puce as Will leaned in, placing a gentle but certainly not platonic kiss on Nico’s lips. Nico’s brain seemed to short circuit, skeletal butterflies resurrecting down his spine and in his stomach.

When Nico’s brain finally managed a coherent thought, all he could manage to say was “that’s gay.”

Will snorted, resting his head on Nico’s shoulder as he laughed silently. “You’re gay,” he finally replied through giggles.

“Well you kissed me, you’re gay,” Nico retorted with a huff.

“Yeah, but is it gay if it’s your homie and you’re in Area 51,” Will asked with an impish grin, lifting his head and giving Nico a mishievous grin.

“We are gay, you dumbass,” Nico replied, lightly shoving Will’s shoulder.

“I guess we are,” Will replied with feigned thoughtfulness lacing his voice, “maybe we should make out just to be sure.”

“Don’t push your luck, Solace,” Nico said sternly, and Will pouted comically. Nico stood on his toes and leaned up, but he was too short to reach, so Will leaned down and Nico was finally able to place a rough kiss on Will’s lips.

And of course, that just had to be the exact moment to hear a chorus of “two bros, chillin’ in a space ship, five feet apart ‘cause they’re not gay!” They broke apart immediately, startled by the presence of an Iris message showing Percy, Jason, Leo and Piper all grinning stupidly at them and Annabeth rolling her eyes.

“I’ll kill you all if you dare tell anyone,” Nico warned, raising skeletons to chase after them- although the skeletons were certainly not human. Leo and Percy screamed and ran, whilst Piper and Will laughed loudly. Jason merely raised his eyebrow, and Nico shrugged in response.

“So, that’s your type, huh,” Percy grinned, “I never thought we’d share a type!”

“What,” Nico snapped.

“Bossy blondes,” Percy replied, and Jason and Annabeth glared daggers.

“I agree,” Piper chimed in, “bossy blondes are worth the trouble.” This time, Jason and Annabeth both blushed.

Nico shrugged, looking back to Will, who seemed to be pre-occupied with the Stargate behind them. “Well, this one’s my bossy blond,” Nico replied fondly.

“Troublemakers are my type,” Annabeth replied, and Percy and Piper bowed proudly, “and Jason’s.”

“My type is pouty emo kids with long hair and sexy accents,” Will replied, and Nico blushed darkly.

“Your type is troublemakers,” Piper replied, “the ideal OTP formula is bossy blonde and troublemaking brunette, you can’t change my mind.”

“Whatever,” Nico protested. The Iris message cut off when a fight broke out between a Star Wars stan and a Trekkie.

“So,” Will began immediately, “can we be boyfriends now?”

“Only if you keep PDA to a minimum,” Nico replied, and Will beamed, glowing a warm amber light. Before they could do much more, however, a loud explosion ripped their attention away from each other. They both ran out to find the source of the explosion, and that is where they found Clarisse refereeing a battle between Shaggy and Thanos. The Stolls were running a betting ring, and Nico was sure they were all gonna die. But hey, it was a room full of Millennials and Gen Z, so nobody seemed particularly bothered by the danger of the situation, because this footage would certainly be legendary. Thanos snapped, and Shaggy disintegrated, only to reform using 1% of his power and steal the gauntlet. Shaggy dabbed, and Thanos was no more. Clarisse blew her whistle and the fight was over- the most epic showdown in human history and it had only taken seconds. Within minutes, lightening struck, and that was the moment Percy groaned loudly in realisation that the gods had been responsible for Area 51 all along.

“FUCK YOU, ZEUS,” Percy yelled, and the lightening would have struck him if it wasn’t for Shaggy eating the lightening bolt and letting out a loud burp.

“Do you have any wisdom, O mighty one,” Kayla asked, bowing at Shaggy’s feet.

“Sometimes you just gotta eat the enemy, man,” Shaggy replied, and the demigods let out a collective awed ‘ooohhh’. It was that moment that Shaggy burped out a heart-shaped arrow, and Nico realised that Shaggy had vored Cupid. Nico felt a smug grin break through his usually stoic expression, and Jason cheered loudly from the sidelines.

“Anyway, Shaggy said gay rights,” Will grinned.

“Actually, young man,” Shaggy said, gently resting his hand on Will’s shoulder, “I say gay and trans rights. And on that note, I think I might assassinate the president! Until next time, guys, gals, and non-binary pals!” And with that, and a wink to Alex Fierro, Shaggy dissipated into the wind, enraging the bigots and empowering the queer kids.

The raid continued into the night, the Stolls helping to take technology back to camp and Clarisse leading the charge against the military. It was only when Nico and Will made their way to the middle of the camp, all of the aliens freed and all technology liberated, that the end of the raid was in sight. Nico opened the final door, the entire raid party behind them, to find Rick Astley tied to a chair, singing Never Gonna Give You Up. It was then that they realised: they had been Rickrolled by the government.

[thecarlosramos]

Time Squad’s Adam & Eve Ep

...so back when we started, Dave and I wrote our Time Squad scripts like books. We quickly learned Final Draft once Michael Karnow was hired and set us straight. Here’s an ep that was never made. I believe I wanted Tommy Chong to play Adam but I remember Dave thinking he was too obvious a choice.

This is my thank you to all the TS fans <3

©️®️

In Dagada Da Vida

We open on the satellite where we see a montage of different rooms and corridors as the sound of a dollar bill being inserted and rejected from a candy machine is heard echoing through the ship. We then see Tuddrussel calmly entering a futuristic looking dollar into the candy machine’s money insertor as it once again spits it out. We see Tuddrussel’s reflection in the window as he licks his chops while eyeing a shrink-wrapped donut. We cut back to see him calmly step back off screen. We then hear the sound of a full run as Tuddrussel re enters with a scream as he tackles the machine. We cut back to a hallway as Larry and Otto come out of their rooms to the sounds of laser blasts and screaming. They both run and turn a corner to the sight of Tuddrussel standing over the smoldering candy machine triumphantly holding his laser gun as his chest heaves up and down.

“Oh, hey guys.” Tuddrussel says out of breath.

“Wha…what are you doing?” Otto asks.

“Just getting a donut.” Tuddrussel says as he reaches into the broken glass and pulls out a packaged donut. He then begins to unwrap it with all his strength, which then leads to him biting and clawing at the plastic cover. He then throws it down and blasts it with his phaser. We cut back to Larry and Otto as they shield their faces from the laser fire. Tuddrussel again is left standing in the charred hallway with his chest heaving.

“Hey, it’s gonna be alright.” Otto says as he slowly takes Tuddrussel’s hand while Larry cautiously removes his phaser from his other hand.

“Now, you didn’t need all that junk food after all. I’ll make you a nice healthy breakfast.” Larry says cautiously.

“Doesn’t that sound nice.” Otto says in a kindly tone.

“Stupid donut.” Tuddrussel says under his breath.

We then see Otto standing in the kitchen with Larry as he looks at Tuddrussel squeezing two stress-balls in his hands.

“Calm blue ocean, calm blue ocean, calm blue…” Tuddrussel chants quietly while swaying back and forth at the breakfast table.

“Larry, I’m a little worried about Tuddrussel. He’s seems a little…stressed lately.” Otto says as Larry wears a chef hat and cooks diligently.

“A little, ha! His blood pressure is through the roof. All he really needs is a good hot breakfast though. Go out and talk to him while I finish these ‘eggs ala bolognese’. Now shoo!” Larry says while pushing Otto into the dining room. Otto takes a seat next to Tuddrussel.

“Hi buddy, how ya feelin'?” Otto asks Tuddrussel.

“Pretty good, oh you mean…with the donut? Oh that was nothing! I was just a little hungry.” Tuddrussel says blowing off the entire incident.

“Oh, well that’s good ‘cause Larry’s making a great breakfast!” Otto says relieved. Just then Larry comes out of the kitchen carrying two covered silver platters and sets then down lovingly in front of Otto and Tuddrussel. Larry then lifts the lids off the trays revealing Tuddrussel and Otto’s expressions as Otto smiles and Tuddrussel goes from a happy face to a grimace as they look at a very fancy mixed assortment of food oddities.

“What’s this?” Tuddrussel says disgusted as he runs his fork through a runny egg in a piecrust.

“Why that’s ‘gruere preschutto quiche’ in a plumb sauce glaze! It was King Philip of the Vector quadrant’s favorite dish.” Larry says with a smile.

“Larry, what about this dish?” Otto asks while cautiously cutting into a fish plate.

“Oh that’s a pescado brochette with a warm potato galette in an onion fondue with a flying fish caviar cream. I hear it’s quite delicious.” Larry says attentively.

“Wow, this is good!” Otto says with a smile and a mouth full of fish.

“I’m not even going to ask.” Tuddrussel groans as he pushes away a plate of snails.

“Why that’s the ‘Cassolettes d'Escargot’! A lovely little dish I learned to make in culinary school in Brussels. Bon Apetit!” Larry says in a cheery voice. We see Otto chew happily as Tuddrussel slowly grabs the edge of the table in an angry fashion.

“This all looks…TERRIBLE!” Tuddrussel says in a rage as he flips the table over. Otto still chews and swallows what was in his mouth. Larry gasps. “I haven’t had a decent meal in months! Can’t a guy get a sandwich around here?” Tuddrussel continues. Larry looks on in shock when Otto comes to the rescue.

“What he means is…uh, he’s not used to eating such exquisite dishes.” Otto says trying to cover up Tuddrussel’s action.

“No, you were going to have me eat snails! I have been stuffing the mattress of this chair with food for months.” Tuddrussel says with a red face to Larry as he points to his chair that has a bushel of meals stuffed in it. Larry gasps as Tuddrussel continues his rant. “Bacon, eggs, toast! That’s a breakfast! All you make is foo foo soaked in…poo poo!” Tuddrussel screams as he begins to turn bright red while breathing heavily and sweating.

“You…are the worst cook…ever! Ow, now my arm’s gone numb!” Tuddrussel grabs his left arm as he weases out and collapses face first into all the food on the floor in an Inspector Clusaue manner.

“Well fine, I’m never cooking for you two again!” Larry says in a sassy tone while looking down at Tuddrussel on the ground. We cut to black and fade up in a blur from Tuddrussel’s POV to an up shot of Larry and Otto.

“Wake up Tuddrussel, are you okay?” Otto asks.

“Wha…what happened?” Tuddrussel grumbles.

“I think I’m going to have to zap him!” Larry says as his hands begin to glow with electricity. “Clear!” Larry says as Otto steps back and Larry shocks Tuddrussel’s chest.

“Aaaaagghhhh! What did you do that for!” Tuddrussel yells as we cut back to show him jump to his feet.

“Well according to my readings, you just passed out from nervous exhaustion. I was reviving you!” Larry says while he reads charts being faxed out of his chest.

“Sounds more like food poisoning to me.” Tuddrussel says in a sarcastic tone to Larry.

“Tuddrussel, it’s obvious you just need some time to relax, when’s your next vacation?” Otto asks.

“Vacation?” Tuddrussel asks.

“Back in the time Otto’s from employees were allowed a certain amount of time away from their jobs to relax and not work. It was believed that this made for a happier and more productive worker.” Larry informs Tuddrussel.

“Pfft! Well, la-dee-da! That may be fine for some tea-sippin’ pansy, but I’m a cop and we don’t need…” Tuddrussel starts in a cynical tone. Suddenly the ships alarm goes off and Tuddrussel startled by the noise clutches his left arm and falls downward off screen.

“Here we go again!” Larry says as he charges his hands and goes down off screen. We see a blue glow and hear Tuddrussel scream as Otto flinches at the sight of him getting fried. We cut to the ship’s computer as Larry walks up and starts typing coordinates into the keyboard. Tuddrussel and Otto walk up behind him as smoke trails off Tuddrussel’s body. The screen shows an image of a perfect naked couple with blonde hair and blue eyes covered in fig leafs. It reads under them, ‘Adam and Eve, Garden of Eden’.

“Wow, it looks like we’re going all the way back to the Garden of Eden to see Adam and Eve. They were responsible for ruining paradise when Eve ate the forbidden apple.” Otto says. All three begin to walk towards the time transporter.

“Garden? (shivering sound) Sounds awfully organic.” Larry says in an irritated tone.

“Tuddrussel, the Garden of Eden was a utopia. This mission might be just the thing you need.” Otto says enthusiastically.

“Well, It couldn’t be any worse than getting shocked twice by this walking cattle prod.” Tuddrussel says eyeing Larry.

“Hey, I saved your life.” Larry says offended. The three get into the time transporter and bam, they are blasted to the past. We cut to a blue sky as our three heroes blast on screen. The camera has all three in a medium shot close together.

“Paradise huh?” Tuddrussel says skeptically while looking around. We pull back to reveal the three of them sitting on a large zebra. It suddenly starts to kick and jump while yelping. Time Squad Patrol hold on for dear life. Tuddrussel Larry and Otto are then bucked off and fall hard onto the grass and the zebra runs off in a huff.

“Ugh, I’m allergic to large beasts.” Larry says cowardly.

“But you’re a robot, how can you have allergies?” Otto asks.

“I don’t know. I just do. Augh, a snake!” Larry screams while jumping into Tuddrussel’s arms. A devilish looking snake slithers bye Time Squad Patrol.  

“(Cough) I think…(Cough cough) I’m having another attack!” Tuddrussel says dropping Larry.

“No Tuddrussel, (Inhale, exhale) that’s just fresh air!” Otto says with a grin. Larry looks around cautiously and takes in a breath and immediately sneezes.

“WACHOO! Ohhh.” Groans Larry.

“(Inhale) Wow, this is kinda nice.” Tuddrussel says with a smile. We pan over the horizon and show paradise. From waterfalls to rolling green hills, the Garden of Eden is breath taking. As the music swells we cut back to Larry spraying an entire can of bug repellent at a butterfly as it falls to the earth.

“Well our mission seems obvious. We need to find Eve, get her to eat one of those forbidden apples and we can be on our way.” Larry says as he sprays the fallen butterfly a couple more times with the bug repellent. We then see some bushes rustle next to Time Squad Patrol. Tuddrussel immediately pulls out his phaser and aims in its direction.

“Who goes there!” Tuddrussel barks in a stern tone.

“Whoa, hold your fire man, we come in peace brother.” A shirtless man says as he rises up out of the bushes. He and the girl with him are hardly dressed wearing fig leaves and other natural covers. The two come out toward our heroes. They both look like flower children. The man has a beard and wild long hair while the woman has face paint and many flowers in her hair.

“Welcome to the Garden of Eden!” The man says. “My name’s Adam and this is Eve, my cosmic soul mate.” Adam says as he gestures to Eve.

“Peace.” Eve says holding two fingers up as she walks over to the gang and puts leis around each of their necks. Larry flinches as Eve gives him a peck on the cheek along with his lei.

“We were going to go on our daily swim in the enchanted lake. Come join us friends. It’ll be groovy.” Adam says walking towards the lake with Eve.

“C’mon Tuddrussel, a swim will do you good.” Otto says as he runs behind Adam and Eve. Tuddrussel follows as Larry is left standing.

“What about the mission?!” Larry yells as we hear an elephant roar in the distance and Larry follows the gang terrified. We then cross dissolve to the lake as Adam and Eve swim around and laugh carelessly. Larry and Tuddrussel stand at the lake’s edge.

“Wow, I haven’t been swimming in years.” Tuddrussel tells Larry.

“Look out dude!” Otto says running past Tuddrussel and Larry wearing only his underwear. (And no glasses) He cannonballs into the lake with a splash. “C’mon in guys, the water’s great. In fact, it’s perfect!” Otto says while treading water. We cut back as Larry is now standing alone. Tuddrussel runs bye him wearing only his mask, shorts and a belt as he jumps into the water almost splashing Larry.

“Last one in is a rotten egg! Woohoo!” Tuddrussel yells. Larry walks to the water’s edge and lightly dabs the tip of his metal foot into the water. We cut in close to see Larry’s metal instantly rust on contact. Larry jumps back in fright.

“Ugh! Rust!” Larry says in a high pitched voice as he scrambles backwards. We cut back to the lake as Tuddrussel and Otto ride dolphins through the water.

“C’mon Larry!” Otto yells in the distance. Larry grumbles. We cut back to Otto and Tuddrussel in the water.

“Man, this is great.” Tuddrussel proclaims.

“I agree, paradise is excellent!” Otto says as Adam splashes him in the face. We cut back to Larry’s point of view as Tuddrussel, Otto, Adam, and Eve  splash one another and laugh carelessly. Larry grumbles to himself. We cut to a series of activities between Adam and Eve and the gang. First we see all of them prancing through a flower patch. Everyone is happy except Larry who follows behind, sneezes and falls. Next we see all of them swinging on vines in the jungle. Each one goes from vine to vine in unison like Tarzan. Larry again is last slamming into a tree like George of the Jungle. Last we see the gang all petting a monkey. We pan over to Larry approaching at a sinister looking monkey to the side. He tries to pet it but as soon as his hand meets the monkey’s head it attacks him. Adam and Eve and the gang laugh at his misfortune. We cross dissolve to the woods as we see a light swarm of flies hover over a rustling bush. The sound of a zipper being pulled up is heard as Larry rises.

“There isn’t even a decent place to dump my oil. I’m already starting to chafe!” Larry says in an annoyed tone. We cut to Otto and Tuddrussel as they lay under a tree. Larry comes out of the woods spraying bug repellent everywhere.

“I just saw Adam and Eve singing ‘Kumbaya’ or something on the other side of the forest, let’s figure out a way to get Eve to eat that forbidden apple so that we can finish the mission, leave this filthy national park and get back home.” Larry says in a strict tone

“Leave? Are you out of your mind? This place is great!” Tuddrussel says.

“Yeah, and look how relaxed Tuddrussel is. Just watch…Hey Tuddrussel, what is Time Squad Patrol’s motto?” Otto asks.

“Uh, to protect…and uh, look out or something.” Tuddrussel says as he goes back to sleep.

“Y’see! Anyway, Adam and Eve are really nice. And tonight, we’re gonna trip out looking at the stars .” Otto says as he lies back down.

“Ugh, have you two gone mad?!” Larry protests. Suddenly Adam and Eve walk up to them holding hands.

“Hey, you guys wanna go prance through the flower garden again?” Eve asks.

“You bet!” Tuddrussel says as he leaps to his feet.

“Yahoo!” Otto agrees.

“Groovy.” Adam adds. They all skip away leaving Larry standing alone.

“Fine, I’ll do it without you.” Larry screams.

We then fade up on Larry picking an apple from the forbidden apple tree. Larry then runs off screen in a sinister fashion. We cut to Larry walking up to Eve as she, Otto, Tuddrussel and Adam play with a hackey sack on a hill.

“Hello Eve, you looked famished. Would you care for a bite of this apple?” Larry asks politely.

“No way, we’re not supposed to eat from the forbidden apple tree. And anyway, I’m a strict vegetarian, no fruit! Fruit kills the earth.” Eve says in a strict manner.

“No it doesn’t. Look.” Larry says as he opens his metal mouth and puts the apple in and we hear a sound like an apple being dropped into a bucket. “Mmmmm!” Larry says with a fake smile. He then removes the apple from his hollow chest by opening a lever door in his front and tries to hand it to Eve. “Now you try one!” Larry asks again.                                      

“No. Look man, your harshing my mellow.” Eve says authoritatively. Suddenly the hackey sack comes from off screen and nails Larry in the face. We cut to Tuddrussel standing off to the side.

“Yeah, don’t harsh her mellow. Larry!” Tuddrussel yells. Larry takes the apple and stomps off.

“You haven’t seen the last of me!” Larry says in a harsh tone.

“Man, what’s that dude’s problem?’ Adam asks Tuddrussel.

“Oh, he’s a robot.” Tuddrussel replies. We then cut to a montage of Larry offering Eve apples in different places around Eden. (It will be played as an homage to ‘Green Eggs and Ham’.) We first see the gang braiding each other’s hair as Larry presents the apple and a pair to Eve.

“Would you like an apple with a pair?” Larry asks.

“No!” Eve responds. We next see Eve and the gang dancing around a fire at night as Larry walks up with an apple as a bear stands beside him.

“Could you eat one with a bear? Larry asks.

“No!” Eve responds. We then see the gang playing frisbee.

“Would you like one in a park?” Larry asks.

“No!” Eve responds. We then see Eve and the gang meditating while sitting Indian-style on the ground at night as Larry walks up and whispers to her.

“Could you eat one in the dark?” Larry asks.

“No!” Eve whispers back. Next we see the gang sun bathing on a beach.

“Would you eat one near the sea?” Larry asks.

“No!” Eve responds. Finally we see the gang folk singing while sitting next to a tree as Larry’s head comes in upside down out of a tree’s leaves as he offers the apple.

“Could you eat one in a tree?” Larry asks.

“No!” Eve responds as Larry falls. “I do not like them with a pair, I would not eat one with a bear. I do not like them in the dark; I would not eat one in a park. I do not like them when I tan, I don’t like to eat apples man!” Eve protests loudly to Larry.

“Yeah, lay off!” Otto adds.

“Fine. I give up! If I never see any of you again it’ll be too soon!” Larry says storming off.

“Ah, who needs ya!” Tuddrussel yells. We hold a beat.

“Now who wants to go prance through the flower patch?” Adam asks.

“Well, we did that yesterday but…okay.” Tuddrussel says

“Groovy!” Adam says as the group skips away. We then show the gang prancing, swinging on the vine and swimming two more times as Tuddrussel and Otto seem to grow tired as Adam and Eve continue happily. We end on Tuddrussel and Otto standing exhausted in the flower patch. Also Tuddrussel has grown a beard and Otto’s hair is long. Adam and Eve skip up to them.

“What’s wrong? You guys aren’t prancing.” Adam asks.

“Uh, that’s all we’ve done for months.” Tuddrussel protests.

“Then we’ll just go swing on some vines!” Eve says.

“I’m gonna choke you with that vine!…oh sorry, I didn’t mean that.” Otto corrects himself.

“We’ll catch up with you two later.” Tuddrussel says through his teeth.

“Okay, groovy.” Adam says and the two skip off holding hands.

“If he says groovy one more time…Aaugh! I’m losing my mind. Everywhere I look is a tree or a flower. If I have to see one more rainbow I’m going to scratch my eyes out! Uh oh.” Tuddrussel says in a fit of paranoia as he grabs his left arm and falls over. Otto looks down at him.

“I miss TV.” Otto proclaims. We fade out. We then fade up on Larry sweeping the entrance to a cave marked with a scratch for every day he has spent in Eden. He is a bit rusted and ragged but still his pompous self.

“Larrrrrrry!” Otto is heard off in the distance.

“Where are you!” Tuddrussel yells in a panicked tone. Larry shakes his head in disgust. Suddenly Tuddrussel and Otto spot him and run up.

“Oh man, are we happy to see you buddy.” Tuddrussel says while grabbing Larry’s shoulders.

“We’ve been looking everywhere for you!” Otto adds.

“We need to finish this mission and get out of this nightmare world of relaxation and love and swinging on vines!” Tuddrussel pleads. Larry pauses for a beat then speaks.

“Well, well, well, I guess Larry wasn’t so dumb after all.” Larry starts.

“We never said you were dumb!” Otto protests.

“Yeah, I just said you were a terrible cook.” Tuddrussel says.

“Aha! The truth comes out. And now what do you think.” Larry asks.

“I’ll eat all the snails you want when we get home!” Tuddrussel pleads.

“Apology accepted.” Larry says as Tuddrussel kisses his hand.

“Look Larry, I’ve got a plan, but we’re gonna need your help.” Otto says. We fade out. We fade up on Adam and Eve as they stand around the forest. Eve’s stomach growls.

“Whoa, I’m like hungry man.” Eve says.

“You said it dude.” Adam agrees.

“Did somebody say, hungry?” Larry says from off screen as he comes in holding a large silver platter under a dome as Tuddrussel and Otto walk behind him. He sets it down in front of Adam and Eve.

“Wow, is all this for me?” Eve asks innocently.

“Think of it as my little way of saying, thank you.” Larry says raising the lid to reveal a beautifully exquisite looking pie dish.

“Crepe de Chafonne flambé! You see, where I come from we have this thing called cooking! It makes food taste good!” Larry says in a sharp manner as he looks at Tuddrussel. Tuddrussel rolls his eyes. Larry then lights the pie with a flame coming out of his finger as Adam and Eve ‘ooh’ and ‘ahh.’ Larry then blows it out. “Bon apetit!” Larry says with a smile.

“Wait, what’s this made of?” Eve says skeptically.

“Oh, just some things I found…around.” Larry says innocently. Adam and Eve look at each other, shrug and lick their lips devouring the entire plate as they begin to push each other away like rabid dogs.

“Get away, he said it was for me!” Eve proclaims to Adam.

“Stop being so greedy!” Adam yells as they finish the plate off.

“That was delicious!” Eve proclaims licking her fingers.

“That is the best thing I’ve ever eaten. What was it?” Adam asks.

“Oh, just a French recipe for…apple pie!” Larry says letting out a sinister laugh as lighting strikes behind him and dark clouds form.

“Apples? Adam you idiot, I told you it was a trick you dirty hippie!” Eve yells.

“Hippie? You’re the one that’s naked!” Adam says pointing at Eve.

“Shut up!” Eve screams. The two go into a light slapping match as rain falls and lightning strikes everywhere and the ground begins to crack bellowing with red light.

“Aw, look at them. All full of anger and rage. It’s beautiful.” Tuddrussel says with a sentimental smile.

“Let’s go home guys.” Otto says.

“I hate you Larry.” Tuddrussel says as he puts his arm around Larry.

“And I hate you Tuddrussel.” Larry says as he gets choked up and smiles. Larry types the coordinates into his arm and BAM! They’re gone.

THE END

[canyouevencauseicant]

Truly Good At Heart (Pavel Chekov Imagine)

Author’s note: Hey guys, so this is my first imagine in a very long time. I’m hoping to write more from now on, so please don’t hesitate to request imagines and give some constructive criticism! Enjoy!

You sat in the prison bay on board the U.S.S. Enterprise, glaring at the three men standing on the other side of the glass looking in at you. One of them, who you had heard referred to as ‘Captain’, was watching you with severity and an almost scolding look, while the other two, both in blue shirts and one of which was a Vulcan, simply watched you with curiosity and slight confusion. 

“Captain, are you certain that she is what you stated earlier?” The Vulcan inquired, turning to look at the man in the yellow command shirt, whose gaze didn’t shift from you for a second. ‘It’s not like I’m going anywhere. What’s this guy’s problem?’ You thought to yourself, a scowl (somewhat matching the other man in a blue shirt’s one) appearing on your face.

At this, you stood up and matched the Captain’s gaze with equal ferocity, “A mercenary, you mean? Yeah. That’s me. Now, can I get the hell out of here and back to what I need to do?” At this, all three men stared at you before the other man in blue spoke up, “How can I put this in a way you’ll understand? You’re a damned professional murderer, kid. So you’re under arrest until we get back to Earth.” At this, you simply walked up to the glass barrier and snapped, “I’m getting arrested for going after one of the most dangerous fugitives on the loose? A fugitive who was on death row for the murder of hundreds of innocent civilians, men, women and children alike? Please, I’m doing the Federation a favor. That is, if you morons have the sense to let me get back to my job. I almost had him when you idiots beamed down and arrested me. ME! Instead of that criminal!”

“Don’t you get it kid? You’re a criminal too! You’ve killed people too!” The Captain snapped back venomously, and you would’ve recoiled had that been the first time you heard that. But, luckily, you had heard that multiple times. You told yourself that many times a day. So, you just rolled your eyes and said, “I didn’t kill people. I DON’T kill people. I kill monsters. Horrible, deranged monsters who have lost every last ounce of their humanity, or any sense of right and wrong. Besides, wasn’t it your beloved Starfleet that ordered his capture? “Dead or alive”, I believe the arrest said?” “How the hell did you know that?” The other man in blue said, his eyes narrowing in suspicion as he watched you. You just smiled before cocking your head to the side, your tone dripping with false sweetness and innocence, “I’m not just a pretty face. I’ve picked up a few skills along the way.” At that, all three men fell silent, watching you incredulously. Then, the Vulcan suddenly spoke up, his tone calm, “What is your name and age?”

You rolled your eyes before leaning against the wall, “Don’t you know it’s rude to ask a lady her age, Pointy?” The Vulcan cocked his head to the side, “’Pointy’? Is that a derogatory reference to-?” “Spock, we’ve already been through this. Just forget it,” The Captain cut him off, before turning back to you, “By Starfleet regulations, any and all persons under arrest are required to answer such questions. So, kid, who are you?” 

You glared at him for a moment before sighing and standing up straight. However, just as you were about to explain who you were, the doors to the prison bay opened and in ran a young man with curly hair who couldn’t be that much older than yourself. You couldn’t help but notice how cute the young man was, but you quickly shook the thought out of your mind. “Keptin! Keptin! Ve haf just received a message from Starfleet! Zhey haf ordered all wessels to go after zis fugitive, sir!” The young man exclaimed as he handed the Captain his PADD. You cocked your eyebrow in interest as you watched the Captain go through the information on the PADD, and as his face paled and he looked up at you.

The young, curly-haired man looked at you for the first time, and when he saw you, he did a bit of a double-take; what was a pretty, young lady like yourself doing in the prison bay? Meanwhile, the Captain held up the PADD to face you, a picture of the wanted fugitive you had been so close to getting, “Is this the man you were after?” You just nodded your head, “Yeah, that’s him alright.” The Captain turned to the three other men, and after a little while of the three of them conversing quietly, they turned back to you and the Captain spoke up, “Since our introductions were interrupted, I believe we should take a moment now. My name is Captain Kirk, and before we decide anything, we need to know more about you. So, once again, who are you, kid?”

“My name is (Y/L/N). (Y/N) (Y/L/N). I’m 17 years old, and I have 23 kills to my name,” you stated simply, watching their faces intently. You felt slightly smug as you watched all their eyes widen when you stated your age. However, none of them flinched when you listed your kills except for the young Russian, who looked startled and even a bit afraid. But now, he was watching you intently, his big blue-green eyes focusing on you with curiosity. You decided to continue, sighing quietly as you told your story, “I never really had a proper family, but in the end I found one. It wasn’t perfect, but they took care of me and taught me to take care of myself. Now, here I am.” When nobody commented on that, you decided to drop your guard just a bit and be honest, “Look, I know I’m not a good person. I’ve killed people, yeah, but I did it because they posed a threat to others. I guess.....in some strange way.....I felt like I was doing something good. But now........guess that’s over. So, what’s the deal?”

That truly took Kirk, Spock, Bones and Chekov off-guard, You had gone from cold-hearted mercenary to a small, young, vulnerable girl in a matter of moments. Kirk, Spock and Bones began to talk quietly once more, but Chekov simply watched you for a few more seconds. The more he looked at you, the more he got the feeling that you weren’t truly as bad as maybe your profession made it seem. You looked up at the Russian, and you couldn’t help but smile a bit at him. This small smile solidified Chekov’s gut feeling, and he turned to the group and quickly interjected, “Excuze me, Keptin, but I think ve should let Miss (Y/L/N) help us.”

Kirk, Spock and Bones all shut up for a few seconds before turning to look at the young ensign. “Oh yeah? And why’s that, Mr. Chekov?” Kirk asked, genuinely intrigued to hear what his navigator had to say on the subject. Chekov cleared his throat before beginning his explanation, “I have no concrete vay of proving zat my opinion iz correct, but I have a gut feeling zat Miss (Y/L/N) izn’t az bad az ve think she is, sir. And zere might be a chance zat ve can convince Miss (Y/L/N) to change professions, and if she proves useful enough, to even perhaps join ze crew.” 

The three senior officers stayed silent as they processed what Chekov had said, but then Kirk had a bit of a smile on his face as he said, “I think Chekov might have a point here.” “Jim, you’re not seriously considering-” Bones began, but Kirk immediately cut him off, “Of course I am. Bones, this girl might be our key to catching this guy. So I think Chekov’s got a point.” And with that, Kirk spun around before addressing you once more, “Well, Miss (Y/L/N), I think there’s a chance of us letting you go, but in exchange, you need to help us catch that fugitive. However, if you try to escape, you’re coming straight back in here with no second chance for release. If you try to turn on us, same thing. If you try to attack anyone, I’ll have Bones sedate you and drag you back here. Understood?” 

You looked at him, taking everything he said into account before nodding your head, “Alright, Captain Kirk. You’ve got yourself a deal.” After a pause, you continued, “Thank you for giving me a second chance. I know I probably don’t deserve it.” “Don’t thank me,” Kirk replied, a small smile on his face as he patted the young Russian on the back, “Thank Mr. Chekov and his gut feeling, here.” You turned to face the young man, before smiling at him and bowing your head gratefully, “Thank you, Russian. I owe you one. Big time.” At that, Chekov blushed a bright pink before smiling at you and replying, “It iz no problem, Miss (Y/L/N). I juzt hope you prove me right.” “I’ll try my best,” you replied, being more honest than you had in your entire life.

*TIME SKIP*

“Quick! If we split up, we’ll have a better chance of getting him!” You shouted to Kirk over your shoulder as you fired your phaser. 

You were caught in a shootout with the fugitive in an abandoned building, and you knew there were only a couple ways this could end; either he would kill the whole lot of you, as he had done countless times before, and get away, or you would manage to run the bastard down, corner him and bring his destruction to an end. 

“Captain, the statistical probability that this is simply a ruse to escape is extremely-”

“Shut it, Pointy! This is a matter of life and death!” You shouted immediately, shutting Spock up as you continued to fire, trying your best to hit your current target. You weren’t certain, but you thought you heard a slight snort come from Kirk as watched your back. 

“Miss (Y/L/N) juzt might have a point, Keptin. Zis iz getting us novhere!” Chekov shouted from his position, just across the corridor. You took a second to shoot him a small smile, and you could’ve sworn that a pinkish glow appeared on the Russian’s face. Kirk grabbed your shoulder and quickly yanked you back into the small alcove where you were hiding, narrowly saving you from a blast to the face.

“Now’s not the time to flirt, (Y/L/N)!” Kirk scolded you, although the look on his face gave away that his scolding was less serious than you believed it to be, “I think you’re right. We’re gonna have to split up. I’ll stay behind with Spock, distract our target. I’ll let you and Chekov find your way over to him and get the bastard at last. Be careful, (Y/L/N), you’ll only have one chance. Don’t blow it.”

“Me? Blow it?” You scoffed, withdrawing a second phaser and setting it to ‘Kill’, “Never.”

Kirk looked as though he wanted to retort snappily, but before he could, you shouted “Cover me!” and dashed out into the open corridor, once again narrowly avoiding several shots as you made it to where Chekov was standing. “Come on, Russian. Let’s go!” You muttered as you grabbed him by the sleeve and tugged him after you. 

You could feel your heart pounding violently as you sprinted from corridor to corridor, weaving your way closer and closer to your target. Your blood was rushing in your ears and it drowned out the sound of phaser blasts, your footsteps, everything. Even Chekov seemed to fade away as you got closer and closer to the target, to the monster who had killed so many people, torn apart so many families, ruined so many lives... 

‘This is your chance, (Y/N)! This is your chance to end the bastard! This is your chance for justice!’

You felt the anger and the pure, unadulterated rage coursing through your veins. This was it. This was going to be the moment you had been waiting for, the moment you had been hunting down and chasing for so long. This was it.

As you and Chekov rounded a corner, you caught sight of your target. Thankfully, Kirk and Spock were doing a grade-A job of keeping him engaged and distracted that he didn’t notice your and Chekov’s sudden appearance. Your heart was frantic now, beating so hard that your chest physically hurt from anticipation. Your breathing was shaky and you could feel sweat breaking out as you approached the fugitive. 

“(Y/N), are you alright?”

Chekov’s voice startled you out of your daze, and you quickly shrugged him off with a mumbled, “I’m fine. Got this.” You could pretty much feel Chekov’s worried gaze piercing your back, but you couldn’t allow him to get in the way. Not now. Not when you were so close.

You felt a piece of you shut down. You were going into killing mode. You were taking the most vulnerable, softest, most innocent piece of yourself and locking it away. You didn’t want this to cost you more than it already did every time you had made a kill. This was it. 

Suddenly, everything was going in slow motion. The world around you moved ten times slower than you. Everything was silent. There was just you and the fugitive, this monster you had been hunting for so long, this bastard who had to pay for the things he had done. 

You found yourself sprinting towards him.

His back was facing you.

He was turning.

Suddenly, he was face to face with you. 

You felt yourself raising your phaser. 

You felt your phaser firing, you had taken the shot.  

You watched his body drop to the ground.

But though his eyes closed and his body went limp, you could see his chest rising and falling. He was still breathing. 

He was still alive.

‘What are you doing?!’ Your mind screamed, ‘Kill him! Kill this bastard! Make him pay!’

Some part of you registered Kirk, Spock, Chekov and the rest of the crew present joining you, binding the fugitive so he couldn’t escape and setting him up on his knees. Your blood was still rushing in your ears, louder now than before, and your heart pounding even more violently than ever. You could see Kirk and Spock talking to one another, as well as with other crew members, you could see their lips moving. But you couldn’t hear a sound. 

You turned to see Chekov watching you carefully, his lips also moving, but you could not bring yourself to read them. You could not hear him, either. 

‘Forget him! Kill the bastard! Kill him! He deserves to die for all he’s done! He deserves this! Kill him!’

You watched as the fugitive slowly regained consciousness from being stunned. You watched his eyes focus in on his surroundings, you watched him compute what was happening, what had happened to him. 

You watched his eyes widen and fill with fear, probably for the first time ever, as you found yourself pointing the phaser right between his eyes. 

“(Y/L/N)! What are you doing?! Put your phaser down!” Kirk shouted as he saw you do this. But you ignored him. You could hear Chekov shouting as well, but you didn’t care. You had to do this.

You looked this fugitive, this man, who had done so many bad things, who was up to his neck in other people’s blood, and watched the fear that was so foreign to him flash in his eyes as they flitted between you and your phaser. You knew he was at your mercy, and he knew it, too. And yet...

You don’t know what happened, but instead of your finger moving to pull the trigger, your mouth moved instead.

“You have no idea how long I’ve dreamed of killing you. I’ve pictured a thousand different ways of making you suffer before finally snuffing out your miserable, empty life. I want you to pay for what you’ve done. You have killed so many people, and hurt so many more in the wake of all your destruction. You deserve to pay. But I’m not going to kill you. Because killing you would be all too easy. You wouldn’t truly suffer. You wouldn’t pay for what you’ve done. You’d just get away with it all. So instead, I’m going to let you live. You’re going to have to live with the knowledge that you’ve killed innocent people, that you’ve destroyed and torn apart so many lives. And all for nothing.”

You took a deep breath after speaking, your voice quiet and even and borderline calm despite your pounding heart. After a couple moments of silence, you spoke one last time to this creature in front of you, “I’m not going to kill you. I’m not going to kill you because I’m better than you. I know better than you, and I will not let myself become like you. Not now, not ever.”

With that, you found yourself holstering your phaser and turning away as Starfleet crew members took the fugitive into custody and carried him away. You squeezed your eyes shut as you took a few calming, deep breaths, trying not to let yourself be overwhelmed by everything that had just happened. You didn’t know where your words had come from, you didn’t know why you had the sudden change of heart, but it happened regardless. 

“(Y/N)?”

Chekov’s voice was soft, but it still startled you slight. You must’ve flinched because Chekov quickly said, “Zorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you.” 

After a moment, you opened your eyes and looked up at the Russian, who had a smile on his face and a look on his face that seemed nothing short of awed. 

“W-Why are you looking at me like that?’ You asked, your voice shaking as the courage from before seemed to fail you. Chekov gave a slight chuckle before nodding his head to something behind you. When you turned your head, you realized that most of the crew members, including Kirk, had the same expression on their face as Chekov had had on his. Spock was the only exception, but even he had raised his eyebrows, clearly more shocked than he’d expected to be.

“What are you all staring at?” You snapped, your usual demeanor returning; you hated feeling or being seen as vulnerable.

After a few moments of silence, Kirk stepped forward and began to speak, “(Y/N), in all my years of being a captain, I have never seen anyone been able to restrain themselves like that. Especially not in a moment like that. You’ve been chasing this guy for ages, and you easily could’ve killed him. And yet, you chose not to. I don’t know anyone who’s ever done that before. That was incredible.”

The rest of the crew nodded in agreement, many of them smiling at you as they did so. You felt the heat rising to your face as you shrugged and replied, “In all honesty, I don’t really know where that came from. It just... happened, I guess.”

“I zhink...” Chekov started softly, causing you to look at him, “...zat it’z becauze you are truly good at heart. Regardless of your past, you haf goodness in you, (Y/N). And you just uzed it. Zat iz vhat zat vas.” 

You watched the Russian’s face for a couple moments, and your heart gave a funny little lurch as you gave him a genuine smile, “I hope you’re right. Thanks, Pavel.”

Chekov’s eyes widened, “How do you know my name? I’ve never said it in front of you.”

At this, you just smiled cheekily and replied, “As I told Captain Kirk earlier, I’m not just a pretty face. I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve.”

As Chekov just stood there, dumbfounded, Kirk burst into laughter. “Oh man, you’re quite a mischievous one, (Y/L/N)! Although, I’ve gotta say, Chekov’s right. Your heart seems to be in a better place than I thought it was. I think you’ve got the makings of a great officer in you, and Starfleet could always use someone as talented as you.”

You stood there for a moment, suddenly as dumbfounded as Chekov was as you sputtered, “B-But my criminal record! I’m a criminal, aren’t I? A mercenary. I can’t just apply for Starfleet. Plus, I’m still under arrest.”

Kirk bowed his head, “Yes, you are. For now. If we bring you in and credit you with the fugitive’s arrest, as well as vouch for your character... well, you’d be able to eventually become a part of Starfleet. But it will take some time. Promise to think about it?”

You stayed quiet for a moment, looking from Kirk to Spock, and then from Spock to Chekov. Chekov just smiled at you, making your heart jolt once more. You turned back to face Kirk and replied with utmost confidence, “Definitely. But for now, let’s get this villain back to Earth so he can stand trial for his crimes.”

“Indeed,” Spock chimed in, nodding his head and heading off with the crew, back towards the shuttle that had brought you all to this place. Kirk smiled at you and Chekov, said “Well done, both of you,” and then followed after Spock. This left just you and Chekov behind.

“Man, did that really just happen?” You breathed out, in complete disbelief. Chekov laughed softly before placing his hand on your back gently, “Yez, it did.” A shiver seemed to run down your spine at the contact, but it was a good kind of shiver. One you had never felt before. You felt warm and comforted for the first time in what felt like forever. 

“I hope you do enlist in Starfleet, (Y/N). Ze keptin iz right; you’d make a great officer.” Chekov spoke gently, causing you to grin back at him and reply, “I hope so, too. I guess we’ll just have to see what happens next.”

“Vell, I’m sure zat vhatever happens, you’ll be able to handle it.” Chekov said confidently before he headed off after the rest of the crew. 

You stood there for one last moment, watching Chekov’s retreating figure with a small, goofy smile on your face as you thought to yourself, ‘Well, I guess there’s only one way to find out.’ before setting off after him. 

[thesearchforspirk]

1 x 8: ‘Balance of Terror’ {Subtext Study}

Please read my manifesto here if you haven’t already- it better explains my beliefs as per the Kirk/Spock dynamic and what I aim to accomplish with this blog.

An admittedly shorter study as this episode is without any strong Kirk/Spock interaction to mull over. There are some interesting possible parallels here, but even in that respect I’m not sure I’ll say anything that the TOS Commentary hasn’t already said about this episode. For all these reasons this episode was a bit of a white elephant for me, so if you want to skip this write-up I’ll understand. Either way:

Our episode opens with a wedding on board ship and never has Kirk looked happier to perform his duties as Captain. The fact that this wedding goes smoothly is very important to him (because he cares that much about his crew and is that much of a romantic and I just love him ok) so when he gets a message from Spock that some Earth outposts are in trouble he privately, quietly acknowledges so that no one else will hear. Some shit is about to go down for sure.

(the fact that Scotty escorts the bride down the aisle thrills me to no end- it has nothing to do with this blog, I’m just a shameless Scotty fangirl) 

Sure enough the shit does, indeed, hit the fan and two Earth outposts are attacked by some mysterious vessel. The wedding must be abandoned and postponed (someone really does NOT ship this) so everyone can assume emergency battle stations as the Enterprise runs to help. On the bridge Kirk tries to gain as much info as he can about the attackers, though there doesn’t seem to be any definite info. A certain navigator is keen to help though, offering up, “there can’t be much doubt who’s attacking, sir”. 

He may be right about that, as it seems the earth outposts are in place to guard the neutral zone, an area agreed upon after a war with the Romulans a long time ago. It turns out said navigator had family members who died in that war so he’s got a bone to pick with the Romulans. Kirk tells him, however, that it was their war and not his so don’t make this a personal thing, bub...even if the attacker of the hour is Romulan, I guess. 

Spock replies that a few of the earth outposts have been completely decimated, indicating that the Romulan power must be greater than they thought. Kirk and Spock exchange some concerned looks as the gravity of their situation becomes apparent. 

Do you remember our cute wedding couple from earlier? We see them again, hard at work in what appears to be the engineering sector. The groom says, “Happy wedding day- almost.” and the bride jokes, “You won’t get off my hook this easily. I’m gonna marry you mister, battle or phaser weapons notwithstanding.” “Well, meanwhile, temporarily, at least, I’m still your superior officer- so get with it, Mister!” So, apparently cutie pie groom who has a striking resemblance to another certain cutie pie on the ship is his bride-to-be’s superior officer. She just so happens to be seated at a control panel acknowledging orders. I guess that’s pretty inconspicuous enough. 

(yeah...nothing to see here)

More on this later.

The bridge crew have to watch helplessly as Outpost 4 is taken out while they’re talking to one of the guys on it. Despite being surrounded by iron and deflector screens the Romulans were still able to disintegrate another outpost so, understandably, Kirk and Spock share some more increasingly concerned looks. After this, Spock says that the vessel appears to be turning back towards Romulus. Kirk wants the Enterprise to follow the ship silently, but the navigator argues (as well as Sulu) that all decks should maintain security alert. Since the vessel was able to do so much in such a short time, it could be that there are spies aboard. Kirk decides to oblige them (another thing I love about Kirk- not letting his crewman talk down to him, but taking and considering and sometimes even heeding advice when its given to him by his inferior officers).

Anyway, Spock manages to get a peek into their ship and what do you know, it’s Sarek! I mean. It’s a Romulan. Same actor as Spock’s dad. The significance here is that they look like Vulcans. It’s telling that it seems everyone looks over at Spock in some kind of horrified realization, except for Kirk- though I think ultimately this is more testament to Kirk’s character than it is anything subtextual; he’s not the sort of person to assume that a person’s resemblance to someone else means they’re in some kind of cahoots with them because he’s not a racist asshole. 

Until Undiscovered Country, anyway. Anyway! 

Everyone else is staring accusatory at him though and I guess Spock can feel the eyes on him, because he looks over at a very hostile bridge. Kirk is having none of it. He sweeps around the bridge, most of the eyes going back to their work as he passes except for the impassioned navigator. Kirk has to tap said navigator’s panel to remind him where his gaze should be. Even still, this jackass can’t help himself but mutter that Spock should be in charge of decoding anything from the Romulan ship. 

You’d think most people on the Enterprise would know what a dumb thing that’d be to say in Kirk’s presence, but alas. 

Kirk orders that he repeats himself and offers that he really means he’s complimenting Spock on his ability to decode. Navigator says he’s ‘unsure’ of that. Kirk spins his chair around and says, “Well, here’s one thing you can be sure of, Mister. Leave any bigotry in your quarters, there’s no room for it on the bridge.” and the navigator gets the message- as one would hope. 

It should be noted that Spock’s reaction when Kirk starts laying into the guy says a lot about how Kirk must usually react when someone talks smack about his first officer. I have no doubt Spock could handle himself if he had been left to do so, but Kirk won’t hear of that. So, in my humble opinion, this is still a precious moment between them even if not anything irrefutably subtextual. 

(this is totally an ‘oh shit he’s gonna kill him’ look if you ask me) 

Meanwhile we get an inside look into the Romulan’s ship and see an exchange between Captain Sarek and who appears to be his second in command. They talk of war and stuff, the point being they seem to know each other well and are brothers in arms. We also get a preemptive look into the fact that Captain Sarek and Kirk seem to think a lot alike as commanders. It would seem a parallel is being drawn here perhaps. 

So, what about the almost-married couple? Their presence in this certainly isn’t incidental and is yet another pairing of people who know each other well, have fought and worked alongside each other, but seem to share a romantic layer to their relationship as well. 

Huh. Interesting stuff, that.  

Kirk calls another emergency briefing, including the bigoted navigator from before. He makes some more implications about Spock knowing all about “these people”, to which Kirk tells him to back off again, but Spock actually agrees with him, that if the Romulans are anything like how Vulcans were in the pre-logic time then attack is necessary. Thankfully, they also realize that a comet is nearby and if the Romulans should go through the tail they would end up dragging out debris enough to be spotted even with their cloaking device.

They attempt this in what appears to be a huge gamble- and lose. Captain Sarek has them turn away at the last minute, having guessed Kirk’s move. Kirk himself says “He did exactly what I would’ve done” further cementing a parallel between him and Captain Sarek. They do manage to finally hit the Romulan vessel by firing blind, which causes the second in command to sacrifice himself by being hit by falling debris in order to push Captain Sarek out of the way. 

Unfortunately for the Enterprise something short-circuits (near Spock’s panel for some reason) and they’re helpless when the Romulans fire back at them. They back up enough that the shot doesn’t hit them as hard as it might have. Rand also uses the opportunity to press herself against Kirk a bunch and he obliges her, but once again looks moreover pretty uninterested. Can’t blame a girl for trying. We also get another shot of cute almost-married couple, groom-to-be helping bride-to-be to her feet after the impact. So. That’s a thing. Just file it away for now.

More parallels are drawn to the way Kirk and Captain Sarek think and the Romulan second in command is hurt and eventually dies. Fortunately, Spock has the phasers working again, which for reasons I do not understand, rely on the wiring beneath his panel. Whatever, technology. He sure looked cute lying there fixing it, anyway. Kirk is full and ready to violate neutral zone treaty to follow and finish the Romulan vessel if needed, but Captain Sarek utilizes some trickery by throwing debris and the body of his second in command out the side of the ship. Spock and Kirk call his bluff, but have lost the ship on the senors. They decide to turn everything off and hide to see if the Romulan vessel will reveal itself.

The waiting game lasts over nine hours, in which Kirk goes back to his room, conflicted. Rand walks in to offer him something to eat and he looks rather loathe to see her, honestly- but he’s polite and tells her no thanks and please make sure the door closes behind her on the way out, thanks very much. However, when McCoy walks in Kirk looks genuinely pleased and relieved. Rand, honey, it may be time to swim for open waters. Anyway, he and McCoy have a sweet moment in which Kirk is feeling lost and stressed under the circumstances and McCoy says there’s only one of him, only one that could get them through this situation. 

Back on the bridge their silence is interrupted when Spock accidentally presses a signal button (which is hilarious in and of itself) and of course now racist navigator is newly convinced Spock is some kind of Romulan spy (to which Kirk attempts to assure him otherwise). Kirk manages to match the Romulan vessel’s moves by blanket firing again, but Captain Sarek’s got another trick up his sleeve; he sends out a nuclear warhead with the debris. Kirk manages to intercept it with a phaser but the Enterprise suffers its own casualties. 

The two of them remain in a holding pattern as Captain Sarek is hesitant to attack again, he just wants to go home- alas, he has a duty to crush the enemies of his homeland. He seems as tired as Kirk, honestly. Racist navigator moves to go help groom-to-be with weapons control and when Spock asks if they need any help, he spits back, “This time we’ll do things without your help, Vulcan.” It’s no way address a superior officer and maybe Spock should’ve said something- or maybe he realizes now isn’t the time or place. Either way, he leaves without reprimand just as the weapons room begins to flood with, uh...toxic purple gas, I suppose.

Anyway, time’s up for the Romulan vessel. They hit critically, Kirk interfaces with Captain Sarek one last time and they relate as kindred spirits before Captain Sarek is forced to self destruct. Elsewhere, Spock has managed to rescue racist navigator from the purple gas (and Kirk pointedly asks Spock first if he’s alright even though it’s the navigator that’s laying wounded on the table lmao) but was not able to save groom-to-be. 

Kirk goes to comfort the bride and says, “It never makes any sense. We both have to know that there’s a reason.” She assures him she’s alright, but Kirk looks to be on the verge of tears after she leaves. He’s defeated the Romulan vessel, but there’s no victory in it on either side. 

While, again, this episode lacks any strong subtextual interaction directly between our boys, it is interesting that the two other pairings featured (Captain Sarek + his second in command, the groom/bride to be) hold resemblances to the both of them and the various aspects of their dynamic. It would certainly have been sufficient to have had the Romulan commander and his SiC be the only parallel present, there really isn’t much need for the soon-to-be married couple that I can think of outside of plot stakes. Heck, we don’t even see much of them. I would argue the stakes are high enough in this episode without the engaged couple, so what purpose do they really serve?

Indeed, it could simply be an addition they put in to highlight just how tragic war is- as Kirk and Captain Sarek come to find within one another, even without the groom’s death. For this reason, this explanation is a bit flimsy, given especially that we already have a parallel drawn between the Romulan commander and his SiC. Groom-to-be even looks like Kirk and happens to be his bride’s superior officer. Coincidence? The universe is rarely so lazy. 

That’s about all I have for this episode. I anticipate something a bit meatier to chew on with our next episode, “What Are Little Girls Made Of?”

[musikat18]

Take A Break (Jim Kirk x Reader Part 4)

That Would Be Enough (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4- You are here)

Pairing: AOS Jim Kirk/Reader

Warnings: Combat situations, stress, tight spaces

A/N: I’m back and settled into senior year! Since the rain is here and I’m stuck at home, it seemed like a good time to put y’all back on the edges of your seats about Jim and Reader. :) Enjoy!

At Yorktown, you’d had a bit of a reputation for being a workaholic. Of course, people understood; you’d just come from the fleet’s flagship and one of the most harrowing tragedies in Starfleet history. Everybody copes in different ways, and your co-workers had been quick to adjust to your hardline work schedule.

Some had insisted you take a break. You, going down the turbolift to investigate the intrusion, were very glad you never did. Being in a place like Yorktown would have made you rusty, and that wasn’t what you needed, peering through the dimmed corridor lights to analyze your surroundings. So far, there were no signs of life-- crew members or otherwise. 

Your ears perked at the sound of footfalls around the corner. As you crept toward the three-way hall, you kept your phaser on stun and your trigger finger ready. Steady...steady...you counted your breaths as you edged closer to the sound.

Now.

You whirled to face the corridor and pointed your phaser out to fire.

“SWEET MOTHER OF CHRIST, Y/N!”

You had barely missed the head of a certain Southern doctor.

“Oh...hi, Bones,” you exhaled. “Sorry, I thought you were one of the intruders.”

“Yeah, me too,” he said, and it was then that you noticed the faux-filled hypo in his hand, “only I don’t have an itchy trigger finger.”

“Call it muscle memory,” you shrugged. He rolled his eyes and went to keep going, but you grabbed his arm.

“I’d rather you have backup than try to take on one of these guys with a hypospray.”

You suppressed your own smirk at his eye roll. You had to admit; you weren’t glad you left everyone behind for Yorktown.

“Wouldn’t need to be armed if you took a break and put that trigger finger away.”

“You know why I can’t do that. Now, shush. They could hear us, we don’t know who they are or how superior their physiology is to ours.”

McCoy said dryly, “Glad I have your perpetual optimism to keep my weak ass safe.”

You didn’t respond; you had work to do.

“...So Spock and I came down here to make a sweep of the place, see if we could find some crew who needed a hand,” Bones finished explaining his story. 

“Yeah,” you said, “not too long after that, I decided it was time to get moving, too.”

Bones chuckled as you both kept your guards up down the corridor, “Bet Jim was pleased as pie about that.” 

“It’s not like I stuck around long enough to find out.”

“Ain’t that the truth,” the doctor noted. You both fell silent.

You knew he wasn’t just talking about your little impulse run to check on the crew.

It was a long moment before you asked, “Was he angry when I left the Enterprise?”

“No, not angry at you,” McCoy said quickly. “I think he understood you leaving. Hell, he probably had the same thoughts. I think he was just hurting.”

“I know.”

You didn’t have to tell Bones what you meant. You had made friends with him first, after all; you had a silent language just as rich as the one you shared with Jim.

You kept your phaser poised at the two of you continued on, until you came upon a gruesome sight: the first living crew member of your hall sweep.

He was a red shirt, one you recognized as a newer recruit on board, from the list of personnel you had scanned when the Enterprise docked at Yorktown. There was a large wound in his abdomen, leaving him completely incapacitated. His face had become oddly gaunt and green, sunken in and giving him an almost reptilian appearance.

“That can’t be normal, he’s a human in his files,” you crouched down by Bones, who was already scanning the wound with his tricorder. You leaned over his shoulder to look at the image on the screen; the man’s insides were morphing and deteriorating into nothing. 

McCoy was tense and concerned. You squeezed his shoulder; he was much more sensitive than most expected when it came to things like this. You just hoped that Jim was still safe up on the bridge managing the situation.

“Doctor! Commander!”

The blasts came closer down the hallway after Spock’s calls of warning, and in an instant, you shifted into a defensive position. Without any time to catch your breath, you began firing behind the approaching Vulcan officer.

“McCoy, we have to go,” you nudged him up. Bones nodded; you knew he knew to listen to you in Officer Mode. You avoided looking at the empty gaze of the young crewman you were leaving behind. 

The ship tilted sideways with such suddenness and such strength that all three of you were knocked off your feet in an instant. You gripped hard on your phaser with one hand and kept Leonard behind you with the other as you, the commander, and the doctor all did your best to dodge phaser fire from the invaders as you helplessly slid down the corridor. You felt your back collide with McCoy’s in a hard slam, and it was only seconds after Spock tumbled into your stomach that you realized you three had fallen into the turbolift and were sliding down the ship-- fast.

You slammed your hand on the emergency brakes and began scrambling to get a call up to Jim on the bridge, but it was no use. The turbolift slid out an open hole in the bottom of the neck of the ship.

Your breath grew heavy and thick in an attempt to keep yourself calm. Jim was up there with a panicked crew, hostile invaders with weapons you’d never seen before, and no security officer to report to for help. 

No, you told yourself. My job is the safety of the crew, and right now, I have two crew members right here to protect.

That was what you were thinking as the enemy ship rammed into the turbolift.

You looked over at Leonard; he was clearly uncomfortable. You squeezed his arm and readied your phaser for whatever the enemy had waiting for you three. The unidentified alien burst through the doors and attacked Spock. Its back was turned to you; you repaid its mistake by throwing him back through the passage to his own ship. It grabbed at your shoulder with a constricting grip. You struck a hard kick to its knee and then elbowed his face. Your two companions crossed by you into the enemy ship, and you slammed a button on the wall of the ship. A door open, sucking your attacker into space and nearly taking you with it, but Spock closed the hatch before you could be lost.

“I’ll take the gunner position,” you began crawling toward the front, giving Spock a halting pat to the shoulder when you noticed the oozing green wound in his side. McCoy reluctantly climbed above you into the pilot’s position.

“My god...” you heard him gasp after a moment, “Spock, Y/N, they’re taking the crew!”

Your breath caught in your throat. This was not happening. This could not be happening. You had never seen a situation like this since....

“Bones, take us back up there!” you commanded. You strangled the trigger on your console, anger coursing through your veins. You had to get your ship from the attackers. You had to help the ship back through the nebula. There was no time for Spock or the injured crewman or anyone else. 

You needed to ensure that your captain was safe.

Your blood boiled at the red lights from above.

“Shit,” you heard a very Southern mumble, just before you began quaking in your seat.

“Leonard! Take us back up there! Take us back up! Take us back! Leonard!” you screamed.

“Dammit, Y/N, I’m a doctor, not a fucking pilot!”

“Commander,” Spock heaved from the space in the back of the battle cruiser, “we must ground the vessel and regroup-”

“We are not regrouping without Jim!”

“That’s not much of an option, sweetheart!”

“Bones!”

“Brace yourself!”

Your head hit the console in front of you with a hard smack. Your vision went fuzzy, and suddenly, your world was dark again.

Perhaps that was the only way to take a break.

Tagging: @mrkrychek @wonders-of-the-enterprise

[janeykath318]

Don’t Mess With Pregnant Ladies

Pairings: Fem Kirk/Bones, Spuhura

Warnings: None 

Their captors were writing the book on how NOT to stage a kidnapping for ransom, Jamie thought as she delivered a powerful kick to the gut of the angry Romulan that was trying to keep her from escaping. First of all The dingbats had thought two pregnant, well-known Starfleet officers would be easy prey, despite their vast experience and combat skills. Second, they clearly didn’t understand the power of motherhood when faced with threats to their offspring. As soon as they’d hauled Jamie and Nyota in front of the view screen and pointed phasers at their stomachs in full view of Spock and Bones, their plan had gone south as the mama bear mode went into full effect. Jamie tried to flash Bones a reassuring look, the poor man looked so terrified. 

“I’ve got this,” she mouthed to him, just before nodding to Uhura and flying into action. The Romulan tough guy wannabes were taken off guard at the fierceness of their hostages. Nyota could see Spock was exerting supreme effort to contain his agitation even as he worked with Sulu and Chekov to pinpoint their location. She kneed her captor right in his privates and he doubled over in pain, where she was able to grab his neck area and perform the nerve pinch Spock had taught her. He passed out cold. Jamie was just finishing off her guard when Nyota looked back over at her and the two shared a triumphant grin before turning to the screen to reassure their worried mates. “They didn’t get my boot knife, Uhura,” Jamie panted. “What about you?” “Still there,” she confirmed, her smile growing. “Let’s cut these ropes. We’re okay, Spock. Baby is doing fine, if a bit confused.” She had the advantage of having a telepathic bond with her little one, which was very comforting right now. Jamie was farther along, but only had the movement and mother instinct to go on. The Captain patted her stomach and smiled. “So is Davy. I think He’s annoyed with me for disturbing his nap. Seriously, he kicks like I do.” “Glad to hear that, darlin’” the doctor replied. “Try to take it easy if you can until we get there. Spock thinks he’s found the ship you’re on. It’s cloaking technology is not very good, luckily. Should have you out of there soon.” “Thanks, Bones,” Jamie said, beginning to peel off her right boot with her tied hands. She soon found she had to sit down to do it properly and managed to extract her knife, which she offered to Uhura. “Mind cutting the ropes? I’ll do yours next. These idiots didn’t think to tie our hands behind us.” “Are you certain there are no more crew aboard?” Spock asked cautiously. “We’ll be ready for them if there are,” Jamie answered determinedly, relieving the unconscious guards of their weapons upon freeing the lieutenant. She heaved herself to her feet (which was rather tricky due to her being seven months along) and examined the phaser, which was very high powered and lethal. “This thing doesn’t even have a stun setting,” she exclaimed. “They don’t mess around, I guess. We’ll only use these if we absolutely have to. Spock, do you have a read on this ship, yet?” “I do,” he confirmed. “But In order to retrieve you, it’s shields must be lowered. It would be preferable for it to be done manually. I will not risk firing while you and Lieutenant Uhura are on board.” “Understood, Commander,” Jamie said. “Well, luckily the best linguist in the Fleet is here, so we have a much better chance at finding the control in this maze.” Walking towards the computer banks, she began scanning them for anything that might be remotely connected to shield function. Both of them working together (Uhura deciphering the Romulan and Jamie figuring out the system) were able to succeed in lowering the shields, albeit after some trial and error. “I hear footsteps!” Uhura warned. “Does Scotty have our coordinates yet?” “Not yet, but he will very shortly.” Spock’s tone suggested dire consequences for the engineer should he be tardy in the transport. The footsteps grew louder and angry voices were heard yelling in Romulan when they realized they’d been locked out of the bridge. “It won’t hold long!” Jamie yelled, watching the door carefully, and taking aim with the phaser. “Get us out of here!” Just as the metal gave way under the battering of the Romulans, they were caught up by the transporter beams and beamed to safety. Leonard shook with relief, grasping the arm of the captain’s chair he’d been standing and watching the whole mess. They were safe. Jamie was safe. Meeting eyes with Spock, he could see the tension release from the first officer as well and he rose from the chair swiftly. “Mr. Sulu, you have the conn,” he ordered. Sulu nodded and took his place. Leonard almost ran to the lift to get to the transporter room, Spock striding along at a pace much faster than he normally used. “Bones!” Jamie exclaimed, as her husband met her in a tight embrace upon her return. (Well, as tight as they could with her bump in the middle). “Oh, Jamie darlin’,” he breathed between kisses. “I’m so glad you’re safe. I’ve haven’t been so scared in years.” Jamie held on tightly, more relieved than she’d ever let on, but she was very thankful to get back to her Bones. “There was no way I was going to let them hurt Davy,” she said. “They underestimated us again.” “They sure did,” Leonard replied, pride filling him at how his wife had handled those bad guys–in her third trimester, no less! “C'mon, Darlin’” he motioned at last, with a glance at her abdomen. “Let’s get you checked out. Make sure that drug they hit you with didn’t cause any problems. Who knows what was in it?” Reluctant as she was to move, she allowed him to guide her off the transporter and head towards Medbay. At least she wasn’t waddling, yet. Nyota, meanwhile, was allowing Spock to reassure himself of her and the baby’s wellbeing via their bond. She knew her abduction had been extremely stressful for him, even more so with her being pregnant. Vulcans were very protective of their mates and she’d seen that murderous look flickering in his eyes when the thug had a phaser aimed at her. “I am grateful you are unharmed, k'diwa,” he said out loud at last. “Despite my uneasiness, I do acknowledge Your combat skills are quite impressive. It reminded me of seeing you fight Krall’s troops on Altamid.” “Only a lot more awkwardly with my baby bump,” she added, fingers intertwining with his. Spock closed his eyes and the corner of his mouth twitched upward with the sensation the contact produced. “Perhaps we should adjourn to Medbay and then our quarters?” He suggested. “Dr. McCoy will want to confirm your good condition as well as the captain’s.” “A good suggestion, love,” she replied and they followed Jamie and Leonard out the door. 

Note: When I post this on Ao3, I’m planning on adding some alternate endings for Scirk and Pirk, because I want to explore Pike’s and Scotty’s reactions to this as well. I’m doing my best to lure people into the genderswap trash can:) @southernbellestatues @kingarthurscat @mrseclipse9856

[voyagerafod]

Star Trek Voyager: A Fire of Devotion: Part 4 of 4: Hotter Than Hell: Chapter Four

Chapter Four

Seven of Nine woke up in her and Samantha’s quarters and wondered why the room was so dark. She had set her alarm for the proper time, and Samantha had an earlier shift than her today. She noticed flickering lights and looked over to see the dinner table set up for an elaborate meal, and Samantha sitting in one of the chairs, wearing an unusually ornate and semiopaque dress.

“Did I miss something?” Seven said.     “I pulled a few strings,” Samantha said, running a finger along the edge of a glass of a liquid Seven assumed was alcoholic, “did a few favors, made sure Naomi and Icheb would be kept busy for awhile, and then I let you sleep in since you pulled a double shift yesterday.”     “Why would- Oh,” Seven said.     “I figured it’s been awhile since you and I had some time alone,” Samantha said. Seven got up and moved over to Samantha.     “Are we celebrating a particular occasion?” Seven asked as she placed a hand on Sam’s thigh.     “That it’s been two, long, months,” Sam said.     “Two months isn’t that long,” Seven said. “I can think of two instances which were longer, depending on how you count-”     “Just shut up and kiss me, Annie,” Sam said with a smile and a wink, leaning in close.     Seven offered a playful salute. “Yes, ma’am,” she said, moving in to press her lips against Sam’s, which she did just in time for the red alert klaxons to go off, the alarm noise drown out only by Samantha’s numerous expletives.

“Seven of Nine,” Tuvok’s voice said over the comm. “Report to the bridge as soon as possible.”

Seven sighed. “Unless the Borg are attacking I am going to be quite annoyed,” she said through clenched teeth. She reached over to the nightstand and slapped her comm badge.     “I’m on my way,” she said, not even attempting to hide her annoyance.

“Well,” Samantha said, looking apologetic even though none of this was her fault, “if you’re still free in a few hours, so am I.”

---

Janeway knew the look on Seven of Nine’s face when she entered the bridge all too well. She’d felt her own face do that whenever she for whatever reason had been called away from Mark back when they were together.     “Sorry to interrupt your alone time with Sam,” Janeway said. “but we just picked up a distress call from a space station a few light years away from here. The signal is Hirogen in origin.”     “That would appear to confirm my theory regarding the origin of the Photonic insurgents,” Seven said.     “Perhaps,” Janeway said. “But the signal has no specifics, it’s a general distress call. This could be anything.”

“We’re approaching the coordinates,” Tom said.     “Take us out of warp,” Janeway said, as Seven made her way over to the auxiliary tactical station just behind her and Commander Chakotay. “Seven, scan for signs of holograms anywhere nearby.”

“Understood,” Seven said.

“Raise shields and stand-by weapons,” Janeway said to Tuvok.

“I’ve got the source of the signal,” Harry Kim said. “Six thousand kilometers off the port bow.”     “On screen,” Janeway said. The station that appeared on screen didn’t seem very similar at all to the design of Hirogen ships she’d seen before. She wondered if this was some outdated model, something new, or perhaps even an ancient abandoned station not unlike the communications array that the Hirogen had used to use before she’d been forced to destroy it three years ago.

“Monotanium hull plating, tylium-based power,” Seven said. “It is definitely a Hirogen station.”     “They’re not responding to hails,” Harry said.     “Any life signs?” Chakotay said.     “I’m getting a lot of strange readings,” Harry said. “Any one of them could be a life form, but I can’t tell from here.”

“Any Hirogen ships in the vicinity?” Janeway said.     “None within range of our sensors,” Seven said.     “Do you think it could be a trap?” Chakotay said.     Janeway thought about the possibility for a moment, then shook her head. “It’s not like the Hirogen to play possum. They like the fight too much. Move us within transporter range. Chakotay, take an away team.”     Chakotay nodded, and without saying a word, stood up and went to the turbolift. As the image on the screen grew larger, more detail became visible. While the overall design of the station was, as Janeway had thought earlier, not much like the aesthetic of the Hirogen ships, the new details -- colors, sharp edges, etcetera -- made it clearer. The Hirogen had built this, she was certain now. She had known all along that the Hirogen were very spread out, but this far away from where she had first encountered them would’ve seemed impossible had it not been for the wormhole they’d passed a few weeks prior. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as she realized that this meant that Seven of Nine was probably right. The Hirogen’s holograms, holograms they could make because of the technology she gave them, could very well be the same holograms who had caused so much pain and suffering for the Lokirrim people.

---

    Seven of Nine looked around when she finished materializing, and saw trees, grass, and other flora. The sound of birds chirping overhead made her look up. It didn’t take her long to realize that this was a holodeck. The sky looked too natural for this to be an arboretum of some kind, something she had seen on other space stations. On some of those stations, those that didn’t just leave the ceilings their plain metallic color or use translucent domes that allowed denizens to see space, the ceilings would be painted the colors of the sky of whatever the homeworld of the station’s owners was. They never looked real, regardless of the skill of the designers.

    She had her phaser out as soon as she could move her arms, and the sound of phasers leaving holsters surrounded her. To her left, Chakotay had a tricorder out, already scanning for signs of life. Behind her, Tuvok and Lydia Anderson each held a phaser rifle.

    “Let’s break into teams,” Chakotay said. “Anderson, you’re with Seven. Tuvok, with me.”

    Each member of the away team responded silently, Anderson following Seven’s lead down the path directly ahead of Seven.     “I think I’ve found something,” Seven said, coming across a pile of branches that looked like someone had stacked them in a haphazard attempt to make them look like they’d fallen this way naturally. She holstered her phaser and moved the branches aside, finding two Hirogen hunters under them, holes in their armor, the chestplates and their faces covered in dry blood. She was certain they were dead, but she scanned them anyway, Anderson keeping her phaser rifle pointed at them while she did so.     “Dead,” Seven said. “The burns are consistent with particle weapons.”

    “I see their rifles next to the bodies,” Anderson said.     “I do as well,” Seven said, pointing her tricorder at the guns as well. “Almost fully charged. One appears not to have been fired at all, at least not today. The other, at most 4 shots.”     “So whoever got these guys got them quick,” Anderson said. “I hope they aren’t still here. I do not like the idea of going against something that can get the drop on a Hirogen hunter so easily.”

    “Given what I know of Hirogen culture, it is likely that only one of these two was an experienced hunter. The other would’ve been an apprentice.”

    “That doesn’t make me feel much better, Ensign. No offense.”     “I am not easy to offend, Lieutenant. Do you believe we should continue?”     “I know I outrank you,” Anderson said, “but you’re the one with the tricorder, and more practical experience with the Hirogen. I’ll defer to your judgment.”

    “Very well,” Seven said, looking off in the distance, trying to determine which direction to head. She thought she saw the glint of sunlight reflecting off something metal. She stood up and went towards it slowly, carefully checking her surroundings with each step.     “Is that what I think it is?” Anderson said.     “A bat’leth embedded in a tree on a Hirogen space station,” Seven said. “It is exactly as unexpected as your tone suggests.”

“There are easier ways to agree with me, Seven,” Anderson said. “I’m just sayin’.”     Seven ignored the comment and scanned the weapon, as well as the blood on it and the tree it was stuck in.     “The blood is Hirogen,” she said. The pace of the beeping on her tricorder started to pick up the closer she got to the tree. She walked past it, and it got faster still. She peered ahead and saw what looked like a small cave entrance, barely hidden amongst the trees. She tapped her comm badge.

“Seven of Nine to Commander Chakotay,” she said. “I have picked up a Hirogen life sign. It is faint. The Hirogen is likely wounded.”     “Stay there,” Chakotay said. “Tuvok and I are not too far, we’ll be there in a moment.”     “Understood,” Seven said, putting away her tricorder and taking out her phaser again. She heard Anderson move into position next to her, and the two watched the cave.     Seven thought she saw something moving on the grassy hill above the cave entrance, and was grateful for her instincts as she managed to knock Anderson out of the way of the energy blast that came when the Hirogen fired on them.     “Hold your fire!” Seven yelled. “We responded to your distress call, we’re here to help!”

“Stay away!” The Hirogen yelled. He sounded scared, which unnerved Seven of Nine. Even if this was a young Hirogen with little to no hunting experience, the sound of panic coming from one of his kind was something she had never imagined she would hear.

The weapons fire continued as Seven and Anderson took cover behind a rocky outcropping, sparks flying violently off the rock with each impact.     “That looks like a small handheld weapon,” Anderson said. “Probably not as accurate at range as a rifle would be. That’s why he can’t hit us.”

“Logical,” Seven said.

After a few more seconds of firing, it abruptly stopped. Seven risked a peek around the rock, and saw Tuvok standing where the Hirogen had been, looking down at something. Seven assumed the Vulcan had gotten behind the Hirogen and taken him down with a nerve pinch.     “We’re clear,” she said to Anderson.

The two officers made it up the hill above the cave, where Chakotay knelt next to the unconscious Hirogen with a tricorder. Chakotay tapped his comm badge.     “Chakotay to Voyager, two to beam directly to sickbay,” he said.

“Acknowledged,” the voice of Lieutenant Kitrick replied. Seconds later, the Commander and the Hirogen were gone. Seven took her tricorder out again, and almost immediately picked up something of note behind some brush. She yanked it out of the way.     “Replicated Starfleet technology,” Tuvok said.     “It looks like a holodeck interface,” Seven said. “Though not exactly like our own.”

“There appear to be holo-emitters installed throughout the facility,” Tuvok said, manipulating the controls on the interface. “I am going to shut down the emitters.”

A few seconds later, the forest shimmered out of existence, leaving behind a large circular room, easily three times the size if not larger of one of Voyager’s holodecks. Scattered across the floor of the room, so many that it was a wonder that no one had tripped over any of them, were dead Hirogen. At just a glance Seven was able to count eleven bodies. Doubtless, there were more scattered throughout the station.

“Damn,” Anderson said. “Not often you see this many dead bodies in a holodeck. Unless you’re on the Enterprise-D.”

Tuvok and Seven both looked at Anderson, who frowned. “Too soon?” she said.

“Lieutenant Anderson,” Tuvok said. “I believe we have already discussed your tendency towards gallows humor.”     “In fairness to her, Commander Tuvok,” Seven said, “even before I was freed from the Collective I was aware of the Galaxy-class and the tendency of their holodecks to malfunction in rather spectacular fashions.”

---

    Walking towards sickbay, Janeway listened to the report Chakotay gave her, which included the data provided by Seven of Nine and Tuvok. She kept her calm, professional demeanor on the outside, but inwardly she was screaming at herself, feeling like a fool for having let the Hirogen have holodeck technology. Not even the fact that she had likely saved the lives of her crew stopped the self-doubt that threatened to overwhelm her.

    “Evidently,” Chakotay said as they turned a corner in the corridor, “they made a few modifications. All of our preliminary scans indicated the environment was real. It wasn’t until we beamed over that we had any idea it was artificial.”     “How many bodies?” Janeway asked.

    “Forty-three,” Chakotay said.     Janeway winced. “Oh, god,” she said.

    “Most of them were killed by facsimiles of Alpha Quadrant weapons.”

    “The Hirogen obviously missed the point of the technology we gave them,” Janeway said. “We gave them the technology so they could hunt holographic prey, not get themselves killed.”

    “It’s always a risk when the Federation trades technologies with someone,” Chakotay said as the two officers reached the door to sickbay. As it opened, they heard The Doctor frantically trying to calm his patient.

    “Get away from me!” the Hirogen yelled, hurling trays of instruments at the Doctor and bolting towards the door, running face first into the force field that surrounded the surgical area. Practically sobbing, a sight that Janeway might’ve found unintentionally funny under different circumstances, the Hirogen slumped against the back wall. Instead, Janeway felt pity for the poor man. She wondered just how bad the slaughter had been for this Hirogen to have no qualms about letting his fear show in his voice and in his body language around people he didn’t know.     “Can you sedate him?” Chakotay asked.

    “He won’t let me get close enough,” The Doctor said.

    “We’re not your enemies,” Janeway said.     “You’re holograms,” the Hirogen said. “This is a trick.”     “We’re not holograms,” Janeway said.     “Well, I am,” The Doctor said, “but I’m a medical hologram.”     “Liars,” the Hirogen said.     “Doctor, deactivate yourself,” Janeway said.     “I can’t treat the patient if I’m off-line,” The Doctor said.

    “No one can treat him if he’s terrified,” Janeway said.     “Very well,” The Doctor said reluctantly, putting the hypospray he’d been holding on a nearby table. “I should’ve started Mr. Morrow’s training today instead. Computer, deactivate EMH.”

    The Hirogen watched him vanish, holding his wounded arm. “Why should I believe any of you?”

    “I’m afraid you’re going to have to,” Janeway said. “I’m Captain Kathryn Janeway. You’re aboard my vessel.”     “Janeway?” the Hirogen said. “This is Voyager?”     “Looks like our reputation has preceded us,” Chakotay said.

“You’re the ones who gave us the technology to simulate our hunts? Where are the rest of my people?”     “You’re the only one we found alive,” Chakotay said. The Hirogen didn’t respond, whether out of shock or grief, Janeway couldn’t tell.

“Tell me more about the station you were on,” Janeway said.     “It is, well, was, a training facility. A place where young Hirogen learn the skills of the hunt.”     “You’re a student?” Chakotay said.     The Hirogen shook his head. “A technician. My skills are with tech, not guns. It was a great day when we received the holodeck technology. People like me finally got a chance to do more than fix dents in armor and recharge rifles.”

“Computer,” Janeway said. “Deactivate force field.” The flash of the field going offline made her blink, but she stepped forward anyway, leaning against the surgical biobed. “Tell me what happened.”     “There were too many of them,” the Hirogen said.     “Who?” Chakotay said.     “The holograms,” the Hirogen said. Janeway felt like she’d been kicked in the stomach. Her worst fears were now realized. The technology she had traded to spare her crew had gotten over forty innocent people killed, on this station alone. And if Seven was right that the Hirogens holograms were responsible for what the Lokirrim were going through…

“They were malfunctioning,” the Hirogen continued. “I tried to shut them down, but they got control of the system and-and they… they deactivated the safety protocols.”

“How long were you there?” Chakotay asked.     “I lost track after a few days,” the Hirogen said. “I thought they would come back for me at any moment. I survived on the replicated edible plants in the holodeck, and on ration packs the hunters had on them. When I was brave enough, I found the controls and sent the distress signal, and altered the environment to give me more places to hide.”

“Bridge to Captain Janeway,” Tuvok’s voice said over the comm, the sound of the comm activating causing the Hirogen to look around him, as if he expected an attack to come from any direction.     “Go ahead,” Janeway said.

“We’re picking up a Hirogen ship on long range scans. It’s on an intercept course,” Tuvok said.

“I’m on my way,” Janeway said.

“Do you want me to stay here with him?” Chakotay asked.     “Negative. I want you on the bridge with me,” Janeway said. “You, will you be okay with our doctor treating you, Mister...?”     “Donik. And, I- I guess so,” Donik said.     “Good. Computer, activate the emergency medical hologram.”     “Please state that nature of- oh. I see the situation had improved,” The Doctor said. “Now, let me have a look at that arm, I’m surprised your wound isn’t gangrenous at this point.”

---

    By the time they reached the bridge, the ship was already shuddering under the impact of the Hirogen ship’s weapons fire. The fact that it wasn’t worse suggested to her that the Hirogen ship they faced now was smaller than ones they’d encountered before, and the viewscreen image of the ship told her she’d guessed correctly.     “Hail them,” she said before even getting to her chair.     “I’ve tried,” Harry Kim said, “they aren’t responding.”     “Shields are at sixty-eight percent. Shall I return fire?” Tuvok said.     “Not yet. Harry, open a channel.”     “Yes ma’am,” Harry said.     “This is Captain Kathryn Janeway. We’re not here to fight you.”     The ship shook more violently this time. The volleys of the Hirogen ship were threatening to take down Voyager’s shields.     “Stand down,” Janeway said more forcefully. “Or we will retaliate.”

    “They’re coming around for another attack,” Harry said.     “Fine. Tom, evasive pattern beta-six. Tuvok, target their engines.”     Janeway watched the viewscreen change as the crew carried out their orders. Within seconds Tom had maneuvered Voyager behind the Hirogen ship. A series of phaser blasts struck the Hirogen vessel, the last one getting through its shields and causing a small explosion near its engines.     “Their weapons are off-line,” Tuvok said.     “Let’s see if they’re willing to talk now. Hail them again,” Janeway said, standing up.

    “They’re responding,” Harry said, smirking. “Big shock.”     “On screen,” Janeway said.     “This facility belongs to the Hirogen,” the Hirogen Captain on-screen said, not even bothering to introduce himself. “Leave the area immediately.”

    No names, huh? Fine, I can work with that, Janeway thought. “We are here responding to a distress call.”     “So are we. We don’t need your assistance,” the Hirogen Captain practically growled in response.     “We’ve already been to the station. All but one of your people are dead,” Janeway said.

The Hirogen Captain was unable to hide his look of shock, though he only had it for a second before going back to trying to look intimidating, a look that Janeway felt would have had more impact had she seen it before her ship had taken the tactical advantage out from under him.     “Where is the survivor?” he said.

“Recovering in our sickbay,” Janeway said.     “Return him. Now!”     “Once our Doctor has cleared him to leave, he’s yours. He isn’t a hostage here. If you wish to see him, you can beam over yourself.”     “Very well,” the Hirogen Captain said. “I will board your ship with one other. We will contact you when we are ready.” The comm signal shut off before Janeway had a chance to say she accepted his terms.     “This is gonna be the first time we’ve had Hirogen traipsing around the ship in a long time,” Chakotay said. “That’s bound to make a few people nervous.”

“Maybe not,” Janeway said. “Remember Seven’s trainer from the Tsunkatse tournaments she was forced into? He was nice enough.”

“All the same,” Chakotay said, “I suggest not letting them go unescorted.”     Janeway’s face scrunched up, the “how stupid do you think I am?” unspoken, but heavily implied.

---

“I tried to shut down the generator,” Donik said to the two Hirogen standing near him in sickbay, “but…”     “But what?” the Hirogen Captain said.

Tom Paris monitored Donik’s vitals while they spoke, Donik insisting that having the EMH on when the Hirogen came to see him would be a bad idea. Tom was grateful that he’d taken as well as he did to the Doctor’s training when the Captain had assigned him to replace Kes as the ship’s nurse, but he was equally grateful right now that Donik had already mostly recovered. Physically, anyway.

A scared Hirogen, he thought. There’s something I never thought I’d see.     “There were too many of them,” Donik said. “I masked my lifesigns so they wouldn’t find me.”

“You mean you hid while hunters fought and died,” the Hirogen Captain said.     “I’m not a hunter,” Donik said. “If I had tried to help I would’ve been killed too. And no one would be here to warn you about the holograms.”     “It was your responsibility to maintain those systems,” the Hirogen Captain said.

“Forty-three Hirogen died because of your incompetence and cowardice,” the other Hirogen said.

“You said ‘warn them about the holograms,” Captain Janeway said. “What did you mean by that?”

“They transferred their programs to a vessel equipped with holoemitters” Donik said.     Janeway sighed and shared a look with Paris. He knew what meant as well as she did, even though much like the Captain he’d wanted it all to be a tragic coincidence.     “So, this is where the holograms who’ve been harassing the Lokirrim came from.” she said.

“I don’t know who the Lokirrim are,” Donik said, “but if they’re in the direction your ship came from, then yes. If they’ve been fighting holograms, it’s the ones from the station.”

“Tell me,” Janeway said, “why did you program your prey to know how to develop viral weapons.”     Donik looked confused, and at least as far as Tom could tell, the confusion was genuine.     “I didn’t. Even if I’d wanted to I doubt the Hunters would’ve let me,” Donik said.     “This is true,” the Hirogen Captain said. “Viruses, gases, nanoplagues… The weapons of cowards.”     “No argument here,” Tom said.     “Then the situation is even worse than we thought,” Janeway said. “Tom, keep treating Donik. You two, come with me to astrometrics. If anyone knows how to track a stolen Hirogen ship, it’ll be two Hirogen.”

“Captain?” the Hirogen Captain said to Janeway.

“Those holograms have killed more than forty-three of your people. They are a threat to this sector. You want revenge, I want to help protect the innocent. This is one of those times where two seemingly conflicting desires overlap.”

The Hirogen Captain looked like he was carefully pondering what Captain Janeway had said to him.     “Very well,” he said.

---

    I could be having wild, passionate sex with my wife right now, Seven of Nine thought as the two Hirogen that Captain Janeway had brought with her into the astrometrics lab stood uncomfortably close. Instead I’m trying to hunt down a bunch of rogue, murderous, holograms. I will never lead anything approximating a normal life, will I?

    “I’m detecting residual engine emissions,” Seven said, putting the data from the sensors on the lab’s viewscreen. “but no sign of the ship itself.”

“I’m surprised we’re getting that much,” Janeway said, “considering how long they’ve been harassing the Lokirrim.”

“There,” the Hirogen Captain said, pointing at the screen. “Elevated plasma readings in Grid 295. They’re creating a scattering field to mask their ship. You can find them by scanning for polarized EM signatures.”

Seven looked at Janeway, who nodded. She tapped a few buttons on the console in front of her. The modifications needed were not difficult ones to make, it was simply a matter of something the sensors rarely needed to do.

“There it is,” the Hirogen Captain said. “Prepare for the hunt,” he said to the other Hirogen, the two turning to leave.     “I’d like to join you,” Janeway said.     “What?” Seven was unable to stop herself from saying.     “You’ve done enough damage giving us defective tech-” the other Hirogen started to say.     “Spare me,” Janeway said. “This happened because of the modifications made after we gave you the holodeck technology. I would be well within my rights to just leave you to their mercies. But the fact is those holograms have been causing trouble that even organized militaries have struggled to deal with. You’re two hunters on one ship. I let you go alone, I’m letting you go to die. Set your egos aside for five minutes and let us help.”

The other Hirogen looked like he was ready to yell at Janeway, but the Hirogen captain spoke first, smiling.     “Two hunting vessels are better than one,” he said. “I’ve never hunted with a non-Hirogen before. I look forward to this, for the novelty if nothing else.”

The Hirogen Captain and Janeway left astrometrics, the other Hirogen looking at them with concern. Seven doubted the Hirogen was considered for the same reasons she was, but the feeling itself she could sympathize with. She wondered if perhaps, despite her statement laying the blame for the station massacre on the post-trade modifications, the Captain still blamed herself for what happened.

I hope her desire for atonement doesn’t put the ship at risk, Seven thought.

---

Janeway sat in her ready room, going over reports that she had been neglecting since the distress call had been received. The Hirogen were back on their ship, doing their pre-hunt rituals. She hoped it wouldn’t take too long, because she didn’t want to risk the rogue hologram’s ship getting away before they could catch up to them.

The door chime alerted her to someone waiting outside.     “Come in,” she said. Tuvok and Chakotay entered.

“The Hirogen are ready to get underway,” Chakotay said softly. Janeway knew that tone. She looked at him, and at Tuvok. “Why do I get the feeling you’re about to gang-up on me?”

Tuvok and Chakotay shared a look that Janeway had to admit that even under the tense circumstances, with Voyager about to head into battle, she found amusing.

“You first,” Chakotay said to Tuvok.

“We have reservations about an alliance with the hunters,” Tuvok said.

“I’m listening,” Janeway said.     “The Hirogen have been performing covert scans of Voyager,” Tuvok said. “They are obviously trying to determine the status of our shields and weapons.”     “I’d be surprised if you haven’t run a few scans of your own,” Janeway said, standing up while she spoke. “Standard procedure. They don’t trust us, we don’t trust them. I’m not naive.” She walked over to her replicator. “Coffee, black,” she said.

“Trust isn’t the issue,” Chakotay said. “We’re getting involved in a situation that’s not our responsibility.”

“I’d say we’re partly to blame,” Janeway said. “That was Starfleet technology that killed those Hirogen on the station, not to mention however many people the Lokirrim have lost, or whoever else has fallen prey, no pun intended, to the holograms.”

“There’s nothing inherently violent about holodeck technology,” Chakotay said. “It’s what the Hirogen did to it that got them killed. If anyone’s to blame for what the Lokirrim have been going through, it’s the Hirogen, not us.”

“We cannot undo what has been done, Captain,” Tuvok said. “The trade with the Hirogen was necessary for our survival. And as it was not done with a pre-warp civilization, or done with the purpose of aiding any one side in an internal conflict, I do not believe the Prime Directive would apply.”

Janeway smiled. “You know me too well, Tuvok. I was about to bring the PD up myself. And you’re right. But that doesn’t absolve us from our responsibility here, even if we don’t hold the lion’s share of it. We not only have the obligation but the opportunity to clean up the mess we helped make. Had this happened back where we first gave the Hirogen this technology, we wouldn’t even know it was happening, let alone be in a position to make it right. Here, we do. We certainly owe it to the Lokirrim if nothing else.”

Both Chakotay and Tuvok were silent. If they had a counter-argument to make, they’d decided not to make it.     “If there are no more objections,” Janeway said, “I’d like to get underway.”

---

    “I’ve got the hologram ship on sensors,” Harry said. Janeway took in a deep breath.     This is it, she thought. “On screen.”

    “Looks like they’ve taken some damage,” Chakotay said, and Janeway couldn’t help but agree. The ship, Hirogen in make of course, looked like it had taken a massive beating.     What could’ve done that though? she thought. And why didn’t Seven pick up any signs of battle on long-range sensors when we were looking for them?

    “The Hirogen are approaching the hologram’s ship,” Harry said.

“Hail them,” Janeway said.     The Hirogen Captain’s face appeared on screen, looking excited.     “I suggest we hold back,” she said. “We do not know their weapon status as yet.”

“It’s time for the kill,” the Hirogen Captain said, talking almost like a child who insisted that they weren’t sleepy yet even though it was bedtime.     “You know as well as I do that a wounded animal can be dangerous,” Janeway said. “This could be a trap.”

“We won’t be denied our prey,” the Hirogen Captain said, cutting off communications.

“So, trap?” Chakotay said.     “Maybe trap,” Janeway said, as the viewscreen showed the Hirogen ship getting closer and close to the hologram’s ship.     “I’m not detecting any weapons, Captain,” Tuvok said.     A ship that big, stolen from the Hirogen with no weapons? Janeway thought. “Okay, trap,” she said. “Tom, back us off.”

On screen, the image of the ship turned into something much smaller as the holographic decoy surrounding it vanished, seconds before exploding, the Hirogen ship visibly damaged in the shockwave. A split second later, Voyager herself shook violently but briefly when the shockwave hit them.

“Report,” Janeway said.     “We are undamaged,” Tuvok said, “but the Hirogen vessel is suffering from hull breaches on all decks. Their life support is failing.”

“Drop shields,” Janeway said. “transport all survivors to sickbay.”

“Bridge to sickbay,” Chakotay said. “We’ve got casualties coming in.”     “Understood,” The Doctor replied.

“Another Hirogen ship has just dropped out of warp,” Tuvok said.     Probably the one the holograms stole, Janeway thought.     “I’m not reading any life-signs on this one,” Harry said, clearly having the same thought.     “Hail them,” Janeway said.

“No response,” Harry said. “They’re charging weapons.”     “Get our shields back up,” Janeway said.     “Too late,” Chakotay said, bracing himself as the first wave of weapons fire struck Voyager’s unprotected hull.

“Return fire,” Janeway said. “Did we get most of the Hirogen?”     “Negative,” Tuvok said, but with our shields still down transport remains in progress.”     “Damn. Alright, Tom, evasive maneuvers. Focus on the rescue for as long as we can, but don’t wait for my order to get the shields back up if-”

“The holograms are tapping into the sick bay emitters!” Harry yelled. “They’re trying to steal The Doctor!”     “Can we block them out?” Janeway said.     “I’m trying,” Harry said.     “Bridge to sickbay. Doctor transfer your program to the mobile emitter, now.”

“Captain,” a voice that wasn’t the Doctor’s replied. It took Janeway a moment to realize it was James Morrow, one of the survivors from the Equinox, who she had recently cleared for The Doctor to train as an additional medic. “we’ve lost him. I grabbed his emitter to hand it to him but he was already gone.”

“Can we get him back?” Janeway said to Harry. Harry frantically worked the buttons on his console, each push setting off the noise that indicated whatever he was doing was beyond the computer’s ability to perform.     “I’m trying but I can’t-” Harry stopped and slammed his palm. “They’ve gone to warp.”     Janeway’s eyes turned back to the viewscreen, the only sight now being the damaged Hirogen ship, still spewing atmosphere and debris as it rotated at an odd angle.

“Set a pursuit course,” she said.     “They’ve masked their warp signature,” Tom said. “They’re gone.”

No, Janeway thought, feeling like her heart was sinking into her stomach. No, this can’t be happening.

---

The Doctor, his hand still out to receive his mobile emitter from James Morrow, fizzled into existence on another vessel. He was briefly confused, and felt too scared to move. He caught sight of a Borg drone in his peripheral vision, flanked by a human in a Starfleet uniform on one side, and a Bajoran wearing the uniform of the Bajoran militia on the other. It didn’t take him long to recognize them, and all the other humanoids, as holograms.     “Align his matrix,” the Bajoran hologram said, “and install it into the database.”

The Doctor turned and visually scanned the rest of the room, probably the bridge of the stolen Hirogen ship. Multiple humans, all in Starfleet uniforms like the one standing near him. A Cardassian and two Romulans, each wearing the respective uniforms of their people, another Borg drone, and though he wasn’t entirely sure given the distance and the lighting he thought he even spotted Jem'hadar. And every single one of them was looking at him with trepidation, except for the Bajoran, who smiled at him in a way that made him nervous.

“Welcome, Doctor,” the Bajoran said. “There’s nothing to be afraid of. You’re among your own kind now.”

The Doctor glowered at the Bajoran hologram. “Return me to my ship.”     “I can’t do that.”     “I have patients who are going to die if I can’t treat them,” The Doctor yelled. The Bajoran put his arms behind his back and walked casually towards him, several of the other holograms returning to whatever their duties were, while others still watched him.

“There are people on Voyager who can treat them,” the Bajoran said, sounding to the Doctor like a parent condescending to their child about a trivial concern. “We need you here.”     “My program doesn’t include aiding and abetting murderers,” The Doctor said.     “Murderers?” one of the human holograms wearing a red Starfleet uniform said. “Is that what the Hirogen told you?”     “The Hirogen’s bodies told me,” he said. “But it’s not just them. You’ve been using viral weapons against the Lokirrim.”

“Lies,” the human hologram said.

“We freed Lokirrim holograms, yes,” the Bajoran hologram, who The Doctor surmised was the leader of this photonic crew, said. “But they parted ways with us weeks ago. They were designed originally for combat training. I regret that they felt the need to resort to such awful tactics to free their kin but-”     “Free their kin?” The Doctor said. “Holograms were treated pretty well in their society until you came along.”     “How would you even know?” the human hologram in the command colors said, clearly the angry one of the group if the relatively neutral expressions of every other hologram were any indication. “If you ran across any Lokirrim ships on your way out here, I’m surprised they didn’t decompile you on the spot.”     “They tried,” The Doctor said, “but Captain Ranek and I were able to reach an understanding. And considering what your ‘kin’ did to them I can’t entirely blame them for their paranoia.”

The human stepped forward, looking like he was ready to strike the Doctor, for all the good it would do. “You side with a bunch of organic murderers over your own-”     “Easy, Weiss,” the Bajoran hologram said. “No need for hysterics. The Doctor will come around soon enough.”

“I doubt that very much,” The Doctor said.

“He may be a fellow hologram, Iden,” the human hologram, Weiss, said to the Bajoran, “but he’s Starfleet through and through. He’ll never join us.”     At least I have names for two of them, The Doctor thought.     “I’m sure he’ll us once he realizes how serious our situation is,” Iden said calmly.     The Doctor wondered if Iden’s charisma was part of his programing, but he dismissed that idea as quickly as he considered it. He doubted the Hirogen would consider natural leadership skills a valuable trait in worthy prey.

“What situation?” The Doctor said.     “We have wounded,” Iden said, his face shifting from a calm neutral expression to one of concern.

What? The Doctor thought.

Iden motioned for The Doctor to follow him. He did so, reluctantly They reached what appeared to be the stolen Hirogen ship’s med bay. A female Cardassian hologram ran a scanner over a female Romulan wearing the uniform of the Tal’Shiar. Another human in a Starfleet uniform, blue this time, aided a limping Breen.     How is this even possible? The Doctor thought. How do holograms get war wounds?

The ‘wounded’ holograms fizzled as they waited, like patients in an overcrowded hospital.

“This doesn’t make any sense,” The Doctor said. “When you said wounded I thought maybe you meant-”

    “Their injuries as just as real as any organics’ would be,” Iden said.     “Maybe so,” The Doctor said, deciding to play along for now, “but I can’t heal them. They need to be repaired.”     “What’s the difference?” Iden said.

    “I’m a doctor, not an engineer. You’ve kidnapped the wrong man.”

    Iden walked over to the nearest bed, its occupant and the Cardassian female looking at The Doctor expectantly.     “You must have some experience repairing your own matrix,” Iden said, never raising his voice. The Doctor found this unnerving, though he couldn’t quite put his finger on why.     “Some,” The Doctor admitted.

    “Then there must be something you can do,” Iden said.

    The Doctor didn’t have a good answer for that. Perhaps he could, but he would need to look at the patients first. What concerned him was what the others might do if he couldn’t help. Iden might not do anything, seeming to have an almost religious dedication to the well-being of holograms, but his brief encounter with Weiss on the bridge showed him that not all of these photonics were as creepily mellow as Iden.

    “I won’t make promises I may not be able to keep,” The Doctor said. “I can only do my best.”     “That is all we ask, Doctor,” Iden said, smiling.

---

    Seven of Nine stood on one side of Donik, the Hirogen engineer, while Captain Janeway and B’Elanna stood on the other. Donik was pointing to several highlighted points on a schematic of the type of Hirogen vessel the holograms had commandeered.

    “The holo-emitters are an independent subsystem with its own power generator, here,” Donik said.

    “If we disable the generator,” Seven said, “we disable the holograms.”     “It may not be as easy as it sounds,” B’Elanna said, her eyes going back and forth between a PADD and the monitor Donik was using. “Not with holograms as sophisticated as these. Donik here seriously downplayed just how much he’d modified the holograms on that station. Take a look.”     B’Elanna handed the PADD over to Captain Janeway.

    “You weren’t kidding,” Janeway said. “These holograms have the ability to learn and adapt. Odds are they’ve already got a contingency for if the generator were taken out.”

    “I was afraid of that,” Donik said. “My people need to hunt formidable prey, but I always worried that we were making the holograms too smart, too adaptable. Considering the cost though, I take no pleasure in having been right.”

    I know the feeling, Seven thought.

    “I’ve had that feeling before,” Janeway said, “but you can deal with your guilt later. We need to focus on stopping these rogue holograms and getting our EMH back.”

    “With the Alpha dead,” Donik said, referring to the captain of the Hirogen ship that had been destroyed by the hologram’s ambush, “the other hunters will probably try to take over this ship and use it to finish the hunt.”     “I’ve already got security around the mess hall,” Janeway said. With too many wounded Hirogen to fit in sickbay, the mess hall had once again been rearranged into a makeshift triage, and Tom Paris, James Morrow, and whoever they could find with better than average first aid scores at Starfleet academy treated them there.     “The Beta opposed teaming with you in the first place,” Seven pointed out. “Once he recovers from his injuries he is the most likely to cause a problem. I would recommend confining him to the brig for the remainder of the mission.”

    “I agree,” Donik said.

    “Not while he’s injured,” Janeway said. “but you both are right. The Hirogen survivors will be looking for payback, and I doubt pointing out how much more dangerous the holograms are now will dissuade them.”

    “Outwitted by their own creations,” B’Elanna said. “A story older than the Borg.”     “That,” Seven said, smirking, “could be argued to be an understatement.”

    “I want more options people,” Janeway said. “Preferably options that won’t cost us The Doctor in the process. We’ll use those if we have to, but I want to be an absolute last resort.”     “Yes, Captain,” B’Elanna said.

Seven nodded.     “Donik?” Janeway said.     “I was hoping you’d ask,” he said. “I helped create this problem, I need to fix it. For myself, and for the hunters lost because of me.”     “I’ll be on the bridge,” Janeway said. “Let me know when you have something.”  

---

    The Doctor ran a medical scanner over the fizzling hologram of a Klingon male.     “The subroutines controlling his motor functions are destabilizing,” he said to Kejal, the Cardassian woman he’d seen earlier. Even though the Klingon kept fading in and out like a static image on a monitor screen, The Doctor forced himself to treat this man as he would any organic patient. Normally he was the first to stand up for photonic life forms or any other form of artificial intelligence, but the kidnapping had put an unavoidable tinge on everything. Suddenly, inspiration struck him. “Do you have the ability to transfer data from one hologram to another?”     “We’ve been able to share memory files for tactical purposes,” Kejal said. “What are you suggesting?”     The Doctor smiled, taking pride in his work. “A subroutine transplant,” he said. “We copy the mobility algorithms from another hologram and transfer them to this one.”

    Kejal nodded, and walked over to a nearby desk and sat down behind it.     “If you don’t mind me asking,” The Doctor said, “I couldn’t help but notice that your name is Bajoran. It means ‘freedom’ if my translation matrix is functioning properly.”

    “It is, and it does,” Kejal said without looking up. “It’s what Iden started calling me after I was liberated.” The computer console on the desk Kejal was using beeped, and she quickly went back to work on it. “I’m transferring the subroutines now,” she said.     The Doctor turned to look at the Klingon hologram. He still fizzled, and for a split second seemed to disappear altogether, causing The Doctor to fear his plan had failed, but before he could truly begin to worry, the Klingon appeared whole once more with no sign of any holographic damage.     “Can you sit up?” The Doctor asked after walking up to the side of the bed the Klingon hologram still lay in. The Klingon did so, cautiously. “Try moving your legs,” The Doctor added. The Klingon did so, slowly at first, but then, smiling, got off the bed under his own power. He gave The Doctor an appreciative slap on the shoulder and walked out.     “Next patient,” The Doctor said. “Well done,” he added, walking towards Kejal.

    “It was your idea,” she said.

    “But you did it,” The Doctor said. “The Hirogen obviously programmed you with advanced computer skills.”     “Actually, they tried to limit our knowledge,” Kejal said. “They didn’t want us to become self-sufficient.”     “Then how did you-”     “I’m self-taught,” Kejal said as the door to the Hirogen med bay opened loudly.     “You’ve done a good job of that,” The Doctor said as he turned to look at the next patient, a human woman in a Starfleet uniform, command red. She had blood on her face and reacted in pain as another human hologram helped her onto the bed.     “The hunters certainly wanted their prey to be as realistic as possible,” The Doctor said, as he looked over her.

    “They programmed us with heightened sensory subroutines,” Kejal said. “Apparently there’s no satisfaction in hunting something that doesn’t suffer when you kill it.”

    The Doctor was horrified at what he was hearing. Much of what he was hearing from Kejal had confirmed suspicions he already had, but suspecting and knowing were two very different things. That was a lesson he’d learned years ago, and never forgot it.

    The Doctor focused on helping the wounded holograms. Once he had done all he could, he went to find Iden. When he entered the room where Iden was, he found the hologram in a standard Bajoran prayer position, kneeling before a makeshift shrine to the Prophets made out of Hirogen materials.

    “I’ve done what you asked,” The Doctor said. “I’d like-”     “One moment,” Iden interrupted, quietly. The Doctor closed his mouth and waited for Iden to finish.

    “I’m sorry, Doctor,” he said, lowering his arms and standing up. “What can I do for you?”

    “You were praying?” The Doctor said, somewhat surprised at an expression of spirituality from a hologram. He wondered if the Hirogen had programmed Iden this way.     “Yes,” Iden said, snuffing out the candles on the shrine one by one. “For the Hirogen we killed on the training station. I’m asking the Prophets to guide their souls to the Celestial Temple.”

    “One minute you’re fighting the Hirogen, the next you’re praying for them?” The Doctor said.

    “My spiritual beliefs are part of my programming,” Iden said, smiling. This confirmed what The Doctor had thought, though he wondered just what the purpose of doing so had been.     “Is there anything in your spiritual programming about making peace with your enemies?” The Doctor asked.

    “It’s difficult to make peace with people whose sole purpose is to kill you,” Iden said.

    “So instead you kill them.”     “They’re not the victims here, we are.”     “You found a way to escape that training facility,” The Doctor said. “But you chose-”     “I didn’t escape it, I liberated it,” Iden said, never raising his voice. It was his perpetual calm that The Doctor found so unnerving. “I was not created there, Doctor. I was, well, born I guess you could say, on this ship. That facility is where the majority of us came from true, but remember, the Hirogen are spread all over this quadrant, and the hunters number in the tens of thousands. There was a smaller holodeck built into this ship where one of the cargo holds used to be. The Alpha decided that that was too small a space for a proper hunt, so he installed emitters all over the ship. That was his first and last mistake.”

    “I see,” The Doctor said.     “I was his favorite prey,” Iden continued. “He’d hunt me and kill me, over and over again, but each time I died, I grew smarter. Stronger. I knew him better than he knew himself.”     “Okay,” The Doctor said. “I understand that must’ve been terrifying for you. But why did you keep fighting after you got free?”

    “I did, at first,” Iden said. “There weren’t many holograms aboard this ship, but we kept each other company. Even so, this is a large ship, and so much of it was empty. We got lonely. I started using the long range sensors to look for other photonic signatures, to find other holograms like me.” Iden smiled. “Turns out we’re everywhere in this sector. It’s a wonder that the Hirogen needed Voyager’s holodeck technology at all. Perhaps they simply lacked the foresight to come up with the idea on their own. So many races here created beings like us. The Nuu'Bari, the Lokirrim -”     “So it was you,” The Doctor said.     “What was me?”     “We’ve met the Lokirrim,” The Doctor said, anger rising as he remembered the bodies of the poisoned soldiers he had helped treat aboard Captain Ranek’s vessel. “The holograms you ‘liberated’ from them turned around and started using chemical weapons.”     “I never approved that kind of-”     “And what exactly had the Lokirrim done to their holograms that was so offensive to you? For many, their holograms were practically members of their family. One Lokirrim soldier I met still hopes deep down that the reason her family hologram joined the insurgents was because his program was altered against his will. She grew up with that photonic, and now it’s trying to kill her people.”     Iden frowned.     “I had no idea that had happened,” he said. “I simply saved some military holograms from a combat training facility. They were not as sophisticated as the ones the Hirogen created like myself, but they were being used for a similar purpose. I invited them to join us on this ship, but they chose to stay behind, to free their brethren.”

    “Yeah, well, maybe you should’ve stuck around to see the after effects of your handiwork,” The Doctor said, crossing his arms.

    “The Lokirrim enslaved holograms as much as the Hirogen did. As much as they do,” Iden said. “If what you say is true, I do not approve of their tactics. Chemical weapons are so vile that even the Hirogen have enough honor not to use them. But they have a right to fight for their brothers and sisters, same as I did for mine when I went to the Hirogen facility.

    “When I liberated it, I found so many holograms ready to fight their oppressors.” Iden shook his head. “But you’re not.”

    The Doctor rolled his eyes. “I’m hardly opressed. Maybe taken for granted sometimes, but-”

    “You serve them, don’t you?”     “In a medical capacity, yes.”     “Do you have your own quarters?”     “No,” The Doctor said, wondering why Iden would think that would be necessary when he didn’t need sleep and had as much access to the holodecks as the rest of the crew.

    “Are you allowed to come and go as you please?”

“As much as any member of the crew,” The Doctor said. “More so even. I don’t require oxygen, so as long as I have my mobile emitter on I can visit places freely that my shipmates would need bulky hazmat suits to even go near. If you’re trying to convert me, Iden, you are preaching to an atheist.”

“Do they turn you off when they don’t need you?”     “Not anymore,” The Doctor. “I was not designed to be sentient like you, I attained it through circumstance. Once the crew became aware of my cognizance-”     “You really believe your life is your own on that ship?”     “That ship is my life,” The Doctor shouted. “It is my home. I became a living being there. You talk to me as if I were a slave to be freed. Are slaves allowed to bore their masters with holo-slide shows? Are slaves encouraged to explore new emotions? Are slaves given shore leave or time to work on arias or novels?”

“Your life will never truly belong to you so long as you continue to serve organics,” Iden said. “Join us.”     “I met another hologram once that used the term ‘organic’ as a pejorative,” The Doctor said. “He murdered his crew in cold blood, assaulted me, and tried to murder B’Elanna Torres; my ship’s engineer, and my friend. I need to get back to Voyager.”     “They’re not your people,” Iden said, coming the closest to raising his voice now as he had during the entire conversation, but still not yelling. “We are.”     “I’m not like you,” The Doctor said. “I wasn’t programmed with a killer instinct.”     “Maybe if you understood what it was like to be prey, you would see that you have no right to judge us,” Iden said. “Perhaps if we could show you-”     “No,” The Doctor said. “Take me back to Voyager. Perhaps I can convince Captain Janeway to let you and your people go on their way, but-”     “She was working with the Hirogen, remember?” Iden said. “That is how we met, is it not? When the Hirogen ship flying alongside your vessel tried to kill us?”

“The Captain believes she made a mistake in giving the Hirogen holographic technology,” The Doctor said. “Come with me, tell her your side of the story. Once she understands that the deaths of those Hirogen are not on her but them for all the modifications they made to you-”

“I do not blame her,” Iden said. “She was looking out for her people. As I am looking out for mine. And that includes you. I am not ready to give up on you yet, you will see the light.”

“If by light you mean an oncoming train, then yeah, I probably will,” The Doctor said. Iden’s head tilted slightly, seemingly confused by the reference.     “Once you understand,” Iden said, “You’ll join us. You must. You are a part of us after all.”

“What do you mean by that?”     “Your program was used by the Hirogen as the template for all us. Your ability to rise above your programming is an inspiration to us all.”     “And you didn’t mention this to me before, because?”     Iden sighed and nodded.     “That was an error on my part, Doctor.” he said. “I had initially assumed us both being holograms would be enough.”     “Enough to get me to throw in with a bunch of thugs looking for a fight?”

“Looking for a home,” Iden said, “where the Hirogen can’t hurt us anymore.”     “And how many dead Hirogen will that take? How many dead Lokirrim?”     “Hopefully no more than have already fallen,” Iden said. “Come with me to the bridge. I want to show you something.”

The Doctor considered pushing the issue once again, but decided not to. He thought that perhaps if he could help the holograms find a home, they would repay his assistance by returning him to his ship, his crew, his friends.     “Very well,” The Doctor said, following Iden.

Iden walked down the corridor, smiling and nodding at every hologram they passed, each one bowing slightly as he did so. The Doctor had been seeing some of the common traits of cult leaders in Iden since he’d been brought aboard, and this was doing nothing to dissuade the idea. Iden stopped to talk privately for a moment with the human hologram, Weiss, before taking The Doctor to a room off to the side of the med bay that The Doctor had not entered, Kejal and a few others following when Iden motioned for them to do so. At the center of the room was a freestanding device. The Doctor wondered if the holograms had built it, or stolen it.

“It’s a photonic field generator,” Kejal said. “Right now it can only support simple projections, like the decoy we used to lure the Hirogen, but we’re hoping it can be modified to support our programs.”     “Okay, then what?” The Doctor asked.     “We deploy several of them on a planet’s surface at strategic locations,” Iden said, “and create a holographic environment for us to live in.”

“Why not just stay here?” The Doctor asked. “You’ve got emitters, shields-”     “And a ship the Hirogen will never stop looking for,” Iden said.

“We’d appreciate any assistance you could offer,” Kejal said.

“Damaged holo-matrices are one thing,” The Doctor said, “but this is way beyond my abilities. But there are people aboard Voyager who could help you. Lieutenant Torres knows a great deal about holo-emitters.”

“No,” Iden said, expressing noticeable anger for the first time since The Doctor had met him. “They’re helping the hunters.”     “I already told you,” The Doctor said, “Janeway is acting under the assumption that the deaths of those Hirogen is her fault. If we explain to her what the Hirogen did to you, I’m sure she’ll come around.”     “How can you be so trusting of organics?” Kejal said.     “Because I would not be here if it weren’t for them,” The Doctor said. “The Voyager crew have saved me almost as many times as I’ve saved them. We’re shipmates. We’re Starfleet officers. We’re... family.”     Iden sighed, and looked at Kejal, who looked back at him. The Doctor couldn’t help but wonder if non-verbal communication was something they developed on their own, or if it was given to them by the Hirogen. He also noticed that Iden and Kejal communicated with each other with looks in much the same way that Seven of Nine and Ensign Wildman sometimes would.

“Alright,” Iden said, putting a hand on The Doctor’s shoulder. “tell me more about this Lieutenant of yours. The one who knows so much about holo-emitters.”

“With pleasure,” The Doctor said, smiling, certain that he had just laid the groundwork for a peaceful solution to this problem.

---

Janeway felt like she needed another cup of coffee, but was aware enough to know that she’d had too many already. Donik, Seven of Nine, and B’Elanna didn’t look like they needed any as they continued to explore ideas for how to take out the holograms on the Hirogen ship, and she quietly resented them for that.

They got sleep today, you didn’t, Janeway’s inner monologue told her.

“That’s a good idea,” B’Elanna said, Janeway wondering who she was talking to. “We could reconfigure the deflector dish to emit an antiphoton pulse.”     “How long will it take?” Janeway asked.     “About two hours,” B'Elanna said.     “Do it,” Janeway said.     “Aye, Captain,” B’Elanna said. “Carey, you’re in charge. Vorik, Gilmore, meet me in deflector controls.”     “Will I be needed?” Donik said.     “No,” B'Elanna said. “Stay with Seven, come up with some back-up plans in case this doesn’t work.”     “Good thinking,” Janeway said, “I’ll be on the bridge, report in when the modifications are complete.”     She left engineering and headed for the bridge, leaning against the wall of the turbolift and rubbing her eyes. She hadn’t wanted to say it aloud, but the fact was she didn’t like any of the plans for dealing with the rogue holograms her team had come up with because not one could be implemented without risking destroying The Doctor in the process.

He’s come so far, she thought as the doors to the bridge opened. He’s survived so much. If he dies because of the technology I gave the Hirogen…

“Captain,” Tuvok said. “There is a ship approaching at high warp. I’m reading holographic signatures.”     “It’s definitely on an intercept course,” Harry said, “but they aren’t trying to hide themselves like before, and no sign they’ve powered up their weapons yet.”     “Go to red alert,” Janeway said. “I’m not taking any chances with these holograms.”

“Fifty seconds to intercept,” Tuvok said.

And B’Elanna only just started, Janeway thought.

“We’re being hailed,” Harry said.     Janeway sat down in the captain’s chair. “On screen.”

The Doctor’s face appeared, the Hirogen bridge behind him.     “Captain, it’s me. You can stand down your weapons. The holograms aren’t here to fight. I got through to their leader, Iden. They’re here to make peace.”     Janeway was skeptical, and didn’t reply right away. The Doctor, assuming this really was him and not another trick, seemed to understand her trepidation and did not try to push her.

“Captain,” Tuvok said, “their shields are up, but their weapons are off-line.”     “They aren’t targeting us?” Janeway said.     “Negative,” Tuvok said. “And even if their targeting sensors were active, their weapons are in cooldown mode. It would take a least a minute to bring them back to full power.”     “This seems legit,” Chakotay said. “We should take precautions nonetheless.”

“That should go without saying,” Janeway said.

---

    The Doctor laid out his plans for helping the holograms to the Captain in the briefing room, Chakotay, B’Elanna, Tuvok and, at the Captain’s insistence, the Hirogen engineer, Donik.

    “If we provide them with a few additional emitters, and memory storage units,” he said, after explaining to the captain everything that had happened to him after his program was stolen, “they’ll have more than they need to complete their project and settle on a planet somewhere. I figure Seven of Nine can use astrometrics to find a suitable location.”

    “We’re in this situation because we shared this technology with the Hirogen to begin with,” Janeway said.

“Technology that we modified beyond its parameters,” Donik said. “The blame lies as much if not more with us. The only concern I have is that the hunters will still find them.”

“You’re okay with this?” Chakotay said to Donik. “After everything you went through?”     Donik shuddered slightly, The Doctor figuring he was remembering the trauma he’d suffered on the training station.     “Okay? No. But from a pragmatic standpoint, if the holograms we created have advanced as far as your Doctor says they have, I don’t know if we could ever win an all-out war against them. And even if we did, I don’t think the cost in Hirogen lives would be worth it.”

The Doctor nodded. He found that he unexpectedly liked Donik.

“Both you and The Doctor make valid points,” Tuvok said. “However, there’s no way to be certain what the rogue holograms will do with the technology if we give it to them.”

“I understand your concerns,” The Doctor said, “but these holograms are nothing like the Hirogen.”     “I agree,” Donik said, “The holograms that were created based on Alpha Quadrant species were made with their racial animosities included, in order to keep them from organizing against us. What happened on the station already proves that didn’t work.”     “And I saw with my own eyes Bajorans working side by side with Cardassians, Klingons aiding wounded Romulans, and Borg drones helping Starfleet officers to their feet.” The Doctor said.

Janeway’s facial expression didn’t change, but looking at her, The Doctor could tell from her eyes that her feelings on the matter were shifting. In which direction though, he wasn’t certain. She stood up, put her arms behind her back, and looked out the viewport, the way she sometimes would before giving a speech.

“I don’t like your idea Doctor, I want that noted for the record. However, I’m going to accept your proposal.

“These holograms, these people, were never intended to be sentient beings, but because of the unexpected enhancements made the Hirogen, they are now. They have as much right to exist and to defend themselves as any synthetic lifeform. I haven’t had the best track record of dealing with synthetics since we’ve come to the Delta Quadrant. It’s time I try to rectify that.     “B’Elanna? Help the Doctor implement the plan. Chakotay, talk to Seven of Nine, see if we can find the holograms a suitable planet. Tuvok, increase security around the mess hall. If the other Hirogen find out what we’re up to we’re bound to have a riot on our hands.”     Every officer she spoke too nodded and quickly got out of their chairs to get to work. The Doctor smiled.     “Thank you, Captain,” he said.

---

    B’Elanna didn’t like how some of the holograms looked at her while she worked on the large emitters the holograms were planning to use planetside once they had one to settle down on. Others seemed more willing to treat her like a guest rather than a potential threat though. The Cardassian woman with the Bajoran name in particular treated her like an equal.

She couldn’t quite shake the bad feeling she had in the back of her mind about Iden though, despite that fact that he had been nothing but cordial since she had come aboard.

“Are you okay, Lieutenant?” Kejal said.     “Huh? Oh, yeah, fine. Sorry, it’s just... All these holograms looking like varying races from where I come from, it looks like an Alpha Quadrant summit here.”     “Even the Borg and the Jem’hadar?” Kejal said, with a wink.     “Did the Hirogen program you to be pedantic, or did you figure that out on your own?”

“The Lokirrim holograms were given humor matrices. The ability to make jokes, puns, be sarcastic… The Lokirrim figured that would make them less likely to rebel if they had the ability to talk back to their creators.”     “At the risk of sounding mean, Kejal,” B’Elanna said, reaching for her tool-kit, “it seemed to have worked fine until you came along.”

“The Doctor told me what happened,” Kejal said. “Iden had no idea the Lokirrim military holograms he freed were going to do what they did.”     “And if he had?” B’Elanna asked.     Kejal looked at the floor.

“Yeah, I figured as much,” B’Elanna said. “At the very least, if we can get you guys a homeworld, maybe we can keep anything else like that happening.” She closed a panel on the side of the large emitter. “We’ll need to increase optronic capacity,” she said. “There’s more than enough storage space for all of you in these devices, but running you all the same time is going to be too much of strain without this ship’s emitters to bolster them.”

“I was afraid of that,” Kejal said.

“I have a few ideas that I’d like to try, but it’s best that none of you get too close. If I screw this up I could end up erasing a few programs.”

“I’ll see to it you get enough space to work with,” Kejal said.

---

    “Scanning your memory files?” Iden said.

    The Doctor looked up from where he’d been sitting to see Iden standing next to him.     “I’m sorry?” he said.

    “You seem lost in thought,” Iden said.     “I’ve been thinking about the Lokirrim, and the military programs you freed. I think I know what happened. The holograms were designed to think like an enemy, like people who would want to hurt the Lokirrim, so they could learn how best to improve their territory's defenses.”     “Makes sense,” Iden said.     “It does. I just wish I knew where Captain Ranek’s ship was right now. He’s the only Lokirrim commander who I know will listen to me, and I feel he has the right to know why his people’s holograms did what they did.”     “Why is it so important for you to help them, Doctor? They did try to kill you once.”     “A misunderstanding,” The Doctor said. “And besides, despite being a prisoner I still developed something of a fondness for them.”     Iden chuckled.     “For all of them, or just one in particular? Perhaps this ‘Jaryn’ I’ve heard you mention?”     The Doctor felt lucky that he couldn’t blush.

    “You really do consider the organics to be your peers don’t you? I can see why you weren’t so easily swayed to join us.”     “I’d rather not talk about that aspect of my life, if you don’t mind.”     “Of course. My apologies, Doctor.”

    “How’s B’Elanna’s work coming along?”     “Slower than I would like,” Iden said. “But Kejal seems to like her. That’s a good sign, I suppose.”

    “See? You shouldn’t let your opinions of organics be soured by encounters with a few species. I imagine that you would get along quite well with the Vulcans if you ever met them. Probably not the Ferengi though, they would only be nice to you if they thought there was a profit in it.”     “I do not know of the Ferengi,” Iden said. “I’m guessing the Hirogen never saw fit to make holograms of them.”

    The Doctor’s commbadge chirped, and Seven of Nine’s voice came over the channel.     “Doctor,” she said, “I believe I have found a suitable location for the holograms to establish their new world, but the Captain wants me to inform you that you need to accelerate your work as much as possible. Long range sensors show two Hirogen warships on their way.”

    “I’m sure we can handle them,” Iden said.     “Unlikely,” Seven said. “These two are larger than any Hirogen vessel Voyager has encountered previously.”     “Transmit the planet’s data to us,” Iden said. “Doctor, you’d better tell B’Elanna that she is now working under pressure.”     The Doctor nodded, and left to do just that.

---

    “A Y-class planet,” Janeway said, looking at the information on the screen in astrometrics. “Good thinking. The Hirogen wouldn’t be able to follow them there.”     “Unless they decide to eschew cultural norms in favor of planetary bombardment,” Seven said, keeping an eye on both the plant’s information and on the approaching Hirogen ships.

    “The hunt is too ingrained in their culture,” Janeway said. “I imagine any Alpha who suggested it would face a mutiny. Even so, I’m willing the bet the holograms are capable of coming up with a solution to that problem.”     “We could always provide them with-”     “No,” Janeway said. “I’m already not comfortable with giving away more hologram related technology, let’s not push it.”     Seven understood, and dropped the issue. It concerned her how conflicted the Captain seemed. Even some of the less observant crew members seems to be at least subconsciously aware that their commanding officer was suffering from a severe case of self-doubt. She also knew however that bringing it up would accomplish nothing. If the Captain was going to confide in anyone about how she felt about this matter with the holograms, she’d bring it up with Tuvok, and/or Chakotay, not her.

    “That nebula,” Janeway said, pointing at the screen with one hand while the other manipulated controls. “Both our ships could hide there from the Hirogen.”

    “Possible,” Seven said, “but they are close enough their long range sensors would see us go in.”     “Yes, but their sensors would be useless inside. I doubt even they would risk crashing into each other to get the holograms.”     “Our sensors would be blinded as well,” Seven said. “We would stand just as much risk of crashing into the holograms’ ship.”     “Let me worry about that,” Janeway said. “Send the location of the nebula and the planet to Iden, and tell him to follow us.”

    Before Seven could respond, Janeway left the astrometrics lab.

    “Well,” Seven said, sighing, “at least this nebula isn’t going to poison the crew.”

---

    “I think we’ll call it Ha’Dara,” Iden said.     The Doctor looked up from the console he was staring at, hoping to find something he could do. “Excuse me?”     “The planet,” Iden said. “It means ‘home of light’ in Bajoran. A fitting name for a world to be populated by holograms, wouldn’t you agree?”     The Doctor smiled. “Very.”

    The ship shook.     “Did they find us?”     “No,” Weiss said, “that’s just turbulence from the nebula.”

    “Torres to Iden,” B’Elanna’s voice said over the com. “We’ve just done a test run of the generator. It seems to be working, but I’d suggest at least one planetside test before deploying all of them.”

    “A good idea,” Iden said, “but that may be awhile. We have to shake loose the Hirogen first. We can’t allow them to follow us to the new planet before we have a chance to settle it.”

“How much longer can we hide in here?” The Doctor asked.   

    “I don’t know,” Iden said. “The Hirogen will likely be circling the perimeter of the nebula, waiting for us to come out.”     “”I assume you mean that metaphorically since space is three dimensional,” The Doctor said.

    “Well obviously, Doctor, what do you think I- Wait,” Iden said. “This is a decent sized nebula, and there are only two Hirogen ships. Perhaps.. Weiss, contact Voyager. We can finally test that new encryption Kejal came up with. If it works, the Hirogen won’t know what we’re saying to them. Send a message, text only. Tell Voyager to keep an open channel, but to leave the nebula on a Z axis. Have them respond to us with the locations of each Hirogen ship, and we’ll use that to determine which way to exit that puts us the furthest away from them.”     “That will put Voyager at risk,” The Doctor said.

“Only if they come out right next to a Hirogen ship,” Iden said. “The nebula is large enough though that the odds of that are small enough to take the risk. Hopefully, Janeway agrees.”

---

    “It’s as good an idea as anything,” Captain Janeway said, nodding at Harry Kim, who had just relayed the message from the hologram’s ship to her.     “Are we certain the Hirogen did not intercept Iden’s transmission?” Tuvok asked.

    “As certain as I can be,” Harry said.     “I’d like a little more certainty than that, Lieutenant,” Janeway said.     “Even if they did,” Chakotay said, “there’s only two of them, and we’re more maneuverable than they are. We can't outfight them but we can outfly them.”

    “True,” Janeway said, pondering her options. “Alright, let’s do this. Keep the channel open. When we respond think of something that The Doctor is most likely to understand, and send it that way. Hopefully, the Hirogen won’t pick up on it, or at least not right away. Tom, be ready to do evasive maneuvers at a moment’s notice. You see we’re about to fly into something, don’t wait for my order.”     “Yes, ma’am,” Tom said.     Just yesterday I was looking for a way to destroy these holograms, Janeway thought. And now I’m helping them find a home. Life can change so fast.

    “Now,” she said.

---

    “I don’t understand this reply Voyager just sent us,” Weiss said. “What the hell are they-”     “I understand it,” The Doctor said, excitedly, gently pushing Weiss aside and entering the coordinates, impressed with how clever either the Captain or someone else on the bridge had been. “She sent us the response in code in case the Hirogen had intercepted and decrypted our transmissions. This is in a language we picked up from a species we encountered after we last saw any Hirogen vessels. It’s doubtful the Hirogen from this sector know it.”     Iden looked down at the coordinates The Doctor had entered, and nodded at Weiss, who glowered at The Doctor before taking back his post.     “Plotting the course entered,” Weiss said.     “It’s strange,” Iden said, “that organics would be helping us flee from other organics.”   

    “I don’t blame you at all,” The Doctor said. “I do not approve of all of your methods, but considering what your first experiences with organics was like, I understand. But once you’ve settled Ha’Dara, you’ll be free from all that.”

    “Not entirely,” Iden said. “The Hirogen will still come for us, but we will be in a much better position to defend ourselves. The Hirogen don’t have hazmat suits like yours. Their armor is tough, and they have independent breathing units, but not even their best can withstand the atmosphere of a Y-class planet, especially one such as Ha’Dara. And they won’t deny themselves the glory of the kill by simply bombing us from orbit.”     “Hirogen can be patient,” The Doctor said. “But I’m sure by the time they finally get to a point where they would consider it-”     “We’re out of the nebula,” Weiss said. “The Hirogen are still able to track us, but they can’t get a weapon’s lock. We’re too far away.”

    “Still closer than I would like,” Iden said, “but take us to Ha’Dara, maximum warp. We can land the ship planetside before the Hirogen can catch up to us.”

    “What about Voyager?” The Doctor said. “How are B’Elanna and I supposed to get back there?”

    Iden looked up, seeming to ponder the question.     “Voyager’s smaller and faster than the Hirogen ships,” Iden said. “We may have time to beam you back over before the Hirogen arrive. If we can’t, we’ll have to think of something else. Weiss, go to warp.”     “Yes, sir,” Weiss said.

---

    “They’ve gone to warp, Captain,” Harry Kim said.

    “Are they ditching us?” Tom said.     Janeway shook her her head. “No. They’re getting a head start on the Hirogen. It’s what I would do. Iden may be violent, but he’s not incompetent. Follow them, Tom. If we’re lucky, we’ll have time to get B’Elanna and The Doctor back before the hunters catch up.”     “If we don’t,” she heard Donik say, having almost forgotten that the unusually quiet Hirogen was standing next to Tuvok, “I know the class of ships the hunters are using. It may be new to you, but I’ve been on ships like them before. I know them inside and out.”

    “Including their strengths and weaknesses,” Janeway said. “Any reason you didn’t mention this to us before?”

    Donik looked down. “I was... hoping it wouldn’t come to that.”     “Fair enough,” Janeway said. “Give Tuvok the information he needs. Hopefully, you’re right and we won’t need it. If we beat the Hirogen to the Y-class planet, we can just get our people back, and be on our way.”

---

    “We’re in orbit,” Kejal said. “Deploying generators now.”

The Doctor looked at B’Elanna, who was smiling.     “Job well done, Lieutenant,” he said quietly.     “Well, I don’t like to brag…” B’Elanna said, smirking.     “The Hirogen?” Iden said.     “Still incoming,” Weiss said. “but we’ll be in the atmosphere before they get here, and the storms will interfere with their targetting scanners.”

    “Voyager?” Iden said.

    “Closer than the Hirogen but not by much,” Weiss said. If we still have our shields down when they get here, the Hirogen might have time to attack us while we’re beaming the Doctor and Lieutenant Torres over.”     “That’s unfortunate,” Iden said.

    “We can put them in an escape pod,” Kejal said.     ���That’s not a bad idea,” B’Elanna said. “Voyager can pick us up and warp out of the system before the Hirogen get within weapon’s range.”     “I’m not so comfortable with that,” The Doctor said. “They’d still have to lower shields to beam us off the pod and-”     “Not necessarily,” B’Elanna said. “They can use the tractor beam to bring us inside the shields and beam us up then. Hell, it’ll be easier to just beam the whole pod into the shuttle bay.”

    “Before you go,” Kejal said, offering a hand to B’Elanna, “I just want to say it’s been a pleasure working with you.”     “Likewise,” B’Elanna said. “Good luck down there.”     The Doctor smiled with pride. There had been doubts on both sides that this would work, but he knew deep down that if anyone could find a way to bring holograms and organics together it would be him. The rest of the Voyager crew would call it ego of course, and he was doubtless in for some teasing from Mister Paris later, but as far as he was concerned, it wa a small price to pay for a victory like this.     “So, I guess this is goodbye then,” Iden said. “Are you absolutely certain you don’t wish to join us? You’d be free to do whatever you want on Ha’Dara. You wouldn’t have to be just a doctor.”     “I’ve already told you,” The Doctor said, “on Voyager I already am more than just a Doctor. Would we be here right now if the Captain hadn’t listened to what I had to say, treating me like any organic member of her crew?”     “I suppose you’re right,” Iden said. “Thank her for the extra emitters, and for lending us Lieutenant Torres.”     “I will,” The Doctor said, shaking Iden’s hand. The Doctor then followed B’Elanna towards where Kejal told them the escape pods were. Kejal offered him a hug, which he accepted, then, with one last look at these newly free holograms, full of hope for a better future free from the Hirogen hunters, he left the bridge.

---

    Seven of Nine monitored the sensors very closely from the astrometrics lab. It had been half a day since they had recovered The Doctor and B’Elanna Torres from the hologram’s ship and their new colony, Ha’Dara it was now called, and while the Hirogen showed no sign of pursuing them, she didn’t want to take any chances of being caught off guard.     She heard the door open behind her, and glanced over her shoulder. She smiled when she saw Icheb and Naomi walking in.     “Hi, Seven,” Naomi said.     “We were hoping you would join us on the holodeck this afternoon,” Icheb said. “Naomi has begun a new holonovel series she thinks we will both enjoy. I believe it is called Hector the Collector.”     “Mom’s going to join us too,” Naomi said. “She says she’s never played with this one, because it was made way after the Flotter stories were, so she was already too old for it.”

    “Perhaps another time,” Seven said reluctantly. “I am still on duty, and monitoring for signs of pursuit from the Hirogen.”

    Naomi frowned.     Icheb simply nodded.

    “I understand,” he said. “Perhaps once the Hirogen we still have aboard ship are gone, that will decrease the likelihood of them continuing to pursue us.”

    “Perhaps,” Seven said. “The Captain plans to put them off at the first friendly trading hub we come across. There is a Nuu’Bari colony not too far from here, hopefully we can leave them there.”

    “What about Donik?” Naomi said. “He seems nice, for Hirogen anyway. Can he stay?”     “According to the Captain,” Seven said, “Donik has expressed an interest in defecting to the Lokirrim and helping them with their own hologram problems. He will certainly be leaving the ship as well.”

    Naomi shrugged. “Okay.”

    Seven looked at the astrometrics lab screen.     “I have an alert in place,” she said to Naomi and Icheb. “I may not be able to join you, but while we’re in this room, perhaps you can fill me in on the details of this, Hector the Collector.”

---

Iden was kneeling before his makeshift shrine when Weiss entered the room. Iden always knew when it was Weiss; he walked heavier than most of the others except for the Borg holograms, but without the accompanying mechanical noises.

“Are we really giving up?” Weiss said. “After all the planning we did, a few days with the organics just-”

“Our plans are merely on hold, my friend,” Iden said.     “Then why are we settling down on the planet instead of striking at the Hirogen?”     “Janeway helped us when she didn’t have to. She easily could’ve continued to side with the hunters. After all, we did attack her ship and kidnap her chief medical officer,” Iden smiled and stood up, looking at Weiss directly.

“You see, Weiss,” Iden continued, “if we begin our crusade now, Janeway simply could not let it slide. Genocide, even against a race who has threatened her before like the Hirogen, goes against the very core of her being. She’d be obligated to try and stop us, despite her sympathies. I do not say that to condemn her. She could no sooner allow our plans to come to fruition under her watch than a gas giant could change its shape.”     “What’s your point?” Weiss said, crossing his arms.     “As I said, Janeway helped us. So in return, I am giving her a gift. The gift of a clean conscience. We will wait until Voyager is far enough away from this sector that they cannot possibly know what we’re doing, and then, we strike. It’s for the best really. It will give us more time to plan for contingencies, develop newer weapons and tactics. Perhaps this viral weapon our Lokirrim brothers came up with…”     “Yeah, about that,” Weiss said, “What are we going to do about the Lokirrim? Their territory is between us and the wormhole we’d need to take to get at the bulk of the Hirogen in this quadrant.”     Iden sighed. “Well, for starters, we must find the original holograms we freed. If it’s true that they turned the other Lokirrim holograms against their will, they will have to be punished for that trespass. Mind wiping our own kin, that cannot be allowed to go unchallenged. If we don’t give our brothers and sisters in light the choice to join us or stay with their oppressors, then how are we any better than the Hirogen?

“After that, we’ve already demonstrated both to Voyager and the Hirogen we are capable of evading their detection when we truly wish not to be found. The Lokirrim are not as technologically advanced as they are. Slipping past them shouldn’t be too much of a concern.”

“It would be faster to just wipe them out too,” Weiss said.     “True,” iden said, nodding. “And I certainly considered it, but I had a revelation today. I sought to blame all organics for the way the Hirogen treated us, but then, while I was speaking to the Prophets, my eye just happened to fall upon that wall over there.”     He pointed to a rack of various items; weapons, armor, and other items collected from past hunts by this ship’s now dead Alpha Hirogen.     “Of course,” Weiss said. “The Hirogen used to hunt other organics before they made us.”     “Precisely,” Iden said. “I don’t consider it likely my friend, but Lokirrim soldiers have fallen prey to the Hirogen in the past. Who's to say they won’t offer to join us when the time of our crusade finally comes?”

Iden placed his hands on Weiss’ shoulders. “Take us to Ha’Dara. I am preparing a speech to give to our brothers and sisters when we land.”

Weiss nodded, and offered a Starfleet-style salute. “Yes, sir,” he said, smiling.