Title: Star Trek-Infinity: Confrontation[PG] (MISC) Author: Charles Rando (trando@worldnet.att.net) Series: MISC Rating: [PG] Part: NEW 1/2 Disclaimer: Paramount owns the characters in The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, and Peter David owns the Selelvian race (see his book, Strike Zone). I'd like to think that the characters I've invented and the story are mine. :-) Summary: The Infinity is badly damaged. Enemy forces have infiltrated the ship. Can Captain Rando and his crew escape from their dark reflections and return safely to their own universe? Maybe... but sacrifices will be made! CHAPTER ONE "Dammit! Can't you go any faster?!" Ensign Jeff Libby shouted in frustration. Unfortunately, the turbolift did not respond, and Libby was forced to wait the ride out. He felt the turbolift change direction and head down another shaft, and at the same time his train of thoughts shifted. He knew that the people on his ship would soon be boarding this one, and he had to get to Becky before that happened. But what if the reason they were invading was because he had escaped? Could they be so obsessive over him that they would actually go out of their way to get him back? And what if they killed people in this invasion? What if they killed Becky? Then it would be all his fault! Finally, the turbolift doors opened and deposited him on the deck his double's quarters were on. He ran down the corridor and slammed his hand down on the panel next to his door. A quick glance around his quarters revealed to him that there was no one there. Where could Becky be? He left her here only five minutes ago... could they have gotten here so fast? Could they have taken her hostage, knowing that she would be the sole reason for his desertion? "Calm down!" he told himself. "They couldn't have gotten here that fast!" He took him a few seconds before he was able to think clearly, and then it suddenly occurred to him. "Computer, locate Ensign Bayreuther." "There is no Ensign Bayreuther onboard this ship," the computer said. Panic struck Libby. Had they already found her? Had they murdered her, just like they had his Becky? Then he remembered the number of pips on her collar. "Computer, locate Lieutenant Bayreuther." "Lieutenant Bayreuther is in her quarters," came the computer's stoic reply. How could it be so calm! "Computer, where are her quarters?" "Lieutenant Bayreuther's quarters are located on deck eight, section two," the computer replied. Deck eight. He had to get to deck eight. Running out of his double's quarters, he immediately headed towards the turbolift. With any luck, the one he had arrived on was still there. When the doors opened at his approach, he realized that it was. "Deck eight!" he ordered as the turbolift doors closed behind him. Luckily, this ride would not take as long as the last one. After a few seconds, the doors opened again and deposited Libby on deck eight. But just after Libby stepped off the turbolift, the ship rocked beneath him. Libby picked himself off the floor and started a sprint down the corridor. The computer hadn't told him exactly where Becky's quarters were, but he hoped it wouldn't take him long to find them. After two wrong turns, he finally found the name "R. Bayreuther" next to a door. "Jeffrey, what are you doing here?" Bayreuther asked after the initial shock of seeing him at her door had passed. "Shouldn't you be on the bridge?" "They're attacking, Becky!" Libby exclaimed. "I've got to hide you! I can't let them take you away from me again! Come on!" "Jeffrey, where are we going?" Bayreuther protested as Libby pulled her out of her quarters. "During a red alert, all non-essential crew members are supposed to stay in their quarters!" "Don't you understand? We've got to hide you before they come for you! They know I'd go to you!" A phaser blast interrupted Libby and he threw himself and Becky to the ground. "I told you so!" he shouted as he just as quickly picked her off the ground and forced her into a run. They were able to make it into a turbolift just as a phaser blast hit the closing doors. "We need a place to hide!" Libby said, looking frantically into Bayreuther's eyes. She knew this ship better than he did, but of course he couldn't let her know that. Becky stared defiantly back at him. "I don't know who you are, but you're not my Jeffrey," she said. "Unless, of course," Libby thought, "she already knows." He sighed and said, "I'll tell you all about it later, but right now we need a place to hide!" Becky, even though she knew this wasn't her Jeff, somehow felt that she could trust him. "Deck fifteen!" she ordered the computer. "What's on deck fifteen?" Libby asked her. "I'll tell you when we get there," Bayreuther told him. "Two can play your game." Libby sighed again. If he wasn't so sure that she came from another universe, he would be completely convinced that this was his Becky. ****************************************************** "Johnson to sickbay. I have a lock on the away team. Prepare for an emergency beam-in." Doctor McDonald clipped her comm. badge. "We are ready, Lieutenant," she replied. She looked over at Doctor Calabretta, who seemed anxious to get started. Three distinct transporter patterns began to form on three of the biobeds. Two were sitting up, while the third was prone on its back. The latter became Ensign Jeff Libby, while the two others became Commander Kevin Witherell and Counselor Sonja Kassal. "Don't worry about the Counselor and myself, we're fine," Commander Witherell said as his pattern became fully formed. "Jeff was hurt the most by them." Doctor McDonald scanned Ensign Libby with a medical tricorder and then nodded her head. "He has various broken bones and internal bleeding. We must begin work immediately." Doctor Calabretta rolled a small table with various medical tools on it over to Libby's side. "Commander, as you probably know, we're under attack from the other ship. I'm expecting a lot more casualties in the next few minutes. You're both well enough to return to duty." "You could just say, 'I need the space, now get the hell out of here,'" Witherell commented as he hopped off his bed. The instant his feet hit the floor, the entire ship shook, and Witherell found himself looking up at the back of Doctor Calabretta's head. "I would, but I don't have time to be rude," Calabretta answered without looking up. Witherell stood up. "Well, you heard the man, Counselor. Let's get to the bridge and see what we can accomplish up there." "Actually, Commander, I think I'm going to stop by my quarters first and change into something less... revealing," Kassal said as they stepped outside of sickbay. "I'll be up in about five minutes." Witherell watched her go. He could sense that she was still upset over how her double had behaved, especially her double's openness. Although he had tried to lighten her mood with jokes, Witherell knew that his attempts had not been successful. He also knew that Kassal would most likely not want to talk about her experience with him, so he made a mental note to tell Captain Rando what had happened. Sonja would need someone as close as the Captain was to her to talk to, to counsel the counselor. Suddenly, the ship's intercom system became active. "Intruder alert! Deck eight!" Witherell heard security chief Lieutenant Remley say. The invasion was in full swing now. "Commander Witherell to bridge. I'm back on the ship and I'm headed to deck eight. And yes, I slept just fine the other night!" Witherell shouted after he had tapped his comm. badge. He turned and ran to the nearest turbolift. ****************************************************** "Intruder alert! Deck eight!" Counselor Kassal shuddered. So they had chosen a junior officers' deck to begin their invasion. They would be able to find many hostages on deck eight, as much of the crew who would not be on duty during a red alert would return there. The turbolift deposited Kassal on deck four, the senior officers' deck. Her quarters were close to the turbolift, and she quickly dashed inside. "Computer, lights," she called as she ran to her closet. She pulled out a freshly washed uniform, one that would actually cover her body. But once she had the uniform on, she realized that she still didn't feel any better. She removed the uniform and placed it immediately in the cleaner, the thought that it was somehow now dirty running through her head. Forgetting for now the danger the ship was in and that her place was on the bridge, she ran into her bathroom and turned on the shower. She preferred the old fashion water showers opposed to the sonic showers that had come into popularity a century ago. She grabbed the bar of soap resting on the soap tray and began scrubbing herself vigorously. But it seemed that no matter how hard she tried, she could get herself clean enough. The filth from her encounter with her double just lingered and lingered, and no matter how hard she tried she couldn't get it off her! Finally, after minutes of frantic washing, Sonja collapsed on the floor of the shower in tears. The hot water continued to stream down on her, but she didn't notice. All she saw through her tear blurred eyes was an endless trail of dirty water going down the drain. ****************************************************** On the bridge of the Infinity , Counselor Kassal laughed with delight. Captain McCue raised an eyebrow at her. "You seem to be enjoying this, Counselor," he commented. "It's so simple!" Kassal exclaimed evily. "Their defenses are so weak! It's a wonder that they've survived to become a major power in their universe! I could crush them like insects!" McCue turned to look at her. "Oh? Why don't you then?" For the first time, McCue saw uncertainty pass over the Counselor's face. Perhaps her powers were not as strong as she wanted everyone to believe. "This way is much more... fun. Letting them suffer, knowing that defeat is inevitable. If I didn't have my powers, we would have to do it this way." That was a very weak excuse, McCue noted. "Counselor, we have been ordered to capture the Infinity by any means necessary. It does not matter that we would have had to invade their ship before, now we have the opportunity to take the ship without resistance. I suggest you consider changing your mind." The dark elf harumphed. "You are distracting me, Captain. If you'll excuse me?" She stood quickly and marched off the bridge. Once inside the turbolift, she opened a channel. "Counselor Kassal to Lieutenant Monty. I have a new assignment for you." CHAPTER TWO "We need a way out of here," Captain Rando was saying. Lieutenant Remley looked up from his console. "I wish I had an answer for you, sir," he said. "As long as their shields are grafted onto ours, they can keep beaming officers on board. The shield grafting also prevents us from forming a warp field." "We could attempt to escape their shields on impulse, and then activate the warp engines," Ensign Marit suggested. "Even if we managed to get far enough away from them to do that, where would we go?" Remley asked her. The Bajoran navigator slammed her hands down on her console and turned her chair to face him. "At least it's better than sitting here and doing nothing!" "Captain, I think I might have an idea," the officer at stellar cartography said. Rando turned to face her. "What is it, Ms. Monty?" "I've been studying the stars in this sector, figuring we might as well get as much information on this universe as we can if we ever need it. But then I thought, what if we used the stars to our advantage? What if we used the multiphasic shielding program?" "That might just work, sir," Remley said. "If we could get far enough away from them to form a warp field." "Do you think you're up to it, Ensign?" Rando asked, coming down the horseshoe ramp to the front of the bridge. "Just try and stop me, Captain," Marit replied. "The nearest star is at 173 mark 4," Monty informed them. Marit quickly entered the coordinates into her console. "I'm ready whenever you are, Captain," she said. Rando tapped his comm. badge. "Commander Neddek, are the warp engines ready for a sudden jump to warp?" "The warp engines are fully functional, Captain," Neddek said, "however, we will not be able to create a warp field while we are inside their...." "We are aware of that, Commander. Rando out." Remley's head suddenly snapped up. "Sir, they're beaming over another wave of...." The ship shook again. "They've fired their phasers at us... direct hit on decks twelve and thirteen! We have a hull breach! Forcefields have been activated!" "We can't wait any longer," Rando said as he sat down in his chair. Ensign, engage!" he ordered. Ensign Marit did not reply verbally, but her fingers instantly jumped into action. The Infinity jumped from standing still to full impulse in under a second, and the entire ship lurched as it sped past its dark twin. "They're coming about, sir!" Remley called. "They're powering their weapons!" "Engaging warp engines, sir!" Marit called. The ship lurched again as its speed increased to quickly for the inertial dampeners to handle. "Take us to maximum warp!" Rando told her. "Lieutenant, bring the multiphasic shield program online." "Yes sir," Remley said. "Of course, once the multiphasic shields are in place, our regular shields will be useless. If they get a lucky hit before we're able to enter the star's corona...." "I'll just have to make sure they don't get that lucky shot," Marit snapped. "We'll reach the star in under a minute!" "Multiphasic shields are standing by," Remley called. "You both know what to do," Rando said. "We're all counting on you... but no pressure, of course." At Marit's command, the ship dropped out of warp to full impulse speed. The bright star grew larger and larger on the viewscreen as Marit zigged and zagged towards it, avoiding the phaser fire from the other ship which had dropped out of warp behind them. She then turned the Infinity for a quick run at the star, and at the last possible moment she called out, "Now!" Lieutenant Remley responded quickly and the multiphasic shields were activated before the stars deadly heat and radiation could seriously affect the ship. Ensign Marit decreased speed to one quarter impulse once the ship had entered the star's corona, and then used the maneuvering thrusters to move the ship to the other end of the star. "If their sensors are like ours, they won't be able to detect us while we're in here," Marit said. "That's why I moved us over here." "Sir, speaking of their technical ability, I have one question," Remley suddenly spoke up. Rando turned to face him. "What if they have multiphasic shielding too?" Rando blinked. "Aren't you the one who's always telling us not to foreshadow, Lieutenant?" "Sorry, sir, it won't happen again," Remley said. His console beeped. "Damage reports coming in, sir. We've lost sections four through seven on decks twelve and thirteen... the ship's galley and part of cargobay four." Remley shook his head... he could only imagine the size of the hole they had in their hull now. "Then it looks like we'll have to stick to personal replicators for a while," Rando told him. "Keep an eye on that ship the best you can. If it moves, I want to be the first to know." ****************************************************** "Ok, we're here," Libby said, looking at Bayreuther in confusion. "Now, do you want to tell me where here is?" Bayreuther said nothing as she walked through the double doors and led Libby into a empty room. Libby looked around at the black walls and said, "If you think we'll be able to hide here for very long, you're out of your mind!" "Computer, begin program Landia-3," Bayreuther said. Libby watched in amazement as the black walls disappeared and were replaced by very different scenery. They stood on a road in a field that stretched as far as the eye could see. The sky was bright blue, without a cloud to obscure the view. Off in the distance, Libby saw an old, medieval town. Next to them, a horse-drawn carriage waited. "That's where we're going to hide," Becky told him, pointing at the village. "Where are we?" Libby asked in amazement as he followed Bayreuther into the carriage. "How did we get off the ship?" "We're on the holodeck," Becky replied. "Don't you have holodecks on your ship?" "My ship?" Libby stammered. "But this is... oh never mind. No, we don't have this technology. What is it used for?" "Starfleet researchers discovered that crews on long deep space missions operated better when they could... get off the ship every so often. The holodeck provides the perfect opportunity. People can go anywhere they want to without leaving the ship. This program is actually something Jeff, my Jeff, and I have been working on for months. It's a fantasy program, a land called Landia. My name is Raphaella, and I guess you would be Lysander." Libby turned his head away from his traveling companion. "I'm... I'm sorry I left your officers behind on my ship. I just had the perfect opportunity to relive a part of my life that had been taken away from me, and I had to take it. I'm really sorry." "It's possible that because of you, I might never see my Jeffrey again. And I'm not sure if I could ever forgive you for that. But I also realize that your life on that ship must not have been very pleasant if you were this desperate to run away." Libby nodded sadly. "I was like the little puppy who everyone loved to kick. If someone had a bad day, they'd take it out on Libby. If someone had a good day, they'd make themselves feel better by beating up Libby. And then they took away the one thing in my life that gave me any happiness whatsoever: you." "What do you mean?" Bayreuther asked, looking directly at him. "They knew that if I lost you, I would have no reason to live anymore. So one night when we were off-duty, eating dinner together, Lieutenant Remley came in and... and he killed you." Bayreuther lifted Libby's head with her hand. "Look at me, Jeff. I want you to realize something. I'm not the Becky you fell in love with. I know I may look like her, and I may sound like her, but I'm not her. It's sad that your Becky was taken away from you in such a tragic way, but it happened, and you have to move on. Do you really think your Becky would be happy knowing that you've given up on life because of her?" "No, I don't suppose she would be," Libby said. "But I still don't feel like I have much to live for." "You can make your life worth living," Becky said. "Now that you're off that ship, you can run away. Make a new life someplace else." "I could go join the Maquis," Libby said. "I was going to take my Becky and escape with her to the Badlands, but Ensign Su beat us to the punch. And after she defected, security on my ship got much tougher. There was no way to escape." "Well, it looks like you've taken the first step to get off that ship, even if it might have cost me my Jeff. But I know Jeffrey, and even if something were to happen to him, which I pray to God it doesn't, he would still want me to help you. That's just the kind of person he is," Bayreuther said. Libby smiled. "You know, the first time I met your Jeff, he was trying to help me. Lieutenant Remley was having another bad day, and he...." CHAPTER THREE Commander Witherell sighed as he stepped onto the turbolift. "Bridge," he called out, and waited for the soft humming of the lift to come on. He had spent the last twenty minutes running around deck eight, attempting to contain the invaders from the other ship. It had taken a lot of hard work, but the computer finally was able to report that their were no more intruders conscious of the ship. Witherell had ordered the security officers in his team to take the unconscious invaders to the brig, and then had left himself to check in with Captain Rando. Witherell strolled out onto the bridge, still wearing his uniform from the other ship. He knew that he looked out of place to the officers who had not seen his new costume, but he had more important matters to attend to. "Commander Witherell," Captain Rando greeted as Witherell took his seat to the Captain's right. "It's good to see your mission was a success." Witherell nodded. "How's Ensign Libby?" he asked. "Doctor Calabretta has managed to mend his broken bones and repair his internal bleeding. Right now, he's stable but still unconscious," Rando said. "Well, while Jeff was resting, I was out chasing them damn punk kids off our ship," Witherell said sarcastically. "They put up quite a fight, but they were completely outnumbered. We were finally able to stun them all, and now they're being moved to the brig." "Are you sure you got all of them?" Rando asked. "The computer didn't detect anyone else, although it probably would be a good idea to sweep the ship. Lieutenant?" "I'm on it, Commander," Lieutenant Remley replied, leaving his tactical console and heading towards the turbolift. Commander Witherell examined the viewscreen closely. "So, here we are back inside a star," he commented. "Makes me wonder if we'll find any plasma lifeforms in here." Rando smiled at the memory. "If we did, we might want to lure them in here. Let's see how they would deal with uncontrollable feelings of love." The topic of conversation suddenly reminded Witherell of something important. "Captain, did Counselor Kassal ever come up here? She looked rather upset when I last saw her." Rando shook his head. "No, she never came to the bridge. I assumed she was helping to get everyone into their quarters." "No sir," Witherell said. "She told me she was going to her quarters to change and then she'd come up here. And that was twenty minutes ago." "I'd better check up on her," Rando said. He tapped his comm. badge. "Captain Rando to Kassal." There was no response. "Can you detect anything from her, Commander?" "I'm sorry, sir, but I have to block out all emotions and thoughts if I'm going to be able to block out what their Counselor is sending us," Witherell replied. "Then you have the bridge, Commander. I'll hopefully be right back." ****************************************************** "Sonja!" called Captain Rando as he entered the Counselor's quarters. The lights were on, indicating that she had been there recently, and that she probably was still nearby. What if the security team had missed an invader and he was now holding Sonja hostage? "Sonja!" he called again. There was no response. Rando moved deeper into her quarters, and noticed that one of Sonja's uniforms had been placed in the cleaning unit just a short time ago. Why would she put a clean uniform into the washer? Rando closed his eyes and searched for Sonja with his mind. Wherever she was, the mental link they shared, the one she had showed him how to create at the Academy, would still connect them. He hoped she was nearby, so that he could.... His eyes snapped open and he turned towards the bathroom. Upon opening the door, Rando heard the muffled and tired cries of someone who had been crying for a very long time. He opened the door completely and stepped inside, and relief flooded over him as he saw Sonja. But the relief did not last long. Sonja was huddled in the corner of the shower, hot water still falling on her body. Her wet hair was matted against her back, but she didn't even seem to notice. Knowing how the elf felt about sexuality and the importance males seemed to place on the female body, Rando quickly grabbed a towel before he turned off the shower's water. He placed the towel on Kassal's shoulders and attempted to get her to her feet. "Come on, Sonja," he whispered into her ear. "You can't stay here all day." She weakly allowed him to help her stand and then lead her out of the bathroom and into her bedroom. He sat her down on her bed and then went to her closet to retrieve one of her robes. Sonja would not want to be only clothed by a towel in any situation, and so he helped her put the robe on, careful to keep his eyesight averted towards the wall beyond her. Sonja continued to weep softly as he dressed her. "What's wrong, Sonja?" he asked. "Why were you in the shower so long? Your skin's going to get all wrinkled." Kassal did not notice his attempt at humor, but continued to cry. Rando realized he would not be able to make contact with her in this way. "Sonja," he thought at her, "Sonja, it's me, Charlie. Please, tell me what's wrong. Why are you crying? Did something happen to you over there?" "Oh Charlie! It was so horrible! She was crawling all over me, pawing me, I couldn't get her hands off of me! I hate her! She made me feel so dirty!" Kassal's mind screamed at him. "Is that why you were in the shower?" Rando asked. "Sonja, you know that doesn't work. Any student in psych. 101 could tell you that. You need to talk about your experience, confront all of your fears. You're safe now, Sonja. She can't get you here." "Oh, that's where you're wrong, Charlie!" he heard Sonja's voice say, but yet there was a harshness to it. Rando realized that maybe Sonja wasn't out of the other Counselor's reach. "She is part of me, and I am part of her. And I will never leave!" At those words, Sonja began sobbing uncontrollably, as if she knew it was true. Rando reflexively put his arm around her and held her close. "Sonja, listen to me... you must fight her! You must get her out of your mind! Help me, Sonja, help me fight her! She's not strong enough to fight both of us!" Rando thought at her. "But don't you see, Charlie, you've already lost," the other Counselor said. "I wasn't able to get into your mind with your mental blocks in place... you really thought I didn't know about that didn't you? So I weakened her defenses, knowing you would come to her rescue, and now I am in your mind too! You remember what happened the last time I was in your mind, don't you? The dream I sent you? Well, that's nothing compared to what I'm going to do to you now!" Rando grabbed his head in agony as the other Kassal began projecting her will onto him. He collapsed onto the bridge, while Sonja sat beside him, sobbing softly and oblivious to it all. ****************************************************** "Becky!" The sudden thought forced Ensign Libby into consciousness, and it took him a few seconds to regain his bearings and realize he was in sickbay... the sickbay on his Infinity. In the next room, he could hear Doctor Calabretta and Doctor McDonald scurrying around, and the red alert sirens in the background told him that the ship must have been attacked. It all made sense: the doctors had moved him into this recovery room after they had stabalized him to make room for other patients. "I have to find Becky... make sure she's all right." His next thought was enough to motivate him out of the biobed. Silently, he put his feet to the ground... if he made too much noise, the doctors might hear him and come check up on him. That wasn't what he wanted right now. After slipping off his comm. badge, he tiptoed over to the doorway and peaked around it. Sickbay was indeed full of injured people, and Doctor Calabretta and Doctor McDonald were doing their best to help them all. Libby noticed that the nearest door leading out of sickbay was just ahead of him and to the right... but if he attempted to go for it at the wrong moment, they'd surely see him. He had to wait for the right moment to attempt his escape. A sudden scream of pain at the other end of the room gave Libby his opportunity. Both McDonald and Calabretta quickly made their way over to the wounded officer and began administering pain killers to him. Going as fast as he could, Libby was out the door before either doctor noticed him leaving. Once outside of sickbay, Libby headed for the nearest turbolift. "Deck eight," he instructed it, and the lift immediately responded. Once he had checked on Becky, he could head for the bridge and try to help out. A minute later, the turbolift doors opened and Libby stepped out. But then, he heard something he wasn't expecting. "Freeze!" Libby turned to see a group of security officers training their weapons on him. He held up his hands in surrender. "Guys, it's me, Jeff! Honest!" The head security officer looked a bit skeptical, and then one of his underlings whispered, "Sir, Ensign Libby was immediately brought to sickbay after the away mission." The head security officer nodded and tapped his comm. badge. "Goldin to sickbay. Doctor, is Ensign Libby still with you?" The response from sickbay took a few seconds; Calabretta and McDonald obviously still had their hands full. Finally, Calabretta said, "Ensign Libby is still in recovery, unconscious." "Thank you, Doctor. Goldin out." The security officer tapped his comm. badge again, nodded to one of his men, and watched as Ensign Libby was brought down by a phaser on stun. "Take him to the brig with the rest of them," Goldin ordered. "We'll teach them to dirty up our ship."