Equilibration (Trek uberfic -- UPDATED 8/2/04)

[WebWarlock]

Ah nothing like a potentially difficult and dangerous situation to take your mind off of a potentially difficult and dangerous situation!



So we are off script now eh Captain?



Again, I love the little Trek related references coupled with old fashioned Willow and Tara goodness. You really have the elements here of a good Trek story.



Now I am curious about Willow's service record. The Vice-Ensign was really cute. Was Willow peeking at the FASA Officer's Manual?



I am surprised though that they did not mention the Maquis in the senior officer's briefing. I guess they are too far away from Bajor to even think they would be involved.



I know what you mean about the buercratic mindset. Why have one copy when you can store two at twice the cost.



Great work.



Warlock

-----

Web Warlock

The Other Side,
home of Liber Mysterium: The Netbook of Witches and Warlocks

"If this is all the gods can do, I'm over to the Darkside so fast." - Tom Servo Mystery Science Theater 3000, Episode 903 "Pumaman".

[bluewillowwitch]

Capt,

Love the update! When are you going to put and togther. I have been waiting and still nothing. Can't wait for the next update!



bluewillowwitch

-----------------------------

"Fate keeps on happening."--Anita Loos

[Magrat70]

Cap't Murdock,



I'm ashamed to say I have fallen behind on this fic but the catching up was very good. The plot thickens, the bad guys appear and Willow and Tara get closer.



Can't wait for more of this wonderful story



Love

Wendy

The Glorious People Republic of Treacle Mine Road;



Truth, Justice, Freedom, Reasonably Priced Love and a Hard Boiled Egg

[shuyaku]

Hey Capt'n,



Nice update for plot development. You've done a fantastic job of dropping the girls into the middle of a great Trek fic and seemlessly, I might add



And an away mission soon - that should be very interesting. Will we be introduced to Ensign Killemoff soon? (You know the one - the one red shirt that gets killed on 90% of away missions )



Looking forward to more,

-shuyaku

[Bluerain95]

Thanks for the update! I've been keeping my eyes peeled for an update to this fic for awhile. I love the idea of a W/T crossover with Trek. There's so much room in that universe for great stories and W/T fit in well. You've done a fabulous job on the backstory. It's incredibly detailed and adds a lot to the story. Though I'm aching to see our girls together



--Blue Rain

[CaptMurdock]

tasha and jixer: What...you've never woken up after a nice of doing the Dirty and felt sure that what you had done was tattooed on your face?



No? Then you need to get out more.



Web Warlock: When I said that I was "kinda winging it," I mean that there were some parts of this story that I hadn't hashed out fully. I knew where points, A, B, C & D were, and I know pretty much where points, X, Y, & Z are. It's some of those middle letters of the alphabet I have trouble with. Not to worry, kittens, I'll get us there. In the meantime, enjoy the in-flight movie.



So, you were under the impression that Willow's career, up to the point where she got bounced into the 24th century, was boring? First, she was hanging out with Buffy and Xander, a dangerous proposition in any universe. Second, she's on the starship known for its share of Bad Wackiness, commanded by a guy whose nickname was "The Space Case." As they say at MIT, "Do the math."



FASA? That's going back to the caveman days...



The Hannibal crew haven't ruled the Maquis out...they just don't have any information yet to form an opinion. Trust me...they will.



bluewillowwitch: I told you before...W/T will get together, but it's going to take a while. Honestly, this culture of instant gratification.... Y'know, there are smutfics available to help you with this sort of thing...



Magrat70: Thank you.



shuyaku: Funny you should say that...I do have plans to introduce a character who is probably very familiar to a lot of you around here. However, I have no plans to kill this-- (Wait a sec. I just sounded like He Whose Name Should Not Be Spoken Here. I'm terribly sorry. ) But seriously, this guy I want to stay around awhile.



Bluerain95: One of the reasons I like Trek is the ability to have all sorts of stories be contained within its world. Unlike Babylon 5, which was brilliant, but not a sparrow fell but that was part of The Great Story Arc. That gave B5 a lot of complexity, but no texture, if you understand what I'm saying.



Thank you all for your comments. I'm off now to a job interview. Wish me luck!

_________________



"Honey, in case you didn't hear me the first six thousand times: no more teleportation spells."

[bluewillowwitch]

Hey Capt,

It isn't that... ....it is that I want to see and together and happy.





bluewillowwitch

--------------------------

"Fate keeps on happening."--Anita Loos

[Grimlock72]

Hmm... Willow sure does know all the relevant theory for active duty, true enough. I'm not so sure she's up to speed in regard to combat reflexes and such. It's typical startrek to send such light away-teams, always thought that a strange idea. Given that they already know MA is being attacked, it would make far more sense to send in highly armed (phaser rifles at least, blast-armour as well please) security troopers. After they have cleared the mess, send in Tara to treat sick people and Willow to help with computer stuff.



But to send a counselor into combat ?? Hardly makes sense.



Interesting that Willow already visited MA some time ago, wonder what happened during that time. Probably was something strange . Good thing she doesn't drink coffee anymore, she's hyper enough as-is .



Willow still needs to explain to Tara why she left her room that morning btw. otherwise she'll just keep on feeling uneasy about that. Tara doesn't seem too bother about it though.



Not a bad update considering there was no script for it, heh. Then again, I trust Capt. Murdock...I trust... (repeat in drone-voice forever)



Grimmy

--

She(Tara) knew that she was Willow too. If she knew that then why hadn't Willow herself? That wasn't fair. She was Willow. she should have known that first. -- Willow in _Sidestep Chronicle_ (part 80)

[TareBearRS]

Nice update!!!



Sorry to see that they were so unfomfortable around eachother, i hope they get past that soon.



I wonder what the away mission will bring.



Also i read in one of the comments that it was weird for a couselor to go on a away mission but on ST the next generation Deanna Troy (the ships couselor) went on away missions all the time if there were people she could help and aid.



Renate

[CaptMurdock]

Title: Equilibration



Chapter Seven (continued)



Disclaimer: The characters of Willow Rosenberg and Tara Maclay,as well as Buffy Summers, Xander Harris, Faith, Warren Mears and Jonathan Levinson, or the reasonable facsimiles that I employ in this story, are the property of Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy productions. The setting for the story is within the universe of Star Trek, created by Gene Roddenberry and owned by Paramount Pictures, Inc. No infringement of copyright is intended. The other characters are the creation of either myself or several colleagues who don't care what I do with them. In any case, I'm a firm believer in Kasden's Law ("If you steal from one source, it's plagiarism; if you steal from ten sources, it's research.")



Pairing: W/T (not precisely the Willow and Tara that we all know and love -- but close enough for government work.)



Spoilers: None (as this does not take place in the Buffyverse at all, we're all safe as far as that goes. As to Trek, this takes place mid-Deep Space Nine --call it third or fourth season).



Rating: PG-13.



Summary: A young 23rd-century Starfleet officer named Willow Rosenberg finds herself stranded in the 24th century. Ninety years later, Tara Maclay, an assistant counselor on the ship that rescues Willow, endeavors to help her with more than professional dedication. They both are newcomers to a somewhat eccentric crew, led by a captain who is a lot more than he seems. Meanwhile, the rebel group known as the Maquis, led by an unusual troika, are on a mysterious quest that may jeopardize the very existence of the Federation.



Feedback: Email me at cloister@earthlink.net. Thanks.



Distribution: For God's sake, don't put this on a Trek board without asking me first! I'll lose all my street cred. :-)



Note: It gets a little angsty here, kids. You wanted more W/T, well, dadgummit, you got it...



****



Seven hours later, Willow was finishing a quick dinner of chicken salad and iced tea in her quarters, when the door signal chimed.



She had conducted several long-range sensor scans during her watch on the bridge, as the Hannibal raced towards Memory Alpha at warp nine. Long before the heavy cruiser-explorer entered the sector containing the planetoid, Willow was able to determine that there were no ships in orbit.



"Nada," Willow had said, indicating the visual display at the science station, where she had spent the intervening hours trying to coax information from the long-range sensor array. She looked up at Faraday, Devereux and Thelvran, who were gathered around in an impromptu conference. "Sirs…well, madam and sirs…there's nothing there." She turned back to the display. "No ship of any description within ten light-years."



For all her professionalism, Faraday could not quite hide her disappointment. "Looks like we missed the party," she commented.



"Fashionably late again," Devereux quipped, dry as a martini.



Thelvran, however, shook his head. Though his antennae moved slightly back and forth, they did not whip around like Willow expected. "I do not think that we can assume anything at this point. The ships might still be there, cloaked or otherwise shielded against our scans."



"That's true, Lieutenant," Willow conceded, free of rancor. "I tried scanning along the extreme high and low ends of the subspace spectrum, kinda figuring that I might detect a harmonic of their warp engines. Not entirely what I would call, well, successful."



Faraday nodded. "We'll be able to scan more effectively when we drop out of warp in the system. In the meantime, everybody should take a break before we beam down to Memory Alpha…assuming there's nothing to prevent us from beaming down."



Willow had returned to her quarters, showered and changed, and ordered a light meal from the replicator. She was not acquainted with that many people on board ship; as long as she was likely to dine alone, she might as well do so in her quarters.



The door chime made her slightly apprehensive, for Willow was fairly certain who was on the other side. Still, no use being impolite… "Come in!"



The double doors hissed open to admit Tara. She stepped in shyly, ducking her head slightly as if careful not to bump it on the overhead, a good meter above her. "Hi," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.



"Hi!" answered Willow, her normal speaking tone almost nerve-shatteringly loud by contrast. "Um, I was just finishing dinner," she added, indicating the plate and glass, "can I get you anything?"



The blonde shook her head. "No, thank you. I ate a little, um, something…before I came here." C'mon, Maclay, grow some backbone in your old age, she admonished herself. "L-Look, Willow, I came to talk to you. About last night." She had to consciously remind herself to breathe after forcing the statement out.



Willow stalled for time by cleaning up her dinner dishes and shoving them back into the replicator for recycling. "Well, what exactly does that mean? I mean, do you regret anything that happened, you shouldn't, I mean, nothing really happened…did it? I don't remember anything, well, I mean, I do remember pretty much everything that happened…I think."



Tara wanted to smile at Willow's babble, but now was not the time. "Will, I think you…"



"Don't call me that."



"Wh-what?" The retort brought Tara up short.



Willow toned down the sharpness in her voice, but nothing mitigated the pain of old memories in her eyes. "Don't call me 'Will,' okay? That was…Buffy and Xander used to call me that."



"Oh," Tara replied in a small voice. "Sorry." Willow waved it off and was about to probably tell her to forget it, but Tara pressed on before her resolve had the opportunity to fail her. "I think you're a little uncomfortable about m-my kissing you. Um, in the bath. Y-you and me..."



"I do seem to recall that, 'cause, hello, there," Willow said, not entirely sure where this conversation was going…or even where it was starting. "Oh…wait, are you afraid that I was taking that kiss in the wrong way? I mean, it was just a, y'know, a fluke. It was...a bath fluke!"



"I'm gay," Tara blurted out, feeling her insides turn to cryonetrium.



"…or not."



Tara's gaze dropped to the floor, while she took a couple of deep breaths in a futile attempt to calm her nerves. The lingering silence from the redhead wasn't helping matters, nor were the chaotic eddies of emotion washing over her empathic senses. Tara had trouble sorting out all of the undercurrents.



"Uh…well, that's fine," Willow finally managed to say, her eyes a little on the wide side. "I mean, that's great. For you." Oooooh boy. Where's my celebrated glibness when it counts? "I mean, certainly there's –" Nothing wrong with it? Yeah, she'll be relieved to know that. "And it's not like I never met a –" Now there's a winner! Why don't I just tell her that some of my best friends are gay…except they're not. Or...weren't, at least not while they were among the living…



Seeing Willow struggle with her revelation, Tara regained some of her clinical poise. She stepped closer to Willow, stopping an arm's-length away out of some automatic sense of propriety. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have s-sprung it on you like that."



"No, it's okay. I'm glad, really…that you told me."



"You're freaked," Tara countered, trying to keep her voice free of accusation and for the most part succeeding. The interesting thing was, while Willow had been thrown by Tara's confession, there was also a nuance of a different emotion, something Tara could scarcely believe and could almost dismiss as wishful delusion: desire. For her. For plain ol' Tara Maclay. Her heart swelled of its own accord, paying no heed to the rational and rather self-deprecating muttering from her cerebral cortex. And then, on the heels of that particular sensation came…



Tara's abilities usually only worked with general emotional states; she could not read minds like a telepath. Her mother had been able to pick up her thought-casts and vice-versa; it was that most intimate and comforting form of communication that Tara missed most about her mother.



What she now received from Willow was far beyond anything she had gotten from other humans. Like a subspace visual transmission, an image coalesced in Tara's mind, of Willow herself…but not. Not the Willow Rosenberg she had come to know in the last few weeks. The uniform was not only antiquated, but it was also both more severe and more revealing in cut. It was Willow's face, all right, but the person that lived behind it was not the sweet and gentle soul standing right next to Tara. She could see coldness in the green eyes, and cruel calculation in the lines of the brow, and the mouth…



The smile that came from that mouth, so like the one she had kissed last night, was not the promise of tenderness and love, but the threat of sadism and lust.



What is this? Tara cried silently, involuntarily taking a half-step back. The emotional tags Willow had hung on this image were that of disgust, revulsion and fear...although the trepidation was not only of this false-Willow image, but of Willow herself. As if Willow, the Willow that she knew, was afraid of something this image represented, in herself.



Willow was now looking at her, trying to discern what Tara was feeling or thinking by reading her expression. As fast as she could, Tara composed herself, at least outwardly. She was both amazed that she had received such a strong mental impression from Willow, and the emotional content.



"I'm not freaked," Willow protested weakly, not only freaked but certain Tara knew she was freaked. She shook her head, hardly able to meet the other woman's eyes. "I just…I, you've given me a lot to think about. Not so much about you…as me. I need time…to sort things out...to figure out if…"



"…if you're able to sleep with m-me," Tara finished curtly. The stricken expression on Willow's face told her that she had gone too far. "I'm s-sorry, I-I shouldn't've…" Feeling like her tongue would totally snap off, or worse, that she might say something truly irreparable, she turned to leave Willow's quarters. At the threshold of the door's sensor-field, she stopped and half-turned back to Willow. "Look…I think there's something, I don't know, something…or someone, in your past, that you…have some issues with, about your…identity. Maybe I'm not the person whom you can talk to about this, but there is Dr. Devereux." A small, somehow bitter chuckle escaped from Tara at that. "At least, he'll be a little more…objective."



Willow did not reply immediately. The image that Tara had seen had been something Willow had struggled for some time to forget, as it represented a dark and dangerous event in her life, when she had come face-to-face with the idea that true evil exists in the human heart, and that she herself was not immune. After that encounter, her capacity for self-examination had threatened to go into overdrive; in an effort to maintain her sanity, Willow had consciously tried to forget the entire episode.



Now, as Tara walked towards the door, she called out to her. When the counselor turned fully around, Willow said, "Um, if it turns out that I can't, uh…well, I can't…we'll still be friends, right?"



Tara looked slightly shocked. "L-like that's even a question!"



Willow managed to look chastened. "Okay, then. And, um, if it does turn out, that, y'know, I…well, I think there's probably nobody on this ship that I'd rather tell the good news to."



Tara stood immobile for a minute. Then one corner of her mouth crooked upwards. Taking a deep breath, she said, "I have to go get ready for…"



"Right, right, me too."



"See you later?"



"Absolutely." After Tara left, Willow felt herself deflate like a pricked balloon. She was just glad she had an away mission to prepare for, to take her mind off of variables and unknowns.

_________________



"Honey, in case you didn't hear me the first six thousand times: no more teleportation spells."

[bluewillowwitch]

Capt,

Okay now there is suspense and then there is torture. That was soooooo mean. I want to know what happens between and . You are a . Can't wait to update.





bluewillowwitch

----------------------------------------

"Fate keeps on happening."--Anita Loos

[Grimlock72]

Not the best mindset to go on an away mission, Willow's all confused and upset now . Tara, being a councellor, could have handled the telling Willow she's gay far better... at least more gradually as opposed to dropping it like that :-) She's supposed to help Willow with her current emotional problems, not add to them .



Ah well, seems Willow has some not-so-nice memories all of her own. Looked a bit like _Doppelgangerland_ with all the leather, or _Mirror, Mirror_ in TOS-speak (can't find a better example at the moment, in TOS anyway). Got to wonder how many more memories Willow is activly repressing and how long she can keep that up.



Would maquis-ships be cloaked ? I thought those were mostly either small fighters or freighters for bulk. It's not like the Romulans or Klingons would just *give* them a nice cloaking device to play with now is it ???



Where ever did Tara's response "…if you're able to sleep with m-me," come from? Why did she say it like that, she appears to be frustrated but with what ?? I'll agree that she's not very objective when it comes to Willow, which has both advantages and disadvantages. We'll see how that goes.



P.S. Yes I know Troi over at TNG went with away parties often. Much like sending a paramedic into a potential armed conflict-zone, makes about as much sense too. (hint: secure area first using security personel, thats what they're trained for) Normally none of the bridge-crew would beam down in wave#1 of course, that would make for rather boring TV so they changed that :-)



Grimmy (still trusting, heh)

--

She(Tara) knew that she was Willow too. If she knew that then why hadn't Willow herself? That wasn't fair. She was Willow. she should have known that first. -- Willow in _Sidestep Chronicle_ (part 80)

Edited by: Grimlock72 at: 5/23/03 2:37:22 am

[TareBearRS]

Cool another update.



Glad to see they talked about the other night. Good for Tara to be so honest about herself. I hope Willow has some time to think about things soon.



Renate

[Kalita]

So this Willow and canon Willow have something more in common? Most interesting. One more angst-ridden mental hurdle for our poor lost redhead.



Hey, at least Tara has brought something forward for her to deal with, inadvertently. It may hurt, but it's best for Willow to face it head-on and get it out of the way.



Can't wait to see more!

"What do people mean when they say the computer went down on them?"

- Marilyn Pittman

[ukxenafan]

Thanks a lot for the update...perfect except for one thing...TOO SHORT!!!



Good to see your Tara pretty much going for it with Willow. She's obviously not afraid to take her chances. Is there angst ahead though.....??

[Captain Serek]

Greetings kittens,





I am the aforementioned "admiral" the good captain mentioned many a thread ago. I have been following the story as avidly as everyone else has. I already given Captain Murdock my notes on this very good story. To give the kittens a little history perspective, I started a little Star Trek club around 1977, starting with one ship (Constitution class - as in the original Enterprise) only with all original characters. When ST-TNG debuted in 1987, I fought kicking and screaming to maintain the club in the TOS style, I caved in 1990.

From my perpective, the captain has broken several rules, but he is making a wonderful story. For the record, I do have a passing interest in Buffy and the said universe so I am familiar with the characters involved. Captain Murdock is doing justice to both universes. If the kittens are curious as to some of the "Trek" characters involved, feel free to visit my website at www.mib.org/~sfof/, I am trying not to spam, just trying to show you the Trek side of the story. I am sure the "commodore" will visit eventually. Good luck on the story Captain and nice meeting you kittens.

[CaptMurdock]

Serek![/i] You hound! (Guess you must have gotten that computer up, eh? Nice to see you finally made it to the Kitten Board -- at least to post). Actually, you're an ambassador by the time of this story -- hell, even your kid is an admiral.



Now, you Kittens be nice to Captain Serek. Until I hooked up with you guys, he was one of my few (and oldest) friends. And as for you, Serek, behave yourself.







I'm working on the next chapter, and hope to post it this weekend. I'm taking a government office assistant test (yes, I'm trying to get a job with the State o' California ) tomorrow, so that will delay me.



Grimmy I love your detailed critique. As one Vulcan might say in a chat-up line, I admire your mind. I do try not to sacrifice logical story plotting for the sake of drama more than absolutely necessary. However, some artistic/dramatic license is required in fan fiction, under the Marshak/Culbreath Fan Fiction Act of 1973. I'm sure you've heard of it.



!

_________________



"Honey, in case you didn't hear me the first six thousand times: no more teleportation spells."

Edited by: CaptMurdock at: 5/31/03 1:24:20 pm

[Captain Serek]

Thank you for the greeting Captain, I am sure the other kittens will make me feel welcome also. Yes the new mac is up and I am running DSL so I can post faster . Of couse I will behave, as I do on the other boards I am on (finally, no more lurking!). Good luck on the goverrnment job.

[Magrat70]

hey cap't I enjoyed this very much and I wonder how much we will learn of Willow in her "Mirror, Mirror" form, hmm very interesting. Poor Tara not really sure what is going on and Willow's seemed almost as confused. Great segment and I can't wait for more

The Glorious People Republic of Treacle Mine Road;



Truth, Justice, Freedom, Reasonably Priced Love and a Hard Boiled Egg

[CaptMurdock]

Title: Equilibration



Chapter Eight



Disclaimer: The characters of Willow Rosenberg and Tara Maclay, as well as Buffy Summers, Xander Harris, Faith, Warren Mears, Jonathan Levinson and Charles Gunn, or the reasonable facsimiles that I employ in this story, are the property of Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy productions. The setting for the story is within the universe of Star Trek, created by Gene Roddenberry and owned by Paramount Pictures, Inc. No infringement of copyright is intended. The other characters are the creation of either myself or several colleagues who don't care what I do with them. In any case, I'm a firm believer in Kasden's Law ("If you steal from one source, it's plagiarism; if you steal from ten sources, it's research.")



Pairing: W/T (not precisely the Willow and Tara that we all know and love -- but close enough for government work.)



Spoilers: None (as this does not take place in the Buffyverse at all, we're all safe as far as that goes. As to Trek, this takes place mid- Deep Space Nine (call it third or fourth season).



Rating: PG-13.



Summary: A young 23rd-century Starfleet officer named Willow Rosenberg finds herself stranded in the 24th century. Ninety years later, Tara Maclay, an assistant counselor on the ship that rescues Willow, endeavors to help her with more than professional dedication. They both are newcomers to a somewhat eccentric crew, led by a captain who is a lot more than he seems. Meanwhile, the rebel group known as the Maquis, led by an unusual troika, are on a mysterious quest that may jeopardize the very existence of the Federation.



Feedback: Revised email address: captmurdock@msn.com



Distribution: For God's sake, don't put this on a Trek board without asking me first! I'll lose all my street cred. :-)



****



Chapter Eight



With a rainbow burst of superrelativistic particles, the Hannibal dropped out of warp space into the Memory Alpha system.



In the command chair, Captain Murdock sat, trying not to let the whipcord tension he felt show on his face. As they always taught him in command school, never let them see you sweat. Of course, it was one of those rules that were great on paper but hell to practice in the field.



The ship was on red alert, expecting trouble and loaded for bear. Although quarter-hour sensor scans failed to detect any ships near the planetoid, nobody wanted to take the chance that the mysterious attackers had not been able to pick up sensor-countermeasures equipment on the black market.



"Full scan, people," Murdock intoned, having received reports that the ship was at General Quarters and that shields were up.



"No sensor contact with any vessels in this system, sir," Thelvran reported from Tactical.



"The Memory Alpha installation itself appears intact," Kolrami said, scanning the planetoid at the Ops position, "but I can't raise anybody on ship-to-surface channels. Their primary power seems to be offline, but I am reading life-support system operating at low levels."



Willow piped up from the Science station. "Captain, I'm detecting residual subspace distortions…three distinct traces, in close orbit over the planetoid." She tapped at her control console with relish, immediately at home in dealing with a scientific, technical problem. "These warp signatures, definitely, three different types of vessels. And not just classes of ships, sir, I'm talking completely different planets of origin…"



"Noted, Lieutenant," Murdock replied, with a hint of a wry smile. He couldn't help but admire her enthusiasm. Ah, youth… "Can you give me any indication as to where they might have gone?"



"Working on that now, sir," the young science officer replied crisply, entering further instructions into her station.



"Captain," Kolrami reported, "I'm getting lifeform readings, of indeterminate number and type, from Memory Alpha. Somebody is alive down there."



"I'm unable to tell from here whether anyone down there is armed, sir," Thelvran added.



"Looks like we're going to have to do this the old-fashioned way," Faraday said from the executive officer's chair, looking wryly at the captain. Murdock seemed uncharacteristically pensive; usually he was Captain Jump-In-With-Both-Feet of the Starship Impetuous. Not always, she reflected, but usually. What is worrying him so much? she wondered, then shrugged inwardly. No doubt he would tell her in his own good time. As she rose from her chair, she looked across to Dr. Devereux, sitting in his usual place. He, too, was regarding Murdock with additional scrutiny; he caught her eye and, with a raised eyebrow, indicated that his thoughts were traveling in a similar direction to Faraday's.



After a moment's contemplation, Murdock finally addressed his first officer's comment. "All right, we'll proceed with our original plan. Thelvran, Number One: assemble your away teams and prepare to beam down."



"Captain?" Willow called from her station. Murdock rose from his chair and crossed over to the Science station, with Faraday and Devereux in tow. Willow tried not to grimace at having all the senior brass converging on her; she suddenly felt as if she was in the bottom of a well. She turned back and pointed to the visual data display. Explaining the abstract-art-looking swirl on the display, she said "There's a high concentration of tetryon particles in the local subspace domain, sir…sirs, ma'm," she added with a small shrug. "It's causing a harmonic disruption to the residual warp signatures from the ships, so I can't get a directional vector from them. I don't know if such a high concentration exists in nature, especially as I've only learned about tetryons in the last few weeks or so, so I'm hardly what you'd call an expert…"



"At ease, Willow," Murdock said, leaning closer to the display. "You're right…tetryons tend not to concentrate themselves like this naturally. But…flooding a given area with tetryons tends to disrupt subspace sensors, effectively masking warp trails like these here. We've seen this sort of thing before, so it narrows down our list of suspects " He straightened up and shared glances with the counselor and the first officer. "Survey says…"



"…Maquis," the three officers chorused.



*****



In Transporter Room One, Thelvran's team was double-checking equipment and weapons. The security chief, in addition to scrutinizing his own phaser, took the time to check everyone else's ordnance. The medical pack that Dr. Govarr carried was, by mutual consent (if one could call sharp glares and low growls "mutual consent") outside Thelvran's purview.



Devereux was holstering his phaser. Unlike the modern phaser weapons that everyone else carried, his was an old-style "pistol" phaser, of a type not in use for decades. It was an eccentric anachronism, somewhat in character for the crotchety counselor.



Thelvran looked at Devereux's sidearm with a bemused expression. Proffering a modern phaser, handle-first, Thelvran asked, "Don't you know how to use one of these?"



Devereux looked blankly at the weapon. "Only for dusting."



****



Faraday had her team assemble in Transporter Room Three. Willow had gone there from the bridge with the first officer, to find Tara already there. They had exchanged awkward smiles as they looked over the equipment with which they would beam down to Memory Alpha. Willow would carry a tricorder as well as a phaser, and a hand beacon for those dark rooms they would no doubt find. Tara had the beacon and the phaser, as well as a medical pack slung over her shoulder (somewhat superfluous, given that Doctor Sivek, the Vulcan intern assigned to this team by Dr. Govarr, would be carrying a medpack); she would mainly be helping with triage.



Willow sidled over to her, unsure whether it would be more uncomfortable trying to avoid her or to approach her. She drew her phaser (after prudently checking that the safety interlock was engaged) and experimentally handled it. "I'm not sure I'm used to these fancy new phasers," she said quietly to Tara.



For her part, the blonde counselor smiled wanly. "I hope there's no need for, um, violence. I'm really not good with the whole…" She extended her arm and twitched her thumb convulsively on a non-existent firing button.



Willow was fairly sure Tara was miming firing a phaser, but she could not resist being deliberately obtuse. "…thumbwrestling?"



"Oh, I-I'm actually good at that!" Tara beamed with pride. "Thumbwrestling Champion o-of the Norpin colony."



"Oh, good," Willow said, returning the smile. "So if these…Maquis, or whatever they call themselves, if they have any, y'know, evil thumbs, I'll have you to protect me."



Tara almost laughed, but suppressed it at the last instant. "'Evil thumbs.'" She stole a glance around the transporter room, currently accommodating the other members of the away team. Besides themselves, Commander Faraday and Dr. Sivek, there were two security guards, whose uniforms had the mustard yellow shoulder epaulets of Operations. The taller of the two, carrying a phaser rifle with studied nonchalance, was someone Tara had seen around the ship on occasion. His dark skin and shaven head, along with the small, closely-trimmed beard he wore, gave him a somewhat furtive appearance, as if he preferred living in the shadows and only came out them reluctantly. Tara got an unusually strong "vibe" of anticipation from him; clearly he was looking forward to some action. On his uniform collar, Tara was mildly surprised to see, not the pips of an ensign or "jay-gee," but the enclosed chevron of a petty officer.



The security p.o. caught Tara's eye. "Ma'm," he said in greeting, nodding slightly and allowing a hint of a smile to bend his lips.



Tara was about to introduce herself when Commander Faraday asked the room at large, "Everyone ready?" There were nods all around. She tapped a button on the transporter console. "Bridge, this is Transporter Room Three. We're ready, sir."



"Very good, Number One. Try not to step into any obvious traps down there, please," Murdock answered, tongue firmly in cheek.



Faraday smirked. "Well, if there are any incongruously-placed rugs down there, I'll assume that they are covering pitfalls and not step on them."



"And you said those old Three Stooges films had no use as training exercises!" The captain's voice abruptly became serious again. "We'll be sending both teams down simultaneously; Thelvran's team will be beamed down to the residential area, yours to the operations/support section. You'll meet up in the main computer complex, at the center of Memory Alpha Be careful."



"Always, sir. Out." With an after-you gesture, she directed the others to the transporter pads; by prearrangement, the three people in the back would be facing the opposite direction to the three in front, to make sure that the rear was covered immediately after transport. Tara, Willow and the security p.o. were in the rear; as she made her way to the back, Willow caught a look at the sheathed dagger attached to Faraday's belt. The first officer noticed Willow's glance and said, "Family heirloom."



Willow nodded, taking her place on the transporter pad. She had to keep herself from snickering when she heard the p.o. say softly, "That's my kinda family."



Faraday either failed to hear this or chose not to. She addressed the transporter operator: "Energize when ready."



At the signal from the bridge that the shields had been lowered, both away teams vanished from their respective transporter chambers in columns of sparkling silver.



****



Every time Willow had been through the transporter on the old Hannibal, she had the unpleasant sensation, albeit illusory, that her teeth were going to rattle themselves right out of her skull. Mind you, idiosyncratic reactions to being transported were myriad; given that the subject was being converted, on a quantum level, to organized patterns of energy, it was inevitable that many people would have minor, purely psychological symptoms as a result.



This time, Willow did not experience the feeling of dental dissolution. While a part of her marveled at how transporter technology had progressed over the decades, a barely conscious fragment could not help but mourn; this was just another indication of how far removed she had become from her old life.



Then, as the annular confinement beam cut off, at the end of the transport process, Willow's ears popped with the difference in air pressure. She smiled slightly. Some things never change.



The away team had materialized in the engineering complex, which housed the main fusion reactor and the large power-transfer conduits that powered Memory Alpha. The light was dim, apparently reduced to emergency illumination. The reactor seemed quiescent, although several indicator lights were blinking on and off.



Willow brought out her tricorder and activated it. By prearrangement, she set up high-speed data links with not only the ship, but Kolrami's tricorder at the other end of the complex. The second security guard was also setting up a similar link with his opposite number in Team One. With such communication in place, both teams could share information and warn one another about possible threats, as well as keep the Hannibal apprised of any developments.



While Faraday tapped her commbadge and spoke with Lt. Thelvran, Tara took out her hand beacon and played its beam around the room. There didn't seem to be anyone, friend or foe, in the room; both her eyes and her empathic senses seemed to agree on this. Her nose, however, was telling her about a peculiar, pungent smell in the air…



She brought the beacon down to the floor to her right. About a meter away was a young man, face frozen in an expression of shock, eyes glazed over in death, unblinking in Tara's beam. What made her gasp, and her gorge rise helplessly from her stomach, was the eight-centimeter hole in his chest. The flesh and the material of his coverall was burnt crisp on the outside of the hole, but partially liquefied due to cellular disruption in the middle.



Violently nauseous, Tara dropped the beacon and ran over to a large vertical conduit on the opposite side of the room. Clutching the column briefly, she sank to her knees and vomited her last meal onto the deck, feeling her stomach being squeezed like an overripe fruit. Hot tears cascaded from her eyes, both from the extreme discomfort and the shame of losing control in front of her shipmates.



A small, cool hand was placed on her forehead, helping to hold her head up; another hand was holding her braids back, away from her face. Tara could not as yet spare the breath to thank her benefactor.



Finally, the nausea subsided, and Tara sat back on her haunches…to find Willow kneeling beside her. "Feel better?" the redhead asked, with no trace of sarcasm. She fumbled briefly in the medical kit still slung over Tara's shoulder, came up with a sterile cloth. "Wipe your mouth and spit," she recommended.



Tara nodded miserably as she set about cleaning herself up. "Stupid…"



"Don't feel like that. You should'a seen me the first time I went on one of these things."



Tara's brow furrowed. "You threw up, too?"



Willow shook her head. "Fainted. Probably would've busted my head if Captain Cumberland hadn't caught me."



One side of Tara's mouth quirked upward. "Thanks."



Willow blew air of her pursed lips. "Yeah, well, least I could do…for a friend." She stood up, offered her hand to Tara, who took it with gratitude. The two of them walked back to the rest of the group, who were standing around in an effort to look nonchalant. Tara picked up sympathy from Faraday, as well as from Willow and (a pleasant surprise) the security p.o. From the other security guard she received a mild feeling of disdain, though from the Vulcan she got, typically, no emotion worth mentioning.



Faraday seemed to come to a quick decision. "Why don't you beam back to the ship, Lieutenant," framing it somewhere between a suggestion and an order.



Willow was about to protest on Tara's behalf (she, herself, was about to meekly agree) but was beaten to the punch by, surprisingly, the security p.o. "I think she'll be okay, Number One. She just caught by surprise. Happens to all of us," he finished, somewhat pointedly.



Tara could tell that Faraday, on the verge of restating her intention of sending Tara back to the ship, was remembering times in her past when a senior officer took a chance on her, possibly against better judgement. The first officer took a half-step forward. "You feel up to this, Tara?"



She noted that Faraday had used her first name. Instead of answering the question, she merely said, "You might need me…Number One."



Faraday nodded, as a call came through her commbadge. "Murdock to Commander Faraday. Everything okay down there, Number One?"



"We're all right down here, sir. We found one casualty, apparently a technician, male, human. Dr. Sivek says the death was caused by a type-two disruptor. Lt. Rosenberg will send you scans and coordinates of the body, sir."



"Acknowledged, Number One. Proceed with caution. Hannibal out."



Faraday looked around to her team. "Let's head towards the central complex." A few nods and ayes answered her.



Tara sidled up to the petty officer. "Thank you, um…" She wasn't sure if she had heard his name.



"Gunn, ma'm," he answered, with what seemed to be a characteristic ghost of a smile. Fortunately, what smile he did have touched his dark eyes, leavening his otherwise deadpan expression. He shifted the phaser rifle in his hands and nodded in the general direction indicated by Faraday. "Let's jam."



Tara found herself dimpling at the somewhat colorful slang as the away team headed off into the heart of Memory Alpha.



TBC

_________________



"Honey, in case you didn't hear me the first six thousand times: no more teleportation spells."

Edited by: CaptMurdock at: 8/22/04 9:12 am

[jixer]

Hello Kittens-



Thanks for bringing Gunn along for the ride, Cap'n. I kind of have a soft spot for the big lug. Tara's reaction to the dead body, and Willow following her for comfort were well done. Looking forward to the next episode.



Jixer

[WebWarlock]

Captain/Adm. Serek, good of you to join us here in our humble little home. I have been a fan of shared universe Treks for a long time (back on my campus mainframe days), especially if they involve original characters or Doctor Who, so it was a nice treat to visit your websites.



Spoiler warning to Kittens though: There is a lot there about various crew members (sans Willow and Tara) and some of it might be spoilers for this story.



In all I found the various stories of all the crews and ships to be very enjoyable.



Captain Murdock, excellent update. I am also enjoying seeing Gunn in this. Though as a CPO I am afraid he might get "red shirted". Would that have been updated to "gold shirted" by now?



In any case. I am enjoying seeing how you have fit Willow and Tara into your established Trek universe. They fit very well I might add; here and together here. I trust that Capt. Murdock (both you and your fic counterpart) will take good care of them.



I egarly await the not only the next update, but any tales of Willow and Tara in this universe you have to tell. You are doing justice to both genres.



Warlock

-----

Web Warlock

The Other Side,
home of Liber Mysterium: The Netbook of Witches and Warlocks

"There has to be an invisible sun. It gives its heat to everyone.

There has to be an invisible sun. That gives us hope when the whole day's done." - The Police Invisible Sun

[Magrat70]

Cap't another great update and the thumb wrestling/evil thumbs really made me laugh . Great to see Gunn being introduced, I really like the guy.

The Glorious People Republic of Treacle Mine Road;



Truth, Justice, Freedom, Reasonably Priced Love and a Hard Boiled Egg

[AntigoneUnbound]

Hey Capt.~~So glad to see another installment of this great story. Ah, poor Tara...Yorking so unceremoniously as she did...As someone who can get car sick at the drop of a hat (or a clutch), I feel for her.



I hadn't anticipated Gunn (though I was definitely trying to figure out who he represented) but I really enjoy his presence. In addition to the fact that I just like his character, I think he'll also add a unique and singular contribution to the personality make-up of this cadre.



Really enjoyable, CM!



Mary

[frumpycat]

Great stuff Cap'n .. looking forward to your next update!

[shuyaku]

Great update Cap'n. And I second (or fourth or fifth) some other kittens - I like the addition of Gunn. Nice lil' surprise



-shuyaku

[Captain Serek]

WebWarlock, thank you for the kind words and visiting my humble if not somewhat out of date site (I am currently working on a massive update). And yes, there are some spoilers as to what could happen as I am right up to Star Trek Nemesis with my updates to the timeline and I am working on a new story myself for the site so proceed with caution. Thanks for the heads up.



CaptMurdock...wow, did I mention wow, or say wow!I like the direction this story is going. Nice intro of the Maquis and other timeline elements. I await with baited breath as do the other kittens for the next chapter. For the record I did not crash my mac once in registration or signup for ezboard or any of the other forums I belong to, I guess my older computer can handle it. Anyway, keep up the good work.

Edited by: Captain Serek at: 6/2/03 9:57:54 pm

[bluewillowwitch]

Capt,

Cool update! I hope for another one really soon. I feel so bad fo , but was so sweet.





bluewillowwitch

---------------------------------------

"Fate keeps on happening."--Anita Loos

[TareBearRS]

Cool update.



I'm glad Tara and Willow got past the akwardness.



If i saw a body like that i'm not sure i'd be able to keep my food to myself eiter.. yuk..



I wonder what the rest of the away mission will bring...



Renate

[mollyig]

Just caught up on the last few updates. As usual, I'm impressed with the continued detailed descriptions, which make everything so vivid.



The relationship between Willow and Tara is written well; the awkwardness but also the innate trust they feel.



Looking forward to what the away teams are going to encounter on Memory Alpha.

'cause you are my kind, you're all that I want. Here in this life until we are gone Our breath and our skin, Our hearts and our minds. They're one and the same. You are my kind. - Santana featuring Seal - "You are my kind"