Surefoot 27: Oubliette

"He was not forthcoming about that. I don't think he trusted me."

"Imagine that." Hrelle smiled. "But I bet you were gonna find out anyway before you handed it over, weren't you?"

Bald grinned. "I hired a scientist to study it secretly while we journeyed to deliver it to the Cardassians. Doctor Ponzi was expensive, so you know he's good!" He raised a finger. "He was clever enough to pay the Rescue Fee before boarding my ship!"

Hrelle nodded. "He might be useful." He looked to C'Rash. "Have him escorted to the Science Lab to join the others."

"Aye, Sir," the Caitian replied curtly.

Bald scowled. "Hey! I hired him! Legally I deserve a share of any profit to be gained from what you learn!"

Hrelle rose, setting Misha on the floor as he indicated the view of the Oubliette outside his windows. "Look out there, DaiMon: we're in another universe. And the device you tried to steal from us sent us here -- one way. And I'm told that there's no way back, and we could end up spending the rest of our lives here, alone. No planets. No profit. Just float around until our power, our fuel, our food and air all run out.

If your Doctor Ponzi can help us escape, you will share in profit: the profit of being back home, alive. Of course, you'll be in jail, but it'll still be better than being here."

"Yes," Bald finally admitted, after staring outside, but then leered at Hrelle. "So let's make a deal: I have Ponzi assist you in getting us back to our own universe... and you drop the charges against me. Take my crew, and Ponzi-"

Suddenly Sasha stormed forward, grabbing the Ferengi by one of his lobes and twisting. "Are you kidding us? You sent us here, and now you think you can make a deal, you little Troll Doll? DO YOU?"

At the corner of Hrelle's desk, Misha had helped himself to his feet and manoeuvred his way around, holding onto the edge of the edge with one hand to teeter on his stubby legs and give a tiny roar at the Ferengi in solidarity with his big sister, while C'Rash just smirked.

Hrelle, however, simply ordered, "We don't treat prisoners like that, Ensign. Let him go. Now."

Sasha looked to him, reluctantly releasing the DaiMon and backing off at her father's silent gesture.

Still remaining calm, Hrelle informed Bald, who was busy clutching his ear, "And I don't need your assistance, bubulah, I'm sure he'll be smart enough to cooperate. I think we're done here."

C'Rash clutched Bald by the shoulder and guided him out.

Misha tried to go after them, but toppled over and fell once he let go out of the desk. He began crying.

Hrelle rushed around and scooped him up, comforting him. "Awww, Sweetheart! Don't cry, everything's going to be okay!"

"Is it, Dad?" Sasha asked, sparing a glance at the Oubliette again. There was genuine fear in her eyes, her voice. "You said we couldn't get out of here."

He rested Misha against his chest and shoulder and rocked him gently until he calmed down again, as Hrelle regarded his daughter. "No, I said that I was told we couldn't get out of here. I don't believe that. We have some of the Best and the Brightest onboard, as well as one of the original scientists who helped build the Great Whatsit that got us here in the first place."

"But that's still no guarantee that we-"

"No. It's not." He drew closer, reached out with his free hand and cupped her face. "But that doesn't mean we don't still try. Especially as the alternative is to do nothing. And as lazy as I normally am, I don't want to spend the rest of my life doing nothing. Now, care to explain what that strong-arming was all about?"

She looked at them, before turning away, staring at the energy swirls outside. "He deserved it."

"No, he didn't. I'll make any sort of verbal threat, because I know I wouldn't do it, but what you did crossed the line. We have to maintain our ideals as much as we can, despite the temptation. Besides... you know that their ears are erogenous zones, don't you?"

"Eeeuww." She shuddered, and she clutched herself, as if chilled. "Not a couple of hours ago, I was worried about failing my Final Exams. Now, we may never get back home, Misha may spend the rest of his life here, thanks to that stroking little Troll..."

He reached down and took her hand, squeezing gently. "Not just him. Other people authorised the creation of the Great Whatsit, other people designed and constructed it, and still others kept the secrets of it so fervently they put us all in danger. Sasha... don't face life afraid or angry all the time; you tend to get that fear and anger thrown back at you. And usually it's because you started it."

She grunted. "Kami says that you're always terrified for us, for the crew. But you never show it, because we need you to look up to. How do you- how do you do that?"

Misha seemed to have fallen asleep on him; he adjusted his infant's position, before indicating him. "It's a practised move, like taking care of a cub. He was upset, I cradled him, I didn't have to do much, just be a steady, comforting presence, and he accepted it and took care of the rest.

There's a saying you'll hear in Command Training: 'Fool the ones you need to fool enough, and you can fool yourself.' Now here, take him. I want you to mind the cubs; Kami will be busy supervising the braniacs, and I want the doctors free should we need them."

Sasha nodded, reached out and collected Misha, puffing slightly. "He's getting heavy."

Hrelle grinned. "He gets that from his Mom."

"I'll tell her you said that."

"He'll burn that off soon enough when he's running around the ship, getting into mischief." He breathed out in a puff. "Mother's Cubs, we'll have to work out security protocols, to keep him from getting into places he shouldn't." At her expression, he smiled at her. "Have faith, Runt of the Litter."

"Faith? In what, the Great Mother?"

"In that the Universe will unfold the way it's meant to." He drew in and rubbed the side of his muzzle against her cheek in a Caitian kiss, before sniffing the air as he drew back. "Oh, and he needs changing as well."

She grimaced. "Gee, thanks."

He smiled. "Anytime."

*

The ribbons of energy from outside slipped between the molecular bonds of the ventral side of the Surefoot, passing up through Main Deflector Control and the Antimatter Containment Pods on Deck 8, dancing around until they grew bored and passed further up to the Battery and Shield Generator Compartments on Deck 7, liking the energy patterns found here.

Then they heard voices and went deeper into the ship to investigate.

*

Masterson turned as he heard the hissing. "Lieutenant?"

C'Rash strode up to him, her tail smacking the walls as she approached. "Where is the Commander? I need to see her."

He held up a hand. "She's in there now, mindmelding with the Medusan scientist."

Alarm crossed her dark-furred features. "She's what? Is she crazy?"

"Not when she went in there, no."

C'Rash growled and stepped forward. "Let me in there-"

The doctor held up a hand. "Not so fast, Wildcat, you can't go in there, the Medusan's sitting out in the open."

The Caitian bared her teeth. "Get out of my way, or-"

Masterson never budged, never even flinched. "Or what? You'll push me aside, burst in, risk madness and death for yourself, possibly also for the Commander while she's linked with Professor Kessis? Is that what y'all are gonna do, Lieutenant?"

She drew in closer, her intensely hot breath on his face -- a sharp contrast to the cold fear in her eyes. "She- She could-"

Masterson reached up and gently took her by the forearm, guiding it down, even as he recognised the power and the tension in the muscles there. "She'll be fine, she's got more smarts than the pair of us put together -- though in my case that probably ain't saying much -- but no amount of smarts will do her a damn bit of good if you or anyone else barrels in there now like a bull with a burr up its-"

Suddenly the doors slid open, and both figures instinctively looked away, until a figure stepped out. "There is no need for alarm. My body is secured inside the receptacle."

Masterson and C'Rash relaxed slightly and turned around again, though the Caitian's hackles rose.

A figure that looked and sounded like Commander T'Varik stepped out, though she seemed to falter somewhat, looking a little like Misha taking his first steps, before she finally straightened out, breathed in as if for the first time, and looked around her, finally focusing on the two figures awaiting her. She smiled. "Hello."

C'Rash's pulse raced, and her fur stood on end.

Masterson stared in wonder. "You're Professor Kessis, aren't you?"

The new arrival grinned. "We're both in here. I came out to inform you that my work on myself appears to be successful. My body is now resting, and healing. But T'Varik's memories tell me that the Trajector has brought us into the Oubliette. You will need my help getting us back."

Masterson raised the tricorder in his hand up, scanning and frowning at the readings. "T'Varik's metabolism is way off the scale- you can't stay linked forever-"

"Nor do we intend to, Doc." But she looked around again in abject wonder. "Though it would be fascinating to indulge in experiencing life once more with fleshy senses... to breathe in air with fleshy lungs..." Then she focused on C'Rash. "To do many things-"

The Caitian hissed. "That's not the sort of threesome I'm into, thanks."

Masterson's attention moved uneasily between the two figures. "Lieutenant, why don't y'all take her to the Science Lab? And stay with her, keep an eye on her? Any signs of trouble, you holler."

Something seemed to eclipse within T'Varik/Kessis, a sobriety, as she nodded. "Yes, Lieutenant. Let us proceed."

*

Deck 4 Fore -- Multimission Science Lab:

Though she was a Counselor, Kami was listed in the roster as the Chief Science Officer, and led the Science cadets as their Department Head. Thus, it wasn't unreasonable for her to chair the group designed to analyse their situation and come up with a means home.

Though, as it turned out, her Counseling skills also came in handy, with the clash between the Science and Engineering cadets, and the visitors. Oh, not so much the Ferengi scientist Doctor Ponzi -- who after an initial straightening out regarding a female being in charge of the group, proved to be almost amenable -- but with Captain Sakuth, who seemingly chose to remain silent unless and until she was directly addressed, or when she felt the need to state that any method proposed for their return to their universe would not work.

"Respected Captain," Kit said, addressing her directly after the fifth rejection. "I must respectfully disagree with you once again. I believe in the potential efficacy of a quantum fluctuation beam to duplicate the dimensional shift of your team's Trajector."

The Vulcan's expression narrowed. "You have no basis for making such a wild conjecture."

"On the contrary: The December 2371 issue of the Journal of Subspace Research contains an article by a Lieutenant Jadzia Dax regarding a Class-M planet that underwent periodic quantum fluctuations due to a cascade reaction in the planet's sun, resulting in the planet undergoing transitions to a dimension which intersected our own-"

"My team are aware of that, of course," Sakuth admitted, "But such a method was rejected as requiring too much power to be duplicated. It is pointless."

"Everything seems pointless to you," Dr Ponzi suggested with a sneer. "Quite the attitude to take, considering you're not even a qualified scientist."

"He makes a valid point," Kami pointed out to the Vulcan. "Remember, you've only been pretending to be a one on Shangris."

"I read something about a folded-space transporter, employing a dimensional shift," Jonas recalled, looking to Yeager. "Utilising the Elway Theorem. You remember it, Nancy?"

The blonde girl frowned and nodded in recognition. "Yeah, but it was abandoned as a transport alternative, for causing cellular damage."

"Only with extended use," Delta Squad's Suliban Science cadet Zajan pointed out. "It might be worthwhile for making one journey home."

"It will not function," Sakuth informed them. "I may not be a scientist, as the Ferengi pointed out, but I have worked with those who are, and have listened and learned. Folded-space transport was considered but rejected, as the method allowed for a potential means of tracking a path back to our own space through an adaptive subspace echogram, thus rendering it useless as a weapon of banishment. This continues to be pointless."

Kami leaned forward and regarded the Vulcan in a new light. "Your manner, your speech vocalisations, changes slightly whenever we come across a possible means of escape. Why? Is it that important for you not to go back?"

Sakuth looked at her with visible disdain. "Do not seek to psychoanalyse me, Counselor," she warned. She looked to the cadets now. "I am certain that you are all bright, but you cannot compete with qualified, experience physicists who have worked on this project for years. Your efforts would be better spent working out a means of living here indefinitely."

The door to the Science Lab slid open, and T'Varik -- or a very close approximation of her -- walked inside, looking at all of them in turn, as C'Rash brought up the rear, appearing unnerved.

Kami rose to her feet, instantly assessing the situation, and understanding her niece's reaction. "Professor Kessis, yes? I'm-"

The new arrival offered an uncharacteristic smile. "Counsellor Kami Hrelle. T'Varik's memories of you are clear and strong." She looked to the others. "I know all of you, everyone but our Ferengi guest."

More warily now, Kami asked, "Is T'Varik- is she-?"

"She is here as well, of course, Counselor. It is a fusion, not a possession; it is logical to expect that the Host mind would still have influence within her own body."

C'Rash approached, still staring at the merged Vulcan but addressing her aunt. "Doc Masterson said they shouldn't stay like this for too long."

T'Varik -- T'Vessis? -- nodded. "Yes, of course, let's get to work." She sat down.

Sakuth stared at her. "Professor, may I speak with you privately, please?"

The other Vulcan never even looked over at Sakuth. "That will not be possible, Captain. T'Varik will always be there, and you may not consider her security clearance sufficient." Now something like contempt crossed her features. "And we all know how important you regard security."

"Professor... your current attitude may be an undue influence of the mind of the body you inhabit-"

"My current attitude is my own. And brought about by your influence."

Sakuth's expression stiffened. "Professor, I must insist that you do not reveal anything confidential to the people assembled here about your work. Such a violation would incur the most severe penalties."

Kami drew up to them. "And how would you enforce those penalties in this universe, Captain?"

The Ferengi cackled. "Live Now, Profit Later."

Sakuth ignored them, focusing on the Medusan mind she saw behind her former lover's eyes. "Professor, the security of the Federation is at stake here. If you find a means of returning to our universe, and the information reaches our enemies, then all of your work, the sacrifice of your associates, will have been for nothing. If we remain here, others in our universe will carry on in your place."

Now the object of her entreaties looked back at Sakuth. "I might possibly be prepared to consider sacrificing myself under such conditions. But not these young people. Not this crew. So I guess you'll have to have me prosecuted along with everyone else involved. Won't you?"

Sakuth stared hard, before rising to her feet. "There is no further point in my remaining here." She strode out without further notice.

T'Vessis tapped the tabletop, pausing as she seemed to feel the surface of it on her fingertips, before returning to the matter at hand. "Contrary to what our associate Captain Sakuth wants to get around, there is a means of returning, albeit a slim one, and we need to move quickly, to take advantage of it. Our transition to this continuum will have weakened the local space/time fabric at the quantum level, but this will soon right itself."

Ponzi nodded. "Like a rock dropped in a pond; the ripples where it landed will show us its entry point, but not for long."

"Indeed, Respected Guest Scientist," Kit confirmed. "But our initial attempts at identifying the quantum signature for a baseline reading have proven ineffective, without any prior points of reference."

T'Vessis smiled again in an unnerving fashion. "Fortunately, Cadet Kitirk, I have been studying this universe for some time. I will supply the points of reference..."

Kami smiled -- until she saw C'Rash depart as well, without warning.

*

Deck 6 Fore:

Crewman Eddie Leslie knelt by the next escape pod hatch on his duty roster, running the standard weekly diagnostics and singing to himself, letting the rhythmic whine of the Engineering tricorder act as a metronome. He worked alone, and preferred it that way, as he like to sing, but apparently his crewmates were less appreciative of his skills. He suspected jealousy.

Behind him, ribbons snuck out from between the bulkheads and coalesced overhead like a ball of strong, listening in fascination.

"Believing the strangest things / Loving the Alien..." Leslie raised his voice on the chorus, hoping that his voice drifted down to the Computer Core, where Torleen and O'Hara, some of his most vocal and snarky critics, were refitting a new subprocessor interface. Then he stopped as his tricorder picked up an anomalous energy signature, and his dreams of starring in the Federation Cultural Exchange Program, bringing his Latinum Voice to the rest of the Alpha Quadrant, were eclipsed by his sense of duty. He tapped his combadge. "Engineering, are you running any power sweeps in Section 6-8A?"

"No, Mr Leslie," Chief Grev's gruff voice replied. "Not on current Conservation Protocols. Why?"

"I'm detecting strange readings on my tricorder, Chief."

The Tellarite's harrumph was quite audible over the channel. "Did you accidentally set it on Critique while you were singing again?"

"Oh Ha Ha-" Then he paused as he felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise. He twisted in place, gasping as he saw the bundle of energy in the air. It flared up as if with excitement.

Stories returned to the forefront of his mind, stories he had heard from his grandfather from when he had served on the Enterprise under Kirk, and had nearly died more than once from strange energy creatures which seemed to invade that ship on a weekly basis, killing off what the midshipmen of the day called 'Redshirts'. They were stories that the younger Leslie had subsequently suppressed, because despite the horror tales his Grandpa told, he still wanted to join Starfleet. And the years in service since graduation had proved wonderfully, comfortably routine.

Now, however, he looked up, squinting at something that was no plasma leak or conduit malfunction, but a genuine, alien threat -- he could feel it.

And he knew what to do: instinctively he reached for the hyperspanner in his tool kit. 'The right tool for the right job,' the legendary Montgomery Scott used to tell Grandpa and the rest of his Engineering crew, but always adding, 'But the right tool is usually your hyperspanner.' And it remained a versatile tool over two centuries after its invention. It even acted as an improvised dampener for discharging energy surges.

Leslie drew out his hyperspanner and brought it up to the energy bundle. He closed his eyes tightly, expecting the consequent flare.