The USS Enterprise-E was ready to debark for a patch of unknown and unexplored space in the Beta Quadrant. The USS Voyager had recently returned and Starfleet wanted someone to do some "follow-up"
and that "someone" was Captain William Riker. Captain Riker looked forward to this assignment, being chained to a desk in the day and clubbing at night was fun at first but it got OLD especially when
all the attractive women would ask you "where is Captain Picard these days?" and so some exploration was a welcome relief from being second fiddle to the famous Jean-Luc Picard, now an Admiral.
All the Officers reported for duty on time and the new Science Officer, Svaravk of Vulcan, was already on the ship, checking the computer and speaking to anyone who could fill him in on the recent encounters
that the Enterprise-E had. Captain Riker strode onto the bridge and all the Officers saluted. "As you were." he said. "Captain? A word?" asked Officer Svaravk. "Certainly, what did you require?" asked Captain
Riker, hoping that the Vulcan wasn't going to object to the presence of Giunan. "Captain, I am new to this posting and from what I have heard, you seem to get yourself into some, what you would say on earth
"tight spots?" May I suggest that we study the data before we go into a potentially dangerous situation?" asked the Science Officer. "Commander." said Riker. "The Universe is not an organized place that waits for
logical decisions, sometimes those decisions need to be made on the spot to protect the safety of this ship and crew." pointed out Captain Riker. "But yes, when we have the luxury, we will study the situation
repeatedly until we make a move." sighed Captain Riker. The Vulcan blinked. "Is that sarcasm Captain? Alright, fine. Just give me enough time to give you all the data you need." said the Science Officer. "I am not
objecting." said Riker with a hint of a smile. "Then it is settled?" asked the Science Officer. "Yes, dismissed." said Captain Riker as he strode off, wondering what Federation functionary gave him this condescending
Vulcan.
Qalas the Engineer was down in Engineering doing the safety check procedures when he spotted Catain Riker. "Ah Captain, Ah you will see that Ah everything is ready. Ah" said the alien. "Ah." said Captain Riker,
knowing that "Ah" meant "we are good friends and brothers-in-arms" in his language. "Ah just give the order Captain and I will have this vessel sailing through the stars" said the Q'nolian. "On my signal." said
Captain Riker. The Engineer saluted. Riker left the Engineering bay for the Captain quarters to unpack his duffel. "Captain, Star fleet NCIS is here to see you." said Linda Dorvak, his new Communications
Officer, via the Comm. "Aye, I'll be up in a few." and he continued to unpack his duffel. He turned his attention to the visitor and went back to the Bridge.
"Captain, there has been a mishap with one of your Senior crewmen, I am here to investigate it before you depart." said the detective. Star fleet NCIS was a holdover from the US Naval NCIS and was still
largely staffed by North Americans. SNCIS had a reputation for "getting their man" even if it meant delaying the departure of a Star ship indefinitely. "What happened?" asked Captain Riker, now concerned.
"One of your Senior Midshipmen got himself stabbed. We are fairly sure it wasn't an attack by a human, we found his body drained of blood." said the Senior Detective. "So you need to question the aliens
on my ship? Ask your questions then. I have a schedule to keep." said Captain Riker. The Senior Detective nodded and his team of Probies followed him down to Engineering to question the Chief Engineer.
After a few hours of questioning and cross questioning the aliens on board the ship, the SNCIS team left the ship. "Sorry, we couldn't find anything, we believe that the perpetrator is not one of your
crew memebers. We will keep you posted as to our investigation." said the Cheif Detective. With that, the team left the ship and Captain Riker gave the order to undock. He had already promoted a promising
young man to the rank of Senior Midshipmen to replace the fallen comrade.
"Navigator, take us out." he said as he settled into his Captain's chair. He gave the sequence to the Navigator and almost everyone turned to look at him. "Yes, I know. That is deep in the Beta Quadrant, if you had
laundry at the mat, it might have to wait." he joked. The Senior Officers smiled but said nothing as they steeled themselves for the long voyage ahead.
The Enterprise was well on it's way to it's target when Star fleet called. "Captain Riker, you are ordered to hearby divert course and pick up Doctor Thon'long Tau on Vulcan. We believe that she may have a grasp
on the situation that we are sending you into." said Admiral Namura. "Aye aye Admiral. Anything else?" he asked. "Yes, try not to rush headlong into this situation, you aren't Admiral Kirk." said the Admiral.
"Aye." said Captain Riker. He ended the call. "Navigator, redivert to Vulcan for a pickup. We will be taking on a VIP." said Captain Riker.
The Enterprise sailed into Vulcan space and went into orbit around Vulcan. The space ways were busy with Vulcan pilgrims coming back to the home world for a major "observance" of Logic, Truth and Facts as
revealed by their prophet Surrak. The Doctor beamed in and was wearing the ceremonial garb but Riker noticed that she wasn't Vulcan, she was Andorian and something else. "Welcome aboard the vessel,
I have a full appraisal of the situation waiting for you in your quarters." said Captain Riker. "Thank you Captain" said the Doctor. And she went to the turbo lift without a further glance or comment.
He glanced at her as she quickly left and turned his attention back to the situation at hand. "Back on course, easy as she goes." said Captain Riker. The Enterprise sailed out of the Vulcan system and waited
till they got far enough from Vulcan's primary to go into warp again. "Warp eleven Mr. Freemason" said Captain Riker as he stepped off the bridge to visit the head.
Days passed as the Enterprise would occasionally drop out of warp to let the engines cool. "Captain to the bridge! We have an unidentified alien vessel ahead of us!" said the Science Officer.
Captain Riker ran and made it within several minutes from his quarters. "What do they want?" asked Captain Riker. "I do not know Captain, they are scanning our vessel. I advise caution." said the Science
Officer. The large pyramid-shaped alien vessel continued to scan them and finally stopped. "EARTH VESSEL. KNOW THAT YOU ARE IN QA'LARGI SPACE. WE HAVE SCANNED THE LOGS OF YOUR SHIP'S COMPUTER
AND WE HAVE DETERMINED TO SPEAK WITH YOU. URGENTLY." said the alien voice, translated into English. "On screen." said Captain Riker. The aliens that appeared on the screen looked exactly like the
ones in the Engineering Room but the cultural air in which they carried themselves, their uniforms and their language seemed different. "EH, Captain." said the alien Captain." The Enterprise computer
translated the "EH" as meaning "We are not sure who you are." "EH Captain William Riker of the Federation Vessel Enterprise? You have a crew member on board that is a follower of the renegade prophet and his
presence is making it impossible for us to have a cordial dialogue. EH" said the clearly offended alien Captain. "We mean no disrespect Commander. Qalas is a valued member of our ship and has pledged to
only work for the good of the Federation and all sentient beings." said Captain Riker. There was a several minute delay as the alien Captain gathered his thoughts. "Captain, his faction slaughtered several million
of our people before they stole our ships and left for your quadrant. I am surprised that your Federation was fooled so quickly by them." said the alien Captain. "I was not made aware of this." said the Captain. "EH, we
shall see. For the meantime, please proceed to your destination but we will guard your vessel in case the rogue traitor tries to seize your vessel." said the alien Captain. "Proceed." said Captain Riker. The Enterprise
came to the uncatagorized planet Moccer-13456 and went into orbit.
"Any signs of alien life-forms? Anything worth talking to?" asked Captain Riker to his Science Officer. "Many life-forms Captain, some mammalian, some reptiles, some amphibian and I have detected a non-native
settlement of forty aliens. Shall we contact them?" asked the Science Officer. "This is where I come in Captain." said the Doctor. She strode forward and hit the Communications button. "Terrak Vor, Terrok Vor. We have
come for the device." she said. The alien leader appeared on the screen. "I trust that Earth shall finally hear our pleadings?" asked the leader. "In due time Terrak Vor." said the Doctor. "I shall have our engineers beam
the device up to you, keep in mind our transporter is over 80 earth years old and might not be able to talk with your computer." said the alien leader. Captain Riker frowned, he had not been appraised of this
part of the exchange. "Terrak Vor, what is the device?" asked the Captain. "It is an ancient peice to an ancient puzzle my dear Captain. It was taken off the wreakage of an ancient starship that crashed on the other
side of this planet. Your Federation wanted this device to study but secretly so this is why we are having this cloak and dagger secrecy." said Terrok Vor. Terrak was half-human and half Gelf, the same with the
others in this remote colony. "Never mind, I will beam this up." said Captain Riker. "One device to beam up." said Captain Riker as the Ensign worked at the controls. The device was a perfect sphere and floated
in midair, seemingly violating the laws of physics itself. "Take that into storage and sheild it, I have no idea if it is emitting radiation or not." said Captain Riker to some Ensigns. "Yes Captain." they said and
wisked away the device.
The alien Commander pinged. "Yes?" asked Captain Riker. "Our sensors show that you have taken an ancient peice of technology onto your ship, may we see it please? I will send over my Science Officers NEH"
the Ship's translators translated the NEH as meaning "we are now neutral towards you and mean you no harm." "Feel free. NEH" responded Captain Riker. "You learn fast. I am impressed, in my junior year in our
academy, there was a Commander of ours who had the motto: "Shoot first and ask questions later." He was dismissed after awhile because he started several unwanted wars, all of which we are still cleaning
up from." admitted the alien Commander. "If you want, we can talk at dinner tonight? If you have a similar tradition?" asked Captain Riker. "A formal exchange? So be it. I will be there with my senior officers."
said the alien commander. Captain Riker inwardly cheered at this tiny victory. Everything was going smoothly.
Later that evening, the Officers of the alien crew beamed over and made themselves at home in the Captain's Dining Room. Both crews exchanged polite gestures and then the alien Captain had a surprise. "I am
pleased to announce that His Majesty the God-Emperor has formally pardoned the followers of the rogue prophet. That was 70 years ago in earth time. I was testing you Captain, to see how you would
react." said the alien Captain. Captain Riker simply lifted an eyebrow. "We generally don't deal with races that are scared of their own shadow, we ourselves were once hardened warriors of the Sun God but now
we are peaceful." said the alien Captain. The Vulcan spoke up. "Fascinating Captain, if I may interject, my race was once warlike and bellicose but after a division of the people of Vulcan, after the prophet
Surrak, we came to know perfect peace and Logic." said the Vulcan. "Your species is quite famous. We had contacted Vulcan once many parsecs ago but your people were embroiled in a great war. I am pleased
to hear of your progress." said the alien Captain. "AH" he added.
The dinner party was finished and Captain Riker inquired if the Empire would be willing to join the Federation as a nominal ally. "We shall see about that, it is not good to rush into things." said the alien Captain.
The alien Officers and Captain left the Enterprise and returned to their own ship. "Captain!" cried a midshipman. "The orb! It vanished!" he said in utter panic. "Midshipman! Collect your thoughts and calm down.
Perhaps it cloaked. We have dealt with such situations before." said the Captain. "Go find it." said the Captain. The midshipman saluted and left. "Keep the ship in a high orbit around this planet, scan the site of the
wreck of the artifact ship, perhaps we can discover the significance of this sphere and learn why it vanished. "Captain!" said the same midshipman. "It is back in the same spot but it is now glowing." he said.
The alien ship departed the star system and Captain Riker and his Science Officer were now in the storage bay examining the glowing sphere. "Something is wrong." said the Science Officer. "This isn't the sphere
we picked up earlier." he said with disdain. "Bait and switch?" asked Captain Riker. "Precisely how I would term it Captain, for all we know, the device is now on board the alien vessel, which just left an
hour ago." said the Vulcan Science Officer. "The alien vessel is hailing us Captain." said the Communications Officer. "Patch him through!" said Captain Riker. "Get this infernal thing off our ship....it...is...killing...us!"
said the panicked voice of the alien Captain. Captain Riker and his team ran to the turbo lift and made it to the bridge. "Onscreen!" he commanded. The alien ship was on fire and smoke was seen and alien bodies
littered the ground deck of the ship. "Send an away team over to the alien vessel at once, find survivors and bring me that sphere!" commanded Captain Riker. Just before the order could be carried out, the alien
ship exploded into a million pieces. "Oh my God." said Captain Riker. "Captain, I am sensing the sphere, should I bring it into the bay?" asked one of the Officers. "No, keep that damned thing off my ship. We are
locking a tractor beam onto that sphere and we are towing it home. First sign of funny or unusual behavior and we jettison it!" said Captain Riker. Several alien ships warped into the area, all of the same
Empire as the destroyed vessel. "What happened here? REW!" demanded the alien. The ship translator translated "REW" as meaning, "Get off our territory NOW" Captain Riker explained the situation to the alien
Commanders. "I hear you. You say this device is a self-teleporting bomb or a super-weapon?" asked the alien admiral. "Precisely. This is a highly dangerous device. I will recommend to my superiors on Earth to
destroy the device." said the Captain. "Then we shall take it for ourselves. Thank you for your time. REW" and the screen went blank. The alien ships locked onto the device and Captain Riker ordered the Enterprise
to quickly depart the area. He was right, a large explosion followed and the shock wave hit the Enterprise, knocking out lights for a brief time. "Damage!" shouted Captain Riker. "Minimal, no hull breech. Captain,
the device is following us!" said the Science Officer. Then the device appeared on the bridge and stopped glowing, it opened and a creature that looked like a white earth house cat stepped out and rubbed
against Captain Riker's legs. "A cat???" asked one of the junior Officers. The Science Officer scanned it. "No, it is an alien liufe-form in shift form. Very rare." said the Vulcan. "Captain! I am so sorry for the loss
of a new partner for the Federation of Planets, as you silly humans deem yourselves. Those aliens were lying to you Captain, they wanted ME for themselves." said the cat-looking alien. "So you are what Starfleet
wants?" asked Captain Riker, amazed. "Yes, my species is, or was, thousands of years advanced until our star exploded. I was one of the few to escape with my vessel, I was trapped on that planet back there with
no way to escape this pod. I was in stasis for thousands of years, until I awoke. I took the form I saw in your mind as so to put your mind at ease in regard to my intentions." said the alien-cat form.
"How did your pod generate the energy to destroy those vessels?" asked Captain Riker. "Oh silly. I simply turned their own energy against them, with my mind." said the alien. The alien shifted to his real form.
He looked almost like an leprechaun with a large nose. The patch on his uniform as a strange symbol was a circle with an upside-down pyramid. "I am Captain Priivakk" said the alien. "My vessel was the "Star-Drifter"
as you would say in your Earth language. I assume I have quarters?" asked the alien. "Oh yes! You are an honored guest." said Captain Riker. "Show him to his quarters." said Captain Riker. An Ensign showed him to it's
quarters. "Captain." whispered the Vulcan. "Something is not right about his story. My readings are telling me that there is no connection between his race and that sphere. In fact, just the opposite is true, which I
find quite illogical." said the Science Officer. "Continue." said Captain Riker. "Well, it seems that the sphere begat this alien being that now lodges in our ship. This sphere is a powerful being unto itself and is
linked by symbiosis with the alien, if my hypothesis is correct." said the Vulcan Science Officer. There was a terrible scream heard and Security went running. They found that their "guest" was drained of blood
and dead. "Security to Captain, our "vampire" has struck. It never left the ship when we left stardock" said Security. Then an odd thing happened. The sphere whirred and opened, producing the same
exact creature as before. "We meet again. Do take care of your unwanted pest." said the alien. "It is best if you stay here on bridge with us for now." said Captain Riker.
The Enterprise sped home towards Earth and Security did a complete search for any shape-shifting aliens. "We checked everyone except the Cheif Engineer" said the Security Chief to Captain Riker.
"Check him too. Check me if you have to." said the Captain. "We already did sir, you check out as human." said Security. Security went to Engineering and saw that the Chief Engineer was missing. "Chief Ysolde, take over
Engineering." commanded Captain Riker. The orderly seach continued until they found what looked like a salt-vampire with fangs was feeding on an Ensign. Security hit the creature with phasers set to kill. They killed
it. "Captain, the vampire was a Corisgen-shifter!" said Security over the Comm. "No doubt it killed the real Qalas before it entered the ship!" said Captain Riker. The alien "guest" came down and looked at the
corpse. "What a shame to take a sedient life!" it said. "That thing killed my crew members!" said Captain Riker. "It was hungry and scared Captain. Perhaps it needed to be heard out." said the alien. "I will hear anything
out but not at the expense of my ship and crew." said Captain Riker evenly. "Then I must depart. I must return to the home system to see if anything is left of my creators. Farewell." said the alien and it vanished
and so to did the sphere. "Captain!" said one of the Ensigns. "I know. Let it do what it needs to do. I know the Admiral won't be happy but then again we gained the trust, for a time, of an advanced and nearly
extinct relic of an extinct race." said Captain Riker.
The Enterprise docked when it reached Earth and Captain Riker submitted his full report to Admiral Nugura. "Two shift forms? Amazing, I suppose star fleet won't be happy to learn that a possible
super-weapon has a mind of it's own but this big universe is just full of little surprises." said the Captain. "As for the vampire, Star fleet cannot officially make it public that Corsigen-shifters are on the loose,
that is a job for Special Services." said the Admiral. "You will receive a raise for your wise-headed and meritorious actions." said the Admiral. "Don't thank me, thank my new Science Officer, whom I am
recommending for a promotion." said Captain Riker. "What new Science Officer? I thought that you would appoint a new one from the ranks of the Science team, Degrass is showing quite the promise." said the
Admiral. He is an Officer after all." said the Admiral. "Oh no." said Captain Riker. "One to beam back!" said Captain Riker into his Comm. He was beamed back to the Enterprise and a search was made for the "Vulcan"
Science Officer. "He is gone. No record of him either!" said the Security Chief, O'Donnel. "Time traveler." said an Ensign simply. "What was that Ensign, if you know something you had better tell us now." said the
Captain. "Science Officer Svaravk was officially listed as MIA after the loss of the Enterprise C." said the Ensign as he looked at the data on the screen. "The first Captain of the USS Enterprise X was made aware of
a time-war between two factions. Perhaps we witnessed a glimpse of that conflict. "Yes, the great explorer." said Captain Riker is awe. "So what was a dead Vulcan doing on board the Enterprise?" asked Captain Riker.
Just then, Ambassador Spock walked onto the bridge. Everyone and Riker saluted. "As you were. Captain, I came to inform you that you have witnessed the rarest event ever in Vulcan history. Sometimes
when the Katra leaves the body, it wanders for ages and once a situation presents itself, the katra will manifest itself so strongly that you seem as if you are talking with a living being. Naturally when Admiral
Nugura informed me of the Vulcan Science Officer, I did some research and drew my own conclusions. He has been sighted around Starfleet grounds before." said Spock. "Amazing. I thought ghosts were
children's stories." said Captain Riker. "Now you know otherwise" said Spock with a rare smile in his voice. "Anyway, he saved your ship and your crew it seems." said Spock. "I will put him in for a posthumanous
rank to Admiral. Perhaps that will set his wandering soul to rest." suggested the Admiral. "I must return his Katra to Vulcan." said Spock. Spock walked off. Later that night, Captain Riker recorded these strange events
in his private log. "It was the strangest journey ever for the USS Enterprise to date" said Captain Riker. "Perhaps someday we will have a better knowledge of the true nature of reality." he concluded.
The End.
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