The wrong Enterprise (open)

[tript]

Anyone familiar with the history of Starfleet - at least when it came to uniforms - would recognise that the man who appeared in Ten Forward was from two hundred years ago. His uniform was a lot like a blue boiler suit, with red stripes, three pins denoting his rank of Commander, and a lot of pockets.

Commander Charles Tucker III was confused. A moment ago he'd been on Enterprise and now he was somewhere else. It looked like it could be a bar, but the stars outside and the feeling beneath his feet of a warp engine, told him it was a starship. So this was a mess hall, perhaps. He didn't feel like he'd been transported. And if something had wiped his memory his shoulder would have improved. He moved his left arm experimentally in its sling. No, definitely no memory wipe and he'd definitely just been on Enterprise.

Trip unzipped a pocket and came across a hyper spanner. "I wondered where that went," he muttered to himself. He put it back and pulled out his communicator. Flipping it open he said, "Tucker to Enterprise." There was nothing - not even static. It was as if Enterprise was not in range, but if that was the case how did he get here? If only he had two hands free and the right tools, he'd take the communicator apart to check it was working. He tried it again, not really expecting an answer this time. "Tucker to Enterprise."

Comments

[tript]

Trip watched the fireball, wide-eyed, then stood up to get a closer look. It did look an awful lot like the other man had conjured up blue fire out of nowhere. It looked impossible, based on the laws of physics. Yet Trip had seen it with his own eyes.

"Any advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." That would explain it.

[tript]

"Not usually." He put his hands on his hips. "Imagine the chaos if people appeared and disappeared at random."

[tript]

"Trip Tucker. USS Enterprise" He shook Jim's hand. "Not the same Enterprise, I'd have remembered you." He knew there wasn't another USS Enterprise - it wouldn't make sense for Starfleet the same name to two ships - but it was the only explanation that made sense.

"Do you mind if I join you?" If he could put his communicator down on the table it would be easier to fiddle with it and perhaps get it to work again.

[dresdensluck]

Harry slowly let it fade. "And the opposite would be true as well, would it not?" He grinned at the other man, amused and intrigued at his ideas.

"And that is not the point. The point is, here, a lot of people, from a lot of different places and times are gathered. You'll probably see a lot weirder than that before long."

[tript]

"Perhaps." If this Q decided to bring T'Pol here, or send him home, he'd definitely have to mention magic to her. She was sure to not believe in it.

"I have seen a lot of different places." He sat back down, now the fire was gone, and sipped at his beer. "And met a lot of different people." Times not so much, but most of the people around here looked human.

[dresdensluck]

Harry nodded. "Then you should do fine here. I've been here a few months, and so far the worst thing we had was a few misguided Klingons invading and causing some ruckus."

Harry smiled. "Hungry? The replicator here makes a mean hamburger and fries."

[original_fine]

"Please do," Jim said, gesturing to a chair. He wondered if this was anything like how people from this time felt, meeting someone like him. It felt a little like comeuppance.

"Not the same Enterprise," he confirmed. "I have something to tell you, Commander Tucker. You, and I for that matter, have been brought forward in time and to yet another Enterprise. It's 2366, and as yet, no one's figure out a way to get us home." Jim's frustration was banked, but palpable.

[orions_shadow]

"Which is exactly what's happening." Isn't that funny?

[tript]

"Klingons do tend to cause ruckuses." He chuckled. The invasion must not have worked, given that everyone here looked happy and Klingon-free.

Trip shook his head at the question. "Not really. But you go ahead. I'll stick to the beer." Which he raised slightly, and then had a sip of.

[tript]

"I guess." Trip frowned, not finding it funny at all. "Is there more to this ship than just this place?"

[tript]

If that was true his communicator definitely wasn't going to work. But he sat and fiddled with some of the settings anyway.

"Daniels," he guessed, at the news. "Or some other temporal agent. I thought the Temporal Cold War was over."

[orions_shadow]

"If it was just this place it'd be a space bar, not a ship. I first showed up in the engine room." How would he think this was the only place? Why?

[writes_with_digital_ink]

The look she gives him over his questioning is...well, it's unimpressed. Her uniform is grey, the grey of an acting [insert rank here], but it's still a Starfleet uniform with a communicator.

The uniform, she suspects, isn't the problem at all.

Still, she pointedly puts the smile back on and shakes his hand.

"You'll have a bit of a time-culture shock, I'm afraid. Starfleet's part of the United Federation of Planets now, not just Earth. And there's lots of different cultures and species involved in that. And that's not even counting everyone else who Q's winked here. But we're trying to get people back to where they originally from, if that's feasible. In the meantime, typical Starfleet hospitality, you'll be assigned a room after a medical check, and you're free to pitch in where you can if you wanted some duties, as long as the captain signs off on it."

There's a pause.

"You might need to study to catch up, though. But classes are starting soon to help with that."

[tript]

"The engine room." Trip's eyes lit up. "What was that like?" It was a starship, therefore the engines were the most interesting part of it, to Trip anyway.

[tript]

The uniform was unfamiliar, but it was her species that he was finding the bigger problem. And Starfleet let Orions in! They must know what they were like, from Archer's report, if nothing else. But he'd be better off pretending he didn't know, but keeping an eye on her.

"I've heard of the Federation." From Captain Archer, who'd heard about it from Daniels. "We've just been at a conference to set up the Coalition of Planets." Which helped him believe that Daniels was right and the Federation of Planets was in their future.

"Catching up," he said thoughtfully, running a hand across his face. "Warp engines must have changed quite a bit. What's the top speed these days?"

[writes_with_digital_ink]

One day (or rather, about five minutes after this conversation ends), Gaila is going to put Commander Tucker's name together with his ship of origin, and the start of that infuriating rumour that there are no female Orion slaves. It will not improve her initial impression of the man at all.

Ordinarily, she'd say something to his comment about where he's been. Something cheerful, intrigued, a little laughter as she warns him to be careful of people who might drag him over to a corner and pick his brains about historic occasions. She's a nice girl, most of the time.

Most of the time.

But there's a streak of petty in her that being a slave had only fostered, and while he hasn't done much to really provoke the true depths of that, she's not going to be as helpful or welcoming as she could be. She'll say the facts, because no one will ever be able to accuse her of not doing her duty.

"It's complicated," is what she says, but for a moment, her expression was thoughtful rather than bland. "The speed designations got overhauled, so now warp ten is considered infinite velocity, but back in my day, warp ten was doable, but not safely. It depends on the ship and how you're converting the designations."

[tript]

Now they were on the subject of engines, Trip was starting to forget who she was. Or at least not concentrating on it so much. He'd seen some of what the Orion women said and did to the crew and she didn't seem to be doing any it. But perhaps she was just more subtle or was taking a different approach on him.

"Warp 10, huh?" He looked excited about the idea. Imagine how far out in the galaxy you could get a Warp 10. "I guess Warp 5 must seem like a crawl to you."

[writes_with_digital_ink]

He's not the only one more comfortable talking about engines: this smile is a bit more genuine, a bit more warm rather than just pointedly polite.

"Mmmm, more like a jog. Nice travelling speed if you're not dawdling, but not trying to break your neck, metaphorically speaking."

[tript]

"For us warp 5 is hard work." He smiled at her description and at the idea of thinking of warp 5 being a nice travelling speed. "I'd love to get a look at the specs for a warp 10 engine."

[orions_shadow]

"Big and loud." Too bright, too many people and suddenly? A lion. They got spooked and phasered his furry ass down for the count.

"You know I don't know anything about these ships, right?"

[tript]

He did now. But it was a pretty good description of Engineering for someone who'd never been there before. "I'll go look for myself. Do you know how to get there?"

[orions_shadow]

"They're not gonna let you wander around their ship." He just shakes his head, because he's been stuck between here and his guest quarters for a day or two now.

[writes_with_digital_ink]

"It'd be in the archives, or theoretical papers if you mean ideas for the current conception of speed..."

She stops. Shifts her weight from one foot to another and back.

"But you can't take the technology back with you. Violation of the Temporal Prime Directive, and trust me, those guys play hard."

[original_fine]

"From what I've heard, it's an entity named Q. All powerful and, it would seem, very bored. I've met his type before--limitless power and nothing better to do than mess with lower life forms."

Jim studied Tucker as discretely as he could. He'd always been curious about this era, with the sort of backwards respect one afforded a less advanced but more adventurous time.

"And since our day, they've put a bunch of temporal protocols in place," he added. "So I've been told very little, despite the fact that, well, it seems our entire history is known by everyone I meet."

[tript]

"I guess that makes sense." It wasn't as if they ever let anyone just wander around Enterprise either. It wasn't going to dampen his enthusiasm, though. "I'll find a crewmember to escort me."