It was a busy day for Dixon Hill. He had spent the last three hours shuffling papers on his desk. When he had gotten to the last of the papers, he let out a satisfying sigh and stood. He stuck his head out of the door and said "I am done Ruby, you can go home."
His secretary, a young, slender woman, stood, retrieved her purse, and said her goodbyes. She left out of the office and closed the door behind her. Dixon couldn't help but be attracted to her, but he had other duties now.
He walked to the end of his office and said "Computer, exit."
The doors leading to the real world appeared and opened, as Dixon Hill walked to it. He turned, looked at his office, smiled, and left. Jean-luc Picard walked down the hallway, turned to the turbolift, and took it to the bridge. He stepped onto the bridge, still in his mid-20th century civilian clothing, and got a laugh from one of the crewman that was working on a computer console. Picard, unaware that he was still wearing the old trench coat, looked at the crewman as if he were nuts. Picard suddenly realized what the young man was laughing at, and gave a sarcastic smile back to the young man.
He walked over to his chair and his first officer, Commander Riker, stood at attention.
"Anything new, number one?" Picard asked.
"We had a few problems with our transporter systems while we were trading supplies with the Anorians, but nothing to write home about." William Riker said with the usual smirk.
"What kind of transporter problems?" Picard asked, with little care in his voice.
"Well, it turns out that some of the phase inducers were out of alignment. Commander la Forge and chief O'Brien got them working properly again, though. It's fine now. "
"Very well, then." Picard said, turning to his helm officer. "Set course for Starbase 181, warp 5. We have a rendevouz with Admiral Haun there shortly."
"Aye, sir." The young man said, as he punched in the coordinates of the base.
"Engage." Picard said. The Enterprise blasted to warp. Picard turned to his first officer again.
"You have the bridge again, number one. I have to uh...slip into something more appropriate." Picard said, gesturing to his cloths.
Riker gave a smile and Picard left the bridge.
In his quarters, Picard took off the cloths that made him Dixon Hill, and put on the uniform that made him Captain Picard. He looked at himsef in his mirror, washed his face in the sink, and dried himself with a towel. He walked to his door when the lights flickered on and off. This made him look around his quarters in a curious fashion.
He gave himself a "hmph" and walked into the corridor. The lights then flickered again, but this time, the ship began to shake. On this note, he began to walk to the turbolift to take it to the bridge. On his way, he tapped his comm badge.
"Picard to Bridge, report." He spoke. Riker answered.
"We're experiancing power drains, sir. Cause unknown."
"I'm on my way to the bridge. Picard out." He said, as he came to the turbolift, and took it to the bridge. As soon as he walked on the bridge, the lights flickered yet again and the ship shook more violently.
"What the devil is going on?" Picrad asked, looking for answers from anyone. Riker stood to face him.
"We do not know what is happening, sir. I've contacted Geordi, but he hasn't come up with anything either. This shouldn't be happening at all. There is no reason for it."
"Is it possible we are under attack?" Picard asked.
"No other ships were detected, sir. We are the only vessel in the area. Besides, if we were to be engaged, the ship's computer would have dropped us from warp." Worf added.
"Let's pull from warp just in case. I want to get to the bottom of this.
The lights flickered again as the Enterprise pulled from warp.
Picard sat in his chair.
"Sir, there appears to be an ionic blast coming in our direction." Data said.
"On screen." Picard ordered, as the image of a small, blue ball showed, and it came closer to the Enterprise.
"Red Alert." Picard said, as the siren blasted through the ship, and everyone rushed to battlestations.
The ball hit the Enterprise and shook it very violently.
"Sir, the shields are offline." Worf spoke.
"Get them back, Mr. Worf!" Picard shouted. He turned to Data. "What is the origin of this blast, Mr. Data?"
"Unknown, sir. However, it can not be from a ship. Such a blast can occur only from a cannon that would have to be the size of an entire starsghip. If there was such a ship, it would have definately been detected. My hypothosis is that it was fired from a neaby planet." Data said.
"A planet? What planet?" Riker questioned.
"Uknown, sir. However, the nearest planet is Ransur VI. That planet has not been inhabited in four generations. An asteroid hit the surface, killing all life. If there was such a blast from that area, it is a strong possibility that the cannon is automated." Data answered.
"Not to mention very accurate..." Picard said.
"Indeed, sir." Data returned.
Another ball came and hit the Enterprise, this time, the weapons were taken offline.
"Well we aren't just going to sit here, damnit. Set course for Ransur VI. We're going to get some answers." Picard said, as the Enterprise turned it's course, and blasted to warp.
Good story, Obi, but you should kill the sigs, IMO. They chop it up and ruin the flow.
ShadowTemplar - Templar of No God, Champion of No Cause
(thanks for the feedback, it is VERY MUCH appreciated =) )
The Enterprise arrived in Ransur VI's star system, but Captain Picard wanted to maintain a distance from the planet. As the Enterprise came closer to the planet, Captain Picard gave the order to put it on the main viewscreen. It filled the screen, and much to the crew's surprise, the planet's surface was green with vegetation.
"I thought you told me an asteroid destroyed life on this planet, Mr. Data.." Captain Picard said. Data was just as stunned as Picard, and Picard could tell.
"An asteroid did kill the planet's population, sir." Data said, still staring at the screen. The entire crew was shocked at the beautiful site of the planet. So shocked, all they could do was stare. Everyone on board ship near a window looked out to see the beauty evaporating off of the planet. A hail suddenly broke the awe and brought everyone back.
"Sir, we are being hailed." Worf informed Picard.
"On screen, Mr. Worf." Picard said, as an image of an old man appeared on the screen. The man was very elderly with a long beard. It looks as if the man had not bathed in over a century.
"Please...help me.....please....I will die..." The old man said, as the message and image cut off. Picard raised an eyebrow.
"Mr.Worf, do you have the signal of the transmition?" Picard asked. Worf responded with a nod.
"Commander Riker, assemble an away team and go down there to se what the problem is. Our scans show that there is only that one man, but be careful, and use extra caution. This whole thing makes no sense." Picard told his first officer.
"Aye, sir. Mr.Worf, Data, Geordi, you're with me." Commander Riker said, as they all left the bridge. Along the way to the transporter room, Will Riker picked up a few extra officers and enlisted personell to join the team. They went to the transporter room, where they beamed down to the planet's surface.