Chaos on the Bridge

The red alert klaxon brought Captian Picard to his feet.

I think he might have been napping....I mean, how could he not have felt us dropping out of warp like we did?

"Leiutenant," he said cripsly walking to my post at Tactical. Mr. Worf was off this shift, something to do with a Klingon holiday. "Care to explain why we went to red alert?"

"Unsure sir," I reply. My name is Hawks-Eye by the way. I've served on board the Enterprise for a relatively short time. "When we dropped out of warp, it might have automatically triggered."

"Yes, why did we drop out of warp?" He turns his attention to the Crusher dolt at Helm.

"Beats me, sir. One minute we were cruising along, the next we were dead in the water. Controls are not responding.

Picard taps his commbadge. "Picard to engineering. La Forge...what happened?"

"Sir?"

I can imagine Picard rolling his eyes.

"Why did we drop out of warp?"

"Uh, according to our instruments...we're at warp 7."

I look at the unmoving star field on the view screen.

"Are we, or aren't we moving?" Picard demanded.

"I'll look into it," La Forge replied.

"Captain," I say. "My sensors show a class-5 Klingon Bird of Prey approaching."

Picard fairly snorts. "Leiutenant, our sensors say we're still moving...can we trust your readings?"

"Probably not."

Federation thoughts?

What has Guinan heard?

My homeworld...Marista...joining the Federation?

It's possible. While my home world has a healthy space trade and visitors are welcomed to our world, there has never been much 'mixing' of the species. At least not in the circle I grew up in. It's hard to mix with anyone when your mother is the Queen.

I sigh and look at Guinan. "What makes you say that?"

"Intuition."

Then she hasn't heard anything then.

I finish my rootbeer float, beginning to wonder where Kirk is and what he's up to when the Enterprise suddenly drops out of warp. With a shake and shudder to the ship that I know can't be good. La Forge must be in a tizzy.

Guinan looks amused. "I guess we've hit a speed bump."

"Yeah, yeah." I say. "I hope there wasn't a certain time I had to be home by."

"A little old for a curfew aren't you?" Kirk asks coming to my side.

"I've always thought so."

Guinan actually chuckled. "If you'll excuse me, I leave the two of you to...whatever it is you might be planning."

"See you around Guinan," Kirk says as she walks off. To me he says, "What did you tell her?"

"Nothing! I swear! We were talking about Marista." The red alerts klaxon began to whoop. "What did you do?"

"Come on, let's go."

Ten Forward

From one dungeon cell, to another. Sort of. I escape the GodzFather's wierd imprisonment to find that my Mother has finally caught up to me. I don't know if I can get out of going home, but I'm gonna try.

I stroll into Ten Forward, wondering what Kirk has up his sleeve. The man is often a miracle worker when it comes to getting me out of my scrapes. Now if he could just keep me from getting into them in the first place!

I find a seat near the windows, wondering how it is that I'm fine in my own ship, but you set me in the Enterprise with the awesome view...and I start getting space sick. Maybe it's the destination? I change my mind and go sit at the bar.

It's not long before Guinan is there. I can never get over her hats. The woman certainly knows how to make a statement.

"Hello, Ciera." She says in that way that makes you think that she knows what you're thinking or planning. Sheesh, how guilty do I look? "Glad to hear you've made it out of another problem."

"Only to be faced with another," I reply dryly. "Can I get a rootbeer float?"

"Certainly."

It's not long before one is sitting before me. "I love these. We don't have them on Marista. We have ice cream, but no ones brought in rootbeer yet."

"Maybe you could take some with you."

"Maybe." If I were going. Which I'm not.

"You're family must be proud of you for graduating with top honors from the Academy."

"Maybe if they had sent me instead of my running away and joining." I snort. "I'm not even sure why my Mother's request to have me sent home is even being honored...it's not like we're members of the Federation."

"Yet."

???

Quarters

"So," Kirk drawled as we settled in the quarters Jean-Luc assigned to us. "Your Mother's calling you home."

"She's been calling me home ever since I ran away," I snap rather bitchily. I draw a deep breath. It's not his fault I have a crappy family. "How can we get out of this?"

Kirk grins at me. "I was wondering how long it was going to take for you to ask that. Give me a couple hours and I'll let you know."

It's nice having someone on my side. "Jean-Luc said he brought my ship on board, right?"

"He did. Hmmm..."

I can tell Kirk's thinking things through. I wouldn't be surprised if he had something in mind already.

"Look," he says, "Why don't you go down to Ten-Foward and hang out for a while and I'll come get you when I've got things...situated."

"So you do have something in mind."

"Since he mentioned HQ to me before I beamed down." He pulls me close for a kiss. "Now go on...get. Say hi to Guinan for me."

I smile and "get".

On Board the Enterprise

It's been a while since I've been on board the Enterprise...I think it was the last Christmas party...or was it the one before that? I can't remember! Shame on me!

"Hi Jean-Luc," I manage to say, finally remembering to straighten my cape. I pat my hair as well, trying to see if it's presentable. I can't help but have a tiny crush on Jean-Luc; he makes me twittery. "Thanks for coming to my rescue."

"Again." He smiles. "It's never a problem my dear. Would you like me to show you to your quarters, or do you think you can find them?"

"If it's the same one..."

Kirk interupts me. "We can find them. Thanks Jean-Luc."

I try not to smile...I love it when Kirk's jealous. I don't flirt with Jean-Luc on purpose, except for once or twice. Well, I try not to. Sometimes it's just so easy. "Where will you be dropping us off?" I ask, carefully changing the subject.

"Ah, yes. I'm afraid you're not going to like this." Picard looks quite uncomfortable. "We've received word from HQ that your mother has requested that you be escorted home."

"WHAT?!"

"I'm afraid so. There's nothing we can do, the orders came down as soon as they learned we were on our way to rescue you. Queen Bella's been looking for you for months."

I frown. "Orders are orders I guess. Come on Kirk, let's go find our room."

This time, I'm the one doing the dragging.

Fast Get Away

I thought I would never get out of that musty cell and crazy maze of the GodzFather's.

Kirk almost picked me up when he heard footsteps behind us...racing running footsteps!

"Hurry!" he said, dragging me a long.

I'm no slouch, but when Kirk is in a hurry I might as well be a turtle in first gear. Or molasses in February.

Throwing my cape over my shoulder, I quicken my pace as best as I can. I'd get rid of this cape, except it looks so awesome and believe me, it doescome in handy once in a while. Besides, Mother bought it for me.

Just as some of the GodzFather's goons appear behind us, I feel the grip of the Enterprise's transporter beam take ahold of me. As soon as it lets go, Kirk and I all but stumble in front of Captain Picard.

"Quick! Get us out of here!" Kirk says, standing straight.

Picard taps his combadge ever so elegantly."Bridge, warp us out of here."

"Aye, sir." come the tiny reply.

"My ship!" I cry, not even bothering to fix my cape. I've put hours into that ship, and more money that I care to recount. It likes to break down alot, usually kicks me out of warp at least once a trip. But......it's...my...ship!

"We brought that aboard hours ago," Picard answers, with an amused grin. "Welcome aboard, Ciera."

Freedom...

It takes another half hour or more, but Data manages to talk me through the seemingly endless maze.


I find myself facing a large iron grate. I tell Data as much.


"That is not on the schematic," the android replies, sounding perplexed.


"So you're saying that this is a figment of my imagination and I should just be able to walk through it?" I remark rather sarcastically giving the metal a tap.


"No, I am saying that it is not on the schematic," Data answered. "I am told that Kirk is almost to your position."


"Great, I'll just sit here and chill." Too bad I don't have a blow torch or something in my cloak, but there's only room for so much in the pockets.


"I am confused," Data said. "Are you cold? The sensors indicate that the temperature levels are quite within the norm for human comfort. Ah, never mind...Commander Riker just informed me of the idiom."



"Hey there lady," comes that familiar voice.


"I hope you brought tools this time," I say to Kirk as he comes into view.


"Had to - MacGyver was on another call." He surveys the situation, testing the strength of the metal by tugging on the bars. "You just couldn't wait could you?"


"I was bored."


He makes a noncommital sound and I fear I'm in for a lecture later. I try not to roll my eyeballs at him as he pulls out a phaser and targets the hinges.


"Shield yourself," he says. He gives me a moment to pull my cloak in front of my face and turn away before shooting the hinges. He removes the iron gate and then helps me out. Given how terse he just was with me, he surprises me and pulls me into a close embrace. Then he takes my hand and pulls me along. "We're not far from transporter capability."


I keep up easily with him, looking over my shoulder every once in a while. I won't feel safe until after we're out of here...