History Repeating
a Marrissa Story by "Pete Plum"
Edited by "Mavis"

        In the not too distant future...
        In the middle of space there sat an enormous and imposing space
station.  The distant sun made it hard to determine many details, but
the way it's jagged structure poked out awkwardly was typically Klingon
design.  Inside the station, a not-so-typical Klingon made an unexpected
visit.  At five feet tall, she was not nearly as imposing as her two
Klingon bodyguards, but she commanded a great deal of respect from other
Klingons as she made her way down the hall.  Perhaps it was because she
was mysterious, her body was covered with a thick Klingon cloak.  The
more likely reason because every Klingon has heard about her and what
she has done for (and to) their comrades.
        As she entered the main control room, the bodyguards shouted for
everyone to come to attention. She approached the chief Klingon
scientist.  He tried to back away, but the bodyguards were too quick for
him. They grabbed him and slammed him against the wall. The small
Klingon's hand flew out of her cloak. Her arm was unusually thin and
pale for a Klingon woman, but that made no difference  to the frightened
scientist as she dug her black fingernails into his head just where the
jawbone met the neck.
        She interrogated him in Klingon. She asked him why he fired their
ultimate weapon without her permission. She didn't care about the
answer,  she just wanted to let the viral agents enter his bloodstream
from her nails. At the end of her interrogation, she kissed him on the
forehead. The virus worked quickly and she saw him beginning to weaken
she pulled away and her hand violently slashed him across the face as he
fell to the floor. The last thing he saw was the smile between her black
lips as she ordered the bodyguards to prepare her ship for departure.

        Thousands of light years away, a small runabout spacecraft winds its
way through the gigantic cavernous insides of  Earth's premiere
spacecraft docking facility. The tiny craft passes many ships of many
shapes and sizes, old and new, before heading out the space doors to the
largest, newest ship in the fleet.
        "Runabout Tiber, you have clearance from spacedock, on a heading
toward drydock facilities for NX-NCC-1701-Gamma," A voice announced.
        "I read you spacedock. Over and out," Data replied.
        Data made a few minor course corrections with his usual android
precision, and ran his fingers through the grey stipe on his head. The
silence was broken as an older woman in a Starfleet uniform came to the
front of the cabin. She was in her mid forties, but she aged well. She
had very few wrinkles, the most obvious sign of her age was her very
stylish short blond hair was beginning to grey. The pins on her collar
indicated she was an Admiral.
        "Wow, they told me she was big, but you really have to see it to
believe it," Marrissa said gazing in awe at the approaching starship.
        "2.85 kilometers from stem to stern and 120 decks in height. It is
the largest Federation starship on record."
        "Mmm-hmm," Marrissa replied distractedly.
        Perhaps when he was younger and more naive android, Data wouldn't
have picked-up on the slightly sad tone of Marrissa's voice, but he has
had enough experience with humans at this point to know something was
wrong.
        "Is there something the matter?" Data asked as gently as he knew
how.
        "I don't know, I guess, it's the Enterprise... Something seems to
keep bringing me back. I mean, I left Starfleet to try and get away from
my troubles, but after Jay and I separated and Clara died..." Marrissa
paused for a moment to keep herself in check.
        "Are you sure you do not want to be by yourself for awhile?  I can
easily take command for a few days," Data suggested, trying to help one
of his oldest friends and commander.
        "No, orders are to ship out by morning. Besides the urgency of the
mission, I don't think it would reflect well on me to hide away in my
cabin the first day of my first command in fifteen years. I came to
Starfleet to start over, lose myself in the work. It's funny -- I could
have done a million things, but I had come back to the Enterprise."
Suddenly her voice became softer. "Since what happened with Sara and
Alexander, the Enterprise is the closest thing I have to family, even
though she's not the same one I left."
        Data considered Marrissa's change in tone, and decided a change in
topic would be more productive.
        "Well, there is much work ahead of us to lose ourself in," Data
replied.

        Meanwhile, two much younger officers were approaching in another
shuttle. Tobal Dax was a trill, which meant not only did he have spots
running up the sides of his head, but he also had a kind of second
brain. The "Dax" part of Tobal was the name of a symbiont, another life
form that lived inside him and provided him with memories of previous
hosts. Several lifetimes of memories in fact, essentially making Dax
almost nine hundred years old. Tobal was a handsome young man in his
late twenties, with sandy colored hair and a roguish smile.
        Seated next to Dax in the co-pilot's chair was Akane Sulu, a younger
woman of Japanese descent, she had long black hair and a very studious
look about her. She and Dax both wore Starfleet uniforms, except hers
had a gold collar as opposed to his blue one.
        "Well, my Great Grandfather and my Grandmother were at the helm of
Enterprises, so when my Dad didn't make a posting to the Enterprise, I
swore to him I'd make it. The Enterprise is in my family blood, it might
as well be a relative." Akane laughed. "Despite my complete 'snafu' of
the Kobiashi Maru test."
        Tobal laughed as he ran a quick sensor scan.  "I remember that, it
was in the campus news. What made you think ramming the Borg scout ship
would've helped the scenario?"
        "Well, it's not like I meant to, but when the cutting beam hit, it
knocked out my helmsman. He got his horn stuck in the control panel and
we couldn't pull him off! His face was right on the heading control, and
before we could cut power, we rammed us right into the cube!"
        "Well, I have to admit, you got points for originality in my book."
        Akane only meet Tobal a week ago during the opening day preflight
check but they were rapidly becoming the best of friends. During the
following week of grueling engineering work, they found they were quite
a team in that department too. When they both found out they'd be on the
same bridge rotation roster, they were thrilled.
        "Well, you never told me how you got into Starfleet, Tobal."
        "Well, my last couple of hosts were both in Starfleet, but they both
died at a young age, I just want to turn things around and do it right
this time."
        "I couldn't imagine going through the academy again, much less
several times like you Dax."
        "Well, having the experience of several lifetimes has it's ups and
downs.  One thing you notice is that history has ways of repeating
itself."
        "I'm sure my grandmother would agree with that."

        Harry Kim looked around the looming promenade area on board the new
Enterprise, it looked like any other shopping center; although it was
the largest gathering of Starfleet officers he's seen in one place. He
walked past the shops and restaurant and turned to look out the
forward-facing windows, ovular and four decks high, they presented a
beautiful view of dry-dock and the Earth below it.  Harry thought about
all the times on board the starship Voyager when he never thought he'd
see it again. Now here he was, he can see it whenever he'd like.
However, when he never thought he'd set foot on a spaceship again, the
Enterprise Class Starship Project came up and he took it. After all,
like much of the Voyager crew, he didn't have a lot to come back to.
When Starfleet offered the prospect of being able to design a starship
from the ground up, applying some of the discoveries made in the Delta
quadrant, he couldn't resist.  So he and Captain Data were there from
the first moment designing this Enterprise from scratch. There were some
days he thought they'd never be done. Now here he was, standing on a
deck, looking back at the Earth he thought he'd never find again nor
leave once he'd returned. When Starfleet requested he stay on as
Engineering and Operations Chief, he said yes. So here he was, leaving
again. He spotted his wife Molly across the promenade at the textile
store and went over to join her.
        Molly O'Brien was in a shop across the promenade admiring a bolt of
maroon cloth.
        "This would really look nice with a gold pattern on it." She mused
aloud.
        Molly spotted her husband Harry crossing the deck to her, she
gathered her things. She glanced at the cloth - it now had a golden
floral pattern across it.
        "Oh, this is nice." She turned to the shop attendant. "I'll take the
whole bolt. Have it sent to my quarters. I love the twenty-fifth
century." She smiled as she strolled over to Harry.
        "Hi honey." Harry beamed as he kissed his wife. There was a time he
thought he'd never love anyone but Libby. However, Libby had moved on
with her life since Harry had been stranded in the Delta quadrant. He
thought he could never get any semblance of a life back until he met
Molly back when she was a nurse on board the U.S.S. Pasteur. The Pasteur
was the ship that rescued the Voyager damaged and powerless at the edge
of the Romulan Annex of Federation space. After he found out what
happened to Libby, he ran into Molly again and they dated and eventually
married. They've been inseparable ever
since, always taking postings to the same facilities, she took a
sabbatical from Starfleet when Harry began designing the Enterprise 'G'
but by playing politics they got her posted as Chief Medical Officer on
board the Enterprise.
        Molly looked up to Harry's face. "So tomorrow's the big day?"
        "Yep," Harry replied.
        "What's the matter, you sound distracted?" Molly's furrowed her brow
in concern.
        "Just butterflies in my stomach I guess.  The last time I was on a
newly launched ship, things didn't exactly go as planned."

        Across the promenade Marrissa and Admiral Mackenzie Calhoun stride
towards the turbolift.
        "Marrissa, with the constantly expanding Federation frontier, it
becomes increasingly difficult to build enough starbases to service the
massive new expanses of territory. That's why Starfleet commissioned
this new Enterprise class starship, to serve as a sort of mobile
starbase. It has all the facilities and the size of a starbase, however
it also has the mobility and tactical advantages of a starship, except
on a much more massive scale."
        "I could've guessed that much, Admiral, what I would like to finally
know is why I was asked to come out of retirement to command her?"
        "Well," Admiral Calhoun continued as they entered the turbolift,
"primarily because, as much as most of us hate to admit it, you are a
tactical genius. Secondly, this mission involves your former colleague
Alexander Rozhenko, as well as your daughter Sara."
        Marrissa gasped in shock, she had never expected to hear those
names; at least, not in this kind of setting.
        "I'm afraid the rest will have to wait for the briefing," Admiral
Calhoun coldly finished.

        Tobal Dax and Akane Sulu arrived on the bridge of the new
Enterprise.  Before walking onto the bridge, the room looked much like a
holodeck save for the large navigation console at the front and the
three stations at the back. The moment they stepped from the turbolift
onto the bridge, a voice announced, "Bridge sleep mode off."
        The image of the room rippled and faded away and they were standing
in the middle of the empty dry-dock. As they walked to the three panels
hanging in midair near the back of the room standard Starfleet chairs
appeared behind the consoles. Then two women appeared in the middle of
the room, one an unusually tall woman with bright red hair and the other
a younger, shorter, blue-eyed woman with black hair in a page-boy
haircut. Both wore standard Starfleet uniforms, except for a lack of
rank insignia and pure white on their uniform collars where their
department color should have been. The shorter woman broke off her
conversation as Dax and Sulu arrived at the engineering station.
        "The cadets are on the next turbolift to the bridge," the woman
said.
        "Thanks," Dax replied, while checking on some engineering
statistics.
        "Uhm, should I create a floor? Standing in the middle of space can
be sort of disorienting for first year cadets."
        "Oh, good thinking, go ahead and do that."
        "Thank you," the woman replied as the deck plating appeared beneath
them, "I could have easily told you those statistics, Lieutenant
Commander."
        "I'm sorry, I guess I'm still used to old style panels. We're not
all smart as you, Enterprise."
        "Aw, thanks," Enterprise replied, blushing.
        Akane Sulu looked up from her panel and smiled at Dax, "Careful Dax,
don't go getting a crush on her."
        "Please, I've been dealing with holograms since before you were
born. Of course, none of them had a personality this nice," Dax replied.
        "Stop it, you're embarrassing me!" Enterprise laughed, "Excuse me,
I think Starbase 001 wants something."
        As Enterprise walked over to the other holographic woman, a door
appeared then opened on the other side of the room. First year cadets
fresh from Starfleet Academy filed out onto the bridge, five in all.
        "Ah, they're here," Akane said as she closed down her program, "I'll
take this and the next two groups if you make me something for lunch."
        "What from scratch? Okay, sounds like a deal," Dax agreed, relishing
the prospect of not having to lead a group of cadets around all morning.
        Akane approached the cadets, and quickly went over her speech in her
head.
        "I'm sure you've studied it, but here we are on the first
operational holographic interface bridge. The advantages of having a
fully holographic bridge are clear.  It's completely configurable in
every way possible, if you need a chair, or a console, you have it and,"
she gestured to the vast image of the spacedock surrounding them, "a
complete three-hundred and sixty degree view of the universe. Of course,
there is the  navigation station in the front and, the engineering,
operations and tactical station in the back. They are real and hardwired
into the ships system so they can remain operational in an emergency. Of
course you didn't come here to get a lot of dry statistics you'll hear
in class, let's get to the interesting part.
        The Enterprise is the first starship to use the revolutionary
artificially intelligent avatar system. An ingenious new system, because
interfaces up until now have been just buttons or abstract
two-dimensional interface. However, the AIA is the essence of the ship
-- a thinking being that not only controls every aspect of the ship but
is it physically represents the condition of the ship. For example: If
the ship is damaged, the avatar will  appear, and more importantly feel,
injured. That woman over there," Akane paused to indicate the short
dark-haired woman, "literally is this ship. So let's go meet her."
        "Excuse me again," Enterprise said to Starbase 001, before turning
to the cadets, "Now that you've heard the advertisement, do you have any
questions for me?  Yes, Cadet Cox?"
        "Commander Sulu said that you feel pain when you're damaged."
        "Yes, that's true."
        "Well, don't you think it's cruel of Starfleet to create a ship that
feels pain knowing that they'd be sending it into situation that are
potentially dangerous?"
        Enterprise turned her mouth and replied, "I think the entire purpose
of giving me a personality of my own is to prevent the Captain from
putting me into unnecessary danger. Starfleet believes commanders will
be more reluctant to risk valuable starships if they see them lying on
the floor in a pool of blood. However, I will make that sacrifice if the
 situation calls for it, I will lay down my life for the Federation."
        "Uh, sorry," the cadet meekly replied.
        "That's okay, I can understand how this can be a little weird," she
said.
        Cadet Fontenote thought of a new question.  "Are you bound to obey
any order given to you by a Starfleet officer? I mean, if you run the
ship couldn't you just take it over?" he asked.
        "Keep in mind that I am the ship, Cadet, but in response to your
question: No. It's not a even a question of me being able to run amok,
but why would I want to? Starfleet created me, and I need Starfleet as
much as it needs me. I am a vessel, and I owe it to my passengers to
protect and keep them safe."
        "So you're happy with being just a starship?" Cadet Craig asked.
        "Well, I don't have much of a choice do I? They built me to be a
starship so
I'm going to be the best darn starship I can be. Also being a starship I
can still do all sorts of things, I have access to the galactic
information net, I can explore all sorts of new worlds. I'm a sentient
being but I'm very dedicated to my job."  Enterprise laughed. "Well I
think that's all the time I have now, but I'm sure Lieutenant Commander
Sulu can answer a few more questions before you have to go."

        The two Admirals, Picard and Calhoun entered the briefing room where
Data and Enterprise were already waiting for them. On the largest wall
opposite the space portals was a sculpture, a replica of the one that
once adorned the briefing room of the Enterprise D, it shows all the
previous vessels to carry the name 'Enterprise' (with a few additions).
As Marrissa took her seat, Admiral Calhoun approached the sculpture
which faded away to reveal a large three-dimensional map.  The map
showed the entire quadrant, one-fourth of the galaxy. The United
Federation of Planets and its territories comprised about half the
quadrant, except for a red-shaded wedge representing the Klingon
Consortium but that was all. Admiral Calhoun cleared his throat and
began.
        "After approximately one hundred years, the Klingons have the
Genesis device."
        As the only being with emotions hearing the briefing, Marrissa was
stunned for the second time that day.
        "As you know, the former Klingon Empire became extremely reclusive
after it's last revolution that led to the formation of the Klingon
Consortium about five years ago. As you also know, this was about two
years after Admiral Picard's daughter, Sara, ran away with former
Starfleet Commander Rozhenko to the Klingon Empire."
        "You're not saying that my daughter had something to do with the
formation of the Klingon Consortium?!" Marrissa asked in shock.
        "We have reason to believe that Sara and Alexander had a hand in
assisting rebellious Klingon factions. How they assisted and to what
extent are unknown.  Because of the complete collapse in relations after
our acquisition of the Romulan Territories, even intelligence
information coming out of the Consortium is sketchy at best."
        "Why have we waited until now to do anything about this? If we knew
Federation citizens were involved in the overthrow of the Klingon
government, why have we not intervened?" Data asked.
        "Well, let's just say previous attempts were... unsuccessful.  Plus,
the Klingons move toward isolationism meant they were 'out of our hair'
so to speak.  We could focus our attention toward improving the Romulan
and Cardassian Territories. Unfortunately a new development has forced
us to take a new look at the Klingons."
        The map that covered the wall faded out, and an empty starfield
appeared, a few numbers cycled on the edge of the picture field.
        "This is telemetry from monitor platform, K-07 on the Klingon
border. You won't have to watch carefully because you won't miss this."
        The starfield still appeared empty for a moment, then Marrissa could
make out something quite large out in space. The object finally came
close enough to make out what it was --  a planet, and it was actually
headed towards the platform! Marrissa stood up as the planet loomed
larger and larger, until it filled the screen. She stood transfixed as
the platform fell through the planet's atmosphere. She could morbidly
make out details on the ground, rivers and mountains, as it rushed up at
an incredible speed. Then static filled the
screen.
        "They hit our observation platform with a planet!" Enterprise said
incredulously.
        "I wish that's all it was, but the platform was merely a stop along
the way, the runaway planet is on a direct collision course with
Betazed." Admiral Calhoun said grimly.
        "Good lord, the Klingons are playing billiards with the planets! If
there weren't so many lives at stake, it'd be laughable!" Marrissa said
in disbelief.
        "True, it may be laughable, but it's incredibly devious. The
Klingons have complete plausible deniability, When we first discovered
it and where it was heading we contacted the Klingons and their only
reply was that they were aware of it and it had originated outside of
their territory in the Delta Quadrant. However, in the light of their
recent acquisition of Genesis technology, we reason that they could have
very well created the planet and 'fired' it at Betazed."
        The static faded away to the wall sized statue again as Admiral
Calhoun concluded the briefing.
        "As daunting as this situation is, it is resolvable. We can, and
have started to, evacuate Betazed. Unfortunately, we can't ensure a one
hundred percent evacuation. In addition, there's the political
implications.  We need to send a message to the Klingons that we can
literally handle anything they throw at us.  Your mission is to analyze
the planet and determine if it was created by a Genesis device. If you
can, try and use the Enterprise to deflect the planet."
        Enterprise looked worried as the Admiral continued.
        "You may brief the remainder of your crew once you are underway
tomorrow.  That is all," he concluded.

        Marrissa sat in the darkness of her quarters that night, thinking
about what decisions made her arrive at this point in her life. It
could've been the divorce from Jay, perhaps, but that was not the end of
her troubles, no more than the beginning. The Romulan War was also a
part of her problems. It drove a schism between her and her adopted
father, Jean-Luc Picard, that they never resolved -- and now they never
would.
        Marrissa gazed out the window at the promenade below, looking at all
people gathered below and marveled at what a small fraction they were of
all the people she had under her stewardship on this voyage. She
wondered why was Starfleet the beginning and ending of all her troubles.
Starfleet brought her endless battles, be it some maniac in the shadows
or a whole fleet of ships bearing down on her -- she conquered them all.
That is one thing she learned, she seemed to be some sort of tactical
prodigy. That was no life for a young woman. When other girls were going
to school and just beginning their lives, she was commanding a starship!
 It all seemed so ridiculous now.  Her glory cost her her marriage, her
parents both biological and adopted, and her best friend who never
wanted anything more than to help her and be at her side during all
those so-called 'adventures'.
        After all that grief, where did she wind up? Inside sterile, climate
controlled quarters on board a vessel where the walls hummed with the
familiar sound of electro plasma energy, stamped inside and out with the
seal of Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets.
        So why did she some back? She laughed to herself, this was the last
place anyone ever thought she would go. Her thoughts were interrupted by
a ring at the door.
        "Come in," called Marrissa.
        "I hope I am not interrupting," Data said as he warily entered the
room, "What is that music you're listing to?"
        "Sean Lennon. Music off," Marrissa directed the last to the
computer. "I wasn't really listening as much as I was just thinking,
something I'll have plenty time to do later." Marrissa smiled wearily.
"Would you like something to drink?"
        "Yes, I'll have some ale from Frocus 3."
        "Data, no one likes that stuff, even you," Marrissa remarked as she
walked over to the replicator panel. "Ale, Frocus 3, strawberry juice,
quantum resolution."
        The replicator took a few moments to materialize the drinks. She
took them out and handed Data his drink.
        "A part of being human is growth and change," Data remarked, "If one
day I begin to like this drink, I will know I have achieved another step
toward humanity."
        Data sipped the drink and contorted his face as his sensors analyzed
the liquid and his emotion subroutines told him, once again, he hated
it. Marrissa smiled at this display and quipped, "You're right Data,
some would say that doing something over and over without learning from
our mistakes is very human."
        "I am here because I am... concerned." As an android Data came to
the point quickly. "Marrissa, are you are doubting your abilities? I
have come to understand that many humans often do this when they are
faced with tasks they have not undertaken in a long while. May I offer
the analogy of the bicycle --"
        "No Data, that's not quite what I was thinking. I was just thinking
about why I came back to Starfleet, I mean, I wanted this for a reason."
        "Well, there is the problem concerning Sara --"
        "No, I'm sorry, I mean, When Starfleet asked me to come back, I
didn't know it involved Sara, maybe it's just that I need Starfleet for
some reason..."
        "Well Starfleet, has the --"
        "No, that's not all of  it either. I think it's because maybe I was
too brash and young the first time, maybe I'm back to prove I can handle
things with maturity and without everything breaking down into a
full-blown space battle. I can be a good commander not just a good
tactician."
        "Well, you will have to be a good commander to handle --"
        "The galaxy is a different place now Data, I mean the Romulans are
part of the Federation, the Klingons have been isolated for five years,
the Cardassian-Dominion Alliance has fallen into a chaotic frontier,"
Marrissa shrugged her shoulders, "and who knows what happened to the
Borg."
        Marrissa slumped down in a chair, now tired of venting her feelings.

        "I just don't know. Can I turn over a new leaf? Can I be a good
leader, not just a good fighter or is it too late? Will history just
repeat itself again?"
        Data looked as thoughtful as an android could. He paused for a
moment and replied, "Do you think we have become so old, and so
inflexible that we have outlived our usefulness?" Data paused again as
his positronic brain considered the implications of his statement. "Do
you think this would constitute a joke?"
        "God I hope not," Marrissa replied, "It wouldn't be very damn
funny."
        Data took another sip of his ale.

        Below on the promenade, the lights dimmed slightly to indicate the
ship had gone to its night shift. Akane Sulu wandered the crowds that
were on their way to the  restaurants and shops along the walkways
thinking to herself.
        "Wow, this is opulent, this is like no ship I've ever been on," she
mused out loud.
        Then she saw a pair of people she recognized coming her direction.
Tobal Dax was escorting an  unfamiliar looking blonde woman in a long
black dress.
        "Hey! Akane! What are you doing here in uniform, your shift ended
two hours ago," Dax shouted as the pair approached.
        "Yeah well, I uh, do I know you?" Akane asked the stranger.
        "It's me, Enterprise! Tonight is my last night before I launch and
I'll be busy until the next time I dock so --"
        "So you thought you'd see how the other half lives right?" Akane
said.
        "I'm not really sure what that expression means, but I think so,
yeah," Enterprise replied happily.
        "Was this your idea or Dax's?" Akane asked skeptically.
        "Oh, Dax thought of it, but it was a good idea," Enterprise answered
as Dax looked at the floor.
        "I'm sure." Akane said as she grabbed Dax, "Enterprise, can you
excuse us for a minute?"
        "Sure," Enterprise happily replied.
        "Oh come on!" Dax said exasperated as he followed Akane out of
Enterprise's virtual earshot, "Don't give me that stuff you said this
afternoon about getting a crush on a hologram."
        "I'm not worried about you having crushes on holograms, that's your
problem. But that hologram," she indicated the young woman, "Just
happens to be our ship," Akane hissed.
        "Maybe exposing the nerve center of the ship to human culture is a
bad idea," Dax mused.
        "You think?" Akane shot back.
        Akane and Dax turned back to Enterprise who had become engaged in
conversation with another cadet. Dax and Akane rushed over to stop him.
        "Well, Cadet Flanagan," Enterprise told her new companion, "I think
I would love to meet you in the botanical gardens next week but, I have
to --"
        "She has to wash her hair," Akane interrupted, "Now she has to go.
Let's go."
        "But I was just getting --" Enterprise protested.
        "I know, but we all have an early day tomorrow," Akane reasoned.
        "Hey, it's only eighteen hundred hours!" Cadet Flanagan argued.
        "Yes," Dax said as he stood blocking the cadet's path, "but we all
have an early day tomorrow. Right Cadet?"
        "Y-Yes sir!" The cadet answered quickly.
        As the trio entered the turbolift, Enterprise returned to her usual
appearance and asked, "I thought you wanted me to meet my passengers
Dax."
        "Yeah, well, I thought about it some more and --"
        "And we don't think it's a good idea to meet people outside your
working environment," Akane finished.
        "You think I'll get infatuated with human life and I won't want to
be the ship anymore, don't you?" Enterprise disappointedly replied.
        "Well, yeah," Dax answered.
        "Listen guys, I appreciate the thought, but Data programmed me
thoroughly, I don't have a 'Pinnochio syndrome.' I'm happy being a
starship! Really!"
        "I know," Akane awkwardly responded, "but --"
        "Okay, okay, just to make you feel better I'll stay 'in' tonight.
All right?" Enterprise said.
        "We'd feel better if you would," Dax said.
        "Okay, it was your idea anyway," Enterprise huffed as she faded
away.
        Dax and Sulu sighed.

        Marrissa and Data talked through the night. Data considered ending
their conversations several times, but he realized that letting Marrissa
vent her feelings might be more important than a good night's sleep.
Data finally left at four hundred hours, Marrissa was so involved in her
conversation with Data that she was largely unaware that the time
passed. Marrissa considered going to sleep, but she decided that she
would rather stay up all night then only have a few hours sleep for the
launching ceremony tomorrow. She took a long shower and changed into a
new uniform before stepping out of her quarters for her first day on the
job in years.
        Marrissa looked out the portal at the end of the hall, at 500 hours,
there were only a handful of people on the promenade below. She smiled
as she looked out on all the young crew up this early, eager to get
underway on their first tour on a starship.
        They have no idea what they're in for, Marrissa thought as she
walked away from the portal.

        Marrissa set foot on the bridge and she was disoriented by the lack
of a visible floor. Marrissa staggered and Enterprise rushed over to
help her.
        "Would you like me to produce a floor?" Enterprise asked eagerly.
        "No, I'll get used to it," Marrissa replied
        A medical tricorder  appeared in Enterprise's left hand and she
scanned her captain while helping Marrissa to steady herself with her
right.
        "Admiral are you all right? You appear to have signs of severe
fatigue."
        "I just stayed up all night, that's all."
        "Why don't you take a nap in your ready room?  It will still be a
few hours before the launching ceremony."
        "Maybe you're right, I could get a couple hours. I may need it
later," Marrissa conceded.
        The Admiral retired to her ready room through a door that appeared
on the port side of the room. She grabbed a blanket she had stowed in a
compartment under the couch, curled up on the couch, and quickly drifted
into sleep.  A moment later, she felt a tapping on her shoulder and a
gentle voice whispering.
        "Admiral, it's seven-hundred hours, you only have an hour to get
ready for the launching ceremony," Enterprise whispered.
        "Mmph! Oh, great, I gotta get up!" Marrissa yelled.
        "Sorry ma'am."
        "That's okay, sometimes it helps to yell to get yourself up in the
mornings."
        "Well, I wouldn't know about that," Enterprise said primly.

        A few minute's later, Marrissa Picard, Data, Harry Kim, Molly
O'Brien and a dozen high-ranking Federation officials were gathered on
the shuttle hangar of the U.S.S. Hodgeson, parked in orbit overlooking
the new U.S.S. Enterprise. There the launching ceremony was held and the
Federation President E'rika Lee-Ra was giving her speech.
        "We stand here today to launch the newest starship Enterprise," said
the distinguished Andorian woman, "and as one of our first mobile
starbase-type ships, it truly lives up to its name as a bold new
enterprise for Starfleet and for the Federation. Now without further
ado, I present this dedication plaque to her first Captain, Admiral
Marrissa Amber Flores-Picard. It's inscription reads as all the previous
starship Enterprises' have: '...to boldly go where no one has gone
before,' a quote from the Starfleet charter." As the applause died down,
the President presented a bottle of champagne to Marrissa. "Now if you
will do the honors admiral..."
        Marrissa took the bottle and turned to the permeable forcefield that
held the air in the chamber while allowing more dense objects to pass
through into space. She looked down at the bottle, the label indicated
it was Chateau Picard.  Her brow furrowed for a moment at the bitter
memories of her adopted father.  Then she used her anger to hurl the
bottle at the Enterprise as hard as she could.
        The bottle tumbled in space for about few minutes, as it traversed
the kilometer or so between the two ships. The Enterprise's mighty warp
engines reached final stage start-up and the external illumination came
on just as the bottle smashed across the hull.

        Once back on board the ship, Marrissa, Data, Dax and Sulu made their
way to the bridge where Enterprise was waiting for them.
        "Engines are online and we are ready to move out," Enterprise
announced.
        "All right, Sulu, take us out," Marrissa said as she sat in her
command chair.
        Akane punched the sequence of numbers into the navigation controls.
 "Heading laid in," Sulu announced.
        "Enterprise, release docking clamps, and give me one-half impulse."
        "Captain, Starfleet regulations clearly state that we use thrusters
only while in spacedock," Enterprise noted.
        "I asked for one-half impulse," Marrissa said as she coyly smiled.
        "Yes ma'am," Enterprise replied.
        The image of the spacedock around them suddenly started to move
behind and away from them. Marrissa's hands became white-knuckled as she
clenched the arms of her chair. Like most of the bridge crew, her
instincts were not prepared for the sensation of moving in space without
a ship.
        "Wow," Marrissa uttered as she looked around.
        With the spacedock far behind them Enterprise announced, "We are
free and clear of spacedock, ma'am."
        "All right, lay in an intercept course for the planet."
        "Course laid in..." Akane replied.
        "Give me warp 12," Marrissa ordered.
        The starfield began to move all around them as the ship began to
increase its velocity to warp speed.
        "Hold on to something if you're squeamish," Marrissa announced.
        The ship's speed increased and the stars stretched out until the
room was engulfed by a flash of light and a muffled explosion sound. The
crew's vision cleared to reveal the stars moving slowly back along their
path of travel stretched out in thin lines.
        "That was quite a rush," Dax commented.
        "You're telling me," Enterprise replied.

        It only took an few hours to reach the traveling planet. The
Enterprise dropped from warp speed and they saw the small gray ball that
was going to destroy a planet. For a moment it seemed to hang in space.
However, Marrissa had a hard time getting the briefing video out of her
mind as the planet spun toward them and became incredibly huge.
        "Don't get too close, Sulu. As far as I'm concerned, it has right
of way," Marrissa quipped.
        "Aye ma'am," Akane said.
        The planet flew by beneath them, and the starfield spun as the ship
came around to face the planet.
        "Okay, I'm going to get motion sickness. Enterprise, give us a
floor."
        "Aye ma'am," Enterprise replied as a floor appeared beneath them.
        "Dax, let's have a scan of the planet," Marrissa ordered.
        "Aye ma'am. Enterprise, bring forward sensor arrays online. Let's
have a surface scan."
        Enterprise walked over to the front of the room and scrutinized the
planet closely as the information began flowing into her brain.
        "Hmm, Class M, Oxygen atmosphere. Oh, these radiation readings match
our records of what the genesis wave looks like, no doubt." Enterprise
made the planet glow green to indicate the genesis energy radiating from
it.  "It used to have plant and animal life, but flying through space
with no sun has literally left it frozen to the core."
        Paragraphs of facts and figures hung in the air above the planet as
Enterprise continued her scan.
        "This has to be constructed, it's diameter is exactly three-thousand
kilometers - a little smaller than earth's moon." She turned back to the
rest of the crew, "Nature isn't usually that precise. The genesis
radiation is making it hard to scan but..."
        "But what?" Dax asked eagerly.
        "But," Enterprise turned back to the planet, "I think I'm reading
life forms."
        "Life forms?" Marrissa asked, puzzled.
        "Indeterminate number, in this area." Enterprise pointed to a spot
in the northern hemisphere and a triangular marker indicated the area
she was talking about.
        "Why would there be life forms on a doomed planet?" Marrissa said.
        "I don't know. I just know they're there. But if it's survived in
the cold without native food supplies, we can only assume that it's
intelli --" Enterprise stopped.
        "What is it?" Dax asked.
        Enterprise paused and turned around, she felt something coming from
the planet, a distant sound. She concentrated, filtering out the
interference from the genesis radiation.
        "I'm getting a signal, it's very weak," Enterprise said as she
furrowed her brow in concentration.
        "Can we hear it?" Marrissa asked.
        "Hang on, I'm cleaning it up," Enterprise answered, "There we go."
        A static-filled recording filled the room. A familiar voice came
through the noise.
        "This is Alexander Rozhenko of The Klingon Consortium, if you hear
this transmission, know that this planet is headed to collide with
another! We need to be rescued immediately! This is --"
        "The message repeats," Enterprise said.
        "Alexander..." Marrissa whispered. "Why would he down there?"
        "This is an unusual turn of events." Data replied as he processed
the new information.
        "Can we hyperport the life forms up?" Dax asked.
        "No, I can't get a specific lock on any one form. I just know they
are there, and the general location," Enterprise answered.
        "The only way to find out why they're down there is to go
ourselves," Marrissa announced as she stood up.
        "Admiral, I can not allow you to go down into a hostile environment.
To face possible trap. It may not be Alexander, merely a recording,"
Data said as he stood up to face Marrissa.
        "Data, don't pull this Riker crap on me now.  If you want to come
too, that's fine. How could the Klingons set a trap when they didn't
know that I would be the one Starfleet would send? I have to know why
Alexander is down there."
        "I will not stand in your way, I was merely suggesting an
alternative."
        "All right, Data, Dax, you're with me." Marrissa said as she bounded
to the turbolift. "Get Kim up here, he's in charge until I return."

        In the hyperport room, Cadets Marroda and Perron were awaiting the
remainder of the away team.
        "I have a bad feeling about this," Cadet Marroda muttered as he
slipped his regulation parka on over his red duty shirt.
        "You worry too much Greg," Cadet Perron replied, "We're Starfleet
officers. We're the best trained and equipped personnel in the
quadrant."
        "Cut it out with the Academy lecture, Andrew. This is a Klingon
planet.  We don't know what they've been up to the last five years, but
apparently they can launch planets now."
        Just as Perron was going to reply, Marrissa, Data and Dax entered
the hyperport room. They took off their uniform coats and put on the
regulation parkas. Data took a tricorder off a portable rack and Dax
took a small box off the rack and opened it. Marrissa curiously peered
over Dax's shoulder.
        "What kind of equipment is that?" Marrissa asked.
        "It's brand new," Dax replied, "It's based on the VISOR technology
Geordi LaForge used to wear. These are miniaturized of course, they are
lenses that you put in your eyes."
        "In your eyes?" Marrissa asked, amazed.
        "Yeah, well more specifically, on top of your eyes. They function
as binoculars, thermal vision, and can read other parts of the spectrum
too. I can control them with a touch pad I mount on my temple right
here," Dax explained as he put the small sticky pad on his head to the
side of his eye.
        "Here's your phaser," Data said as he offered Marrissa a small
box-like device.
        "Uh, Where is the holster for this?" Marrissa asked.
        "It sticks to the top of your hand. Like this," Data replied as he
fastened the box to Marrissa's hand.
        "Oh," Marrissa said lamely.
        The five crew members stepped up upon the platform as the hyperport
technician, punched information into the control panel. The machines in
the room hummed to life as they prepared to bend space and time.
        "Marrissa? Have you been hyperported before?" Data asked.
        "Um, I haven't but I know how it works," Marrissa replied.
        "Well, it is not a gradual process like transporting, hyperport
technology is much more --"

        The five crew members' viewpoints instantly shifted from the calm
of the hyperport room to the desolate windswept tundra of the planet
Ofecious. The wind chilled them to the bone, and there was ice and snow
as far as the eye could see. The night sky was the clearest Marrissa had
ever seen, the stars twinkled in the heavens but were slowly but visibly
moving. A disturbing reminder of the planet's horrible fate. In the
east, a particularly bright object was shimmering in the sky. Although
the Enterprise was holding above the planet, the planet's motion made it
look like an incredibly bright shooting star, descending through the
heavens.
        "-- abrupt," Data finished as he took out his tricorder and began
scanning.
        "I'll say," Marrissa replied as she regained her balance.
        "My apologies Captain, I should have warned you," Data began
pressing a few buttons in his tricorder, "I can not read anything
through the interference from the genesis radiation."
        Marrissa pressed her fingers to a spot just behind her ear, and once
she heard the beep of her communicator, she called to the ship.  "Picard
to Enterprise, can you read us?"
        Enterprise's voice came back with static, "Enterprise here, I'm
having trouble, but I think I can clean it up ... there."
        "The genesis radiation is screwing up the tricorders.... Can you
give us any readings?"
        "It may be the radiation, but I think I'm reading life forms within
a half kilometer of your position...."
        Dax paused as he pressed his finger to his temple to adjust his
contact lenses to scan the horizon.
        "I can't see anything through the snow, let me change to thermal
vision ... nope."
        "Enterprise, we're not seeing anything. Are you sure --"
        "Wait," Data interrupted.  "Dax, what's that on the horizon?
Forty-seven degrees east."
        As Dax turned, he could barely make out shapes moving. Soon they saw
the same shapes approaching all around them.
        "Enterprise, prepare to --" Marrissa grabbed her ear as her
communicator broke into static and cut off.
        As the shapes shed their camouflage parkas, the crew saw that they
were completely surrounded by Klingons and other assorted aliens. Cadets
Marroda and Perron drew their phasers.
        "Wait!" Marrissa screamed, but she was too late. They both screamed
as they were vaporized on the spot. Marrissa felt the strength drain out
of her as she began to fall. Data was closest to her and grabbed her
before she hit the icy ground.
        "Tell them we surrender," Marrissa croaked to Data.
        "Captain?"
        "We surrender!" Marrissa fumed.
        Data yelled to the crowd in Klingon that they surrendered and wanted
to be taken to their leader. A Klingon yelled back in English.
        "All right pale one! Welcome to the prison world Ofecious!"
        Data helped Marrissa as they and Dax were escorted by the fifty
aliens a few kilometers to a settlement. On the way, Data tried to get
information from the guard.
        "Do you know what will soon happen to your planet?" Data asked the
guard.
        The guard laughed, "Yes, everyone who is sent to Ofecious is aware
that we are all doomed to a death sentence. That is why you are not all
dead, you are Starfleet, you will rescue us."
        "Why did you kill them?" Marrissa asked as fiercely as she could.
        "I apologize for your the loss of your men, but many of us are not
as polite as Starfleet soldiers! Orders were to capture any Starfleets
who land, no one said how many. Just be glad your men died in battle."
        "The more things change..." Dax muttered.
        "Hey!" A gruff looking alien addressed Dax, "Spotted one! You are
Trill, no?"
        "I am," Dax replied, not sure where the alien was going.
        "So, you change genders when you change body?"
        "In a way, yes." Dax replied to the unusual question.
        The alien said something in another language to a nearby companion,
who returned with another statement. While Dax didn't understand, he
knew it was a joke about him because it sent the other nearby aliens
into uproarious laughter.

        "Sorry, Commander, I can't raise them. We're clearly being jammed
now..." Enterprise said apologetically to Harry Kim.
        "Keep trying. Try raising anyone down there with a communications
device." Kim sat exasperated in the command chair.
        "Aye sir, I will have to take some of my arrays off-line to devote
to that task, Commander."
        "That's fine, We've got to do everything we can to raise them, I
don't want to send anyone else down there to a trap unless I have some
clue as to what's going down there."

        Meanwhile on the planet, Marrissa, Data and Dax were being led
underground to what used to be the main prison complex. As they
approached the middle of the main hall, the crowds thinned out until the
three Starfleet officers were once again surrounded. A single figure
approached in a cloak, he took the cloak off and revealed an older
Klingon man who was very familiar to Marrissa
        "I am Rozhenko of the House of Mogh! Leader of the prison planet
Ofecious. We request asyl -- Great Kahless! Marrissa! Is that you?!"
        "Alexander?" Marrissa said weakly.
        "Ha ha! I knew we would get rescued, but you're the last person I'd
expect to see in a Starfleet uniform!" Alexander exclaimed as he walked
over to Marrissa and Data.
        "What about you?! Marrissa replied, getting her energy back. "I
never expected to see you here of all places."
        "Well," Alexander said with a change of tone, "That's a bit of a
long story."
        As soon as Alexander became close enough to Marrissa, she slapped
him furiously.
        "The hell it is!" Marrissa yelled.
        The surrounding aliens started to move for their weapons, but
Alexander held up a hand and said something in Klingon that got a big
laugh from the crowd.
        "I deserved that," Alexander said softly to Marrissa, "We can argue
later, time is short and we have to hurry if we want to get everyone of
the planet and keep it from hitting Betazed. You'll find you have
communications now."

        Enterprise was sitting on the floor concentrating on finding
communications sources when suddenly, the static stopped and three
communicator signals hit her as clear as a bell.
        Enterprise jumped up from the floor and exclaimed, "Commander, I
found them, Incoming transmission!"
        "Let's hear it," Kim responded happily.
        "Picard to Enterprise, I need to make arrangements to evacuate the
three hundred occupants of the prison facility down here."
        "Kim here, understood, give us an hour, we should be able to make
arrangements."
        "Okay, we'll be the last ones aboard, let us know when you're
ready," Marrissa said.
        "Commander Kim to Doctor O'Brien, we need to make arrangements for
three hundred rowdy houseguests," Harry said ominously.

        Three hours later, the prisoners were evacuated to the Enterprise.
Molly O'Brien, Harry Kim, Dax and Enterprise waited in the conference
room for Marrissa and Data to arrive so they could find a way to stop
the wayward planet
        "How are our 'guests?' " Dax asked Enterprise.
        "I can feel them in my cargo bays, they're pretty restless. It's
like a rock in your shoe. But I'll keep security on top of them."
        "Well, we could've sedated them, but with so many different types
of aliens, no one sedative would work, we simply decided that the simple
route is more efficient," Molly added.
        "This is trouble no matter which way you look at it," Harry
commented.  "Enterprise may have been designed to carry large masses of
people, but she wasn't designed to be a prison."
        "I'll take that as a compliment," Enterprise returned.
        Just then, Marrissa and Alexander came in, followed by Data.
Everyone quieted as they took their seats.
        "Well Alex, are you ready to tell us why you were down there? How
did you get sentenced to death?" Marrissa asked Alexander suspiciously.
        Alexander bowed his head and began his tale.
        "As you no doubt know, Your daughter and I helped overthrow the
Klingon high council about five years ago." Alexander sighed.  "I was at
Starfleet headquarters when I meet Sara for the first time since she was
a kid. She had just finished her doctorates in Quantum Mechanics and
Hyperbiology. I was retiring from Starfleet, I was going to go back to
the Empire. There was a growing movement for a more civilized way of
life. Sara was young and idealistic and she thought she could do the
most good by helping the Empire become more civilized and less violent.
Unfortunately when we finally joined up with them, they were just
another bunch of angry kids, looking to start a civil war. I talked to
Sara about going back but she said that they had the right ideas, they
just needed better guidance. We stayed on for awhile and we quickly
became leading members of the group. Sara showed an incredible aptitude
for politics as well as combat as the group became more militant. Soon,
our leader challenged the leader of the high council for control. Our
leader was incredibly strong and defeated him easily.  The leader
dissolved the high council and instituted a new government. During all
this time Sara was becoming more respected because of her close ties to
the leader.
        "I didn't know how close until one night I was called in to see them
in the leader's chamber. The leader had become ill and he didn't have
long to live, so he wanted to pass control to myself and Sara. After we
met, Sara took me aside and revealed to me that this was all her plan.
She knew a woman, even if she was Klingon, would not be able to maintain
control of the new Consortium, so she offered our leader
strength-enhancing drugs to gain power under the old system of
leadership through combat. Unfortunately for him, she designed the drugs
to kill him soon. She could easily keep his death a secret and with a
Klingon male by her side, she could maintain control of the Consortium
indefinitely."
        Everyone in the room was speechless.
        "My god," Marrissa gasped, "This is incredible."
        Data processed the new information for a moment and said, "That does
not explain how or why the Klingons developed the Genesis device, nor
does it reveal how the Klingons managed to launch a planet."
        "I had no idea at the time, but Marrissa had her hands in
everything. She managed to get some laboratory space and befriend a
number of leading Klingon scientists, more and more as the group became
more powerful in the empire. Last year she told me about how she had
helped recreate the Genesis device. She also told me about the planet
launching facility. I asked her why we were building all this, she said
that she was building a fleet and that she was going to unify the
Federation and the Consortium under one flag, forever. I disagreed with
her, she couldn't stand to kill me face-to-face. Instead she sent me to
Ofecious, the newly created prison planet where all the worst criminals
and political prisoners went."
        "This is far worse than anyone imagined," Molly said.  "We have to
inform Starfleet, we're talking about a full scale invasion here!"
        "We will, but we also have to turn this planet around as a show that
the Federation won't be so easy to conquer," Marrissa replied.
        "And to do that, it would help to know how the planet was launched
in the first place," Dax offered.
        "Well, I'm no physicist, but I do know the basic theory," Alexander
answered.  "It works on the basic principles of gravity. A singularity,
or black hole as they are commonly known, produce incredible amounts of
gravity concentrated in one place. When an object flies straight into a
singularity, it effectively disappears and cannot escape. But when an
object orbits a singularity, it orbits at incredible speed until it
reaches the center and it's broken down."
        Dax looked a little confused as he interjected, "I think we're all
up on our basic high school astrophysics, how does the weapon work
specifically?"
        "I was just getting to that.  As you all know, before the Federation
came in, old-style Romulan warbirds used an artificial singularity to
power their ships."
        "Oh," Harry uttered as he realized the implications.
        "You see where I'm going with this?  Sara and her scientists built
a much larger version of the Romulan device. While not as powerful as a
real singularity, it was sufficient for their purposes. They created
Ofecious with a genesis device, increased it's orbital velocity with the
singularity.  When they turned off the  singularity, with no forces
opposing it, it would launch into space at any speed in any direction
they wanted."
        "Ingenious," Data reflected.
        "Monstrous," Marrissa sighed.  "The Klingons are set to plow over
the Federation, and worst of all, my own daughter is the cause of it all."
        "We can deal with that later, right now we need to stop the planet,"
Data said.  "What are our options?"
        Enterprise furrowed her brow in thought, "I'm not sufficiently armed
to destroy it."
        "Could we create our own singularity?" Dax offered.
        "No, I'm certainly not equipped to do that," Enterprise replied.
        "Yes, the station that Sara described to me was highly specialized
for the singular purpose of launching planets." Alexander explained.
        "But we could do something similar," Data insisted.  "In 2166 we
successfully moved a stellar core fragment by extending our warp field
partially around it, the Enterprise D was barely able to move the
fragment enough. However, this ship is much more powerful, if we can
make the adjustments within the next few hours we should be able to
direct the planet away from Betazed completely."
        "That's an excellent plan, can you do it Enterprise?" Harry asked.
        "It will take some precise adjustments, but I don't see why not,"
Enterprise replied.
        "Excellent, let's proceed. Meeting adjourned," Marrissa said.

        Everyone cleared the room except for Marrissa and Alexander.
Marrissa got up and looked out the window at the spinning frozen world
below.  Alexander approached Marrissa cautiously.
        "I- I don't know what to say," Alexander said apologetically.
        "You don't have to say anything. It's not your fault... It's hers,"
Marrissa said softly.
        "If only I had been more aware of what was going on. Things wouldn't
have spiraled out of control like this."
        "It's my fault, she's my daughter, I didn't see this coming. Where
did I lose her!?" Marrissa pounded angrily on the window frame.
        "I don't know, she's beyond reason, she's always been rebellious. I
can't tell you the exact moment I noticed something wrong. The question
is, how are we going to stop her?"
        "'We?' I'm her mother. She's my responsibility. The only problem is,
I've always solved these kinds of problems by shooting.  This is one
opponent I could never destroy."
        "You could always write 'I was beaten by Marrissa Picard' across her
ship's hull," Alexander offered jokingly.
        Marrissa just glared at Alexander.

        Dax, Harry Kim and Akane Sulu walked into engineering.  The deck was
arranged like a cathedral to power, the main hall was four decks in
height and the three main chambers came down from the ceiling and three
more up from the floor. The two chambers on the sides turned at angles
to meet the center ones, converging in the gigantic plasma furnace that
supplied power to the ship. All the conduits glowed and hummed with
power as crew moved from computer panel to computer panel. Enterprise
appeared in the middle of the holographic projection floor in the middle
of the room. She put her hands to her hips and took in the sight of all
the activity.
        "Wow, am I beautiful or what?" Enterprise beamed.
        "You sure are," Dax laughed.
        "Let's get to work, shall we?" Harry said impatiently.

        An hour later, Dax and Sulu returned to the bridge and took their
stations. Enterprise re-appeared in the middle of the room.
        "Well we, or rather I, ran the calculations twice. All I have to do
is re-align my warp coils, generate the field, turn on my tractor beams,
and presto! I can move the planet any direction we want. Easy."
        "Yeah, easy." Akane smiled as she rolled her eyes.
        "Can we get on with it then?" Marrissa asked.
        "I'm aligning my warp coils now," Enterprise replied.
        "Good. How long will that take?"
        "Not long," Dax answered.
        "Yeah, I'm- Ah! Done," Enterprise said as her warp coils locked into
position.
        "Bringing us into position directly above the planet." Akane
announced.
        "Where are we going to send it?" Marrissa asked.
        "We decided the best course of action would be to send the planet
straight 'up', in relation to the galactic plane that is," Data
answered.
        "Let's do it then," Marrissa commanded.
        "Aye ma'am. Stand by on tractor beams. Engage warp field," Akane
ordered.
        "Warp field activ-, oh!" Enterprise gasped.
        "What is it? Is there a problem?" Marrissa asked in surprise.
        "No, sorry." Enterprise smiled as she squirmed a bit.  "It just
feels kinda weird extending my warp field like that. It feels kinda
good."
        Akane grinned.  "Activate tractor beams."
        Alexander entered through the turbolift just as the tractor beams
came on. Enterprise made the floor disappear in order to see the unusual
but beautiful sight of  the sparkling blue tractor beams extending from
the floor to the planet miles below.
        Suddenly a glaring red light flashed from in front of them and they
heard a muffled explosion. Enterprise screamed and fell to the floor.
Data sprang to action and bolted to Enterprise's side. Dax rushed over
as Data helped her from the floor.
        "Ow, it hurts..." Enterprise whined as she took her hand away from
a burned, bleeding spot on her upper arm.
        "Shields up!" Marrissa yelled as she realized what happened.
        "Yeah, shields up." Akane replied distractedly as she turned her
eyes from Enterprise back to her control panel.
        "What's happening? Why is she-" said the puzzled Alexander,
indicating Enterprise.
        "I'll explain later," Marrissa snapped at Alexander as he turned to
the front of the room.
        They could see Ofecious drifting away as a large section of the
starfield quivered for a moment. Then the stars faded away to reveal the
biggest Klingon warship Marrissa had ever seen.
        "We have an incoming transmission." Enterprise winced as she held
her arm.
        Alexander hung his head in disgrace as the bridge of the Klingon
craft appeared in front of them. A single Klingon stood in the middle of
the room.
        "Stand by for a communication from the Grand Klingon Majestrix!" He
announced.
        A smaller person entered the room and Marrissa's face became flushed
as she recognized the petite figure removing her hood and cloak to
reveal a human woman in her early twenties. She wore a leather-like
uniform complete with gauntlets and huge boots, trimmed with red
highlights; the elaborate uniform signified a high-ranking Klingon
official. Marrissa knew all about Sara and the Klingons, but a part of
her refused to believe it. The reality of the situation sank in as Sara
sat down in the throne-like command chair and she curled her black lips
into a smile.
        "Hi Mom, I'm home."

        Marrissa approached the large viewscreen at the front of the deck,
trying to sort out all her feelings on the matter. All she could sort
out through her disappointment, shock and betrayal was a request for
simple information.
        "Why?" Marrissa croaked.
        "Why?" Sara echoed bitterly.  "Why?! Oh I don't know, because the
Federation has enslaved or destroyed hundreds of distinct cultures. They
trampled all over the prime directive once they found someone that could
help conquer a quarter of the galaxy!"
        "That's not true," Marrissa desperately replied, "The Romulans were
going to --"
        "Don't bother mom, you think I haven't heard it all before? I didn't
become High Majestrix just to let my mom talk me out of glory in my
finest hour."
        The Klingons surrounding her on the bridge of her vessel shared a
hearty laugh at Sara's declaration.
        Marrissa was now beginning to sober up to the graveness of her
situation.  In hopes of stirring some feelings from her daughter,
Marrissa changed her tact.  "Sara, what would your grandfather,
Jean-Luc, say if he saw you now?"
        "Jean-Luc wasn't my grandfather, Mother! My real grandfather died
under his command!" Sara calmed down, "But if either of them were here,
I imagine they would be thrilled that someone is finally going to put a
stop to you and all this stupidity!" Sara coldly replied, "Goodbye Mom.
I have to liberate the galaxy now."
        Marrissa was now speechless as Alexander straightened up to face
Sara.
        "Liberate it in the name of the Klingon Consortium I suppose!"
Alexander yelled accusingly at Sara.
        "Ah, Alexander, well of course in the name of the Klingon
Consortium.  The Federation has had it's chance at building a better
galaxy, now it's time for the next generation to step in. You could have
been a part of that better galaxy, but you just didn't have the stomach
for it I suppose. Looks like I turned out to be a better Klingon than
you, Alexander." Sara grinned as her crew laughed hysterically.
        "You have no idea what it means to be Klingon!" Alexander fumed.
        "Being Klingon doesn't mean what it used to Alex. But I've wasted
enough of my life trying to explain things to you. I have to make sure
this planet arrives at its destination." Sara turned around in her chair
to address the assembled Klingons. "Arm genesis torpedoes, prepare to
cloak! Don't try to follow me," Sara concluded as she turned back to
face the screen.
        As the screen faded away, Marrissa hung her head and braced herself
on the navigation panel.
        Data stood up to deliver orders.  "Helm, set course to follow the
planet, despite it being cloaked, the Klingons will not be far from it."
        "Aye sir," Akane replied.

        Data took Marrissa and escorted her to her ready room. She sat down
on her couch as Data stood over her.
        "It will be thirty minutes before we can reach Sara and Ofecious
again.  Will you be fit to command?" Data asked coldly.
        "Yes. I just feel weak in my knees is all...." Marrissa replied
weakly.
        "Admiral, if you are not fit to command, I must take command. We
cannot allow Ofecious to collide with Betazed," Data said sternly.
        Marrissa glared up at Data.  Her voice resonated with anger.  "You'd
take command?  Sara is out there. She wants to destroy Betazed as much
as we want to save it. It may mean having to destroy them, kill them,
kill Sara," Marrissa said as her voice faded.  "Could you do that?"
        "If at all possible, I would not destroy them --" Data began.
        "But you could do it?!" Marrissa snapped.
        "Yes," Data calmly replied.  "I would if that were my only option."
        "Then go." Marrissa put her face in her hands.  "I officially turn
command over to you, as of this moment, make a note in the log: Marrissa
Picard could not kill her own daughter."
        "Marrissa, you could no more kill your own daughter than I could
kill mine," Data said softly.
        Data walked out of the room to take charge. Marrissa thought, Data
rarely mentioned his daughter. She must have really struck something
inside him, she forgot that although Data was an android, he still had
his emotion chip. If Data was cold and emotionless, he was just doing
his job. He was doing it much better than she was doing hers, she
thought. Marrissa picked her head up and noticed Alexander standing in
the doorway.
        "What do you want?" Marrissa asked with disgust.
        "Marrissa, I want to help, but I don't know how," Alexander said as
he entered the room.
        "You can't help Alex, You've helped enough already," Marrissa
angrily replied.
        "You said it's not my fault! I didn't force her come with me! She
wanted this, she planned it, probably from the beginning, for Kahless'
sake!"
        "Yeah, but you took her, you thought you could change the Empire!
And you did, didn't you?! You changed it all right! Jesus Alexander! Is
there anything you've done that you haven't screwed up!?" Marrissa
screamed.
        "Marrissa," Alexander sighed as he bowed his head, "I know you're
hurting right now, so I'm going to ignore that. But I will say this;
What about you?"
        "What about me?" Marrissa shot back.
        "How do you think it felt to always be under the heels of the
uber-munchkin for all those years? You've always been smarter, more
popular, and you always came out on top! And you were always so cocky
about it! Well, you reap what you sow Marrissa, you couldn't stay on top
forever. Now the universe is paying you back for all the grief you've
caused others, and I have a feeling it's far from over!"
        "I had no idea you felt that way," Marrissa said softly.
        "How would you feel to be under the command of an eleven year old
who carved up Cardassian warships like playing hopscotch?"
        "I see your point." Marrissa weakly smiled, "Why didn't someone stop
me? I could've had a normal childhood."
        "No one was around to stop you then, but we have a second chance."
        "What?"
        "You don't see the similarities here?"
        "Similarities?"
        "Sara maybe on a Klingon power trip, but she's got the demeanor of
a certain Starfleet brat I once knew."
        "I know she's got to be stopped, but I can't seem to resolve a
situation without someone dying. I'm not going to kill my daughter no
matter what she's done," Marrissa said.
        "Marrissa, that's why you're the best possible person to bring Sara
in without killing her."
        "You're right Alex. I'm the only one that can bring Sara in. You may
live to see things turn out right yet, Alexander." Marrissa beamed as
she held out her hand for Alexander.
        "It's about damn time," Alexander replied as he vigorously took
Marrissa's hand.

        "Genesis torpedoes?!" Harry Kim asked Enterprise, "What if one of
those hit you?"
        Enterprise, her arm now in a bandage, thought for a moment and
replied, "Well, my information on the effects of the genesis device is
rather dated, the Klingons may have made modifications to their version
of the matrix --"
        "But," Data interrupted, "Such a device would destroy us in favor
of its new matrix."
        "'Destroy us in favor of it's new matrix?'" Harry grimly replied.
"Sounds like Sara."
        Marrissa stepped out onto the starry bridge.
        "That's quite enough Mr. Kim." Marrissa said as she glared at Harry,
"Don't you think this is hard enough for me as it is?"
        "I'm sorry, Admiral, I can't imagine how hard this is for you,"
Harry meekly replied. He hasn't felt so small since he was an ensign
getting chewed out by Captain Janeway.
        "Can I assume you are fit to take command Admiral?" Data asked.
        "Damn straight Data. Strike my change of command form the log."
Marrissa ordered.
        "I... forgot to enter it into the log," Data said sheepishly.
        Marrissa smiled as she tugged down her tunic, "How far away are
we?"
        "We should be in visual range any moment now Admiral," Sulu
reported.
        "Enterprise, how are you holding up?" Marrissa inquired.
        "Damage control is in place, I should be fine until we can make
permanent repairs," Enterprise said.
        "Can we detect the Klingon ship?" Marrissa asked.
        "Enterprise's sensors are state-of-the-art, if any ship can detect
Sara, she can," Harry answered.
        "Thanks." Enterprise smiled weakly.
        "But we, I mean they, can fire while cloaked now," Alexander added.
        "I could've told you that," Enterprise bitterly replied.
        The small gray planet emerged from the starfield.
        "Red Alert," Marrissa ordered.
        "I'll be in Engineering," Harry said as he entered the turbolift.
        The bridge grew darker and the panels flashed with reddish tones to
indicate the ship was in a state of readiness.  A phaser appeared on
Enterprise's hand and she began pacing the bridge and scanning the
starfield with her eyes.  Data watched Enterprise closely. The planet
loomed larger as the Enterprise crept closer to it's target.
        "Shields are up, X-phasers are armed. Quantum torpedoes on
stand-by," Akane said.
        Everyone on the bridge was alert when the Klingon ship fired.  The
starfield rotated as the Enterprise spun around to avoid the torpedo.
Enterprise fired her virtual phaser down at the torpedo flying beneath
them, and the starship mirrored her action.  The torpedo exploded far
beneath them, but as soon as it exploded, it shimmered with energy as
the genesis effect reformed the gasses from the explosion into a small
asteroid.
        Enterprise looked up and fired in the direction that the torpedo
came from, but the beam struck nothing.
        "Everyone stay on your toes," Marrissa said calmly, "we gotta be
careful."
        Another shot came from behind but it was too close to avoid.
Everyone gasped as the torpedo collided with the shield and stopped.
Enterprise collapsed to the floor in agony, Data rushed to her side.
Everyone else was transfixed as the torpedo's energies crackled and
fought against the shield's.  Enterprise groaned as the torpedo
attempted to reform the shield's energy, but could not.  As the
commotion died down, all that was left was an asteroid that was similar
to the last one, but it was completely smooth and flat on the side that
hit the shield.
        "Shields at ten percent, Admiral," Akane said solemnly.
        Enterprise remained crouched on the floor, she looked up at
Marrissa. She was tired and sweat was running down her brow.
        "I can not," she said emphatically. "handle another shot like that."

        "Admiral, I highly recommend we withdraw," Data said to Marrissa as
he helped Enterprise to her feet.
        "Data, we have to-"
        "Admiral, Enterprise is damaged, we have not done anything to them,"
Data pleaded, "We have to withdraw!"
        "All right Data," Marrissa replied, shocked to see such emotion from
Data.  "Move us away at full impulse."
        "Aye," Akane replied as she punched coordinates into her panel.
        Ofecious swung around to the back of the room and the stars swirled
as the Enterprise turned to move away from the planet.  Another torpedo
screamed out from behind them, and the turned to see a torpedo easily
puncture the shield and strike the ship. Enterprise yelped as she was
tossed forward by a blow to her back.  The crew braced to be reformed by
a genesis wave but it never came.
        Enterprise propped herself up on her arms, but she remained sitting
on the floor.
        "That hit my connecting dorsal, warp core damage, I can't move my
legs."  She gasped.
        "Affirmative captain, engines off-line, we're dead in space," Akane
sighed as she slid on her chair away from the panel, her job as
navigator was useless now.
        "She could've easily destroyed us, why didn't she?" Marrissa
whispered.

        In engineering things had gone from bad to worse.  One of the
gigantic conduits was flashing and crackling, the first signs of a
breech that would unleash the furious energies that the engines
contained.  The resulting explosion would destroy the ship and
everything in the area.  Harry shouted over the commotion to his crew.
        "We need to shut down that conduit!" Harry yelled.
        Harry punched his code for an emergency shut-down into a panel and
it popped open a door on the control table.  He ran over to it and turned
the handle inside the table. The room hummed as the left conduit dimmed
down as the white-hot plasma energy drained out of it. Harry touched his
head behind his ear to activate his communicator.
        "Kim to Marrissa! What's going on up there? I had to shut down a
warp core!"
        Kim couldn't hear the answer as the doors on the far side of the
room exploded. Klingons and other aliens streamed through the door,
weapons blazing.  Harry dove around the corner and tried his
communicator again, but it was dead.  Harry took a couple of nearby crew
members and he showed them to the access panel that would take them
through the jeffries tubes to other parts of the ship.

        On the bridge, Marrissa only heard part of Harry's communication.
        "What is it now?!" Marrissa said, exasperated.
        "Power to sensors is cut off down there, I don't know," Enterprise
replied, "but I can check."
        Before they could stop her, Enterprise faded out.

        Enterprise reappeared next to Harry in engineering, forced to sit
on the floor without the use of her legs.  Harry crouched down next to
her.
        "What's wrong?" Harry asked.
        "I can't move my legs. I came down to see what was going on,"
Enterprise explained.
        Explosions roared from around the corner as the assorted aliens
fought their way closer.
        "Apparently, our guests weren't happy with their accommodations,"
Harry quipped.
        "Get out of here.  I'm going to close down all the emergency doors
in this section; that should keep them from taking me over," Enterprise
said.
        "Okay, stall them," Harry ordered as he climbed into the access
tunnel.
        Harry closed the door as an alien came around the corner. Her sharp
teeth crawled into a grin when she saw the apparently helpless human
girl sitting on the floor. She relished her luck as she brought her
fierce looking weapon to bear on her and fired right at her midsection.
The beam glowed for a moment as it burned the air from her weapon to the
floor. Soon she realized the beam did not hit the crewman, it passed
right through her! Enterprise stuck out her tongue at the surprised
alien as Enterprise faded away.

        Enterprise appeared on the bridge and Akane helped her to her feet.
Marrissa was looking tired and worried.
        "What's going on down there?" Marrissa asked.
        "The aliens have broken out of my hold and are spreading throughout
me.  I have emergency bulkheads in place, that should slow them down a
bit."
        "This is odd." Data mused, "Even though they are criminals, surely
they know that we are their only means of escaping certain doom."
        "Unless they mean to take us over," Dax offered.
        "But they should be acting as a mob, not a united front. But that
is highly unusual for such a group unless --" Data turned to Marrissa.
        "Unless it's a trap!" Marrissa answered.
        Just as Marrissa finished the sentence, Alexander came from behind
her and stuck a small Klingon pistol to her head.
        "Everyone, don't move," Alexander said, with worried look on his
face.  Alexander got Marrissa out of her command chair and they worked
their way to the other side of the room.
        "Have you been listening, Majestrix?" Alexander called out.
        Sara's voice came from a small communicator on Alexander's arm.
        "I have Alex. You and your men have done excellent work," Sara
replied.
        Marrissa looked directly at Data and mouthed some words which he
understood. Everyone else was transfixed by Alexander's behavior.
        "Alex, why are you doing this?" Marrissa begged.
        "It's one of her viruses," Alexander said, sweating profusely. "If
I don't do what she says, she can easily kill me. I'm ready for you to
beam us up, Majestrix."
        The Klingon ship decloaked and Alexander faded away in sparkling red
light, taking Marrissa away with him. Data used his android speed to
dash to Akane's weapon panel and punched the button for the X-phasers.
The particle beams screamed through space and sliced into the Klingon
vessel punching a hole straight through to the other side. The beam set
off explosions all through the ship. The huge vessel listed and started
falling toward the planet.
        "The Admiral just beamed over there!" Akane yelled.
        "Lieutenant! Marrissa instructed me to do anything to save this
vessel.  That may have been our only opportunity," Data sternly replied.
 "Marrissa will be all right; she has survived much worse situations.
Get the sensors online, we have a mission to complete."

        Meanwhile, Marrissa's eyes cleared as the sparkling red light faded
away to reveal a Klingon transporter room. Alexander motioned for her to
step off the pad as  an explosion roared through the ship. Alexander was
knocked off balance and Marrissa turned to knee him in the stomach. She
grabbed his gun as he went down. She turned to shoot the Klingon
transporter technician as he picked himself up off the floor. She
grabbed Alexander and took him by the neck, with the weapon jammed in
his back.
        "All right, take me to Sara! Traitor!" She hissed in his ear.
        "Yes ma'am," Alexander miserably replied as they left the
transporter room.
        The hallway was clear, but they could hear explosions ripping
through the decks below them. A voice was screaming in Klingon to
abandon ship, the destruct sequence was activated. As they passed a
portal, they could see escape pods being launched from the ship.

        "Sensors online, I can detect all three hundred Klingons and
aliens," Enterprise announced.
        "Hyperport everyone without a communicator to Ofecious," Data
ordered.
        "This will take a few moments." Enterprise concentrated on locating
and hyperporting everyone to the planet below.
        "Data to Kim, Engineering will be clear soon.  Get ready to restore
engine power."

        Marrissa made her way through the corridors as Alexander led the way
to the Klingon bridge. As they came closer to the bridge, they could see
red flames lashing the hull as they hurtled toward the planet below. The
decks shook as the atmosphere washed over the ship. They passed an
escape pod hatch.
        "Marrissa, we are going to hit the ground very soon!" Alexander
yelled.  "We should use the escape pods!"
        Marrissa thought for a moment.  "All right, let's get out of here!"
        Alexander entered the pod hatch as the door at the other end of the
room flew open and Sara walked in. The moment lasted an eternity as Sara
and Marrissa stared at each other. Then, the Klingon vessel tumbled and
the artificial gravity failed. However, by this time the planet's
gravity was in effect and everyone tumbled around the room. Alex fell
out of the escape pod. Sara groaned as she pushed Alexander off of her.
Alexander fell limply to her side. Sara looked down at her hands and saw
Klingon blood covering them. She looked back at Alexander and saw the
holes in his uniform. Alexander was dead. Sara looked over to the
opposite side of the room and saw Marrissa staggering to her feet.
        "This is all your fault!" Sara screamed as she leapt on her mother.
        Sara's hands trembled as she stood over her mother with her hands
clenched around Marrissa's collar. Tears mixed with mascara streamed
down her face.
        "What are you going to do? Kill me?" Marrissa bitterly replied as
her eyes narrowed.
        "No, I can't kill you," Sara said softly.
        "I know, that's why I knew you wouldn't win. Both of us are pretty
screwed up, but we both have enough sense not to kill each other."
        "Well," Sara said, the anger slowly returned to her voice, "I may
know better than to kill you myself, but I can leave you here to die!"
        Sara threw her mother to the side and scrambled to the escape pod.
The room was upside down and Sara had to climb into it.  As Sara hit the
button to launch, a piece of scrap metal flew up and blocked the doors.
Marrissa appeared behind the metal, holding it in place to jam the
doors.  The motors strained to close the door, and the pod would not
launch until they closed.
        "I want you to remember Sara," Marrissa said with every bit of
feeling she had left, "in all the years to come, in all your most
private moments, the one who had beaten you."
        Sara glared at Marrissa and her voice roared with anger. As she
yelled at Marrissa, Sara pounded at the metal as if to punctuate each
phrase.
        "I... have had... enough... of you!" She screamed as the metal flew
loose, the doors slammed shut, and the pod ejected into the night sky.
Sara would never forget the look of determination on her mother's face
as the doors closed shut. Marrissa looked as though she knew that she
would live forever on her willpower alone.

        No one was around as the Klingon ship completed it's doomed journey
to the surface of Ofecious.  High in the sky the ship began to burst
with flames as its self destruct systems blew the superstructure to
bits.  The ball of flames illuminated the sky for miles as it became
larger and larger in the sky. The flaming wreck hit the ground with a
deafening roar and a flash of light that was like looking into the eyes
of God.

        Hours later, after the Enterprise had successfully diverted the
wayward planet, the mighty vessel pulled into the waiting repair
facility at Betazed.  There bridge was mostly quiet from the moment the
crew had seen the flash of light on Ofecious and Enterprise had reported
Marrissa's communicator signal was gone.  Dax had suggested mounting a
search, but the entire area was a giant flaming radioactive hole.
        "We've docked sir," Akane said to Data as she got up from her
console.
        She covered her face with her hand as she walked to the turbolift.
Dax walked along side her and put his hand on her shoulder to comfort
her. Once Dax and Sulu left, Data and Enterprise were alone.
        "Sir, may I speak freely?" Enterprise asked.
        "Certainly," Data replied.
        "From what I understand, human families are supposed to be a loving
group who supported one another."
        "That is true most of the time," Data answered.
        "Then how did Sara and Marrissa become such bitter enemies?"
Enterprise asked innocently.
        "There is no simple answer to that question. Perhaps something
traumatic happened to Sara as a child. Perhaps they both saw things they
did not like about themselves in each other. Perhaps they simply grew
apart."
        Enterprise considered that for a moment, "What will become of Sara
now?"
        "She will be sent to a rehabilitation colony, for what I estimate
to be an extremely long time," Data answered.
        Enterprise nodded.  "Are all missions this... difficult?"
        "No, this was a unique incident. But it has caused me to reconsider
the implications of creating you."
        "Sir, all beings run the risk of dying, often without being aware
of it. At least I have an advantage of knowing that I will be in
dangerous situations. I'll be fine."
        "I certainly hope so, do you have any other questions?"
        "No."
        Data walked to the turbolift, the view of the spacedock faded away
to reveal an empty room. Data turned around. He looked at Enterprise,
bandaged and tired. She turned to look at him.
        "Father... I love you."
        "I love you too, Lal."

        THE END

        "History Repeating" written by "Pete Plum"

        Edited by "Mavis"

        Featuring -

        Marrissa Amber Flores-Picard and Sara Alara Picard
        appearing courtesy of Stephen Ratliff

        Data, Akane Sulu, Tobal Dax, Harry Kim, Molly O'Brien
        Alexander Rozhenko and Mackenzie Calhoun
        as Themselves

        and

        Lal as Enterprise

        Also Appearing -

        "K-Y Mellie" as The Federation President
        "Jello" as Cadet Craig
        "The Midnight Rambler" as Cadet Fontenote
        "Ysidro" as Cadet Greg Marroda
        "FoxTrot" as Cadet Cox
        "AndrewP" as Cadet Andrew Perron
        and
        "Pat Flanagan" as Cadet Flanagan

        "History Repeating" contains samples from:

        "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan"
        Screenplay by Jack B. Sowards

        "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock"
        Written by Harve Bennet

        "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country"
        Screenplay by Nicholas Meyer and Denny Martin

        "Star Trek: Generations"
        Screenplay by Ronald D. Moore and Brannon Braga

        "Encounter at Farpoint"
        Written by D.C. Fontana and Gene Roddenberry

        "The Offspring"
        Written by Rene Echevarria

        "The Masterpiece Society"
        Teleplay by Adam Belanoff and Michael Piller

        "Forbidden Fruit"
        Star Trek: The Next Generation #18 (DC Comics)
        Written by Dave Stern and Mike O'Brien

        "Star Trek: The Next Generation - Dark Mirror"
        Pocket Books (1993)
        Written by Diane Duane

        "Mystery Science Theater 3000 (Theme)"
        Written by Joel Hodgeson

        "Batman: The Dark Night Returns"
        Written by Frank Miller

        Rocky Jones, Space Ranger
        "Crash of Moons"
        Screenplay by Warren Wilson

        Produced on a Commodore Amiga computer,
        using Final Writer - Release 3.

        Copyright 1998 by "Pete Plum"

        Executive Produced by Collin Cannaday

        The Marrissa Stories concept by Stephen Ratliff

        Based on "Star Trek" - created by Gene Roddenberry

        "Star Trek" and all it's concepts and characters belong
        to Paramount Pictures (and by default Viacom Communications)
        This is a work of fan fiction and is to be taken lightly!

        This has been an Atomic Production.