ClassicComedyFan2
04-02-2002, 07:29 AM
Enjoy the 15th episode!
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“Fade Out” (formerly known as “All’s Good with Allgood”)
Episode 15 of Gopher’s Gateway
By Sean Sporman
“I believe it’s all a vast conspiracy, don’t you? The dumb people, not us of course, will drive us smart people crazy to the point we want to leave the planet. Then, after we leave, the dumb ones will drive it into the ground.” Sean Sporman said, in Engineering of the Earth-orbiting USS Enterprise-D, to two of his friends, Heather Allgood and Meagan Hall.
“The warp core is stable.” Heather Allgood said, who was also running a diagnostic, while chatting with Sean, “I don’t know about that conspiracy theory, but the less intelligent people do drive me crazy. Meagan, what do you think?”
Meagan Hall yawned and then replied; “I never thought I would have these kinds of discussions twenty-five thousand miles above the surface of the planet at 5:30 in the morning. But, if you must know, idiots annoy me as well, and it could very well be a conspiracy. Besides, you of all people know that our cutie, Sean over there knows a lot.”
Sean smiled. “Interesting.” He placed down a PADD on the Engineering panel. “By the way, where is Jordan?”
“I don’t know.” Meagan responded, “Why don’t you contact him?”
“You know what he’ll say.” Sean said, but decided to contact him anyway.
Jordan Reeves was actually awake at 5:31 Central Standard Time, but not because he was full of energy. In his bedroom, rearranged for the forty-seventh time in the past six months, he heard his personal videophone ring. “Computer, identify source of incoming call.”
“USS Enterprise, Deck 36, Engineering Section.”
Jordan shook his head and then said, “Alright, open the call. Let’s see it.” Jordan shook his head again when he saw Sean Sporman, Heather Allgood and Meagan Hall on the viewscreen.
“Jordan.” Sean greeted, “In bed so late in the day?”
“The sun isn’t even out Sean!” Jordan replied.
“Well, you just haven’t gotten used to the Enterprise system of time, yet. Besides, the temporal stasis lets you sleep without time actually passing.” Sean responded.
“Well, I’m sick, Sean. I think I have the flu.”
Sean still smiled. “Nothing a twenty-forth century holographic doctor can’t cure. Certainly you know that after the Medical Breakthrough of 2157, there were only fifty reported cases of Influenza a year throughout the entire charted Alpha Quadrant!”
“Yes, you have constantly reminded me of the greatness of Star Trek being real, but can I just have an off day?” Jordan then walked up to the videophone. “Besides, I think it’s just the common cold.”
“Cured in 2209!” Sean replied, and then said, “Ok. Off day it is, but if you want to get cured, call me up right away.”
“Thank you, Sean.” Jordan then coughed. “Reeves out.” As soon as the videophone blinked off, showing the Federation insignia, Jordan jumped up. “Cold, yeah right! I’m not sick! Now, to beat that new Super Nintendo game...”
Lucy Camden, along with school system superintendents Andy Blackerby and Kay Lindsay, sat in the Conference Room of the Galaxy-class Enterprise-D.
“Well, how about those electives?” Kay Lindsay asked, “Can you show us some of those?”
Lucy Camden, at one of the wall-mounted LCARS panels on the wall of the room, nodded in reply. “Of course. Besides the obvious ones, Art, Music, Choir, Speech and the rest that you know about, Sean and the rest of us have introduced some pretty interesting electives into the school curriculum.”
“This is the best part.” Blackerby said sheepishly.
“First, introduced by Sean Sporman, we have the Star Trek elective. That one is pretty obvious.”
“Of course, we would have this one.” Lindsay agreed.
“It’s a good idea.” Blackerby also said.
“Next, suggested by Heather Allgood, with some throw-outs from Jordan Reeves, there is Lifeguard Glass, holographically simulated of course.”
“Throw-outs?” Blackerby did not recognize the word.
“Sorry,” Lucy grinned, “That’s yet another Sporman word. It means a thought said out loud.”
“Ah! The walking cliché, he is not!” Lindsay exclaimed.
“Yoda you are not!” Blackerby joked, and the three of them laughed. “Carry on, Lucy.”
“Now, onto the third one...”
“Principal’s Log, pre-day entry, I have decided to remain on the Enterprise today, leaving Heather Allgood in overall command of the new school. I do plan to be there tomorrow, however.”
Sean Sporman stood behind the transporter control panel in Transporter Room Six, onboard the Enterprise. Heather Allgood and Meagan Hall stood; ready to be beamed down to the massive school.
“Be careful.” Sean said, “I might come down there about noon.”
“Bye, cutie.” Meagan Hall said.
“Bye, Sean.” Heather also said, as the two beautiful teenage girls began to dematerialize.
“I’m going to miss them so much.” Sean stated to himself, as he exited the transporter room and walked into a turbolift.
“Destination please.” The computer greeted brightly.
“Holodeck one.”
“Thank you, Mr. Sporman.” The computer replied. Sean smiled.
“That’s the twenty-seventh newly-added elective.” Lucy Camden finished with a sigh, “Well, I had better get down to the school now. Bye!”
Andy Blackerby and Kay Lindsay stood up as well. “Very interesting, wasn’t it?” Lindsay said to Blackerby as the two exited the conference room.
“Yes. I can’t wait to see Bottle Throw or Slide Training in action.” Blackerby responded gleefully.
“Oh, yeah!” Lindsay snapped back vibrantly, “What about Episode Reviewing or Holographic Acting.”
“The former English teacher shows too much in you, Kay, but oh well. Let’s get to the surface. I have some fun to do.” Blackerby and Lindsay were both happy.
Jordan Reeves smiled with anticipation as the Mario he controlled on the screen moved to where a Goomba could be seen on the screen. The game was two-dimensional and sprite based, which was ubiquitous in the world of sixteen-bit, or two-byte, gaming.
After manipulating Mario into opening a line of three question mark boxes, he came to the Goomba. He pressed the jump button, and the two-dimensional foe was vanquished. “Yes! I am good! Better than Sean! He died there twice!” Jordan proclaimed as the victory music began to play.
Heather Allgood comfortably sat in the chair that was the command chair of the new school, the new school that still had no official name. But, she liked it all the same. Besides Meagan Hall and Lucy Camden, several secondaries were in OPS. Brooke Stephens was currently at the “camera wall”. “No one is here yet except a few teachers.” Brooke reported calmly.
“That’s good to know. No craziness yet.” Heather replied jokingly, even though it was not entirely a joke. Teenagers, especially students that went to Hueytown High, were not exactly the best students around. “Hey, Lucy, do we still have the link to the Enterprise databank online?” Heather asked.
“Yes. Why?”
“For fun, can we see just how the students of the old Hueytown High were in around 2006?”
“Sure. Coming right up.” Lucy responded.
It was such a paradox, Heather thought. In the future they had went to just days before, the new school had not yet existed, even though she sat in it right now. No wonder even the best of Starfleet captains hated temporal encounters.
“OK! We’ve got it!” Lucy exclaimed, and she and Heather turned to face the viewscreen.
Heather giggled at the first sentence. “Three principals in 2006, including someone named Tony Herbert. I think I’ve heard that name before...” The picture besides the text she was reading showed a student with a chair, about to hit the school sign with a chair. Thank goodness that wasn’t what was really going to happen...even though in this particular future it had already happened. Not really this one, but the one that this data came from. Evil paradoxes, Heather thought once more, evil.
“Tell me, am I listed in the records anywhere?” Heather grew more curious about this alternate future. But, she knew that since this wasn’t the real future, it was not going to happen.
“Yes.” Lucy responded, as the viewscreen now displayed the appropriate data. “Besides you being listed in the graduation class of the right year, you are listed as an A honor student two years in a row among other things.” A particular block of text caught Lucy’s eye. “Who...”
“What is it?” Heather inquired.
“It says you actually went out with some kid named Ryan.”
“I don’t know any Ryan.” Heather replied, continuing to read the data. Then, she heard the alarm that students were beginning to arrive at the school. “Oh well,” Heather sighed, “Time to get down to business.”
Sean Sporman had decided to stop by Engineering to conduct an experiment before enjoying himself on the holodeck.
“Computer, initiate a penetrating spatial scan of the new school, type four.” Sean said, standing by a large LCARS station that was in the middle of Engineering.
“Scan initiated.” For a few seconds, all seemed well and then there was a brilliant flash near the Master Situation Monitor and it sent out sparks violently as the alert klaxons began to blare.
“Computer, what’s happening?” Sean yelled over the klaxons and sparks.
“That data is not available.” The computer calmly replied.
“Then, shut down the scan!” Sean ordered to the computer, which instantly complied.
Sean sighed in relief. “Thank goodness.” Looking toward the Master Situation Monitor, which was mounted on the far wall, Sean saw that it no longer displayed the usual data. Instead it was a wreck of isolinear circuitry and tripolymer compounds. “What a mess,” Sean sighed, “Computer, activate Emergency Engineer Holographic Program.”
Near the warp core, the hologram appeared. The first model was made after legendary engineer, Montgomery Scott. This one, the Mark II, was modeled after Deep Space Nine’s security chief Miles O’Brien. “Please state the nature of the Engineering Emergency.”
“Over here, Chief.” Sean said and the hologram saw the wreck that had been the Master Situation Monitor.
“You didn’t run a type-four penetrating spatial scan, did you?” The holographic Irishman inquired.
“Well, yes...”
“Bloody kids.” The hologram muttered under his breath. “Well! Let’s get to work.”
“Missed me!” Emily Ham, one of the transfers from Crenshaw County, exclaimed as she ran around the corner in the school halls.
“Not for long!” The pursuer, whom Emily knew as Jennifer replied, holding a type-one phaser and chasing.
Jennifer fired again, but once again missed, instead destroying a perfectly functional LCARS panel.
“Missed again!” Emily exclaimed, as she saw Heather Allgood and Meagan Hall, phaser rifles in hand, round the corner.
“Stop!” Heather exclaimed. Just then, Emily paused and was quickly stunned by another phaser shot from Jennifer. Heather Allgood quickly fired and Jennifer also fell to the floor, unconscious. “Let’s get her to the brig. And, Emily to sick bay. She seems to be favoring her arm.
“Understood.” Meagan added.
Jordan Reeves had stopped playing his Super Nintendo Entertainment System for the time being and had begun to lay on his beanbag and watch another exciting episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation!
Just then, his mother popped into his doorway. “The cookies are almost ready. Enjoying your off day?”
“You bet!” Jordan replied, “But that’s not to say my new job isn’t cool.”
“Do you like it better than working at Hut Stuff?” His mother asked.
“Well, I’ll miss Uncle Tommy, but I like the cool technology, and I see all my friends everyday.”
“Do you have a girlfriend yet?” His mother inquired.
Jordan blushed and replied, “I’ll tell you later.”
Mrs. Reeves smiled and then said, “Well, I had better take those cookies out!” His mom walked away, and Jordan smiled, continuing to relax in his home.
“She attacked you!?” Amy Rodgers, a friend of Emily, asked her in Sick Bay 3 of what some students called, “cool school”.
“Yes.” Emily sighed, “I was shocked. And, I fractured my arm in the same place for the third time.”
Then, the two girls saw Heather Allgood and the Emergency Medical Hologram exit the Sick Bay office. “But,” proclaimed the hologram, “Thanks to my brilliant healing techniques, you wouldn’t even know it had been fractured once!” Heather giggled as the doctor continued, “You’re free to go. Be sure and be careful.”
As Emily got off of the biobed, she looked at Heather. “Can’t you get one without the Galaxy-sized ego?”
“Sure,” replied Heather, “the Enterprise has a Mark 4, but this one is funnier. Sean would agree.”
Suddenly, Lucy Camden came running up the corridor.
“What’s wrong, Lucy?” Heather asked.
“I think you should come see this! This senior guy named Jacob is crying.”
Heather laughed loudly again. “I have to see this!”
The two walked a short distance to the sobbing senior. “Ok Jacob,” Heather proclaimed, “You wanted attention, and it worked. Now, get up!”
“It’s no ploy!” Jacob pleaded, choking back tears. Meanwhile, Heather had to choke back laughter. Jacob continued with, “Courtney Gage, my girl, was walking with me and she just disappeared.”
“Emily, would you go and get the doctor. Let’s run an Autonomic Response Analysis to see if he is really telling the truth.”
There was no response. Heather turned and Emily was gone. “Computer, emergency transport to OPS.” As Heather felt the tingling of the transporter, she knew something was very wrong.
Sean Sporman sighed. He almost slapped himself in the face for not realizing the whole of the situation sooner. Everything he wanted was true.
“I can’t believe it!” Sean exclaimed, rushing out of the holodeck, “In seventh grade, I tried and things got cooler and cooler. But, the idiots in eighth grade ruined it. And, now, Spormanworld is becoming more real.”
Sean entered the turbolift. “Please state destination.”
“Transporter room one.”
“Thank you, Captain.”
Sean then continued to talk to himself. “I have power...commanding the school. I have a large base of friends in all grades. I have not one, but two GIRLFRIENDS!!! I have THE ENTERPRISE!! Life rules soooo much!”
The turbolift stopped and Sean nearly collided with the doors as he rushed into the Transporter Room. “Computer, lock in coordinates for OPS.” Sean then walked to the replicator station in the Transporter Room. “Now, replicate two sets of one-dozen Earth Roses, color red.”
The two sets shimmered inside the replicator unit. “Great.” Sean said, stepping on the transporter pad. “Energize now!”
Sean Sporman expected a happy scene in OPS. However, the first thing he saw was the red alert klaxons. But, suddenly that scene faded away and he once again saw the transporter room.
“Computer, why was I brought back to the ship?”
“Excessive spatial interference. Transporter buffers were strained beyond capacity.” The computer replied in its usual voice.
Sean dropped the roses and ran out of the Transporter Room. Inside the turbolift he had a new destination.
“Please state destination.”
“Bridge.”
“Thank you, Captain.” Like Heather on the planet, Sean also knew something was very wrong.
“Did you see that?” Meagan Hall asked.
“What?” Heather inquired. There were seven people in the school’s command center, the one known as OPS.
“Just about ten seconds ago, it looked like my cutie beaming in, but then he disappeared.” Meagan replied.
“We’ve just had another six reported missing, including Lucy.” Brooke Stephens reported from one of OPS many computerized stations.
Lucy had been the first primary to be missing. For all Heather Allgood knew, she could be next. Something had to be done.
“Contact Sean on the Enterprise, he’ll know.”
As soon as Sean Sporman rushed onto the bridge of the orbiting Federation starship, he saw the temporary command staff, which was rotated daily. Tiffany Davidson was at Science I. Jessica Ward was at Tactical. And in command sat Ben Smith.
“Hey, Sean, you look distraught.” Ben commented.
“Believe me. I just tried to beam down to Earth and I couldn’t.” Sean replied as Ben moved to the First Officer’s chair and Sean sat in the command chair.
“Sean!” Tiffany exclaimed, “There’s a transmission from the surface. It’s Heather, but something is distorting the signal.”
“Computer,” Sean ordered, “Apply a theta-band filter to the transmission and open it.”
Although there were white lines of static across the screen, Sean could make out Heather’s face. “Sean, can you hear me?”
“Yes. I can right now. What’s happening?”
“I can’t explain it. People keep disappearing. There are about four hundred missing already. Can you beam down to try to help?”
Sean frowned. “I’m afraid not. Too much interference. But, we’ll run a sensor scan to try and figure out the problem. Keep an open audio comlink at all times.”
“Understood. Thanks so much, Sean.”
“No, thank you.” Sean replied as the viewscreen once again showed stars.
“Heather, are you there?”
“Yes. I’m here.”
“Ok.” Sean stood up. “Jessica, run that scan.”
“I’ll get right on it.” The blonde cheerleader replied.
“Tiffany, see if we can contact Jordan. Right now, we need all the help we can get.”
“I think I’ve got him on the main viewer.” Tiffany said, and then she saw Jordan. “There he is!”
“Hello, Sean, Tiffany. Need I remind you, this is my off day.” Jordan said, trying to sound diplomatic.
“Jordan, there is an emergency! People are disappearing out there. Beam up now.”
“Where are they?” Jordan inquired.
“The people that are vanishing are at the new school.”
“I’ll get right on up there.”
“Good. Now, Jordan, tell me, do you have a girlfriend?”
Jordan sighed and then cut the channel.
“This is weird.” Heather Allgood said over the comlink, “Almost six hundred people have disappeared. It’s almost double the ratio now. And, the computer still hasn’t found an explanation?”
“Not yet.” Sean replied to the comlink, as he saw Jordan Reeves enter the bridge. “Hello, Jordan. I need you to take command of the saucer section.”
“Huh?” Jordan asked, not catching on.
“I need to get the rest of the people that are on our staff that haven’t disappeared out of danger. The saucer section is best equipped to do that.”
“I understand. And what will you do?” inquired Jordan.
“I am going to try to figure out a way to beam Heather and the rest of them out thru the interference and try to figure out why everyone is disappearing.” Sean entered the turbolift that led directly to the Battle Bridge. “Good luck.”
Jordan looked at Sean. “You too.”
Sean Sporman entered onto the vacant battle bridge and quickly sat in the command chair. “Computer, initiate saucer separation.”
Sean heard the latches click as the sequence began.
The saucer section slowly pulled away from the stardrive section and when it was five hundred thousand kilometers away, the saucer section shot away from the planet called Earth at full impulse. The stardrive section resumed Earth orbit.
“Stardate 3456.92, Enterprise Chief Medical Officer Doctor Beverly Crusher believed that her friends were disappearing, but it turns out that she herself was trapped in a warp bubble. Could that be what is happening?” Heather inquired over the comlink.
“I don’t think so.” Sean replied, working at the transporter controls on the Battle Bridge. “I remember that episode, “Beverly in a Bubble” my family used to call it. That time, only she noticed the changes. No warp bubbles here.”
“Stardate 5019.36, USS Voyager, crewmen start disappearing at regular intervals. At first, it was believed to be a wormhole, but it was discovered that a hostile alien race was behind it.”
“Ah!” responded Sean, “I saw that one too. Good episode. Anyway, those aliens were about sixty thousand light years away. Their technology doesn’t stretch that far into the past or the distance.” Sean tapped a few more buttons on the transporter control. “I think I’ve got it. Prepare for transport.”
Sean looked toward the Battle Bridge’s lone transporter and Heather began to dematerialize. Then, the red alert klaxons began to blare again. “Heather!” Sean yelled. “Get away from the transporter!” Heather ran from the transporter as it exploded violently. Sparks flew from the pad. After a few seconds, the Battle Bridge was silent, even though smoke choked the air.
“Heather!” Sean walked over to her, concerned. “Are you all right?”
Heather coughed at the smoke. “Yeah. I’m fine. Thankfully, my personal shield went up.”
Sean also coughed. “Computer, increase atmospheric filtration to maximum.”
The computer beeped in reply and the smoke instantly began to leave the air. But, then the proximity sensors went off. “Warning!” The computer said, “Klingon Bird of Prey decloaking directly ahead.”
“What!?” Heather exclaimed, shocked.
“Computer, red alert. Heather, go to battle stations!” The klaxons once more began to blare.
“What do the Klingons have to do with this?” Heather inquired, Are they responsible for the people disappearing.”
Sean quickly checked the tactical console, which he currently stood at. “Negative. Their transporter has been inactive.” Sean then sat in the captain’s chair. “Computer, activate holographic program Emergency-one and hail the Klingon vessel.”
Instantly, a holographic crew, the same as the bridge crew of the Enterprise-D appeared, save Captain Picard and Commander Riker. “They are not responding to hails.” The holographic Commander Data reported.
Sean smiled, control of the situation growing, “Mr. Worf, is that a D-12 type bird of prey. I seem to remember something about their cloak being faulty…”
“No, captain.” The holographic Klingon responded. “That is a B’rel-class, sir. They are firing!”
Two green bolts fired from the enemy vessel and struck the Stardrive Section’s shields.
“Shields at 93%.” Holo-Worf reported.
“Fire at will, these are Klingon temporal terrorists.” Sean then turned to Holo-Data. “Mr. Data, evasive maneuvers, gamma sequence on my mark.”
“Temporal terrorists?” inquired Heather.
“Yes, they try to destroy humans by traveling back in time and destroying us in the past. They are considered without honor in the mainstream Klingon.”
“Which is as it should be.” Holo-Worf added, “Ready to fire phasers, sir.”
“Fire!” Sean ordered.
Four beams of red extreme energy lanced out from the Stardrive Section and struck the Klingon shields, which turned green on impact.
“Now, photon torpedoes! Dispersal pattern Sierra, fire!”
One torpedo shot out of the torpedo bay, then fragmented into five, which struck the Klingon ship equally. “Their shields are down, sir!” Holo-Worf proclaimed triumphantly.
“Hail them, Data. Request their surrender.”
“Transmission sent.” There was a period of silent anticipation and then, “They are replying in text. They will surrender.”
“Move us into tractor range, Commander.”
“Aye, sir.” Replied Holo-Data.
The Enterprise then moved into range under impulse power.
“Captain!” Holo-Data suddenly exclaimed. “They are—“ The ship was rocked by a massive explosion as the Klingon ship self-destructed. Heather and Sean were both knocked to the floor. The holograms suddenly disappeared. EPS conduits violently exploded overhead.
Sean strained to get up. “Heather! Heather!”
“I’m ok.” Responded Heather groggily, as she slipped into the forward console.
“Report.” As the viewscreen suddenly reactivated, Sean and Heather both saw the planet Earth looming closer. “Pull us up!” Sean ordered urgently. “Warp speed!”
“I can’t! We’re leaking plasma from the starboard nacelle. Impact in three minutes, thirty seconds!” Heather replied urgently.
“Level us off. Use all of the impulse power!”
Sean felt the ship shake from the strain. He also knew there were multiple hull breaches. And, now, his life may be at stake. “Status?” inquired Sean.
“We’ve leveled off twenty degrees and shaved two minutes off of our impact, but we’re still descending!”
Sean knew what he had to do. “Computer, priority one voice authorization, divert all power from all systems to the impulse drive!”
“Priority one approved. Power diverted. Oxygen depletion in four hours, mark.”
The ship continued to shake violently under the ultra-atmospheric stress. “It’s working!” Heather exclaimed. “We’re breaking free!”
The two watched on the viewscreen as Earth slowly slipped out of view and once again the starfield was shown. “That was close.” Sean sighed as the Stardrive Section once again orbited the third planet in the Solar System, a round and blue one called Earth. “Heather, give me a damage report.”
Heather waved some hair that had fallen out place to the back of her hair. She also had an epidermal scission, or cut, on her face. Taking in a breath, she began, “Warp drive is offline as well as the main impulse reactor. All but one phaser bank has been damaged, hull breaches on decks 30, 31, 35, 36, and photon torpedo bank aft is offline, shields at two percent.” She took in another breath, and then continued, “There are four hundred and forty seven micro fractures along the hull. Long range sensors, subspace communications, waste and sewage are offline—“
“I see.” Sean interrupted, “We’re crippled, can’t contact the saucer and we still haven’t found out why the people are disappearing.”
“What should we do?” asked Heather.
“We disappear.” Sean said, “Get phaser rifles, tricorders, personal shields. We’re going down there.”
Heather nodded in acknowledgement.
As the last of the two remaining staff that was near Earth beamed down, they were not feeling the best. Their section of the Enterprise was crippled, but still functioning at minimal capacity.
“It’s empty.” Sean stated obviously.
“I know.” Responded Heather. “Creepy isn’t it?”
Sean nodded. “Yeah. I think that it might—“
Heather turned around and did not see Sean. He had disappeared as well. She had the honor of being the last one to disappear.
Sean looked around and immediately popped out his tricorder, using his left hand to hold up the phaser rifle. He read the scans and began to realize what had happened. His scan had caused the instability. “I get it now.” Sean said to himself as he heard voices in the distance.
He then saw Lucy Camden pop out from behind a bush. “Sean! It’s good to see you. Where are we?”
“The tricorder says that we are in…it’s not sure, but it is M-class.”
“What happened?” Lucy inquired.
“I ran a scan and it accidentally caused the space-time continuum to break down inside the school, transporting you here.”
“How do we get out?” Lucy asked.
Sean pointed to his backpack. “Easy. I brought a portable transporter. Now that I now the spatial frequency of where you were transported I can beam you all back. By the way, where is everyone?”
“They found this huge four-story Fast Food Complex. They went to eat.”
“I see. I’ll take the transporter there.” Sean then looked to see Heather as well.
“Alright, let’s get started. Lucy, you’re up.”
Lucy shook her head. “Nope, I’m staying here with you until the rest of them are gone.”
Sean looked to Heather, who said, “Me too.”
Sean smiled as he powered up the portable transporter.
“Principal’s Log, Day two, after a couple of hours, everyone has been transported back to our dimension or world and the students are home now. The saucer section, with Jordan in command, has also returned to orbit and we are going to have a visitor…”
The command staff of the new school that still had no real name waited on the Main Bridge of the damaged USS Enterprise. While the saucer section had incurred no damage, the Stardrive Section was crippled. “I’m picking up a spatial conduit.” Meagan Hall reported as Sean, Jordan and Heather smiled. “It’s the Enterprise-E!”
Sean looked on screen as the awesome Sovereign-class flagship of the Federation Starfleet flew into view. “We are being hailed.” Andy Blackerby reported.
“On screen.” Sean ordered.
Captain Picard, Commander Riker and Data appeared on the viewscreen. “Hello again, Mr. Sporman.”
“Greetings, Captain. It is agreeable to see you again. As you can see, we require a little assistance.”
“We have just the thing. Number one?”
Commander Riker began to talk. “We’re bringing in a dry-dock for you. It will be fully staffed with Starfleet repair teams that will work around the clock. However, your damage is extensive. That could take two weeks to repair fully. You will find the dock in orbit already.”
Sean smiled. “Thank you.”
“You are welcome. Picard out.”
“Heather, set a course for the dock. Full impulse until Z-minus fifty thousand kilometers.”
“Understood. Taking us in.” Sean saw the dock grow larger on the viewscreen.
“Clear moorings and let the tractor beams guide us in.” A few seconds later, the starship docked with a clank.
“Docking complete.” Meagan Hall reported.
“OK. Let’s get down to the school. But, first, I think we should run a scan…”
“No!” The people on the bridge responded.
“I was just kidding.” Sean replied. The bridge then began to fill with laughter…
On the next episode…
It’s another crossover…but this time…
Is that your final answer?
Who Wants to be a Millionaire meets Gopher’s Gateway for the trivia battle of all time!
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“Fade Out” (formerly known as “All’s Good with Allgood”)
Episode 15 of Gopher’s Gateway
By Sean Sporman
“I believe it’s all a vast conspiracy, don’t you? The dumb people, not us of course, will drive us smart people crazy to the point we want to leave the planet. Then, after we leave, the dumb ones will drive it into the ground.” Sean Sporman said, in Engineering of the Earth-orbiting USS Enterprise-D, to two of his friends, Heather Allgood and Meagan Hall.
“The warp core is stable.” Heather Allgood said, who was also running a diagnostic, while chatting with Sean, “I don’t know about that conspiracy theory, but the less intelligent people do drive me crazy. Meagan, what do you think?”
Meagan Hall yawned and then replied; “I never thought I would have these kinds of discussions twenty-five thousand miles above the surface of the planet at 5:30 in the morning. But, if you must know, idiots annoy me as well, and it could very well be a conspiracy. Besides, you of all people know that our cutie, Sean over there knows a lot.”
Sean smiled. “Interesting.” He placed down a PADD on the Engineering panel. “By the way, where is Jordan?”
“I don’t know.” Meagan responded, “Why don’t you contact him?”
“You know what he’ll say.” Sean said, but decided to contact him anyway.
Jordan Reeves was actually awake at 5:31 Central Standard Time, but not because he was full of energy. In his bedroom, rearranged for the forty-seventh time in the past six months, he heard his personal videophone ring. “Computer, identify source of incoming call.”
“USS Enterprise, Deck 36, Engineering Section.”
Jordan shook his head and then said, “Alright, open the call. Let’s see it.” Jordan shook his head again when he saw Sean Sporman, Heather Allgood and Meagan Hall on the viewscreen.
“Jordan.” Sean greeted, “In bed so late in the day?”
“The sun isn’t even out Sean!” Jordan replied.
“Well, you just haven’t gotten used to the Enterprise system of time, yet. Besides, the temporal stasis lets you sleep without time actually passing.” Sean responded.
“Well, I’m sick, Sean. I think I have the flu.”
Sean still smiled. “Nothing a twenty-forth century holographic doctor can’t cure. Certainly you know that after the Medical Breakthrough of 2157, there were only fifty reported cases of Influenza a year throughout the entire charted Alpha Quadrant!”
“Yes, you have constantly reminded me of the greatness of Star Trek being real, but can I just have an off day?” Jordan then walked up to the videophone. “Besides, I think it’s just the common cold.”
“Cured in 2209!” Sean replied, and then said, “Ok. Off day it is, but if you want to get cured, call me up right away.”
“Thank you, Sean.” Jordan then coughed. “Reeves out.” As soon as the videophone blinked off, showing the Federation insignia, Jordan jumped up. “Cold, yeah right! I’m not sick! Now, to beat that new Super Nintendo game...”
Lucy Camden, along with school system superintendents Andy Blackerby and Kay Lindsay, sat in the Conference Room of the Galaxy-class Enterprise-D.
“Well, how about those electives?” Kay Lindsay asked, “Can you show us some of those?”
Lucy Camden, at one of the wall-mounted LCARS panels on the wall of the room, nodded in reply. “Of course. Besides the obvious ones, Art, Music, Choir, Speech and the rest that you know about, Sean and the rest of us have introduced some pretty interesting electives into the school curriculum.”
“This is the best part.” Blackerby said sheepishly.
“First, introduced by Sean Sporman, we have the Star Trek elective. That one is pretty obvious.”
“Of course, we would have this one.” Lindsay agreed.
“It’s a good idea.” Blackerby also said.
“Next, suggested by Heather Allgood, with some throw-outs from Jordan Reeves, there is Lifeguard Glass, holographically simulated of course.”
“Throw-outs?” Blackerby did not recognize the word.
“Sorry,” Lucy grinned, “That’s yet another Sporman word. It means a thought said out loud.”
“Ah! The walking cliché, he is not!” Lindsay exclaimed.
“Yoda you are not!” Blackerby joked, and the three of them laughed. “Carry on, Lucy.”
“Now, onto the third one...”
“Principal’s Log, pre-day entry, I have decided to remain on the Enterprise today, leaving Heather Allgood in overall command of the new school. I do plan to be there tomorrow, however.”
Sean Sporman stood behind the transporter control panel in Transporter Room Six, onboard the Enterprise. Heather Allgood and Meagan Hall stood; ready to be beamed down to the massive school.
“Be careful.” Sean said, “I might come down there about noon.”
“Bye, cutie.” Meagan Hall said.
“Bye, Sean.” Heather also said, as the two beautiful teenage girls began to dematerialize.
“I’m going to miss them so much.” Sean stated to himself, as he exited the transporter room and walked into a turbolift.
“Destination please.” The computer greeted brightly.
“Holodeck one.”
“Thank you, Mr. Sporman.” The computer replied. Sean smiled.
“That’s the twenty-seventh newly-added elective.” Lucy Camden finished with a sigh, “Well, I had better get down to the school now. Bye!”
Andy Blackerby and Kay Lindsay stood up as well. “Very interesting, wasn’t it?” Lindsay said to Blackerby as the two exited the conference room.
“Yes. I can’t wait to see Bottle Throw or Slide Training in action.” Blackerby responded gleefully.
“Oh, yeah!” Lindsay snapped back vibrantly, “What about Episode Reviewing or Holographic Acting.”
“The former English teacher shows too much in you, Kay, but oh well. Let’s get to the surface. I have some fun to do.” Blackerby and Lindsay were both happy.
Jordan Reeves smiled with anticipation as the Mario he controlled on the screen moved to where a Goomba could be seen on the screen. The game was two-dimensional and sprite based, which was ubiquitous in the world of sixteen-bit, or two-byte, gaming.
After manipulating Mario into opening a line of three question mark boxes, he came to the Goomba. He pressed the jump button, and the two-dimensional foe was vanquished. “Yes! I am good! Better than Sean! He died there twice!” Jordan proclaimed as the victory music began to play.
Heather Allgood comfortably sat in the chair that was the command chair of the new school, the new school that still had no official name. But, she liked it all the same. Besides Meagan Hall and Lucy Camden, several secondaries were in OPS. Brooke Stephens was currently at the “camera wall”. “No one is here yet except a few teachers.” Brooke reported calmly.
“That’s good to know. No craziness yet.” Heather replied jokingly, even though it was not entirely a joke. Teenagers, especially students that went to Hueytown High, were not exactly the best students around. “Hey, Lucy, do we still have the link to the Enterprise databank online?” Heather asked.
“Yes. Why?”
“For fun, can we see just how the students of the old Hueytown High were in around 2006?”
“Sure. Coming right up.” Lucy responded.
It was such a paradox, Heather thought. In the future they had went to just days before, the new school had not yet existed, even though she sat in it right now. No wonder even the best of Starfleet captains hated temporal encounters.
“OK! We’ve got it!” Lucy exclaimed, and she and Heather turned to face the viewscreen.
Heather giggled at the first sentence. “Three principals in 2006, including someone named Tony Herbert. I think I’ve heard that name before...” The picture besides the text she was reading showed a student with a chair, about to hit the school sign with a chair. Thank goodness that wasn’t what was really going to happen...even though in this particular future it had already happened. Not really this one, but the one that this data came from. Evil paradoxes, Heather thought once more, evil.
“Tell me, am I listed in the records anywhere?” Heather grew more curious about this alternate future. But, she knew that since this wasn’t the real future, it was not going to happen.
“Yes.” Lucy responded, as the viewscreen now displayed the appropriate data. “Besides you being listed in the graduation class of the right year, you are listed as an A honor student two years in a row among other things.” A particular block of text caught Lucy’s eye. “Who...”
“What is it?” Heather inquired.
“It says you actually went out with some kid named Ryan.”
“I don’t know any Ryan.” Heather replied, continuing to read the data. Then, she heard the alarm that students were beginning to arrive at the school. “Oh well,” Heather sighed, “Time to get down to business.”
Sean Sporman had decided to stop by Engineering to conduct an experiment before enjoying himself on the holodeck.
“Computer, initiate a penetrating spatial scan of the new school, type four.” Sean said, standing by a large LCARS station that was in the middle of Engineering.
“Scan initiated.” For a few seconds, all seemed well and then there was a brilliant flash near the Master Situation Monitor and it sent out sparks violently as the alert klaxons began to blare.
“Computer, what’s happening?” Sean yelled over the klaxons and sparks.
“That data is not available.” The computer calmly replied.
“Then, shut down the scan!” Sean ordered to the computer, which instantly complied.
Sean sighed in relief. “Thank goodness.” Looking toward the Master Situation Monitor, which was mounted on the far wall, Sean saw that it no longer displayed the usual data. Instead it was a wreck of isolinear circuitry and tripolymer compounds. “What a mess,” Sean sighed, “Computer, activate Emergency Engineer Holographic Program.”
Near the warp core, the hologram appeared. The first model was made after legendary engineer, Montgomery Scott. This one, the Mark II, was modeled after Deep Space Nine’s security chief Miles O’Brien. “Please state the nature of the Engineering Emergency.”
“Over here, Chief.” Sean said and the hologram saw the wreck that had been the Master Situation Monitor.
“You didn’t run a type-four penetrating spatial scan, did you?” The holographic Irishman inquired.
“Well, yes...”
“Bloody kids.” The hologram muttered under his breath. “Well! Let’s get to work.”
“Missed me!” Emily Ham, one of the transfers from Crenshaw County, exclaimed as she ran around the corner in the school halls.
“Not for long!” The pursuer, whom Emily knew as Jennifer replied, holding a type-one phaser and chasing.
Jennifer fired again, but once again missed, instead destroying a perfectly functional LCARS panel.
“Missed again!” Emily exclaimed, as she saw Heather Allgood and Meagan Hall, phaser rifles in hand, round the corner.
“Stop!” Heather exclaimed. Just then, Emily paused and was quickly stunned by another phaser shot from Jennifer. Heather Allgood quickly fired and Jennifer also fell to the floor, unconscious. “Let’s get her to the brig. And, Emily to sick bay. She seems to be favoring her arm.
“Understood.” Meagan added.
Jordan Reeves had stopped playing his Super Nintendo Entertainment System for the time being and had begun to lay on his beanbag and watch another exciting episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation!
Just then, his mother popped into his doorway. “The cookies are almost ready. Enjoying your off day?”
“You bet!” Jordan replied, “But that’s not to say my new job isn’t cool.”
“Do you like it better than working at Hut Stuff?” His mother asked.
“Well, I’ll miss Uncle Tommy, but I like the cool technology, and I see all my friends everyday.”
“Do you have a girlfriend yet?” His mother inquired.
Jordan blushed and replied, “I’ll tell you later.”
Mrs. Reeves smiled and then said, “Well, I had better take those cookies out!” His mom walked away, and Jordan smiled, continuing to relax in his home.
“She attacked you!?” Amy Rodgers, a friend of Emily, asked her in Sick Bay 3 of what some students called, “cool school”.
“Yes.” Emily sighed, “I was shocked. And, I fractured my arm in the same place for the third time.”
Then, the two girls saw Heather Allgood and the Emergency Medical Hologram exit the Sick Bay office. “But,” proclaimed the hologram, “Thanks to my brilliant healing techniques, you wouldn’t even know it had been fractured once!” Heather giggled as the doctor continued, “You’re free to go. Be sure and be careful.”
As Emily got off of the biobed, she looked at Heather. “Can’t you get one without the Galaxy-sized ego?”
“Sure,” replied Heather, “the Enterprise has a Mark 4, but this one is funnier. Sean would agree.”
Suddenly, Lucy Camden came running up the corridor.
“What’s wrong, Lucy?” Heather asked.
“I think you should come see this! This senior guy named Jacob is crying.”
Heather laughed loudly again. “I have to see this!”
The two walked a short distance to the sobbing senior. “Ok Jacob,” Heather proclaimed, “You wanted attention, and it worked. Now, get up!”
“It’s no ploy!” Jacob pleaded, choking back tears. Meanwhile, Heather had to choke back laughter. Jacob continued with, “Courtney Gage, my girl, was walking with me and she just disappeared.”
“Emily, would you go and get the doctor. Let’s run an Autonomic Response Analysis to see if he is really telling the truth.”
There was no response. Heather turned and Emily was gone. “Computer, emergency transport to OPS.” As Heather felt the tingling of the transporter, she knew something was very wrong.
Sean Sporman sighed. He almost slapped himself in the face for not realizing the whole of the situation sooner. Everything he wanted was true.
“I can’t believe it!” Sean exclaimed, rushing out of the holodeck, “In seventh grade, I tried and things got cooler and cooler. But, the idiots in eighth grade ruined it. And, now, Spormanworld is becoming more real.”
Sean entered the turbolift. “Please state destination.”
“Transporter room one.”
“Thank you, Captain.”
Sean then continued to talk to himself. “I have power...commanding the school. I have a large base of friends in all grades. I have not one, but two GIRLFRIENDS!!! I have THE ENTERPRISE!! Life rules soooo much!”
The turbolift stopped and Sean nearly collided with the doors as he rushed into the Transporter Room. “Computer, lock in coordinates for OPS.” Sean then walked to the replicator station in the Transporter Room. “Now, replicate two sets of one-dozen Earth Roses, color red.”
The two sets shimmered inside the replicator unit. “Great.” Sean said, stepping on the transporter pad. “Energize now!”
Sean Sporman expected a happy scene in OPS. However, the first thing he saw was the red alert klaxons. But, suddenly that scene faded away and he once again saw the transporter room.
“Computer, why was I brought back to the ship?”
“Excessive spatial interference. Transporter buffers were strained beyond capacity.” The computer replied in its usual voice.
Sean dropped the roses and ran out of the Transporter Room. Inside the turbolift he had a new destination.
“Please state destination.”
“Bridge.”
“Thank you, Captain.” Like Heather on the planet, Sean also knew something was very wrong.
“Did you see that?” Meagan Hall asked.
“What?” Heather inquired. There were seven people in the school’s command center, the one known as OPS.
“Just about ten seconds ago, it looked like my cutie beaming in, but then he disappeared.” Meagan replied.
“We’ve just had another six reported missing, including Lucy.” Brooke Stephens reported from one of OPS many computerized stations.
Lucy had been the first primary to be missing. For all Heather Allgood knew, she could be next. Something had to be done.
“Contact Sean on the Enterprise, he’ll know.”
As soon as Sean Sporman rushed onto the bridge of the orbiting Federation starship, he saw the temporary command staff, which was rotated daily. Tiffany Davidson was at Science I. Jessica Ward was at Tactical. And in command sat Ben Smith.
“Hey, Sean, you look distraught.” Ben commented.
“Believe me. I just tried to beam down to Earth and I couldn’t.” Sean replied as Ben moved to the First Officer’s chair and Sean sat in the command chair.
“Sean!” Tiffany exclaimed, “There’s a transmission from the surface. It’s Heather, but something is distorting the signal.”
“Computer,” Sean ordered, “Apply a theta-band filter to the transmission and open it.”
Although there were white lines of static across the screen, Sean could make out Heather’s face. “Sean, can you hear me?”
“Yes. I can right now. What’s happening?”
“I can’t explain it. People keep disappearing. There are about four hundred missing already. Can you beam down to try to help?”
Sean frowned. “I’m afraid not. Too much interference. But, we’ll run a sensor scan to try and figure out the problem. Keep an open audio comlink at all times.”
“Understood. Thanks so much, Sean.”
“No, thank you.” Sean replied as the viewscreen once again showed stars.
“Heather, are you there?”
“Yes. I’m here.”
“Ok.” Sean stood up. “Jessica, run that scan.”
“I’ll get right on it.” The blonde cheerleader replied.
“Tiffany, see if we can contact Jordan. Right now, we need all the help we can get.”
“I think I’ve got him on the main viewer.” Tiffany said, and then she saw Jordan. “There he is!”
“Hello, Sean, Tiffany. Need I remind you, this is my off day.” Jordan said, trying to sound diplomatic.
“Jordan, there is an emergency! People are disappearing out there. Beam up now.”
“Where are they?” Jordan inquired.
“The people that are vanishing are at the new school.”
“I’ll get right on up there.”
“Good. Now, Jordan, tell me, do you have a girlfriend?”
Jordan sighed and then cut the channel.
“This is weird.” Heather Allgood said over the comlink, “Almost six hundred people have disappeared. It’s almost double the ratio now. And, the computer still hasn’t found an explanation?”
“Not yet.” Sean replied to the comlink, as he saw Jordan Reeves enter the bridge. “Hello, Jordan. I need you to take command of the saucer section.”
“Huh?” Jordan asked, not catching on.
“I need to get the rest of the people that are on our staff that haven’t disappeared out of danger. The saucer section is best equipped to do that.”
“I understand. And what will you do?” inquired Jordan.
“I am going to try to figure out a way to beam Heather and the rest of them out thru the interference and try to figure out why everyone is disappearing.” Sean entered the turbolift that led directly to the Battle Bridge. “Good luck.”
Jordan looked at Sean. “You too.”
Sean Sporman entered onto the vacant battle bridge and quickly sat in the command chair. “Computer, initiate saucer separation.”
Sean heard the latches click as the sequence began.
The saucer section slowly pulled away from the stardrive section and when it was five hundred thousand kilometers away, the saucer section shot away from the planet called Earth at full impulse. The stardrive section resumed Earth orbit.
“Stardate 3456.92, Enterprise Chief Medical Officer Doctor Beverly Crusher believed that her friends were disappearing, but it turns out that she herself was trapped in a warp bubble. Could that be what is happening?” Heather inquired over the comlink.
“I don’t think so.” Sean replied, working at the transporter controls on the Battle Bridge. “I remember that episode, “Beverly in a Bubble” my family used to call it. That time, only she noticed the changes. No warp bubbles here.”
“Stardate 5019.36, USS Voyager, crewmen start disappearing at regular intervals. At first, it was believed to be a wormhole, but it was discovered that a hostile alien race was behind it.”
“Ah!” responded Sean, “I saw that one too. Good episode. Anyway, those aliens were about sixty thousand light years away. Their technology doesn’t stretch that far into the past or the distance.” Sean tapped a few more buttons on the transporter control. “I think I’ve got it. Prepare for transport.”
Sean looked toward the Battle Bridge’s lone transporter and Heather began to dematerialize. Then, the red alert klaxons began to blare again. “Heather!” Sean yelled. “Get away from the transporter!” Heather ran from the transporter as it exploded violently. Sparks flew from the pad. After a few seconds, the Battle Bridge was silent, even though smoke choked the air.
“Heather!” Sean walked over to her, concerned. “Are you all right?”
Heather coughed at the smoke. “Yeah. I’m fine. Thankfully, my personal shield went up.”
Sean also coughed. “Computer, increase atmospheric filtration to maximum.”
The computer beeped in reply and the smoke instantly began to leave the air. But, then the proximity sensors went off. “Warning!” The computer said, “Klingon Bird of Prey decloaking directly ahead.”
“What!?” Heather exclaimed, shocked.
“Computer, red alert. Heather, go to battle stations!” The klaxons once more began to blare.
“What do the Klingons have to do with this?” Heather inquired, Are they responsible for the people disappearing.”
Sean quickly checked the tactical console, which he currently stood at. “Negative. Their transporter has been inactive.” Sean then sat in the captain’s chair. “Computer, activate holographic program Emergency-one and hail the Klingon vessel.”
Instantly, a holographic crew, the same as the bridge crew of the Enterprise-D appeared, save Captain Picard and Commander Riker. “They are not responding to hails.” The holographic Commander Data reported.
Sean smiled, control of the situation growing, “Mr. Worf, is that a D-12 type bird of prey. I seem to remember something about their cloak being faulty…”
“No, captain.” The holographic Klingon responded. “That is a B’rel-class, sir. They are firing!”
Two green bolts fired from the enemy vessel and struck the Stardrive Section’s shields.
“Shields at 93%.” Holo-Worf reported.
“Fire at will, these are Klingon temporal terrorists.” Sean then turned to Holo-Data. “Mr. Data, evasive maneuvers, gamma sequence on my mark.”
“Temporal terrorists?” inquired Heather.
“Yes, they try to destroy humans by traveling back in time and destroying us in the past. They are considered without honor in the mainstream Klingon.”
“Which is as it should be.” Holo-Worf added, “Ready to fire phasers, sir.”
“Fire!” Sean ordered.
Four beams of red extreme energy lanced out from the Stardrive Section and struck the Klingon shields, which turned green on impact.
“Now, photon torpedoes! Dispersal pattern Sierra, fire!”
One torpedo shot out of the torpedo bay, then fragmented into five, which struck the Klingon ship equally. “Their shields are down, sir!” Holo-Worf proclaimed triumphantly.
“Hail them, Data. Request their surrender.”
“Transmission sent.” There was a period of silent anticipation and then, “They are replying in text. They will surrender.”
“Move us into tractor range, Commander.”
“Aye, sir.” Replied Holo-Data.
The Enterprise then moved into range under impulse power.
“Captain!” Holo-Data suddenly exclaimed. “They are—“ The ship was rocked by a massive explosion as the Klingon ship self-destructed. Heather and Sean were both knocked to the floor. The holograms suddenly disappeared. EPS conduits violently exploded overhead.
Sean strained to get up. “Heather! Heather!”
“I’m ok.” Responded Heather groggily, as she slipped into the forward console.
“Report.” As the viewscreen suddenly reactivated, Sean and Heather both saw the planet Earth looming closer. “Pull us up!” Sean ordered urgently. “Warp speed!”
“I can’t! We’re leaking plasma from the starboard nacelle. Impact in three minutes, thirty seconds!” Heather replied urgently.
“Level us off. Use all of the impulse power!”
Sean felt the ship shake from the strain. He also knew there were multiple hull breaches. And, now, his life may be at stake. “Status?” inquired Sean.
“We’ve leveled off twenty degrees and shaved two minutes off of our impact, but we’re still descending!”
Sean knew what he had to do. “Computer, priority one voice authorization, divert all power from all systems to the impulse drive!”
“Priority one approved. Power diverted. Oxygen depletion in four hours, mark.”
The ship continued to shake violently under the ultra-atmospheric stress. “It’s working!” Heather exclaimed. “We’re breaking free!”
The two watched on the viewscreen as Earth slowly slipped out of view and once again the starfield was shown. “That was close.” Sean sighed as the Stardrive Section once again orbited the third planet in the Solar System, a round and blue one called Earth. “Heather, give me a damage report.”
Heather waved some hair that had fallen out place to the back of her hair. She also had an epidermal scission, or cut, on her face. Taking in a breath, she began, “Warp drive is offline as well as the main impulse reactor. All but one phaser bank has been damaged, hull breaches on decks 30, 31, 35, 36, and photon torpedo bank aft is offline, shields at two percent.” She took in another breath, and then continued, “There are four hundred and forty seven micro fractures along the hull. Long range sensors, subspace communications, waste and sewage are offline—“
“I see.” Sean interrupted, “We’re crippled, can’t contact the saucer and we still haven’t found out why the people are disappearing.”
“What should we do?” asked Heather.
“We disappear.” Sean said, “Get phaser rifles, tricorders, personal shields. We’re going down there.”
Heather nodded in acknowledgement.
As the last of the two remaining staff that was near Earth beamed down, they were not feeling the best. Their section of the Enterprise was crippled, but still functioning at minimal capacity.
“It’s empty.” Sean stated obviously.
“I know.” Responded Heather. “Creepy isn’t it?”
Sean nodded. “Yeah. I think that it might—“
Heather turned around and did not see Sean. He had disappeared as well. She had the honor of being the last one to disappear.
Sean looked around and immediately popped out his tricorder, using his left hand to hold up the phaser rifle. He read the scans and began to realize what had happened. His scan had caused the instability. “I get it now.” Sean said to himself as he heard voices in the distance.
He then saw Lucy Camden pop out from behind a bush. “Sean! It’s good to see you. Where are we?”
“The tricorder says that we are in…it’s not sure, but it is M-class.”
“What happened?” Lucy inquired.
“I ran a scan and it accidentally caused the space-time continuum to break down inside the school, transporting you here.”
“How do we get out?” Lucy asked.
Sean pointed to his backpack. “Easy. I brought a portable transporter. Now that I now the spatial frequency of where you were transported I can beam you all back. By the way, where is everyone?”
“They found this huge four-story Fast Food Complex. They went to eat.”
“I see. I’ll take the transporter there.” Sean then looked to see Heather as well.
“Alright, let’s get started. Lucy, you’re up.”
Lucy shook her head. “Nope, I’m staying here with you until the rest of them are gone.”
Sean looked to Heather, who said, “Me too.”
Sean smiled as he powered up the portable transporter.
“Principal’s Log, Day two, after a couple of hours, everyone has been transported back to our dimension or world and the students are home now. The saucer section, with Jordan in command, has also returned to orbit and we are going to have a visitor…”
The command staff of the new school that still had no real name waited on the Main Bridge of the damaged USS Enterprise. While the saucer section had incurred no damage, the Stardrive Section was crippled. “I’m picking up a spatial conduit.” Meagan Hall reported as Sean, Jordan and Heather smiled. “It’s the Enterprise-E!”
Sean looked on screen as the awesome Sovereign-class flagship of the Federation Starfleet flew into view. “We are being hailed.” Andy Blackerby reported.
“On screen.” Sean ordered.
Captain Picard, Commander Riker and Data appeared on the viewscreen. “Hello again, Mr. Sporman.”
“Greetings, Captain. It is agreeable to see you again. As you can see, we require a little assistance.”
“We have just the thing. Number one?”
Commander Riker began to talk. “We’re bringing in a dry-dock for you. It will be fully staffed with Starfleet repair teams that will work around the clock. However, your damage is extensive. That could take two weeks to repair fully. You will find the dock in orbit already.”
Sean smiled. “Thank you.”
“You are welcome. Picard out.”
“Heather, set a course for the dock. Full impulse until Z-minus fifty thousand kilometers.”
“Understood. Taking us in.” Sean saw the dock grow larger on the viewscreen.
“Clear moorings and let the tractor beams guide us in.” A few seconds later, the starship docked with a clank.
“Docking complete.” Meagan Hall reported.
“OK. Let’s get down to the school. But, first, I think we should run a scan…”
“No!” The people on the bridge responded.
“I was just kidding.” Sean replied. The bridge then began to fill with laughter…
On the next episode…
It’s another crossover…but this time…
Is that your final answer?
Who Wants to be a Millionaire meets Gopher’s Gateway for the trivia battle of all time!