16.8.00

Episode 24

Star Trek: Phoenix-X
"Secret Shuttles, Part I: Commencement"

(On the Phoenix-X, Gotens enters the shuttle bay with a PADD checklist)
Gotens: Okay, now to do my job.
(He counts the shuttles)
Gotens: One runabout, check! And one timeship, check! There, I'm done.
(He sees another one)
Gotens: What the—?
(He reads the inscription on the shuttle)
Gotens: Paroga? That's not on my list? Aw, man. Now I'm going to have to update this and that'll take all afternoon! 

(The senior staff gathers in the Conference room. Matt presents an image of the new shuttle, on screen)
Matt: This is the Paroga-X. The fastest, most agile shuttle-slash-speedster all of Starfleet has to offer. It's got transwarp-follow. It's got torpedoes. It's got multi-phasic shielding and a resizable, stain-resistant cup holder for those random mug shapes. Any questions?
Kayl: Yeah. Who are you?
Matt: I'm Matt, the head of the Paroga Project. Any more questions?
Armond: Can someone please tell me what the X is for? Aliens are always asking us and we have literally nothing to tell them.
Matt: Well, we burned through twenty-four Phoenix-named ships perfecting transwarp, and the same kind of happened with the Pargoa. By the way, the fact we called the transwarp project the X-Project is just a coincidence. 
Kugo: Can the Paroga create temporary conduits?
Matt: No. It was built only to sustain transwarp pressures, therefore being able to enter an already created transwarp conduit. 
Wallace: When can we test it?
Matt: Well, it's not exactly ready yet. There are still a few things we need to tweak.
Kugo: Great! Work. That's not what I signed up for.
Matt: Isn't that what we all signed up for? Anyway, not to worry. You will not be making the adjustments. We had to combine some alien technology to the warp drive to make it function per transwarp since it is a smaller version of the Phoenix-X configuration.
Daniel: What aliens?
Matt: Whale probe, I think. But there are Trill technicians who cracked the miniaturization techniques ours did not have the resources to do. They should be on their way here now.
(The ship shakes from an attack. Red alert goes on)
Matt: Oooh! Maybe that's them.

(Everyone runs to the Bridge to see a Galor-class cruiser swooping around and firing on the Phoenix-X)
Armond: Registry reads as Scorpion.
Gotens: Awww. Soooo cute. Return fire!
(The Phoenix-X blasts two quantum torpedoes at the Scorpion)
Armond: They have undergone heavy damage.
Shane: These Cardassians are forgetting about the Federation's peace treaty with their people.
Gotens: Memory is such a fickle thing. Hail them!
>Tellus: You have something that we want.
Gotens: Money? Women?
>Tellus: No!
Gotens: We have lots of women, you know.
>Tellus: It's that vessel in your shuttle bay!
Gotens: Interesting fetish. I must know more.

(Instead, the Scorpion moves above and slams a tractor beam onto the hull of the Phoenix-X. Armond and Red work the controls and blast out a tractor beam back at the Scorpion while spinning the ship around to face them. The beams disengage and the Phoenix-X fires quantum torpedoes again. The Scorpion takes heavy damage before warping out of there)

(Later, the Scorpion hides behind a meteor. Tellus paces on the Bridge)
Tellus: Damn! Their ship is way too powerful to penetrate. Talk about OP!
(He turns)
Tellus: Well!? You're the advanced one! Don't you have any ideas!?
(A short stubby, long-armed alien stands on the Bridge with him and just shrugs his shoulders)
Tellus: Well what would you know anyway? You eat people for a living.
(The alien gets a hunger and walks towards Tellus)
Tellus (pushes): Aaah!! Get away from me you creepy thing!!
(The alien steps back)
Tellus: Now. We have to devise another plan.

(On the Phoenix-X, Daniel sits on the operating table in Sickbay)
Lox: You've gone through many transformations in the past few months.
Daniel: Tell me about it.
Lox: Well, you went from Changeling to Q, to half omnipotent-Changeling.
Daniel: I didn't really mean for you to tell me about it. Anyway, my body has been feeling a little stringent ever since the X changed me. I have refrained from changing shape ever since.
Lox: My scanners did pick up an unusual temporal flux within your Changeling protoplasm. That could be the X material you claim to have.
(Lox gives Daniel a type of vaccine)
Lox: I'm giving you a certain changeling physiostimulator developed by Doctor Bashir on Deep Space 9. You should be able to change shape more easily now.
Daniel: Great.
Lox: But any change of shape could alter that temporal-X material within you. Anything could happen.
Daniel: Understood, Doctor. But I will need to test this out sooner or later.
(Wallace enters Sickbay and walks over to Lox's computer. Lox and Daniel just look at him)
Lox: Can I help you, sir?
Wallace: Uhhh, no. I was just checking something on the Paroga...
(He immediately leaves)
Daniel: Weird. Check your computer.
Lox (checks): He blocked whatever it was he was accessing?

(Daniel leaves Sickbay just in time to see Wallace turn the corner. Daniel follows Wallace, but doesn't follow him into the shuttle bay)
Daniel: Well, he is the Security chief of the ship. Maybe he's just doing a safety check?
(He leaves. Ensign Dan walks by staring at a fish tank he's holding with two lizards in it sitting on top of each other)
Ensign Dan: Well, they are a male and a female lizard. Maybe she's just giving him a piggyback ride?

(In the Shuttle bay, Wallace approaches the Paroga and opens a hatch on it)
Gotens: And here is the Paroga.
(The Commander and two Trill scientists enter the shuttle bay. Wallace hides)
James: Thank you, Night Gotens. We will contact you if we need any engineers to help. In the meantime, we prefer to work alone.
Gotens: Hey, how'd you know my host name?
James: Uhh, you just look like that kind of host to be named Night.
(Gotens nods and then leaves. The two Trill walk over to the Paroga)
Lex Seifer: What are we supposed to do now? We didn't really come here to fix the Paroga.
James: I know, I know! But we had to kill those two other scientists to get here...
(Wallace hears everything they are saying.)
James (clasps her shoulders): I promise you, Lex Seifer. Before the day is out, we will have it stolen and we will escape!
(Wallace comes out of hiding, aiming a phaser)
Wallace: Oh, no, you won't.
James: Aahh! Wallace?
Wallace: So, first the Cardassians want the Paroga, and now two Trill terrorists? All the more reason for the Paroga to be destroyed.
James: What are you talking about, Wallace? We were just conversing over, uhhh, how we think Voyager will never get home.
(Gotens enters the shuttle bay)
Gotens: Oh and one more thing. If you're thinking Voyager will never get home, then you're probably right. Wait. Wallace? What are you doing??
Wallace (aiming): These two plan to hijack the Paroga.
Lex Seifer: That's impossible! Our ship isn't even big enough to fit a shuttle!
Wallace: They plan to escape on it!
James: Haha! This man is either unfit for duty or drunk!
Gotens: Wallace, put the phaser down. We have no proof.
James: Yeah! You have no proof!
Wallace (holsters): Oh, I'll get proof. I'll get ALL the proofs.

(Later, Gotens enters the Captain's Ready Room)
Gotens: I just don't know what is up with him lately? Wallace hasn't even handed in his security report yet. Instead, I got a PADD with his dry cleaning bill.
(Daniel accesses the control panel on the wall)
Daniel: Wallace has been acting differently lately. That's why I did some checking up on him.
(The screen blinks and then shows a list of deleted records)
Daniel: I found these in our backup systems. Wallace has been secretly communicating with a man named Sloan on an alternative low-frequency Federation transmission for all the time he's served us on the Phoenix-X.
Gotens: He's like a terrible version of Garak! Like, really bad at it.
Daniel: I think we've found our spy.

(Daniel and Gotens step off the turbolift and walk down the hall to Wallace's quarters. Inside, he hears the chime, prompting him to turn off a video call)
Wallace: Come in?
Gotens: What's going on, Lieutenant? Who are you working for?
Daniel (hands a PADD): Three years of deleted transmission records to a secret Federation location with a man named Sloan.
Wallace (gulps): Gulp!
Daniel: Don't gulp! Explain yourself.
Wallace: You can't make me say anything. I have rights! The right to remain silent!
Daniel: Heh. You don't seem to understand. The Phoenix-X isn't like other Starfleet ships. Here, we do things a little differently. Commander?
(Commander Gotens grabs Wallace and slams him against the wall)
Gotens: I throw people now! So, talk! What's going on? Have you been relaying secret Phoenix-X data to an enemy? Are you really human?
Wallace: Aaccckkk!!!
Gotens (loosens grip): Oh, sorry about that.
Daniel: Don't apologize to him!
Gotens: Oh, yeah. That whole bad cop thing. Classic.
Wallace: It's been done to death! I'll just tell you! I am human and I haven't been relaying information to an enemy. I'm a member of Section 31.
Daniel: Section 31?
Wallace: Yeah, it's another section of the Federation. They specialize in fixing political problems that other Federation ships legally can't do.
Gotens (releases): But that's some of what we do?
Wallace: Exactly why I've been sending reports to Sloan. They support the Phoenix-X.
(Gotens and Daniel glance at each other)
Daniel: How can we confirm all this?
Wallace: You can't. You have to take my word for it.
Daniel: Not good enough. Take him to the Brig.
(Gotens picks him up and shoves him to Elly, standing outside in the hall)
Daniel (looks out window): I do not tolerate any secrets under my command.
Gotens: And I do not tolerate anyyy..... umm... secrets.... under my... uhh... command...
Daniel: Don't copy me!

(Meanwhile, Lieutenant Matt strolls into Engineering)
Matt: So this is where you configure the transwarp, eh?
Kugo: Is that supposed to be a joke? Ensign, laugh for me.
Gewdeque: Hahahahaha!
Kugo: Thank you. Get back to work.
Matt: What is the status of the Paroga?
Kugo: The Trill report that they are finished with repairs and the ship should be ready for launch.
Matt (checks): Did you compensate the bubble hull field to the atmosphere inside the ship?
Kugo: No. That is not necessary because the Paroga will not be creating any conduits.
Matt: The bubble field isn't only for conduit construction! It compensates the spatial pressure for Warp-threshold Evolutionary Syndrome! Do you want the passengers of the Paroga to mutate into salamanders??
Kugo: That's not even how evolution works.
Matt: Well, it turned out Creationism was real when Picard discovered the Progenitors, so anything's possible.

(The two Trill enter Holodeck 5. Armond's panel beeps on the Bridge)
Armond: Commander, you'd better take a look at this.
Gotens: So, reporting is too much work for you now?
Armond: I'm picking up reverse polarity from one of the Trill in Holodeck 5.
Gotens: The Trill? Why didn't you pick this up before?
Armond: Well, we never scanned them. When you enter the holodeck, the computer automatically scans you to compensate the program.
Gotens (reads): It's like he doesn't even belong in our universe...
Armond: Sir, I recognize these readings from the Mirror Phoenix-X.
Gotens: Gasp! I'll get on it.

(Meanwhile, on Holodeck 5, a Trill operating room is recreated)
James: There! All we need now is to lure the Commander in here.
(Gotens enters)
Lex: Well, that was easy.
Gotens: Who are you?
(James activates a holographic spider robot)
James: I guess you can't recognize me in this body, Commander. I'm you, James Gotens.
(The spider leaps over the operating table and tackles Gotens to the floor. The spider jabs its metallic leg into the Commander's commbadge and pulls it off him)
Gotens: Arrghh!!
(The spider throws him onto the medical table. The room suddenly fills with holographic doctors)
James: I did some research after I escaped the Mirror Phoenix-X. That star that supposedly created a duplicate Phoenix-X? It didn't. It brought our ship into the Prime Universe.
Gotens: Argh! How could you escape?? The Mirror Phoenix-X and the medical ship were destroyed??
James: Shuttles, Commander. I escaped on one. It's all about the shuttles! No one ever pays attention to those, you know.

(On the Bridge, Matt hands the Captain a PADD)
Matt: The Engineering department reports that it's ready to test fly the Paroga.
Daniel: Well, we're not.
(On screen, the Scorpion is back and swerves around the Phoenix-X. They slam a tractor beam onto the Trill's ship)
Daniel: What are they doing? There's no one on the Trill ship.
(The Scorpion impulses towards the Phoenix-X, ramming the Trill ship into the Phoenix-X's shields. All the ships shake like crazy)
Armond: Shields are going, Captain!
Kayl: Captain, they've beamed into the shuttle bay!! The Cardassian and the--

(Tellus and the weird alien beam into the shuttle bay)
Tellus: There are three shuttles in here, Klokian. Which one is yours?
Klokian, points: That one!

(Daniel runs over to the Tactical station)
Daniel: They weren't after the Paroga. Klokian wants his timeship back.

(Daniel beams himself into the shuttle bay just as the two are getting in the timeship. He aims a phaser)
Daniel: Hold it right there!
(Tellus grabs the handle of the door and holds it)
Daniel: Okay, now stop stealing.
(Klokian walks towards him, threatening to touch him)
Klokian: Klokian body anti-Q...
Daniel: It doesn't matter if you touch me or not anymore. I'm not a Q!
(Klokian hisses in anger. He crouches, about to make a move. Daniel fires the phaser but misses because Klokian leaps through the air backwards to his ship. He lands on his door, breaking it in and pulls Tellus inside. Daniel fires at them, but the door regenerates and blocks the phaser)
Daniel: Damn!
(The timeship hovers above the floor. Daniel jets towards the Paroga and leaps in)
GoyCho, enters: What is going on here? I was just about to align something or other. That's what we engineers do, by the way.
(The timeship smashes through the shuttle bay doors as the Paroga hovers and grabs a hold of them with a tractor beam. Outside, the Trill ship continues to be subjected to the shields of the Phoenix-X. The Klokian timeship drags the Paroga outside into space, passing by the Trill ship as the Trill ship suddenly bursts into a explosion close range to all the ships)

(The holodeck environment starts to destabilize. Objects and holographic doctors flash in and out of the program.)
James: What's going on?
(The Night host and the Lex host are on different beds unconscious and in the middle of an operation)
James: Computer, reroute auxiliary power to the Holodeck. Authorization, Gotens-LSR-55-Omega.
#Computer: Power transfer approved. 

(The timeship drags the Paroga out of the explosion alive. The Phoenix-X and the Scorpion suffers minimal damage. Armond takes command)
Shane: Klokian is going to activate his time machine to escape.
Armond: We must destroy him before he activates it!
Red, takes Tactical: Weapon systems are the only thing offline. Someone is re-routing power to a holodeck.
Armond: Stop it!
Red: I can't. The clearance code is higher than mine.
Matt: Commander, I have an idea.
Armond: Does anyone else have any ideas?
Matt: I'm the else! We can capture the temporal vortex when the timeship tries to jump the timeline.
Armond: How??
Matt: With our transwarp field bubble!
Kugo: That would be like creating a conduit on top of them. That would tear them apart!!
Matt: Trust me. They won't be able to make the time jump!
Armond: All in favour of Matt's crazy plan?
Matt: Aye!
Armond: All opposed?
Everyone: Naayy!!
Kugo: Oh well. Let's do it anyway.
Armond: Very well.

(The timeship drags the Paroga a safe distance from the Phoenix-X. The timeship powers up its engines and begins to flash as the Phoenix-X rotates its nose to point at them. The Phoenix-X stretches into transwarp, right through the timeship and the Paroga and all three ships disappear in a large flash)

(Meanwhile, on the holodeck, the Night host and the Lex host sit up)
James: Excellent. Night Seifer, meet Lex Gotens.
Night: What??
Lex: The Symbiont exchange is now complete.

(Armond activates the screen on the Bridge. The ship is currently in transwarp)
Armond: All stop. Cloak the ship.
(Phoenix-X descends transwarp and the lights dim)
Armond: Where are we?
Red: The Essex system.
Kayl: That's impossible. The Essex system was destroyed when the star went nova almost two years ago.
Kugo: In fact, I believe it was we who caused it to go nova when we first used the Slipstream torpedo here.
Shane: We must've went back in time. Duh.
Armond: I had a feeling that was gonna happen.
(A fleet of seven Romulan ships fly by, cloaking themselves, and heading towards the centre of the Essex system)
Kayl: It's Plutark's fleet. They're going to ambush the Phoenix-X in this time period.
Armond: Forget about them. Our problem is getting back to that timeship and the Paroga. And finding out what the hell is going on. Engage Transwarp.

TO BE CONTINUED...