So I wanted to write a story based on my OC (the character this profile revolves around) Elizabeth (Ellie) Jones. And her adventures on the U.S.S Enterprise.
This is how she arrived on the Enterprise, I took inspiration from the episode Tomorrow is Yesterday, and included dialogue from the episode as well. I hope everyone enjoys this series. I'm not sure how often I will be updating it but I will be writing more as this character is dear to me since she's who I cosplay as a lot.
Read on ao3
Chapter 2
ALSO! Feel free to vote on the poll I have after every chapter 😊
I also have a coffee shop if you enjoy the story 🖖🏻 ☕️
Word count: 11,710 (I was honestly shocked when I read that word count lol whoops 😅)
Warnings: None, though you may cry at the end (I did)
Pairings: None so far
⚠️ 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐈 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐬, 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬, 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞. I also do not give permission to use my story in any AI platform⚠️
Just when you think you've gotten where you’re supposed to be, life's gonna throw something your way, and sometimes it’s best to simply mind your own biscuits, and life will be gravy.
The sun shining through the thin curtains was what eventually woke Ellie up, the alarm though, not yet sounding to tell her that it was time for her daily duties, so she stayed put, enjoying the way the soft blankets kept away the cold that she knew would be awaiting her as soon as she rose. Looking over at the clock and letting out a quiet hum, close to seven a.m, what would another couple of minutes hurt? She tried to remember her dream as her gaze returned to the ceiling, she could remember feeling like she was flying, which was odd because she wasn’t too fond of heights, but it wasn't like uncommon, nor was the feeling like she was in a plane of some sort, though all she could really remember was long hallways and the sounds of muffled voices behind the few doors she passed. Her parents had told her she always had an active imagination and to embrace it, but she couldn't help but wonder sometimes if her odder dreams meant more than just her mind coming up with fantastic places. After all, how many had she had that had come true?
Her alarm suddenly buzzing made her jump and brought her out of her thoughts, tossing her arm over she turned it off, before looking towards the small stream of light that was still coming through the curtains. Sighing, she threw off her sheets and climbed out of bed. One quick face wash and breakfast later she was out the door to tend to her garden. Her beets and turnips were ready to harvest, as well as her cabbage, kale, and broccoli. She also needed to start her seedlings in her greenhouse, so that by the time Spring came they would be ready to plant. A slight shiver ran up her spine as the January wind blew past, sure it was only around fifty four degrees, but that was downright cold for a Floridian.
Setting to work gathering the crates that she would be putting her goods in, she felt a slight feeling of unease as the wind blew again, the sense that something had, or was, shifting in the world. Looking up towards the sky, only a few clouds scattered overhead, but she could still feel it, like a word that was at the tip of her tongue, or a memory right at the edge of her mind. Letting out the breath she didn’t know she had been holding she continued her work.
She wouldn’t get a break until well into the day when her best friend and neighbor Annie stopped by for a visit. She could hear the rumble of the old Ford Ranger long before she even saw it making its way down her dirt road, a noise she had grown quite accustomed to over the years, along with the sight of the blonde who emerged from it. Her hair in a long braided ponytail under her cowboy hat, her jeans over her boots and her flannel over them and under her denim jacket. Her blue eyes were just as bright as the smile she flashed upon seeing Ellie.
“Howdy ma'am” she laughed, looking at the girl who was emerging from the greenhouse.
“Hey Sugar, how'ya doin?”
“Good, though I'd be an awful lot happier if it was warmer” Annie laughed
“I know what you mean, wanna come inside for some coffee?”
“I'd be a fool to pass that up” she laughed but thumbed back towards her truck.
“But before that, got somethin’ for ya" She waved Ellie back to her truck, patting the bed as they both leaned over.
“Oh for heaven's sake!”
“Pound of fresh wool, all cleaned, just hafta spin it into yarn”
“Sugar plum you spoil me”
“Ain't nothin’ , especially with whatcha givin’ me”
“Still. Well if you'd be so kind to bring it up to the shed for me. I'll go get us some coffee and pie, and we'll talk payment”
“You got it”
Annie dropped her tailgate and began getting the wool while Ellie grabbed her harvest and headed towards the house. She popped a couple slices of fresh apple pie onto a couple of plates and was in the middle of pouring the coffee when Annie walked in.
“Man, I swear my hands feel like an iguana in Miami in the middle of winter right now” she sighed while sitting at the table, happily wrapping her hands around the cup Ellie offered her.
“You and your dramatics” Ellie laughed while taking her own seat.
“Ain't dramatics! I swear I can barely feel em!” Annie replied around a mouthful of pie, causing Ellie to laugh.
“So what can I give you in payment?” she asked, and watched as Annie thought for a moment.
“could do with some flour an’ sugar if ya got any. Also black eyed peas are runnin’ little low. Been havin’ them with some rice an’ pork”
“you know you ain't gotta limit yourself right? Whatcha need is yours. The garden is big enough for both of us” Ellie smiled.
“I know, jus’ don't wanna be takin’ without askin’”
“Well I’m tellin you that you ain’t gotta ask”
They fell into easy conversation after that, with the talk eventually leading Ellie to tell her her dream.
“It was interesting to say the least”
“I swear, you ain’t from this planet” Annie laughed, earning a light slap on her arm as Ellie picked up their dishes before pouring them both some more coffee.
“I’m serious! One of these days yer mothership is just gonna come back for ya”
“Well if it does, you get my garden, I’ll make sure of it”
“I’m honored”
After that they talked a bit more, finished up their coffees, and Annie headed back to her home, payment of pies and canned goods in hand. Ellie finished her gardening for the day before retreating back inside as the sun and temperature began to fall.
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Captain’s log Stardate 3113.2 We were on our way to Starbase 9 when we were suddenly attacked by a Drak’Xol vessel. Quickly fighting back, we perused when the Drak’Xols tried to flee, but a black star of high gravitational attraction began to drag both our ship and theirs towards it. It required all warp power in reverse to pull us away from the Star. But, like snapping a rubber band, the breakaway sent us both plunging through space, out of control to stop here, wherever we are.
The crew of the Enterprise began picking themselves and their chairs up off the floor, some still very disoriented from the whiplash.
“Mister Spock.” Kirk called, looking at his second in command.
“Except for secondary systems, everything is out, sir. We're on impulse power only” The Vulcan replied
“Auxiliaries?” Kirk asked him
“If Mister Scott is still with us, auxiliaries should be on momentarily” He stated before reaching down to help Lieutenant Uhura off of the floor where she was still trying to right herself.
“Are you all right, Lieutenant?” He asks her as he helps her to her seat, both of them looking up as the lights come on. She nodded and thanked him while brushing her hair out of her eyes.
“Mister Scott is still with us.” Spock states
“This is the Captain. Damage control parties on all decks, check in. All departments tie in with the record computer. Report casualties and operational readiness to the First Officer. Kirk out.” He spoke into the speaker on the captain's chair. Before turning to Uhura.
“Lieutenant Uhura, contact Starfleet Control. I want them alerted to the position of that black star that's in the area of Starbase 9” He knew he needed to get the report out as soon as possible so that no other ships would be in their position.
“Captain? Casualty reports indicate only minor injuries. Engineering reports warp engines non-operational. Mister Scott overrode the automatic helm setting and is holding us in orbit on impulse power.” Spock reported
“Orbit where?” Kirk asked, turning towards him.
“Earth, Captain. We were on a general course in this direction when we were pulled in by the star. Apparently the breakaway threw us in the same direction.”
“Screen on. Do we know what happened to the Drak’Xol vessel?”
The screen came on, revealing a night sky over multiple farms.
“We are still searching for the other vessel sir, but we are too low in the atmosphere to retain this orbit, Captain. Engineering reports we have sufficient impulse power to achieve escape velocity.”
“Give us some altitude, Mister Sulu.”
“Yes, sir. Helm answering. She's sluggish, sir.” The younger man replied, raising the ship slowly.
“Captain, normal Starfleet channel has nothing but static. I'm getting something on another frequency, but it's not Starfleet.” Uruha Stated, looking very confused as she glanced between Kirk and her panel
“Put it on audio.”
“Echo-Echo-Echo 99.5 from yesterday's greats to today's hits.” The automated voice spoke before a man's voice broke through.
“Hey everyone this is Zane, filling in for Logan today on this fine Saturday night. Thirteen days in, how are we enjoying twenty twenty-five so far? How many new year's resolutions have we given up already? I tell ya, I'm about ready to give up mine” the man laughed before Uruha shut off the audio upon Kirk's request.
“Twenty twenty-five? But how?”
“Whiplash propelled us into a time warp, Captain. Backward. Exact chronometer readings in a few moments.”
“Sir! I'm intercepting another transmission. It's the Drak’Xol” Uruha called out.
“What are they reporting?”
“ship is badly damaged, they are trying to radio for help sir…I don't think they realize where we are”
“Good, that will give us the upper hand, can you lock onto their location?
“scanning for their ship now sir” Spock nodded.
“Transmission is coming from approximately fourty-one miles north of our location sir” Uruha replied.
“Scotty report”
“Warp engines have taken quite the beating sir”
“Would they be able to get us to the Drak’s location?”
“Aye, but yer not gettin’ there quickly, I can make em operational an’ reenergised, but it'll take time, for now, we can't do much more than cost”
“Phasers? Shields? ”
“Phasers an’ Shields are still operational sir”
“Thank you Scotty, keep me informed”
“Aye” with that Kirk cut the communication and turned to Mr.Sulu
“Set course for the Drak’s last known location, if all we can do is cost then that is what we will do” Kirk stated while sitting down in his chair, his hand slightly gripping the arm, how were they going to get back to their own time? And moreover, how to get rid of the Drak’s without anyone of this time seeing them.
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Ellie stirred in her sleep, The same dream as this morning returning to her, the long halls, the muffled voices, the feeling like she was in the air…But this time, she heard Annie’s voice ring out.
“I’m serious! One of these days yer mothership is just gonna come back for ya”
She looked around for her friend, drawing closer to each door to try and find the voice, but each door was like a muffled conversation that she couldn’t understand. She turned the corner towards another long hallway when she saw a woman standing with her back to her, a long ornate blue dress draped from her small frame, her long black hair slung over her shoulder. Ellie tried to speak, ask her where she was, where Annie was, but when she opened her mouth no words came out. But a voice filled her head, not her ears, a mature female voice that she quickly realized belonged to this woman.
”It is time”
Ellie awakened with a start, the image of the woman still fresh in her mind as she tried to remember where she was. But the sounds that should have filled her ears; crickets, bullfrogs, raccoons scurrying around looking for a quick meal, wasn’t what met her in the dark of her bedroom, instead a low hum surrounded her house, what was that? Nothing in this area should have been that loud? Was it a passing plane? Surely not with how slow it was going? It should have been done and gone by now.
Tossing her sheets off she made her way to her window, looking out, not sure what she was even looking for but not really seeing anything in the dark night that surrounded her home.
“What the hell is that?” She wondered out loud as the low hum continued. Grabbing her robe, she tossed it on and reached for her flashlight before heading towards her front door. The cold chill of the night shot through her, causing her to clench her robe tighter to try to fight it off. With clenched teeth she looked up and around, still not seeing anything, at least not out front.
The backyard maybe? Stepping onto the damp cold grass she made her way around the building, another shiver running through her, but this one not because of the temperature. The same feeling as earlier crawled up her spine, that unease that told her something had shifted, and currently, something not good. It was that fear that she was sure prey had when they could sense a predator around, but it was one she pushed down as she pushed on.
At first she didn't see anything out of the ordinary, that is, until she saw a man on the ground face down. She stopped, the chill running through her once more as she thought about every xfiles episode she had ever seen–which is why she wasn’t sure why she moved forward, she didn't know this man and didn't know his intentions once he awoke. Upon getting closer, her flashlight revealed clothing, a very long coat, the hood still over his head, she wouldn’t have even known it was a man if it hadn’t been for the sheer size of him, far taller than her, maybe six-foot six, and broad.
She held her breath as she looked at the man, before very slowly reaching out and rolling him over, but what she saw made her gasp and step back, now regretting ever coming out. This was not a man, not a human at least. It’s face wasn’t even shaped like a human, sunk in cheeks, no nose, only slits. Fangs protruding past its lips, almond shaped eyes slanted upwards far more than normal…and scales.
‘What the hell?’ She found herself wondering as she took another step back, her eyes beginning to water, she knew exactly what she was looking at but her brain didn’t want to say it, and to her horror, the being awoke at the sound of her steps, its eyes landing on her before it stood with a speed that caught her off guard. It grabbed her, spinning her around and pulling her back to its chest, a blade immediately resting against her throat. It spoke gruffly, asking something directly into her ear but she could not understand the language it spoke.
“I-I don’t know what you're saying” she spoke, trying to hide her fear but not being able to stop the small stutter and shiver that ran through her…She was alone…Annie was her closest neighbor and she was miles down the road. It spoke again, this time into something she could only guess was like a phone to it.
“Who are you?” She whispered, but only received a harsh look from the creature before her body began feeling weird, a tingling spreading from her head down, through her arms and legs all the way down to the tips of her fingers and toes. It felt like there were ants crawling all over her skin, and her brain flashed onto tv static, as if this is what it would feel like. She closed her eyes as a light overtook them, and when she opened them again once the feeling stopped, she found herself not outside under the stars…But instead in some…place.
The creature lowered its weapon but pushed her forward, off of the small platform they were standing on before grabbing her arm and dragging her forward. It walked her along corridors that looked like things straight out of sci-fi movies, though with much more broken parts and sparking wires. She only looked away from the creature currently trying to stop a fire inside a wall when she heard the creature speak again in that same unknown language, she turned her gaze and found an even harsher looking one. This new creature looked just as gruff as the first, and second, but she could tell right away that this one was much more dangerous than its counterparts, much angrier, especially when it began yelling at the creature who held her arm tightly. She looked around as they yelled back and forth, trying to figure out just where she was. She had a good idea, but the logical part of her brain didn’t want to say it just yet.
When the yelling stopped she was tugged forward once again, carrying on before they turned right, then left, then right again, so many twists and turns she was sure she wouldn’t be able to remember where she had come from even if she tried to run. Finally they came to a door, a door that soon opened to reveal a room filled with even more of these beings, all whose eyes landed on her as they entered, but it was the one who sat above everyone that made that same icy chill of fear run through her. If its looks weren’t intimidating than its sheer size was, though it looked very similar to the others, she could tell that if it stood it would dwarf the others easily. It shouted at the creature holding her, the creature who quickly spoke back, pointing to her before to the screen in front that showed nothing but the night sky. Their conversation carried on but she couldn’t focus on it as she watched a cloud pass by…they were at cloud level…they weren’t on the ground…these beings weren’t human……she was on a spaceship. Her brain had come to that conclusion early on though she didn’t want to acknowledge it, but now she had to…there was no denying it. She felt her legs give out before she even realized it, the creature holding her arm simply pulling her up and against it as she began to go limp, her vision beginning to blur as the room began to spin. She could feel her breath quickening even as her ears began to ring…she had actually been abducted by aliens…aliens…aliens that she had no idea what they wanted from her but from the overall malice that she felt in the room, she could only assume the worst. Her brain flashed to her dream, was this what the woman had been talking about? Was this supposed to happen? Why?
“—prise”
“—Enterprise”
“Calling the Enterprise” her hearing cleared as the creature, who she could only now presume was the Captain of this ship, called towards the screen. The sudden change to English caught her off guard, but not as much as the screen suddenly showing a man. He looked like he was around her age, maybe a few years older. His light brown hair was what she could only describe as “perfectly-coiffed”to the side. She noted the yellow and black uniform and the top of what looked like some sort of insignia on the left side, but he was human, and that made her hopeful.
“This is Captain James Kirk, if you surrender-“
“There will be no surrender Captain, in fact, it is you who will be giving up your fight” the creature spoke, before gesturing for the other creature to bring her forward. It practically carried her over, grabbing her tighter and pressing its blade once again to her throat.
“We see that you are on your way, if you do not retreat Captain, you force our hand” the new Captain, Kirk, looked at her through the screen, his hazel eyes scanning her no doubt terrified expression before he looked back at the alien captain.
“Mr.Sulu, halt the ship”
“Sir”
“Wise choice Captain” the alien captain smiled.
“We won’t pursue you, now let the girl go”
“Oh, I think we will keep her around for a bit, just to make sure you don’t try anything, they say you are very crafty Captain” and before Kirk could get another word in, the screen went dark, and the alien captain turned towards her.
“Take her to a holding room, she will stay until we say so” and with that, her fate on the ship was sealed.
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“Lieutenant, get them back!” Kirk shouted, quickly standing from his chair.
“I’m trying sir, but they have shut off all transmissions” Uhura replied, pressing different buttons on her control panel. Kirk hit his fist against the railing as he looked back at the screen, leave it to the Drak’s to take a hostage just to save their own tail. He could still see her terrified face in his mind, the poor girl, brought into a world she wasn’t prepared for, from a time she wasn’t meant to see.
“Captain, it would be correct to surmise that the Drak’Xols have come to the same realization about when we are as we have, this would explain why they have resorted to such measures as to buy themselves time”
“Thank you Mr.Spock” Kirk said, though even the Vulcan could hear the underlying sarcasm.
“We have to figure out some way to get her off that ship” Kirk spoke, mainly to himself.
“Engine room to Captain Kirk” A Scottish voice came through the coms
“Kirk here”
“Progress report, sir. Everything’s jury-rigged, but we’re comin’ along with the repairs. We could re-energise in about four hours, but”
“But what, Scotty?”
“Well sir, as I say, the engines are being repaired, but we’ve no place to go in this time. If you, if you see what I mean?” Kirk knew exactly what he meant, they didn’t know if they would even be able to get back home, and now they have a new problem.
“Sir?” Scotty asked, noting the Captain’s silence
“Yes, Scotty. Carry on” he turned off the com and looked back at the screen.
“We may not have anywhere to go, but we have four hours to figure out how to get that girl off of that ship” he stated while sitting back down, his fist coming up to rest under his chin. All he could do was hope she was strong enough to survive that long.
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Ellie was tossed into a room before she could even try to fight, not that she figured she could. And when she turned back to her captor she noticed the door had already closed, no doubt locking as well. She took a moment to look around the room, bare walls, no window, nothing really aside from a single bed, it truly was a cell. Slowly lowering herself onto the bed she finally allowed the tears to fall. She was on an actual alien spaceship, full of beings who were ready to kill her at any given moment, unsure if she would ever see her home again, and not knowing if she would even be able to get out of here, and if she did..where did she go? How did she get back down? She buried her face in her hands as she cried, the overwhelming emotions finally breaking the surface full force as her reality set in.
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“Are you crazy? You can’t just beam aboard a Drak ship! It would be suicide!” Dr.McCoy stated harshly to Kirk, he knew his friend was right, but it was the only way he could see getting that girl off of that ship.
“Not to mention you don’t even know where she’s at in there, you’d be beaming right into a viper pit” he stressed, his southern drawl coming out a bit stronger.
“I know, Spock, is there any way to pinpoint her, someway to distinguish her from the Drak’s on the readings”
“I’m sorry captain, but I would not be able to detect her apart from them”
“We have to figure out something” Kirk stated, wringing his hands as he walked around the med bay.
“Scotty to Spock” the Scottish accent came over the coms yet again.
“Yes Mr.Scott”
“Can I speak with ya down in engineering for a moment?” Spock looked over at Kirk who simply nodded.
“I’ll be right down” and with that he left Kirk and Bones to continue their conversation.
“Jim I gotta ask, what are we supposed to do with this girl once we get her off that ship?” Bones asked, crossing his arms as he looked at his friend, who simply raised an eyebrow at him.
“Jim she’s not from our time, we can’t bring her back with us, we already don’t know if we can go back. Which is a whole other problem, what do we do, sit up here and wait for our supplies to run out, our power to die? It has to eventually, you know. We certainly can’t go back to Earth. There are four hundred and thirty of us, and that means four hundred and thirty chances of altering the future.”
“Yes. But we’re not in that position yet” Kirk assured Bones
“I’m glad to hear it”
“And you’re right, if we do get her, and we do get back where we belong, then she won’t belong. She looked to be around the same age as me, but in our society she’d be lost”
“Maybe she could be trained, educated” McCoy suggested
“Now you’re sounding like Spock” Kirk teased
“If you’re going to get nasty, I’m going to leave”
“But could she be retrained to forget her family? Surly she has one”
”I know I couldn't,”McCoy replied, causing Kirk to sigh.
“What’s that southern saying “we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it”? First things first, we need to get her off that ship”
“Well unless you figure out some way to find her, I’m not sure how much luck we’ll have” McCoy sighed as well.
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Ellie was jostled awake by the sound of banging outside her cell, her eyes opening quickly while everything rushed back to her, she wasn’t in her warm cozy bed, she was on an alien space craft, being held as a hostage for them to be able to safely get away from another spacecraft manned by other humans. Her head hurt thinking about it, this was the stuff out of the sci-fi books her father always read, She remembered how her mother looked up at the stars with her and theorized about the different life forms that were out there. How her and her dad would come up with different plants that could survive on different planets. But she never in her life would have thought that she would find herself in this situation. Who would? Where were these beings from? What planet? Were they from a different galaxy all together? A different dimension? So many questions rattled around in her brain, but she knew she had to somehow get out. The door opening yanked her from her thoughts and one of the creatures walked in, she stood up quickly, pressing herself against the back wall as it made its way inside, its size just as intimidating as the others. It thrust a tray at her while speaking in its language, and as she looked she didn’t even want to know what the different colored blobs were.
“N-no thank you, I'm not hungry right now” she spoke, slowly sliding along the wall to put more distance between her and the creature. It huffed at her answer, seemingly already annoyed by her reluctance to what she could only assume was their food, of course they would want to keep the hostage alive, she was their safety. She looked at the door, knowing fully well she wouldn’t be able to get past him, but her body telling her to run away from the danger anyways. The creature turned back to the hallway when a sudden noise from another circuit exploding sounded behind it, and that was when she saw it. Then, what she could only guess was a gun on its hip. She moved quickly but softly, removing the gun from what she could only guess was some form of magnetic piece that held it to the belt, before she grabbed the tray, successfully hiding the gun under it as she nodded to the creature who was now looking at her.
“I’ll eat” she nodded, watching as it huffed again before walking out and closing the door, none the wiser to its missing weapon.
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Captain’s log Stardate 3113.4
Our engines are still under repair, and we still are unsure of how to return to our own time. What’s worse, the young girl is still being held hostage on the Drak’s ship with no way of us being able to pinpoint her location to beam her out. By now the sun is beginning to rise and our time is running out.
”Engine room to Mister Spock” Scotty’s voice rang out
”Spock here”
”We’ve completed re-energizing the warp engines, sir. We can re-fire em anytime”
“We will do so as soon as we have the girl on board, Engineer. We’ll need all power to test our theory.”
”Aye, sir. Engine room out.”
Kirk looked over at his first officer, a brow raised in a silent question.
”Mister Scott and I both agree that the only possible solution is the slingshot effect, like the one that put us here. My computations indicate that if we fly towards the sun, seek out its magnetic attraction, then pull away at full power, the whiplash will propel us into another time warp.” Spock explained.
”And we would be able to return the girl”
”Logically, as we move faster and faster towards the sun, we’ll begin moving backwards in time. We’ll actually go back beyond yesterday, beyond the point when we first appeared in the sky. Then, breaking free will shoot us forward in time”
”And she won’t remember anything”
”Nothing sir”
”Good, now we just have to get her away from them”
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Ellie sat on the ground in her cell, turning the alien gun over in her hands, she had been around guns long enough in her life that she could easily figure out the trigger and means of firing it, now she just needed her chance…But what was that chance? What would she do? Hold one at gun point and tell them to return her? She would be dead before she could even finish her sentence. Was she going to go down in a blaze of glory? Kill as many as she could before they killed her? A booming knock on the metal door caused her to quickly hide the gun in the waistband of her shorts before the alien bursts into the cell. It held the knife at her before yanking her up by her arm and pushing her out of the room, and she wondered for a moment if it was the same one from earlier that originally brought her onto the God forsaken ship. It grabbed her arm again once she was out of the cell and pulled her along, right back into the room with the giant screen.
“Captain, you and I both know the predicament we are in, and I know you want out of it just as much as we do”
”and yet we aren’t the one taking hostages” the other captain spoke on the screen, Kirk was it?
”Protection captain. I know that you have been scanning our ship trying to locate her to beam her out, but I assure you that you won't be able to find her, these walls block you. Now I know that you have a Vulcan on board who has no doubt figured out how to get you back home, all we require is that same knowledge, unless you would like something to happen in this time”
”what do you mean?”
“Well..” he started, motioning for the alien to bring Ellie forward, he did, quickly standing behind her and bringing the knife back to her throat.
”I wonder, how would killing her change the future? What offspring would never see the world?”
Ellie looked at the screen again, this time noticing more faces besides the Captain, there were two other men in the room with him, one with short black hair, a blue version of the captain’s yellow shirt. His eyebrows were pointed, his expression neutral, but what let you know that this must have been the “Vulcan” the alien had talked about was the fact that he had pointed ears, almost elf-like, clearly not human. The other man wore a similar blue shirt, his hair a dark brown and his blue eyes showed the same worry that Kirk’s did.
”What’s your name?” Kirk asked after a moment, and Ellie glanced around before opening her mouth, unsure if she should speak or not.
”E-Elizabeth Jones…Sir” she stated shakily.
”Elizabeth…We’re going to get you out of there, ok” Kirk told her with such confidence that she actually believed him.
”Momma always said that even in the darkest time, you have to look for the light” She spoke softly, bringing a small smile to the captain’s face.
”That’s right”
”Good, so then we have a deal” The alien captain spoke up, causing Kirk to look over at him, before slowly nodding. The alien guard grabbed her arm and began leading her out and back to her cell. As Ellie stood in her cell she thought of what the alien captain had said, Kirk’s ship had been scanning theirs to try and find her to “beam her out’ she figured that was how she got onto this ship in the first place, remembering the static feeling that had enveloped her whole body before she arrived. But the walls of this ship stopped them from finding her—she looked down at the gun still hidden in her waistband.
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“We can most certainly assume that they will take her with them back to our time” Spock spoke once the transmission ended.
”I know, but what choice did we have?” Kirk sighed as he paced the bridge.
”Poor thing, trying to hold it together even when she’s terrified” McCoy shook his head, his brain remembering her face, how she tried to hide the fact that she was shaking, and her clothes, she had obviously been in bed when everything happened.
”Keep scanning the ship, there has to be someway we can find-“
”Captain” Spock interrupted, looking out of the large window towards the Drak’s ship, Kirk quickly turned, watching as a beam of light blasted out of part of the ship.
”Even in the darkest time, you have to look for the light” Kirk breathed when the com went off.
”Captain! We’ve locked onto her!”
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Ellie racked her brain for the answers to two questions, one, where to shoot? Surely the gun wouldn’t do anything to the walls as just a precaution in case anyone was clumsy with the gun right? And two, if they wouldn't do anything to the walls then where was she supposed to shoot? She tried to think back to the path the alien had brought her down, were there any weak spots that they were trying to fix? Any holes? Any…Windows! She remembered passing under one and seeing the stars above her, it was near where they “beamed in” at, how had she gotten here from there? They turned down so many halls—But it was her best bet…But first, she needed to get out of here.
”You got this, remember, always shoot sure, no time for second guessing when your life is on the line” she nodded, remembering what her brother had told her when he knew she was gonna be livin by herself. Taking a deep breath she took the gun out, finger on the trigger, she banged on the door, yelling as loud as she could and then stepping back, planting her feet and waiting…And sure enough.
The door opened quickly, and an angry alien standing there looking like her was going to punish her for making noise, but he didn’t get to do anything before he was being shot backwards, the beam hitting him square in the chest, the kickback causing her to stumble backwards as well. But she knew she didn’t have time to wait, bolting past the body she ran down the way she remembered coming from, but her ruckus must have caused a stir because when she turned down the first hall she was met with two more, she fired once, ducking back behind the wall just as the second one shot before she leaned back around and shot again, watching as it fell beside the other.
She kept running, turning this way and that, hiding when she could, shooting when she had to. Just as she jumped over another body she found herself falling hard and fast, her body being jerked towards the ground as the not-so-dead alien grabbed her ankle, squeezing it and causing her to let out a pained yelp, she kicked with her other leg before bringing the gun down and firing once more, causing its not dead body to release her ankle. She stood once more though a little less steady as the pain in her ankle grew worse, but she knew she had to keep going. Rounding another hallway she felt her eyes water as she saw the window, would this cause some sort of suction that would cause her to go flying into space? Maybe. Was she willing to take that risk rather than die by the hands of some sort of reptilian alien? Absolutely, after all, this Captain Kirk would be able to find her if she was floating in space right?
She looked back at the gun, having noticed earlier the, what she could only assume was a power dial, and cranked it all the way up. She pointed it up towards the window and looked down the hallway, her hand faltering as she noticed the hallway was not the one she had just ran down, but rather, the one from her dream. The same woman stood at the end, her face still hidden, but she turned her head slightly and that was when Ellie noticed them—Her elf-like ears.
”It is time” She once again heard in her head, and her finger immediately pulled the trigger, her mind not even registering her doing it. She looked back up at the beam now shooting out into the darkness and she hoped it would be enough for them to see.
”Even in the darkest time, you have to look for the light” she heard her mother’s voice in her head this time, and she smiled as she felt the same static feeling start taking over her body, her finger letting off of the trigger, stopping the beam as a tear slid down her cheek. The next thing she knew she was standing on a platform similar to the one on the alien ship, but this time it wasn’t an alien she saw when she opened her eyes, it was a young man in a red jumpsuit. Followed quickly by the three men she had seen earlier on the screen running in through a door. She was off the alien ship, she was safe. Her legs started to give out before even realizing it, the adrenaline wearing off to reveal her state of exhaustion, but the Captain was quick to catch her.
“Are you alright?” He asked her while handing the gun off to one of the other men, and she could only nod, new tears springing up. He held her as she cried, part of her hated it, she hated crying in front of people, but at that moment the weight of everything was too much to worry about saving face.
“I didn't know…If it would work…But I had to try” she managed softly as her tears dried.
“You were very brave,” he told her, handing her a piece of cloth to dry her tears.
“Did they hurt you?” One of the other men asked, she looked around the Captain, it was the other human, the one with the bright blue eyes.
“No-” she started, but the dull ache in her ankle reminded her that she was in fact hurt. She looked down at it, it was clearly swollen, and the hand shaped bruise was already forming.
“I thought he was dead but, one of them grabbed me and pulled me down…It felt like he was going to snap my ankle,” she explained. The man was already kneeling and looking at it, before he made a noise and stood up again.
“An easy fix, but I'll have to get her to sickbay” he told the Captain. Just then a voice came over what she could only assume was some sort of loudspeaker in the room, a Scottish accent asking for the Captain and Mister Spock.
“We'll be right down Scotty” The Captain had replied before turning back to her.
“Elizabeth, this is Dr.McCoy, he'll take care of that ankle for you ok?”
“Ok” you nodded, watching as the Captain gave one final smile before he and the Vulcan that she now knew was “Mister Spock” left the room.
“Come on Darlin’, let's get you fixed up” McCoy stated, holding out his hand for her to take to step off of the platform, she stepped lightly, careful not to put a lot of weight on her ankle.
“This is all so crazy” she muttered as they walked down the hall, the halls from her dream.
“Not everyday you see a spaceship in these parts?” the doctor tried to joke, and watched as a small smile came to her lips.
“No, despite all the “aliens abducting cows” rumors everyone says about farms”
“I noticed all of the farmland, where exactly are we if you don't mind me asking? Haven't had much time to look at a map” he asked while leading her into a room that held quite a few beds, all covered in red fabric that glittered in the artificial light, each having a screen above it that she could only guess would measure heart rate and such.
“North Florida, near the Alabama and Georgia line” She replied, taking a seat on the bed he motioned to while she watched him grab a couple of small devices from a nearby table.
“You don't say? Well it's nice to meet a fellow southerner” he smiled while walking back to her.
“I thought I detected a drawl” She replied, giving him a small smile while she watched him wave the first small device around her ankle.
“Yes ma'am, Georgia”
“I was born there, but momma and daddy moved to Florida when I was still a baby”
“Well, lucky for you they didn't move far, this area still looks like Georgia” he told her while standing up after wrapping the second device around her ankle. She knew what he was doing, small talk to try and ease her during an event that would make anyone lose their mind. She had been abducted from her home by reptilian-like aliens, held hostage, barely made it out only to be on yet another spaceship.
“Maybe Annie was right” she mused to herself, but her words once again caught the Doctor's attention.
“Oh?”
“My friend, she always said I wasn't from this planet, and one day my mothership was gonna come back for me”
“Now why would she say a thing like that?” He asked while removing the device after it beeped, the bruise on her ankle now gone, along with the pain.
“My dreams” she spoke, glancing towards the door when she heard another open.
“Your dreams?”
“I often dream of things that happen, like this ship actually” She paused for a moment as the Captain and Mister Spock entered the room
“--Before everything, I dreamt about the halls here…They were empty, but they looked the same” She finished, deciding to not mention the woman who she also saw while she was very much awake on the other ship.
“Precognitive dreams” Mister Spock spoke, earning a raised brow from the Doctor.
“Some would say there is no “logical” proof behind those” he stated in a gruff yet teasing manner.
“While there is no scientific evidence for precognitive dreams there are many who experience them, oftentimes they can be dismissed by things the dreamer stored in their subconscious while awake and their minds simply creating a possible future scenario while asleep. Miss Jones on the other hand, had no prior knowledge of our existence, let alone the interior of our ship doctor” Mister Spock answered smoothly, his tone not giving away the teasing that Ellie could sense at the end of his little speech, and she wondered if the Doctor understood that when he simply rolled his eyes.
“You have these types of dreams often?” The Captain asked.
"Ever since I was a kid” she shrugged.
“Interesting” he nodded, before asking
“Well, how are you feeling?”
“Like I’m in some weird parallel universe” She spoke with a small smile, earning a laugh from the man.
“Yes I'm sure you are”
“But my ankle feels great, y'all got a lot better gadgets in the future that's for sure”
“Good I'm glad, that was what I wanted to ask you also, if you're feeling up for it, we can show you around the ship, we have a little bit of time before the sun is fully up and we can take you back”
“Oh right, beaming me back down” She nodded, getting up from the bed.
“Well…yes…but–” he paused, causing her to look at him.
“But?”
“Well to get back to our time we will have to go back a bit, in time that is, and that is when we will beam you down, before any of this–You won't have anything to remember, because it never would have happened.” He finished, and for some reason that thought made her stomach drop, she wouldn't remember any of this? Surely she could live without the parts that would no doubt cause nightmares in the future, but so far, being on this ship was nice.
“Darlin'?” The doctor called her after she hadn't responded.
“S-sorry, right, yeah, that would probably be best…Not remembering." She nodded, knowing that her voice and words didn't match. Before she put on a fake smile and added.
“I mean, people in my time aren't supposed to see stuff like this, heck we're still debating if we actually went to the moon or not. So I’d love to see it…The ship I mean…Before I forget—everything”
”Right well, why don’t we let you get changed first, I’m sure you’d feel more comfortable in one of our uniforms” The captain nodded towards the dress they had placed on her bed, once again reminding her that she was in her simple night clothes, and that maybe a tank top and short shorts wasn’t the most appropriate outfit to walk around in, even if she had a robe as well.
”Oh! Yes, thank you” she nodded, and watched as the three men turned and left the room, she struggled a bit with the zipper once she got the garment on, but was also shocked by how well the red fabric shaped to her…Almost as if it was supposed to be hers all along. She put on the boots they had given her as well and made her way to the door, stopping when she could hear the conversation just on the other side.
”We can’t ask her to just throw her life away Bones, she must have family here, friends, maybe even a husband, you’re suggesting a girl from the twenty first century leave everything behind and travel to a time that may be overwhelming for her” The Captain’s voice spoke.
”I ain’t asking her to, I’m just suggesting that she may want to, you saw the way she looked when you told her she would forget everything, poor thing looked like a kitten in a pet store window” McCoy's voice replied.
”The choice would be up to her, she may want to, but she would also need to know the training she would have to undergo just to simply adjust” Mister Spock’s voice added.
”And that would be something we could provide if she did decide to stay” The Doctor told him.
She thought about their words, would she want to stay with them? Go back to whatever time in the future they were from? What about her farm? What would Annie tell her?
“Adventures are like lightin’ they don’t strike the same place twice, so when one comes gallopin’ up, you gotta grab that bull and hol’ on fer those eight seconds, cause it’s gonna be one heck of a ride”
“You will have to choose” she heard in her head, causing her to turn quickly, coming face to face with the woman she could see clearly now, her skin pale, eyes dark, expression neutral, long black hair pushed back behind her elf-like ears.
”Who are you?” She whispered.
”We all had to make a choice at some point in our lives that would forever shape it, this is your moment, when the time comes, your choice will decide what path your life will take…Choose it well ashayam” she told her, just as the door behind Ellie opened, revealing the three men who were shocked to see her standing there.
”Is everything alright?” Kirk asked, and Ellie looked back, the woman now gone.
”O-Oh, yes, I was just…Looking around, I usually don’t like hospitals but this one seems nice” She smiled, hoping her lie would fool them.
”It is, unless you’re in here often” the Captain joked, earning a look from McCoy, she smiled at their friendship before her eyes met those of Mister Spock, his eyebrow raised slightly and she knew that if anyone saw through her lie, it was him, quickly breaking eye contact she looked towards the other two men.
”Thank you again for the uniform, I do feel much more…Presentable” she smiled.
”of course” Kirk smiled back
”And I must say, it looks like it was made for you,” McCoy added.
”I am shocked by that, I don’t think I have ever had a borrowed outfit fit so well before, I’m chalking it up to future fabric” she laughed while she stepped out of the room and followed behind the Captain, being flanked by the Doctor and Mister Spock.
They showed her the recreation room, and the replicators which she found to be one of the coolest features on the ship in her opinion, though the Doctor said she would start missing real food after a while. They showed her the theater, and the chapel, she jokingly asked how many people had gotten married on board, and Kirk told her that it was his duty to marry the crew members, and in his time being Captain he had performed close to fifty weddings, she was shocked, until he told her there were four hundred crew members on board.
”four hundred?!”
“That is a typical crew for a heavy cruiser constitution-class starship” he explained.
“This is so crazy…So what does this ship do? Or I guess I should ask, what is your mission?”
“To explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before” he explained with a smile, and for some reason it really hit her, in that moment…These people…These were people doing what her generation were only dreaming of. In her time they were sending out satellites, drones, things to just take pictures of the nearest planets. They had a space station, sure, but no other attempts had been taken to go to the moon. Everyone talked about the possibilities of aliens, about crop circles and ufo sightings and yet here she was, having been rescued from one form of alien and standing right next to another…She was witnessing her civilization's future, talking to it.
”You ok Darlin?”
”I think the situation may have finally settled in Captain”
”Sorry—sorry I guess it did” She laughed
”I used to talk to my parents all the time about different possible types of civilizations on other planets, what their laws, religions, cultures, things like that would be. What their flora and fauna was like, their history…But it was all just a dream you know? We don’t go to other planets, we send computers, robots to do the exploring for us…But you guys”
”Are doing just that" The Captain finished with a small smile.
“yeah” she breathed while shaking her head.
”It’s just crazy, and also…I guess, gives me hope. Knowing that all isn’t lost , that we get there eventually” she finished as they began to walk again.
”It isn't without hardships first, but we do make it” Kirk nodded and they continued to show her around, they showed her the Briefing Room, the Gym, and The Mess Hall where she met a woman named Janice Rand who Ellie had to admit, reminded her a bit of Annie.
”What is a Yeoman?” She asked after Janice left
”An enlisted crew member who performs administrative and clerical duties, often serving as a personal assistant to a high-ranking officer” Mister Spock responded.
”Oh, thank you” she nodded with a smile, earning a nod back, she was quick to note that his expression seemed to never leave the neutral one he always wore.
They took her to the engineering room next where she met the owner of the Scottish voice she had heard over the loud speaker.
”Nice ta meet ya lass” The man who she learned was named Scotty smiled at her.
”you as well”
”How is everything?” The Captain asked.
”Some things ar’ gonna take longer to repair, but everythin’ is ready to go when you are”
’Whenever they send me back’ she thought, her mood changing as she thought of going back, and of what the woman had said.
”How-How will this even work?” She asked, she wanted to know, even if she wouldn’t remember.
”If we fly toward the sun, seek out its magnetic attraction, then pull away at full power, the whiplash will propel us into another time warp like the one that brought us here to your time” Mister Spock explained.
”Like a slingshot effect”
“Precisely"
”Logically, as we move faster and faster toward the sun, we'll begin to move backward in time. We'll actually go back beyond yesterday, beyond the point when we first appeared in the sky. Then, breaking free will shoot us forward in time, and we'll transport you back before any of this happened.”
”So I won’t remember anything," she nodded, before thinking of something and looking at Scotty.
”What if you can’t pull free of the sun?”
”Oh, we'll do that all right Lass. We'll not be getting so close that my engines couldn't pull us out. What I am worried about, sir, that we may not have much control when we're thrown forward again” Scotty added while turning to the Captain.
“Helm control?”
“Braking control, sir. If I can't stop us soon enough, we may overshoot our time, and if I stop the engines suddenly the strain may tear us apart. Anyway we do it, it's a mighty rough ride.
“Well, gentlemen, we all have to take a chance. Especially if one is all you have.” Kirk told everyone, before turning back to her
“Come on, there’s one more place I want to show you” She nodded, following him out after saying a quick goodbye to Scotty…A man she wouldn’t even remember in a little bit.
”What do you do down there Miss Jones? What is your life like?”
”Quiet…I run the farm, make baked goods with things I grow and sell them at the farmers market every weekend, that along with my little online crochet shop are enough to pay the bills”
”Friends?”
”I have Annie, she lives some miles away on another farm, we trade a lot, she’s got all the farm animals while I have all of the vegetables, and fruits, and things…but she’ll be busy soon”
”Why is that?” McCoy asked
”She’s getting married in the spring, found herself a cowboy, and honestly, he’s a perfect fit for her. Keith compliments Annie so well, I always joke and tell them their soulmates”
”And you? You have anyone waiting for you?” He asked, she simply shook her head.
”Never really gave much thought to dating, I tried but, never found a good fit, so I put it on the back burner, made the farm my priority”
“Family?’ the Captain inquired.
”I have brothers but…they live in different states, got families of their own so I really only hear from them on holidays. I stayed behind to help momma and daddy with the farm, so they left it to me when they—“ She stopped herself, even if it had been awhile, it was still a sore spot for her, her parents were her best friends before Annie.
”I see” was all the Captain said as they stepped off of the elevator they had been on, neither the Doctor or Mister Spock commenting on her lost words, it seemed even they knew when to not touch an exposed nerve. She followed Kirk to another door, watching as he entered the new room and stepping aside so she could see. She could only guess this was the “helm” as she found herself in a room with a few other people in it, all pressing buttons and looking at screens, in the middle sat a chair she could only assume was the Captain’s chair, but what caught her attention was the large window that showed just how high they were. And though she was afraid of heights, she found herself not being able to look away…They were in space…She was in a spaceship, this had all really happened.
”Sir we are still tracking the Drak ship, they are preparing to leave” A woman spoke somewhere behind her, but her eyes never left the window.
“Thank you Lieutenant Uhura”
This all had happened—And she wouldn’t remember any of it.
”Elizabeth, I brought you up here because I wanted to talk, get to know you and your situation, to know if I should even offer this” The Captain spoke beside her, and she finally tore her eyes away from the stars to look at him.
”When we do this, we can have you on the transporters, beam you down and give you back the quiet life you know”
The quiet life she knew, waking up, harvesting, canning, baking, cooking, crocheting, going to bed to the sounds of the crickets and ac, only to wake up and do it all over again. Days monotony only being broken up by visits from Annie which may become less once she gets married, and the markets on the weekends.
”Or”
”Or?”
”Or, you can stay right here” He motioned around the room.
”And come back with us”
”With you?”
”Yes, it may take you some time, to adjust, to learn, but we can help—but only if you want to”
She could go with them? To a time that wasn’t hers and yet…Could be. She thought about Annie, about her brothers once more. Would they miss her? Maybe.
“Adventures are like lightin’ they don’t strike the same place twice, so when one comes gallopin’ up, you gotta grab that bull and hol’ on fer those eight seconds, cause it’s gonna be one heck of a ride”
Annie’s words rang in her head again, a smile gracing her lips as she thought of the spunky blonde. She would miss her wedding, miss being the cool aunt to the mess of kids Annie would no doubt have. She thought about her brothers, her sisters-in-laws, her nieces and nephews. She wouldn't see them grow up and grow old, not that she saw much of them that much right now anyways.
“We all had to make a choice at some point in our lives that would forever shape it, this is your moment, when the time comes, your choice will decide what path your life will take…Choose it well ashayam”. The woman's voice rang in her mind again, her choice will decide what path her life will take. She could get on the transporter, go back to her home, to her time, and live her quiet life. Maybe find a husband, maybe grow old and alone in that little farmhouse. Or she could stay here, a time that she was never meant to see, learn of it, learn from it, and who knows what she would find and experience along the way. She found herself blinking away the few tears that tried to spring up as she made her decision, even if it was hard to say goodbye.
”I’d like to stay”
”Then you can stay” Kirk smiled, nodding down to his chair where she followed, watching as he sat down and pressed a button, soon Scotty’ voice was heard.
”Aye sir?”
”Ready down there Scotty?”
”Ready when you are Captain, shall I tell the transporter room to expect Miss Jones?”
”No that won’t be nessacary” Kirk stated while looking over at her with a smile. He hit a button again and she watched as everyone assumed their stations, Mister Spock heading to a control panel to her right, and McCoy coming to stand on the other side of the Captain’s chair.
”Ahead warp factor three, Mister Sulu.”
“Warp factor three, sir.” Another man in the same yellow uniform spoke, pushing a lever slightly forward,
“Take a good look around, Elizabeth. You made it here after all.” he told her, and she thought of all the conversations with her parents.
”Yeah…I did”
“Sir, our speed is increasing. We're travelling at over warp eight.” Mr.Sulu spoke
“Mister Spock” The Captain spoke, looking over at him
“Since we've passed Mercury, the sun's pull on us has increased greatly. From here, we'll move even faster. And Captain, notice the chronometers. They've started backward. Minute by minute, the speed of time passage will now increase.” He stated, and she looked over at them, they were in fact moving backwards…She was moving backwards in time, before getting beamed onto this ship, before being abducted, before going to bed, even before Annie came to trade that day.
“Elizabeth…Are you sure? This is your last chance”
”All my friends call me Ellie…And I’m sure sir” she smiled, watching as Kirk smiled back.
“Approaching breakaway point. On the countdown. Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.” Mister Spock counted down
“Now, Mister Sulu.” The Captain called to the man and the ship lurched sideways, causing Ellie to grab ahold of the railing behind her.
“More power, Mister Sulu.”
“It's maximum now, sir. She's fighting it.” Mr.Sulu called back, just as the ship lurched again, throwing Ellie and everyone else forward, Kirk caught her just before her face connected to the ground.
“Thank you”
“We've broken free and are heading back.” Mister Spock stated.
”Gaining speed now, Captain. We're now at warp four, warp seven. Eight. Off the dial, sir.” Mr.Sulu spoke
”Past Pluto, sir.” Mr.Sulu updated and she watched as planet after planet passed, all the ones she learned by song, now turning into simple specks behind her.
“What's our reading, Mister Spock?”
“Approaching our century, Captain. Braking should begin now.”
“Bridge to engineering. Begin full braking power.”
”Pulling away from the sun weakened them, sir. They may blow apart if I reverse.” The Scottish voice rang out and Ellie looked over at the Captain with wide eyes, she totally forgot about the fact that Scotty had said they may not make it though this process, did she stay on this ship just to die?
”No choice, Mister Scott.”
”Aye, sir.”
”Fifty years to go.” Mister Spock stated
”Engines cutting back, sir. No decrease in speed” Mr.Sulu added
“Forty, thirty.”
“Never mind, Mister Spock” The Captain spoke quickly grabbing Ellie again just as the ship lurched for a third time, he held her close as she grabbed the arm of the chair.
“The engines!” Mr.Sulu called out..This was it…This was how she went.
”Engine room to Bridge. Engines are on full reverse. They're buckling! Bridge!”
The ship began to slow.
“Mister Scott is still with us.” The Captain sighed as everything leveled out and returned to stable footing.
“Captain” The woman behind her called, Kirk let her go and made his way over to her as Ellie heard a voice coming through the radio.
‘Starfleet Control calling Enterprise. Come in, Enterprise’
“Open a channel, Uhura.” He told the woman, she nodded and pressed a button
“Frequency open, sir.”
“Starfleet Control, this is the Enterprise. Captain Kirk speaking”
‘Record ship arrival, dear.’ A female voice came through, and Ellie found herself holding back a giggle at the Captain’s expression, it seems someone pranked him by changing what she could only assume was the ship’s AI voice.
‘Enterprise, this is Starfleet Control. Come in, please.’
“Starfleet Control, repeating message. The Enterprise is home” The Captain spoke with a smile, his eyes looking over at Ellie, before looking back at the controls.
”We were attacked by a Drak ship, they should still be in the area, their ship was damaged and we aren’t sure how far they will be able to travel.
”Understood Enterprise, we will send another ship out to your location to find it”
”Thank you, Kirk out.” Ellie turned back to the window, she was in the future, she wasn’t sure when, and currently, she wasn’t sure where…But she was in the future.
”Well Ellie, why don’t we get your sorted huh? I’m sure we have an open quarter for you”
”I think I would like that very much sir” she nodded, following him and the Doctor out of the room.
Meanwhile, back on Earth.
Annie made her way down the dirt road she had been down many times. Her old Ford Ranger kicking up dust and alerting Ellie to her presence…At least it was supposed to.
“Wonder where she is?” She stepped out into the yard and made her way around the back to the garden, expecting to see a head of brown curls bobbing around, but the garden gate was still locked.
“Did that girl sleep in?” Annie smiled, going up to the door and using the key Ellie had given her years ago to let herself in. She crept towards the bedroom, suppressing her giggle so she could scare her friend, but her boo dyed in her throat when she saw that the bed was empty. She ran to the bathroom door, but again it was empty, she began calling out to her friend but silence was the only reply she received. She turned to leave, to run to the phone and call the sheriff, when an envelope with her name written in red on the dresser caught her eye. She slowly reached for it and pulled out the two pieces of paper inside.
“Dear Annie, if you're reading this, I'm not there…You may not have been far off when you kept saying that one day my spaceship was going to come back for me. I keep having dreams about space, they are like the ones I had when I was a kid, I'm flying through space, sometimes it's just me, sometimes I'm in some form of a ship. I also keep dreaming about this place, I don't know where it is but I know it's not Earth. I'm far away from the city, but I can see it from the desert like mountains I'm standing on. It's huge, architecture that I have never seen before, and a sky as red as a blood orange. It's hot, but not humid. Every time I go there, or have the space dreams I awake feeling like something is drawing closer, an event, a decision, and when that time comes…I'm not sure what I will choose. But if you find this, and my bed is empty, know that I thought everything over, and I decided that you were right, maybe I am from another planet. I love ya Annie, and I will always remember you. Tell my brothers I love em too, thank you for everything Annie. Your best friend always–Ellie.”
Annie sat on the bed, reading and rereading the note. She knew about Ellie's dreams, she knew a lot of them came true, and she wondered if something that crazy could actually happen. She looked at the second paper, it was the deed to Ellie's land, with her name on it.
Annie would still call the sheriff, and a missing person report would be filed, though nothing would come of it. Ellie's brothers would help in the search but also knew of her dreams since she had been having them since she was a kid. Years would pass and Annie would marry Keith and have a little girl who she would name Ellie May in honor of her best friend. She would tell her daughter of her best friend who was secretly from another planet and only lived on Earth for a short time before her mothership came back to help her. This would cause Ellie May to grow up loving space, getting a job at Nasa when she got older, and becoming one of the first astronauts to step foot on Mars, leaving behind a small drawing of a heart with the letters E.J. in the red planet's sand in honor of her aunt from another planet.
The first part is done! Again, I didn't realize this was this long until it was done lol. So this is how my OC Ellie got onto the Enterprise. Not gonna lie, I teared up writing the bit about Annie and Ellie May at the end but I wanted some sort of closer for those characters and I felt like that was fitting. NOW! I'm going to do these polls at the end of every "chapter" because I feel like it would be fun to see the results. As of right now in the story and in my mind, Ellie has no love interest, but if she did...
Who could you see her ending up with in the future?
This is how Stardates in TNG and DS9 (and supposedly TOS, even though Gene Roddenberry is on record saying they were random numbers) were *supposed* to work, from the Official Star Trek Fan Club of the UK #4 (1994). By Terry Jones.
The TOS Stardates are making me lose my goddamned MIND
I'm playing very fast and loose with stuff from the get go, so bare with me here.
We are told that the tens position for stardates indicates individual days (meaning XXX1.0 is one day before XXX2.0) although it is never specified if this is in Earth terms, being a 24 hour difference, or if there has been a standardized measurement of time for space travel that goes beyond the Earth system. This would make more sense, although it proves to be a dead-end for those of us trying to quantify how long each mission takes in a mathematical language we can understand.
The first mission for the Enterprise crew is Where No Man Has Gone Before, the pilot episode, whose first captain's log takes place on 1312.4. The final mission is All Our Yesterdays whose first captain's log takes place on 5943.7. Gene Roddenberry and many people who worked on The Original Series have stated that each season roughly counts as one year of the total five year mission with the (technically non-canon) Animated Series serving as the final two years.
Three years contains a total of 1095 Earth days whereas the difference between the first and final captain's logs show a difference of 4631.3 days, or 12.69 years in Earth terms (if we wish to view these dates as exactly three Earth years apart which I understand is a rather crucial point of fallacy on my part). If we divide the total stardate number by total Earth days, we learn that one day by Earth standards equates to 4.2295 stardate days.
I'm not going to talk Interstellar here (mostly because I actually secretly don't like it), but by utilizing the physics of time explored in that film, one can assume that 4.2295 stardate days would feel like 1.0 Earth days aboard the Enterprise and otherwise during space travel meaning a sense of circadian normalcy is most likely kept during the mission. Furthermore, we have no concept of time on other planets when the crew goes topside which also factors into stardates. All of this is well and good, but I'm running up the walls watching this damned show in order.
The largest gap in stardate occurs between the episodes The Squire of Gothos (stardate 2124.5) and What Are Little Girls Made Of? (stardate 2712.4) in which a total of 812.1 stardate days, or 192.0 Earth days, go by without incident. Of course, there are several episodes in which the stardate is unknown which could have occurred in this gap, although I tend to doubt it.
This leads me to a series of particular questions: what do you mean What Are Little Girls Made Of happens 331.0 Earth days after the first mission?? I thought the majority of season one was supposed to take place in approximately 365 Earth days. What do you mean the next episode (Miri) takes place less than seven Earth hours after it??? Who authorized this? No wonder everyone has such a bonkers time during Shore Leave - they clearly all need a break.
Brief Description: "StarDate is the public education and outreach arm of the University of Texas McDonald Observatory." (via StarDate.org)
Listen to How to do Everything here
Brief Description: "Half advice show. Half survival guide. Half absurdity-fest. (Wait, how does this work again? We're not numbers people.) Each episode, we answer all your burning questions, from how to survive a public bathroom to how to get close to a panda. When we don't know the answer, which is roughly 92% of the time (again, not numbers people), we bring in overqualified experts to help out. " (via NPR.org)
