Stardate 72239.4; March 29, 2395
EPISODE
7
Edited by Shaun Hayes
Written by Chris Adamek
This is the newly revised (and generally much better) 2007
edition of “Strange Counterpoints.”
If you wish to read the original 1999 version of the episode, it
is available in the commentary.
ADDITIONAL CHARACTERS
None
Prologue
CAPTAIN’S LOG, STARDATE 72239.4: Commander Keller and I are en route to
Sector 4258 after several reports of a gravimetric distortion forming in the
vicinity. While there is no evidence
that it’s related to the Elorg rift, it is strikingly similar to the distortion
in the Alteran Expanse.
Alan Christopher wasn’t too terribly fond of the class-three
shuttlecraft. While they were designed
to traverse reasonably vast distances, their speed was limited, they were
poorly armed, and their amenities were severely lacking. They were also really small, especially when
compared to the Dark Star. As such, Christopher liked to take the Dark Star whenever conditions required
him to make use of a shuttlecraft.
When news of the new gravimetric distortion in Sector 4258 reached the Starlight, Christopher fully intended to
deal with the situation aboard the Dark
Star. Unfortunately, the Dark Star had apparently dealt with a
few too many situations in recent months, for he
quickly learned his favorite craft was in dire need of a baryon sweep. His heart immediately sank.
Baryon sweeps usually took several
hours to perform, and given the amount of baryon particles the Dark Star had collected during its short
tenure, the process would most likely take double the usual amount of
time.
He attempted to stall his departure with Commander Keller until the sweep
was concluded, but Starfleet deemed the situation in Sector 4258 too important
to be delayed. Thus, he and Commander
Erin Keller were relegated to the lowly class-three shuttlecraft Hawking for their
little excursion.
Now, two days later, the Dark Star
sat in pristine condition in the Starlight’s
shuttlebay—and Christopher manned the horrendously lumpy seat at the conn
aboard the horrendously claustrophobic Hawking.
The entire trip might have been less horrendous had there been
something—anything—of interest to do on the way to Sector 4258. But the Hawking
felt like a tomb. Commander Keller had
remained, for the most part, silent for the duration of the trip. On occasion, she would announce their course
and heading, but aside from that… silence.
This was not the Erin Keller that Christopher had expected, as she
seemed more than a little chatty aboard the Starlight.
But in retrospect, it suddenly occurred to Christopher that none of Keller’s
chatty behavior seemed to apply to him.
She spoke to him when necessary and that was about it. The first few hours after this shocking
revelation, Christopher was content to live with it. But as the deafening silence stretched into
an eternity, it was starting to eat at him… He was forming some pretty decent
relationships with everyone else aboard the Starlight. Why not Erin Keller?
He pondered the situation for a while longer before a strident sensor
alert suddenly shattered the silent gloom.
While he could have very easily tended to the situation himself, he
noted that Keller was already doing just that.
“We’re in sensor range,” she said,
tapping a few commands into her console.
“I’m reading a small gravimetric distortion bearing zero-nine-four, mark
six.”
Christopher nodded, relieved that he hadn’t endured all that silence for
nothing. “Is the distortion showing any
signs of verteron radiation?”
Keller quickly glanced at the data.
“No. It’s completely devoid of
Elorg activity.”
They weren’t out of the woods yet, but Christopher allowed himself to
breathe a faint sigh of relief. Given
everything he had been through recently, he was almost expecting a fleet of
Elorg warships to be waiting on the other side of the distortion. It was a good omen, and hopefully, a sign of
things to come.
And since it was apparently safe to approach the fledgling distortion,
Christopher decided to do just that.
“New course heading zero-nine-four, mark six,” he announced, quickly
keying the requisite commands into the helm.
“Maximum warp.”
It wasn’t really necessary to say the course and heading out loud when he
was the one actually plotting the course, but he considered it not only a
courtesy to Commander Keller, but a necessary cessation in the morbid silence
that had been his constant companion the past few days. Without all of these not-quite-exciting
reports and analyses, Christopher was fairly certain the silence would have
driven him to insanity. Prior to this
trip, he did not believe it was possible to go so long without any substantial
conversation. Commander Keller had
proven him wrong.
And as the Hawking jumped to
warp, Christopher suddenly realized he had just condemned himself to another
three hours of silence. At least they
would be the final three hours of silence… until the long, arduous voyage back to the Starlight. But it was
Christopher’s hope the return trip wouldn’t have to be that way.
With the Hawking was happily
cruising along at warp seven, he turned his attention away from his duties at
the helm. “I’m going to reconfigure the
deflector to emit a resonant anti-graviton beam,” he said. It wasn’t much of a conversation, but it was
(hopefully) a start.
Keller sat motionless for several moments; Christopher wasn’t entirely certain
that his words even reached her ears… but then Keller gracefully glanced up
from her console and nodded her
approval. Then she went back to work.
Christopher did the same. He
tapped a few commands into his console, brought up the deflector control
protocols, thought back to the myriad engineering courses he took at the
academy (remembered that he wasn’t much of an engineer)… And then shoved himself away from the helm.
He was through with the silent treatment.
“Talk to me,” he said flatly.
As she looked up from her work, a single lock of auburn hair fell down
into Keller’s eyes. She stared at it for
several moments before gently tucking it back behind her ear. “About what?” she asked.
“I… uh… I don’t know!” Christopher
hadn’t exactly thought that far ahead.
“Anything, I guess!”
Keller shot him a forlorn glare, but chose not to back up the curious
gaze with an explanation. She was
apparently content to sit in dreadful silence for the duration of the trip.
Christopher wasn’t. “I know you
like to talk,” he grumbled. “I see you
do it all the time. And you do it
oh-so-well.”
Keller frowned. “Are you stalking
me?”
Christopher was unable to tell if she was joking or not. So enigmatic was her tone that Christopher
dared not crack a joke in response.
Instead, he spoke the truth.
“No. I just happen to see you
chatting with Lucas and Kendall on occasion.
Then I observe you not
chatting with me… Now I know you guys
value me so much that you place me on a pedestal and treasure my every word,
but really, you can talk to me.”
Keller scratched her forehead. “I
think you should talk with a counselor about that ego of yours,” she said
flatly.
Christopher could take a hint, especially when they were as unsubtle as that.
“Okay, so you don’t want to talk,” he surmised. He could have pressed the issue, but had the
potential to make the voyage home even more
awkward. He tried a different
tactic: “Do you want to get something to
eat instead?”
Keller shook her head. “No. Thanks,” she said. “I’m not hungry.”
Christopher found that hard to
believe since she hadn’t eaten a thing since yesterday afternoon—but he wasn’t
going to force that particular issue, either.
If she wanted to be a moody little wench, it was certainly her
prerogative. For a moment, Christopher
considered dropping the shuttle down to a lower warp to make the trip longer…
as a sort of revenge. But then he
realized it would be punishment for him, too.
And so, Christopher’s attention returned to the deflector controls, and
the resonant anti-graviton beam needed to seal that pesky little distortion in
Sector 4258. At least his mind could
focus on the task at hand. Nary a
distraction in sight…
He sighed. It was going to be a
very, very long trip…