North Polarity

Rudolf, Make It So

As the sun rose over the icy plains of the arctic, Santa sighed, knowing his time was growing ever closer. He turned away from from the sunrise to grab some breakfast from the replicator.

"Milk. Two percent reduced fat. Cold."

He raised the glass to his lips, taking a long sip before turning on his comm.

"Rudolph. Report to my ready room at once."

While he waited for Rudolph, Santa took a look around his ready room. The walls and ceilings were painted green and white, all carefully sealed to keep out the cold and the radiation. Every once in a while, Santa calls in the maintenance crew to make sure all the seals are still in proper order; the conditions in the North Pole are unforgiving, to say the least. He turned back around to gaze out his window once again. Far off in the distance he thought he could see a snowman. It moved slowly but powerfully, its muscles rippling in the light of the rising sun. Santa shuddered, thinking that the abomination he saw out the window could have been a man just like him had he not been exposed to so much radiation. Run ins with snowmen were oftentimes fatal; they have absolutely no humanity left in their souls - if they even have souls. The door opened and Rudolph trotted in.

Rudolph was, of course, a reindeer. The high levels of radiation killed off most of the reindeer, but for the ones that survived, it endowed them with some degree of sentience. Rudolph certainly wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he was certainly the brightest bulb in the box. Over time, his journeys with Santa by the site of the old reactor had caused his nose to mutate and glow a dark red. His red nose only added to his fierce visage. Rudolph was known around the reindeer community for being quite skilled at killing snowmen. Santa motioned for him to sit down before leaning forward to speak.

"Rudolph. You know it's getting to be that time of year again. I've had Dasher down in engineering make sure the hazard sleigh is ready. The radiation levels seem to have decreased this year, but it looks like there are still some key areas around the world in need of medication. Comet has mapped out all the cities we need to hit this year, and I've already punched the coordinates into our navcomputer." Santa shifted around in his seat a little uncomfortably.

"Sounds pretty straightforward, Captain. Was there... Anything else you wanted to talk to me about?" Rudolph recognized the look in Santa's eyes. They had been working together for many years now.

"Rudolph... It's... Wesley. He's dead."

Rudolph blinked. "Captain. With all due respect, who is Wesley?"

Santa looked back at Rudolph in Relief. "Oh, good. I actually had no idea either, I just got the report here a few minutes ago."

"I see. Well, may he rest in peace. When are we heading out, captain?"

Santa checked the time. "In a few minutes. Meet me in hanger bay 17."

"You got it Captain. See you there."

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Santa sat with Rudolph in the hazard sleigh. All the preparations were in order and now Rudolph just waited for Santa to give the order.

"Rudolph, warp nine, engage!"

Rudolph set their course for the first major stop, the Mojave Desert. They sailed over the icy plains and soon found themselves flying over the ocean. Looking down over the water, Santa kept a close eye on the navcomputer, wanting to be sure he made no mistakes. As he was busy inspecting his itinerary for the night, Rudolph interrupted him and a red light began flashing.

"Captain. It looks like we may have company."

Behind Santa's hazard sleigh, two fighters came screaming in pacing Santa and firing at his engines. Santa grit his teeth, knowing exactly who they were before even seeing them.

"It's the Grinch isn't it... That green bastard can eat my photon torpedoes."

Santa tried breaking into evasive maneuvers in order to shake his pursuers. He did not want to have to take time and fight them off - he needed to stick to his route in order to hit every major location and still have enough fuel to get back to the North Pole. Still the Grinch's lackeys chased him. Santa suddenly cut his engines, causing the two fighters to fly past him. With a smile, he told Rudolph to fire at will. Rudolph laughed, launching a photon torpedo at each of them, ending their existences quickly and efficiently. The Christmas spirit meter on Santa's dashboard went up a few ticks. After high fiving and having a quick glass of eggnog, Santa and Rudolph continued on their journey. Suddenly, a yellow light appeared started flashing in front of Rudolph.

"Captain, it seems we have a problem! One of those hits we took cracked a fuel tank. We have a leak, it doesn't look like it can be fixed until we get back to the North Pole."

"Well, Rudolph. How bad is it? Can we still make it?"

"It will be close Captain. Very close. I can't guarantee anything."

"Then we keep going. We have to get these meds out."

"Yes sir."

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Their journey now complete, Santa and his intrepid first officer cruised back home toward the North Pole. Unfortunately however, most of their fuel had leaked out and their circumstances looked pretty bleak. They could land early and brave the frozen plains of the North Pole, but even Rudolph wouldn't try spending the night out there with all there snowmen. After another glass of egg nog, Rudolph looked over at Santa.

"Captain? I have an idea that might just get us home in relative safety."

"Yes Rudolph? What is it?"

"If I were to disable all unnecessary systems -"

Santa interrupted him. "Wait, would that mean no more egg nog?"

Rudolph looked away out his window for a few seconds and then looked back at Santa, his eyes full of grief. "Yes, Captain. It's a hard sacrifice, but it might just get us home."

Santa closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Alright. What else would you have to do?"

"If I shut down all unnecessary systems and reversed the polarity of the energy matrix, we might be able to coast safely the rest of the distance back to base once we run out of fuel."

Santa grabbed his beard, stroking it as he thought about this propostion. The lack of egg nog would be painful, but he knew what had to be done.

"Commander Rudolph, make it so."