Star Trek: Excursion

O Captain! My Captain!

Aage sat with a lovely lady. He effortlessly made her giggle and smile. She kept blushing and covering her face with her hands. Aage found her quite attractive. Her smile is what he sought. It made him feel good on the inside.
Her hand brushed Aage's hand and he smiled. She pulled her hand away quickly in surprise and embarrassment. She turned red and hid her face in her hands. He took one of her hands in his and kissed it. She looked away slightly and laughed. She mumbled something about being embarrassed.
Aage took her other hand and held both her hands in his and kissed them both. He continued to flatter her and make her blush for an hour or so more. He walked her back towards her quarters. He stood at the door and she walked inside.
"Do you want to come in?" She asked.
Aage smiled. "No, I have to go on shift in a few minutes," He said.
"That's in a few minutes," She said touching his hand.
"If I stayed in your company for any longer I might never be able to leave it," Aage said.
She sighed. "Fine... I'll see you soon then," She said.
Aage smiled at her. "I will count the seconds," He said leaning towards her to kiss her on the cheek.
She held her hand to her cheek as she watched Aage walk off. Her blush was still bright.
Aage headed towards a turbolift. He stepped inside. "The Bridge," He said.
The turbolift started up. The turbolift stopped and Bennya got in. She looked at Aage in slight surprise. "You're not to be on shift for another hour," She said.
"I thought I'd take my shift a little early and give the Captain a little break," Aage said.
Bennya shook her head. "I don't think you'll be able to get Brenda out of that chair before she has to. She loves being in the chair," She said.
"Oh, I'll just kind of stand in there for however long," Aage said.
"I thought you were on a date," Bennya said.
"I was," Aage said.
"Why aren't you still there?" Bennya asked.
Aage made a face. "She asked me into her quarters," He said.
Bennya stared at him for a moment. "So what?" She asked.
"I didn't know her well enough," Aage said.
Bennya squinted her eyes and gave him an annoyed look. "Seriously? You got asked to go into a lady's quarters and you refused!" She exclaimed.
Aage was surprised by her outburst. "I told her I had shift," He said.
Bennya shook her head. "You're a fool," She said.
Aage smiled slightly. "I am, but it's alright," He said. "I don't need to have every lady I see."
Bennya rolled her eyes. Aage smiled. "That reminds me, would you like to have dinner with me?" He asked.
Bennya looked up at him. "No," She said simply.
He laughed. "I guess I've struck out again," He said.
"That's the tenth time you've asked me to dinner," Bennya said with a slight amount of annoyance.
"I will get you to go to dinner with me eventually," Aage said laughing.
Bennya rolled her eyes. "Not if I can help it," She said.
Aage smiled slightly. The turbolift opened to the Bridge. They walked onto the Bridge. The Captain was in her chair watching the view screen with a smile on her face. They were near a nebula.
Aage walked towards his seat on the right side of the Captain. She glanced over at him. "Isn't this amazing!" She exclaimed. "It is so fascinating!"
Aage smiled. "Nebulas are quite interesting," He said.
The Captain nodded looking out at the nebula. "I thought you weren't supposed to be on shift for another hour," She said.
"I wanted to come in a little early," Aage said.
"I thought you were on a date," The Captain said.
"I was," Aage said. "I did something foolish and now I'm here."
"Did she dump you?" The Captain asked.
"No, I told her I was on shift in a few minutes," Aage said.
The Captain turned to look at Aage in with her eyes narrowed in a confused way.
"It wasn't the best idea I've had in my life," Aage said shrugging.
The Captain turned back towards the view screen. "I don't get it, but I won't question the choice," She said.
Aage smiled at her then began to stare at the view screen as well. Suddenly the nebula burst in a bright explosion of purple light. The energy pushed the ship gently and it moved slightly. The Captain sat up in surprise. "Is anything damaged?" She asked.
"The ship shows no damage, the sensors read normal," A helmsman said in an extremely calm voice.
The Captain looked confused. "Did the sensors even record that?" She asked.
"Record what?" Aage asked turning towards the Captain.
"The explosion in the nebula," The Captain said. "You must have seen it."
"What nebula?" Aage asked slowly raising his eyebrow.
"The nebula we were just studying," The Captain said.
"We haven't seen a nebula in two weeks," Aage said as his brow furrowed.
The Captain stood up. "That can't be right, we were just looking at one," She said. She turned to him. "This better not be a joke."
Aage raised his hands up. "It isn't," He said.
"But we were... Aage, weren't you just on a date with a lady?" The Captain said.
"Um... No, sir," Aage said slowly.
The Captain began to pace. "This is wrong... This is very wrong..." She said.
"Is something wrong?" Aage said standing up.
"Yes, very wrong..." The Captain said. "I need to go see Rothel..."
"I'll walk you there Captain," Aage said putting his hand on her elbow. The Captain and Aage walked towards the turbolift.
"Deck 12," The Captain said.
The turbolift started to move. "Why did you ask if I was on a date with a lady?" Aage asked.
"That's the last thing I remember talking to you about," The Captain said avoiding looking at him.
Aage frowned at her. "You know I'd never do that to you," He said in a rather hurt voice.
The Captain glanced over at him in slight confusion. "What?" She said slowly and quietly and nervously.
"There aren't any crewmen in here that we have to pretend to Brenda," Aage said softly. His hand brushed her arm.
The Captain moved away from him. "This is hardly appropriate Commander," She said.
Aage's hand reached out towards her. "I don't care, Brenda," He said.
The turbolift doors opened and the Captain bolted out the door and ran towards the sickbay. Aage ran after her. The Captain ran into sickbay and hid behind a medical bed. Rothel looked at her surprised.
"What's wrong?" He asked.
"Aage tried to grab me," The Captain whispered.
"So?"
"So?!" The Captain exclaimed. "I'm his commanding officer and old enough to be his mother!"
"A young mother," Rothel said.
"Shut up Rothel," The Captain hissed.
Rothel sighed and went back to what he was doing. Aage walked in. "Commander Loures, have you seen the Captain?" Aage asked.
No, no, no, no, I'm not here! The Captain thought as hard as she could.
"I think I saw her run past sickbay," Rothel said.
Aage nodded. "Thank you, commander," He said walking past sickbay.
When Aage was very much out of earshot. The Captain stood up. "Oh, Rothel, I could kiss you!" She exclaimed.
"That isn't really something you should do right after you hid from the man you were going steady with," Rothel said.
"Going steady with?" The Captain said slowly.
"Dating," Rothel said.
"What?!" The Captain exclaimed.
Rothel looked at her confused. "Why are you so confused by... Oh! " He started to ask, but then he read her mind. "So that is what happened," He said slowly.
"What is going on Rothel?" The Captain asked.
"I don't know, but I have a feeling it has something to do with that nebula and that explosion..." Rothel said.
"Has that happened?" The Captain asked.
"No, but we just left Starbase 12," Rothel said.
"That was a whole day before we saw the nebula!" The Captain exclaimed.
"Calm down, Captain," Rothel said slowly. "I'll just keep you in sickbay for awhile, it shouldn't be that big of a deal."
"There is something really wrong with this," The Captain said. "You just called me Captain..."
"So?"
"You never call me Captain," The Captain said. "What about Bennya? Does she call me Brenda?"
"Um... I don't know... I've never noticed," Rothel said. His brow was furrowed.
"I need to check that..." The Captain said slowly. "Where would Bennya be now?"
"If I'm not mistaken, in main engineering, like always," Rothel said.
"Can I use the Jefferies Tubes?" The Captain asked.
"It's your ship," Rothel said shrugging.
The Captain walked out of sickbay and towards one of the Jefferies Tubes that wasn't so close to sickbay. She climbed into it and began to crawl through the ship towards engineering. She knew the ship very well and found her way with ease. She decided it would probably be best to get of the Jefferies Tube at a part of engineering that was not always swarmed with people. She crawled out of the tubing and there was only one ensign around. He looked at her startled. "Captain?"
The Captain smiled at him. "Where's Lieutenant Commander Alenis?" She asked.
The ensign pointed in the direction of the warp core. The Captain headed towards the warp core. Bennya was standing in front of it with a clipboard in her hands. She had a slightly befuddled look on her face.
"Bennya!" The Captain exclaimed.
Bennya turned towards the Captain. "Yeah?" Bennya said.
"Have you seen a nebula on the sensors yet?" The Captain asked.
"Um... No, sorry," Bennya said slowly in an apologetic manner.
"No, it's fine," The Captain said. "Do you remember how long ago we left Starbase 12?"
"A little less than five hours ago. Why?" Bennya asked.
"Oh, no reason," The Captain said quickly thinking of how long it was before she saw the nebula.
"Sir, you're acting strangely," Bennya said.
The Captain frowned slightly. "Am I?" She asked.
"Yes, very," Bennya said.
"I'm sorry," The Captain said shrugging before walking back towards the Jefferies Tube she had come in through. She made sure no one was watching before climbing and crawling back towards sickbay. No one else was in the Jefferies Tubes so she didn't have to answer any strange questions. She got out of the same entrance she used to get into the Jefferies Tubes. She walked back towards sickbay.
Rothel was looking into a microscope. "Welcome back," He said lazily.
"Nice to see you again," The Captain said. She sighed slightly. "It seems like Bennya isn't close to me either..."
Rothel looked up. His brow furrowed. "Why are you so distressed by this?" He asked.
"Well, in my, I guess my universe, Bennya is one of my closest friends and you... You're very dear to me," The Captain said slowly.
Rothel made an 'o' with his lips and nodded. He turned back to his microscope. The Captain sat down on a medical bed and looked up at the ceiling. "I don't know what to do now," She said quietly. "You'd always give me good advice in my universe, got any for me in this universe?"
"Calm down and think clearly," Rothel said without even turning to look at her.
The Captain laughed slightly. "I am thinking clearly," She said. "I need a drink to stop that for a little while..."
Rothel looked up from his microscope and turned towards her. "A drink?"
"Yes, a drink, something strong," The Captain said. "Anything, I'll even take Whiskey if I have to."
Rothel's brow furrowed. "I haven't got anything like that..." He said.
The Captain sighed. "I wouldn't expect you to," She said.
Rothel frowned then turned back towards his microscope.
"What am I to do until we reach the nebula?" The Captain asked.
"I don't know. I guess you can just pretend to be normal and captain, like you should be doing right now," Rothel said.
"Just go up to the bridge and pretend nothing happened?" The Captain asked.
"Say you spent a few hours relaxing and now you're feeling better," Rothel said.
The Captain sighed. "I guess I'll do that," She said slowly standing up.
The Captain walked out of sickbay and walked towards a turbolift. She was quiet and looked slightly nervous. She got on the turbolift. No one else was on it. "The Bridge," She said.
The turbolift shot upwards towards the Bridge. The turbolift stopped on the bridge and the Captain exited.
Aage wasn't there. The Captain let out of a sigh of relief. "Captain on the bridge!"
The Captain walked towards her chair. She sat down quietly. She watched the view screen.
"An unknown ship is coming into sensor range," An ensign said from the tactical station.
"Hail them," The Captain said.
"No answer," Another ensign said from the communications station.
"They're charging their weapons," The ensign at the tactical station said.
"Raise shields," The Captain said. "Charge Phaser Banks. Don't fire yet, try hailing them again."
"No answer," The ensign at the communications station said.
The Excursion was rocked by the other ship's weapons. "Fire Main Phaser Array," The Captain said.
"Firing Main Phaser Array," The ensign at the tactical station said.
The other ship wasn't even moved by their phasers. The other ship's weapons hit the Excursion. The lights on the Bridge blinked off. The Captain stood up. She turned towards the tactical officer.
"The shields are down," The ensign at the tactical station said.
The Captain's brow furrowed. "Fire Photon Torpedoes," She said in desperation.
The other ship fired again. Stations began to explode. The Captain was knocked over. Her head hit the floor and she couldn't feel anything any longer. Blood pooled around her head. She was bleeding out on the deck.
The Captain could see. She saw herself laying on the deck, the blood pooling around her, her skin slowly turning pale. The other ship was destroyed by the Excursion's Photon Torpedoes. Aage had run into the Bridge. His eyes were wide and fearful. He ran towards the Captain's body. The Captain watched him cry over her body. She saw his arm beneath her head. The Captain felt as if she were in a dream. She watched Aage say things to her body. She couldn't hear what he was saying.
Suddenly everything turned white. The Captain was alone in a large expanse of complete whiteness. Her hand went to her face. She was there, she was flesh.
"What happened?" She said slowly in utter confusion.
"I sent you to that universe," A voice said behind her.
The Captain turned to look at the voice. It was a man, apparently human. He had dark hair and dark eyes and pale skin. The Captain's hand went to her side, looking for a phaser that wasn't there.
"I'm sorry," the man said, "but I had to meet my quota."
"Your quota?" The Captain said glaring.
"I control unexplained incidents, at least some of them. I have a certain amount of incidents I have to cause," The man said.
"You took me out of my universe and into this strange world to fit a quota?!" The Captain said in rage.
"It is regrettable, but it is my job," The man said.
"Who are you? What are you?" The Captain asked in anger.
"Uh... That's hard to explain... Some species calls us gods, some call us devils," The man said. "I guess you can call us the Pseudo-Q..."
"Us?" The Captain asked in an angry growl.
"There are more of my kind, but they have other jobs," The Pseudo-Q said.
"What about me in this universe? Did she die?" The Captain asked in horror.
"Yes," The Pseudo-Q said. "It is regrettable..."
"You keep saying it's regrettable, but you haven't told me why you and your kind did it!" The Captain exclaimed in outrage.
"It is my job," The Pseudo-Q said. "It is the same as your job of exploring the universe."
"You're disgusting. How could you pull an innocent being from time then kill another innocent being?!" The Captain exclaimed.
"It's my job," The Pseudo-Q said shrugging.
"If I ever see you again I will find some way to destroy you," The Captain said. Her voice was a dangerous growl of hate and murderous intent.
"Oh, you will see me again, Captain Brenda Chang, but you won't destroy me," The Pseudo-Q said.
The Captain shot the Pseudo-Q a hateful look. She felt a burning hate in her chest.
"Goodbye, for now, Captain."
The Captain was suddenly on the floor of the Bridge of the Excursion. Aage was kneeling over her. His arm was beneath her head. "Where am I? What happened?" The Captain asked.
"You're on the Bridge. You fainted after the nebula began to deteriorate," Aage said. "Are you alright?"
"I... I... I think so..." The Captain said slowly. "I just had the strangest dream..."
The Captain's hand went to her forehead. She was bleeding very bad. "How did this happen?" She asked.
"I don't really know. It just... um... showed up," Aage said.
The Captain's eyes widened. "It wasn't a dream," She said.
"What wasn't a dream?" Aage asked, perplexed.
"I'll explain later, Commander," The Captain said. "I need to see Rothel..."
"Yes, sir," Aage said. He helped her to her feet and walked her towards the turbolift. They reached the turbolift after a long, hard walk. "Deck 12," Aage said.
The turbolift shot towards deck 12. It stopped and Aage helped the Captain towards sickbay. Rothel was already at the door of sickbay. He looked very concerned. He began to walk towards the Captain.
"What happened?" He asked.
"Can you fix my head before you ask me questions?" The Captain asked.
"Oh, alright," Rothel said helping Aage with her.
They brought her into the sickbay and Rothel looked for a dermal regenerator. He found one and held it over her cut. The cut closed up.
"What happened?" Rothel asked. "Your thoughts are all jumbled up."
"I don't really know... Someone," The Captain started, but her face turned to one of distaste. "Something... sent me to another... an alternate universe. I died..."
Rothel put his thumb on the place that the Captain had had her cut. He nodded his head slowly. "Something other than that is bothering you," He said very quietly.
"I was... You weren't... uh... close to me," The Captain said quietly. "Aage was..."
Rothel's eyes widened slightly. He pressed his forehead to hers. "I must have been a fool in that universe," He said slowly.
The Captain felt tears well up in her eyes. Rothel's hand moved to take hers. He said soft words to her that she didn't understand, but somehow they comforted her greatly.
One tear rolled down the Captain's cheek. Rothel wiped it away. The Captain could feel the warmth of the tear smear across her cheek.
Aage watched this with a certain amount of awkwardness. He felt like he was intruding on the Captain and Rothel's private moment.
The Captain and Rothel parted. Rothel smiled at her. "You're alright," He said.
The Captain nodded. Her tears weren't going to fall now. Rothel looked over at Aage. "Take her back to the Bridge," Rothel said. "That's the best medicine for her."
"Yes, sir," Aage said.
The Captain stood up, and Aage and the Captain walked back to the turbolift. They shot back towards the Bridge. The Captain walked onto the bridge and towards her chair. She sat in it. "Let's get out of here," She said. "Go in our original heading, Warp factor four."
"Yes, sir," The ensign at helm said.

(Whelp, I finished this! Yes, I am planning on using the Pseudo-Q for one more story. Q and Pseudo-Q are two different species. The Pseudo-Q are a lot less powerful compared to the Q, they also have jobs and are very by the book. They're also mortal, just super powerful and stuff. Yeah, this Pseudo-Q seems attached to our Captain, and he kinda is. Yes,  this story is an allusion to Walt Whitman's O Captain! My Captain!. I was heavily influenced by the poem while writing it. I hope you enjoyed this. I wrote it while listening to a lot of music.)