TEST DRIVE #1 - Ten Forward

[tenforward_m]

You know how you were standing there, back in your home world, just minding your own business?

Time to forget all about that.

Instead of doing whatever the heck you were just doing, you're standing in the middle of this very stylish, sedate barroom. Happily, you're not alone there - in fact you're surrounded by people who seem to be as confused as you are...and some of them look a little, well unusual

Now would be a great time to do....well, something. Ask some questions of the person nearest you, throw a fit, stage a coup....maybe do a little exploring? No matter what you do, you're going to be here for a very long time.

For others might call it the USS Enterprise, but for the foreseeable future, you'll be calling it home.

[OOC: this test drive's open until the next app period.]

Comments

[bobbyprentice]

One minute, Ten Forward is just Ten Forward. The same bar he's been coming to after his shift for nearly a month now. Calm, cheerful, half-full with crewmembers and civilians, Guinan in her usual spot at the bar.

The next it's standing room only: the room is filled with people, in a variety of styles of dress and - quickly - in a variety of levels of panic.

Bobby Prentice, sitting at his table in the corner, jumps visibly in his seat and looks wildly around at the unexpected crowd. What the - ?

He shoves his glass away from him - he's only had two; surely that's not enough to make him hallucinate - and casts around for a familiar face. Not that he knows anyone on board very well yet; the downside of being newly-assigned. But he can't see anyone he knows, only a multitude of strangers.

"Hellfire," he says to himself.

[mr_laforge]

Geordi is just entering after a six-hour shift, tired and ready for a quiet meal. He stops dead inside the door when the elevating noise of the crowd catches him off-guard.

"What in the world?" he gasps, scanning the room. He touches his phaser, but nobody's gotten violent yet. "What is going on here?"

Can anybody hear him?

[bobbyprentice]

Bobby breathes a sigh of relief when he sees Commander LaForge appear at the door of the bar. Bobby's just a junior officer in Engineering, and as such doesn't have much contact with him - but he looks up to the man. He gets up from his seat and pushes through the crowd to get to LaForge.

"Sir," he says urgently. "Sir, something very strange is going on."

[mr_laforge]

"I can see that, lieutenant." Geordi can't say he remembers the junior officer's name, but they'll have to take things one problem at a time. "Who are all these people?"

And where did they all come from?

[bobbyprentice]

"I don't know, sir," Bobby says. He's feeling increasingly anxious about the whole situation, but he's trying to keep his professional demeanour intact. He really wishes he hadn't had those two drinks. "They just appeared. All at once a few seconds ago."

He looks around at the crowd in confusion. So many people. So many different styles of dress and so many different reactions to their new environment. He wonders what could have brought them all here.

"Sorry, sir," he says to Commander LaForge. "I wish I had more information."

[mr_laforge]

"They just appeared?" he repeats.

No, something is definitely wrong. This sounds like interference from an outside influence; some sort of anomaly, or a defense tactic perhaps. Maybe it's even a shared hallucination.

Geordi sighs.

"All right," he says, holding up his hand. It isn't the new kid's fault. "You wait here. Keep an eye on things, make sure nobody gets out of hand. I'll find out what's going on."

[bobbyprentice]

"Yes, sir," says Bobby, suddenly glad he's still in uniform. It's much easier to adopt a professional attitude like this.

He stands at ease, off to one side of the doorway, and surveys the crowd warily.

ooc: sorry for the delay! busy weekend. :(

[mr_laforge]

Lt. Commander La Forge moves into the crowd, and disappears for several long minutes. During that time he meets with Commander Riker on the far side of the room, but the two split before long and Geordi returns to Bobby's position.

"Come with me — and remind me of your name?" he says, motioning to the door.

ooc: no problem! I totally understand

[bobbyprentice]

"It's Prentice, sir," Bobby says. "Bobby Prentice."

It's with relief that he steps out of the bar and into the hallway. He's not very found of crowds.

[mr_laforge]

"Prentice, that's right," he nods. "You haven't been here long, have you?"

The corridors are quieter to be sure, but there's still the occasional upset as they round each bend. It isn't long before a red alert is broadcast to the ship.

[bobbyprentice]

"Three and a half weeks, sir," Bobby says as the red alert sounds. He's about to say something else, but it goes out of his head as all his muscles tighten.

Stay calm, he tells himself; but usually at red alert time he's got something obvious to do, even if it's just get into uniform and rush to Engineering. He takes a deep breath and looks to La Forge for instructions.

[mr_laforge]

Geordi never stops moving, his pace quick but not rushed. As he turns to speak, he even manages a smile.

"Then welcome to the Enterprise, Lieutenant Junior Grade Prentice," he says, in a tone Bobby should get used to. Geordi can intimidate when the situation calls for it, but he's quicker with his sense of humor. "You'll get used to it."

Or he won't. Only time will tell.

Geordi leads them onto a turbolift and gives the order to be taken to Main Engineering. "Have you heard of The Q?"

[bobbyprentice]

"Thank you, sir," says Bobby. He supposes he will get used to it. He even manages a faint smile back, though he's still very nervous. He keeps up with La Forge well, not even out of breath. "I've heard a bit about them. Aren't they some kind of powerful alien?"

That's what he's heard, though he's not sure whether it's rumour or fact. He supposes he's about to find out.

[mr_laforge]

"That they are, Lieutenant Prentice," he says. "To be precise, they're a race of some kind of omnipotent beings, who possess the abilities of instantaneous matter-energy transformation and teleportation. And one of them has taken a liking to our captain."

It's possible this is much worse than it sounds. Captain Picard, for one, isn't happy about the relationship. "It seems this Q is the cause of the disruption in Ten Forward, and that's not all."

[bobbyprentice]

"Wow," says Bobby. He'd heard they were powerful, but omnipotent, he thinks, is a bit out of his league.

He glances sideways at La Forge as they walk; he seems to be taking all of this in his stride. "So what else?" he asks.

[mr_laforge]

"Well, it seems he's cut off power to our engines," Geordi continues. "The commander wants us to see if we can get them back on-line, though past experience tells me we may be stuck here for a while."

They're the only ones in the turbolift as it makes its way to Main Engineering. "Q likes games. Whatever is going on, I've got a pretty good idea that's what this is all about."

[bobbyprentice]

"It's... a game?" Bobby said, frowning.

How was disabling the Starfleet flagship a game? Wasn't that an act of war?

He clasped his hands in front of him nervously. At least if the engines were offline, he could try to be useful. "I'll do whatever I can to help, sir."

That was a redundant thing to say, of course. It was his job.

[mr_laforge]

He arches an eyebrow, chuckling wryly. "To the Q? Yeah, maybe. The last game he had me playing involved life or death consequences where the odds were stacked against us."

That was not a good day, though the worst of it may have been seeing Commander Riker drunk with power. "But I'm only speculating."

[bobbyprentice]

"That sounds awful, sir," Bobby says, because it does.

But they got out of it alive, apparently, which makes him look at his superior with a new admiration. He already looked up to La Forge, of course - he's the chief engineer of the flagship, how could he not? - but this is a new level.

[mr_laforge]

"It was, lieutenant," Geordi says. "But it's just the type of thing you'll have to get used to serving aboard the Enterprise. Old girl's seen worse."

He's fond of the ship. It's hard not to be after all this time keeping her in working condition. "How long have you been out of the Academy?"

[bobbyprentice]

"Two years," Bobby says, and the question makes him wonder about the Commander. It's not really an appropriate question - not to ask your CO, not really - but it slips out of his mouth anyway. "How long have you served aboard the Enterprise?" He catches himself. "Sir?"

He's a good engineer, but after four years at the Academy and two years as an officer, he still struggles sometimes with military protocol. All that yes, sir, no, sir, three bags full, sir stuff. To be honest, most of the time he'd rather just keep his head down and get on with the work.

But he wanted to see the universe - and if you want to do that, really do that, Starfleet's the only place to be.

Well, he's definitely seeing the universe now.

[mr_laforge]

Geordi glances at him, but if he's offended by the question it's not for long. He shakes his head, chuckling again. "Just passed my three year anniversary. I started out as the conn officer, after serving on the USS Victory and the USS Hood."

He's packed a lot of living into these past three years, not to mention two separate promotions. "This is your first assignment, isn't it?"

[bobbyprentice]

"Yessir," Bobby says. "First in space, anyway. I was at Utopia Planitia for my first two years."

It was nice there. Not exactly exciting - and Gray, assigned to sickbay on a science ship right out of the Academy, wasn't exactly within reach - but it was steady, and Bobby's good at the kind of repair work he was assigned back there.

And whether or not Gray's in reach doesn't exactly matter any more, Bobby thinks bitterly.

[i_candozat]

One of those people is a very young Pavel Chekov, uniformed in his black and gold Starfleet regs, holding a clear pad on which there are several calculations.

This is not where he was supposed to be, that much is fairly obvious.

[bobbyprentice]

Bobby looks at the young man and takes in his uniform and the pad in his hand. He recognises the gold, of course - he's wearing a very similar shade himself - and the military stance, but the actual uniform is all wrong.

Is it old? Bobby's memories of Starfleet history are hazy at best.

"Excuse me," he says politely, approaching the man with some caution, "are you Starfleet?"