Chapter 9: Is That What I Think It Is, Kryptonian?

The flagship of Homefleet floated in the gentle orbit around Jupiter. They had been tasked with ferrying a maintenance crew out to the monitoring station there and had just dropped them off at the small starbase. They were about to resume their circular course along the inside of the mid-solar system asteroid belt when alarms blared from all stations.

“Red alert!” The captain ordered. “Tell me what's out there!”

“Sir!” The science officer exclaimed. “Multiple unidentified starships have appeared on our sensors! One large vessel and six relatively smaller ones.”

“On main viewer!” The captain spat and his heart sped up at the sheer size of the ships he could now see. “Communications!”

“Nothing yet, sir.” The man said.

“What do you mean nothing? If they came from warp, there should have been...”

“They didn't drop out of warp, sir.” The engineering officer said.

The captain turned to look at her. “What did you just say?”

“There was no telltale warp signature, sir. None at all.” The woman said. “I don't know what these readings are; but, they are not from a warp drive.”

The communication's station lit up and the man there held a hand over his ear as he listened. “Sir! Priority message from Starfleet! New bogeys are friendlies! I repeat, new bogeys are friendlies!”

“There's no confirmation that...” The captain's voice stopped as the security officer updated the visual of the ships onto the main viewer to show proper IFF protocols and his ship's alarms stopped.

“Sir, we're being hailed by the Kryptonian flagship.” The communications officer said.

“Kryptonian? What...” The captain paused and then sighed. “Damn those bastards.”

“Sir?” The comm officer gave him a surprised look.

“The Diplomatic Corps warned me last week about something like this happening and I ignored it as a joke.” The captain said and his entire bridge crew gave him disbelieving looks. “I'm sorry I dismissed it as not important. You know what the diplomatic corps has been like the last few years.”

They all nodded in understanding.

“Answer the hail. Put it on the main screen.” The captain said and sat up straight in his command chair.

“Good afternoon, Captain.” Emperor El said from his throne-like command chair. He wore ceremonial dress robes and nodded at the screen. “It seems you were not aware of our arrival.”

“I was told a week ago and chose to ignore it.” The captain admitted. “I honestly thought it was a joke.”

Emperor El smiled. “If what I brought with me caused such a response and you thought it was a joke, I can only imagine what would have happened if I had brought my whole fleet.”

The captain could only nod in response.

“Will you be escorting us to Earth orbit?” Emperor El asked.

“That was the proposed plan.” The captain said. “We were about to return there anyway.”

Emperor El nodded and sat back on his throne. “Lead the way. We will match course and speed.”

The captain of the federation flagship nodded and sent a cut signal to the communications officer. “Helm, set course for high Earth orbit. Cruising speed. Send word ahead to the patrol ships that we're escorting the Kryptonian delegation to Starfleet Headquarters.”

Most of the bridge crew watched the screen as the ship turned around and the seven foreign ships arrayed themselves behind it and followed.

“Get me the diplomatic corps on a private channel. I need to apologize and then ask what I'm supposed to do now.” The captain said with a soft voice.

“Channel six, sir.” The comm officer said.

The bridge crew fell silent as the captain was berated for being an idiot and then informed about the proper protocol for greeting a foreign dignitary.

*

“I did not expect this.” Deanna whispered as she and Cal exited the ambassador shuttle with an escort of ten Kay androids. An entire diplomatic corps contingent waited for them and they all saluted.

“Welcome to Earth, Emperor El.” The woman at the front of the gathered starfleet officers said and she saluted in the traditional Kyptonian fashion that was similar to the Klingons.

“Commodore Beltram.” Calvin said and returned the salute with a regulation federation one. “I've heard some good things about you from my mother.”

Janice gave him a huge smile. “Beverly is a wonderful woman and I am very lucky to have met her.”

“As am I.” Deanna said.

“Empress El.” Janice said and saluted her as well.

“Not yet. Officially, anyway.” Deanna said and took Calvin's hand. “Someone is being stubborn and waiting for Homeworld to be finished before he asks me to perform the marriage ceremony of his people.”

Janice couldn't stop her laugh. “His mother really does know him better than anyone else.”

“She told you about it?” Deanna asked with a knowing smile on her face.

“Over several glasses of that wonderful wine, of course.” Janice said and Deanna nodded. “Where's the rest of your party?”

“Waiting for the boring formal part of the greeting to be over.” Calvin said and waved at the ambassador shuttle behind him. “Come on out.”

Data, Karen, Riker, and Minuet exited and joined them.

“I am pleased to meet you all.” Janice said and went to each of them and shook their hands. “We have a stupidly formal meeting to attend first, then an equally formal and stuffy meal to eat. After that, we can get to the real meeting and we'll work on getting this whole mess sorted out.”

“I'm looking forward to the last part.” Calvin said and smiled. “Please tell me my mother managed to twist your arm and she's going to attend.”

“Twist my arm? I begged her to come and to bring Jack and Wesley! I need all the help I can get!” Janice said and the humans laughed while the androids chuckled. “They'll meet us at the dinner.”

“Wonderful.” Calvin said and Janice led him and his people towards the initial meeting room.

As the commodore predicted, the official meeting was long, dry, and full of apologies from the diplomatic corps and a lot more admirals and captains than Calvin and Deanna knew personally.

The formal dinner was a more lively and friendly affair, especially with Wesley pretending he was crashing it and he made a pretty good spectacle of himself. Beverly was both embarrassed and amused by his antics and didn't try to stop him, mainly because she knew it was giving the more strict members of the upper echelons of Starfleet Command a reason to not be so strict.

With both functions out of the way, Calvin and his friends, his family, and the diplomatic corps went to the meeting room once more, only this time it was completely informal and everyone relaxed with a glass of wine and Wesley had a glass of orange juice.

“I am so glad I don't have to do functions like that more than once or twice a year.” Beverly said and sat down in a comfy chair. Her husband chuckled as he sat beside her. “Hush, you!”

Jack laughed. “You can't deny that you like it this time because it's for Calvin.”

Beverly smiled and nodded. “I saw the footage of your appearance this morning, Cal.”

“That was nicely done.” Jack agreed.

“It definitely gained everyone's attention.” Calvin said and sat as well.

“I berated the flag captain pretty hard for that response.” Janice said with a huge smile on her face.

“Ha ha! I knew you enjoyed ripping into people for their stupidity.” Her second in command said.

“You have no idea.” Janice's assistant Melody said and a soft laugh came from everyone in the room.

“I don't know what you're talking about.” Janice denied and her smile stayed on her face.

That made everyone laugh again.

“I think we can get down to the heart of the matter with the official duties of welcoming completed.” Janice said and the humor of the previous situation evaporated. “Our first major hurdle is the recognition petition. I'm sorry to say that as it is, it just isn't viable.”

“You can't be serious.” William Riker said, his face hiding his anger.

“Yes. It can't be approved with the contents as they are.” Janice said and held a hand out to her assistant, whom handed her a datapad. “I have officially rejected it and I've made appropriate changes that need to be addressed before it is submitted again.”

There was silence in the room until Janice handed the datapad to Beverly and not to Calvin.

Beverly quickly skimmed over the document and smiled crookedly. “That is quite brilliant, Janice.”

“Thank you.” Janice said and her assistant handed her another datapad that she held out to Calvin. “With the rejected petition out of the way and no longer viable for debate about the legality of granting another autonomous machine sentience rights without being members of Starfleet, it completely clears the way for the Kryptonian Empire's petition for recognition with the United Federation of Planets.”

Calvin accepted the second datapad and he read it in only a second. His smile matched Beverly's. “You can really do this without further consultation with the member worlds or their own governments?”

“I've been working hard since I took this office to do that consulting, Kal-El.” Janice said, using his Kryptonian name. “You were quite smart in your own right to apply for associate status right away and to only ask for membership consideration at a later unspecified date. It opened so many wonderful loopholes in the diplomatic department's policies that you could fly your flagship through them.”

Calvin chuckled and handed the datapad to Deanna. “I hope this also grants me the right to see the classified files of recommendations and observations that the inspection teams had when they visited my Homeworld.”

Janice nodded and her assistant handed Calvin another datapad. “Did you really think that all of those admirals and captains at the first meeting and dinner were a part of the diplomatic corps? They had access to the files you now have in your hands.”

Calvin quickly read through the main ones and the smile on his face almost lit up the room. “They all want access to Kryptonian proprietary technology.”

“They also want to ensure the things you've already made available and patented won't be restricted with limited access.” Janice said. “Your transporter modifications and sensor upgrades are used in nearly every starship in service right now.”

Calvin waited for a moment before he spoke. “You're all forgetting that everything discovered from my lifepod would also become heavily restricted, if not banned completely.”

Beverly, Deanna, and the diplomatic staff, all sucked in sharp breaths. Jack, Wesley, Riker, Data, Karen, Minuet, and the Kay androids all laughed.

“There's the reaction I expected.” Calvin said and took the datapad from Deanna that had the official documents for associate status. He pressed his thumb to accept it and handed it to Janice. “Isn't it a great thing that won't ever happen?”

Janice took the datapad and pressed her own thumb to it. “Y-yes.”

Beverly handed the datapad she had to her son. Calvin looked it over, grinned, and pressed his thumb to it as well. It wasn't a form to have androids recognized as sentient. It was a form having Kryptonian citizens recognized by the federation as people.

Janice took the second datapad and pressed her thumb to it to validate the document. “Congratulations, Emperor El. Your citizens are officially recognized as people by the laws of the United Federation of Planets and Starfleet.”

“Yes!” Minuet shouted and pulled Riker into a searing kiss.

Data and Karen looked into each others eyes and leaned together to briefly kiss.

“Well done, Maker.” Kay One said and put a hand on his shoulder.

“I believe Janice deserves all of the credit.” Calvin said and nodded at the woman. “Even with my mind going over everything, it never occurred to me to become an associate world before asking for androids to be recognized.”

“As you've just discovered, the federation does not have to. We only have to accept people that are already Kryptonian citizens.” Janice said and smiled. “I believe you can safely fit your flagship through that particular loophole.”

Calvin nodded. “Is there anything else we need to take care of?”

“Melody has a bag full of datapads for us to go through.” Janice said and gave him a knowing smile. “I also believe there is a particular bottleneck of your own reports to Starfleet that needs to be taken care of.”

Calvin barked a laugh and Kay Two handed him a diplomatic bag. “Shall we get right to it?”

Janice shook her head and waved off the bag before Calvin could give it to her. “We have all week to handle all the little details. Tonight is about a meeting of two peoples that has been delayed long enough.” She raised her glass of wine. “To making new friends.”

“To friends.” Everyone chorused and took a sip of their wine.

“And finally meeting family again after so long.” Beverly said and stood as she opened her arms. “Get over here and give me a hug. You might be an Emperor of a recognized star nation now; but, I can still bend you over my knee when you're being bad!”

“Mom!” Calvin gasped and that sent a ripple of laughter throughout the room.

“Everyone, meet the real power behind our family.” Jack commented as Calvin gave his mother a hug.

After everything that had been going on, that one simple act showed that Calvin was just as human as the rest of the people in the room.

*

A month later, a research cyberneticist named Commander Bruce Maddox had the brilliant idea that an android as complicated as Data could be replicated and he wanted to have Data dismantled and examined to discover Dr. Soong's secrets.

The requested order to hand Data over to the commander's research team, made it all the way up the chain of command to Admiral Picket, because he was the head of Starfleet Personnel. The crux of the scientist's argument was that Data was the property of Starfleet and therefore didn't have any rights.

Admiral Picket placed a call to Vice-Admiral Janice Beltram in the diplomatic department and Data's official status was revealed as a Kryptonian citizen, because all androids were automatically recognized as citizens. It was a quick fix for Picket's personnel records and he sent the scientist the 'correct' information about Data's status as a recognized person.

Picket then had Maddox quietly retired, his work destroyed, and his team was reassigned. People that stupid couldn't be allowed into positions of power. He would have to keep an eye out for things like that.

*

The Enterprise was assigned to escort a young woman named Selia, the daughter of the ruler of Daled IV, to another planet. She was to be betrothed to the ruler there and to secure peace between the two planets. The mission was completed without any incidents and the Enterprise went on its way. This made the crew slightly uneasy, because having nothing happen was a rare occurrence.

Not long after that, they received a distress call from their sister ship, the USS Yamato. Data's console beeped at him and informed him that an unknown computer virus had tried to infect the Enterprise's computers. Because of the extensive work that he and Calvin had performed on the Enterprise's computer, the virus was immediately caught and removed.

Data quickly explained the situation to Captain Picard, who then ordered the Yamato to shut down their computer on Data's recommendation to purge the virus. It worked and the Yamato reported finding a long dead civilization on a planet in the Romulan Neutral Zone. Starfleet was contacted, warned, and a science vessel was dispatched to examine the ruins.

“I wish it was us being sent.” Picard lamented.

“You could always retire and let Commander Riker take over your favorite seat on the bridge.” Calvin said with a knowing smile.

Both Picard and Riker laughed and the rest of the bridge crew were amused by the suggestion.

*

Following a tip from a Klingon ship, the Enterprise traveled to an uninhabitable alien planet and found debris from an Earth spaceship. Thanks to Calvin's sensor upgrades, they easily determined the ship's identity, the crew that were supposed to be on it, and that the remains of one of them was left on the planet's surface. Picard ordered it to be fully investigated before anyone was to be sent.

“There seems to be a small pocket of habitable atmosphere and within that, are several artifacts from the ship. A space suit, a book, several dried food packets, and the body.” Data said.

“Nothing else?” Picard asked.

“No, sir. Just the air and the things I have mentioned.”

“That's very strange.” Riker said.

“If it's a grave down there, should we disturb it?” Deanna asked.

“Data, can you determine the cause of death?” Picard asked.

“Old age, sir. The scans indicate dried out remains.”

“That sounds like what the ancient Egyptian rulers did. They buried their dead with items from their life.” Picard said with a nod. “Mark the area with a warning probe to stay away and log the location with Starfleet. Let's leave the man in peace.”

Everyone nodded and the Enterprise left the area after setting the warning beacon.

Less than a week later, the ship encountered an spacial anomaly. Thanks to Calvin's sensors and the modifications to the ship's shields, they weathered it with little trouble and marked the area with another warning beacon.

Worf's attempt to blow it up was unsuccessful, although quite colorful.

*

Two months later, an unexpected message sent to Captain Picard by mistake set the entire bridge crew on edge. It was an offer to Commander Riker and it was for the command of the USS Aries, a starship that was to be sent on a potentially dangerous exploration mission in a distant sector. Picard chose to stop at a starbase for some routine maintenance and allowed Riker as much time as he needed to make his decision.

To complicate matters, Commander Riker's father was sent as the liaison to brief Riker on his mission, if he chose to accept it. They were not on good terms and they had several terse arguments that neither man enjoyed or liked participating in. It wasn't until Minuet's intervention and her treating them like children to be scolded, that the two men finally saw eye to eye.

After three days and a very long discussion with Minuet, Riker chose to accept the command. He had always wanted his own command and as long as he had her with him, there wasn't anything he couldn't do. There was just one thing that had to be done first.

The wedding was held on Risa a week later and only friends and family were invited. That still meant a lot of guests, including a hundred Kay androids wearing every style of bikini that existed and a few that didn't. It was a wonderful affair and everyone had a great time.

As a wedding gift, Calvin gave Minuet a six sting ship escort that would stay with her wherever she went and also agreed that if Riker stopped off at Homeworld, he would upgrade and repair the USS Aries to Enterprise standards. Riker agreed to both things immediately and surprised everyone by giving Calvin a manly hug.

The Aries was an odd-looking ship, with an almost classic Constitution style saucer section, an Intrepid style body like the USS Voyager, and the nacelles were like the Enterprise-D's and were on short pylons stuck out the sides of the rear hull.

They arrived at the coordinates for the Kryptonian Homeworld and were shocked that the local sun was completely obscured by a mechanical construct. None of the crew had ever seen anything like it with their own eyes before.

After a quick greeting from the escort ships, the Aries was led to the middle aperture and the ship was docked. After being advised that they didn't have to take anything personal with them if they didn't want to, because they wouldn't be lost or damaged, the crew departed the ship and filed into the large observation room that looked into the hangar bay that the ship was in.

Riker, Minuet, and the ship's crew stood there and watched as the ship they arrived in was covered in the telltale transporter energy effect and then it slowly dissolved into energy and disappeared.

“It's really true?” The chief engineer asked and looked at his new captain. “They can transport entire starships?”

“Replicate, actually.” Riker said and pointed out the window.

The engineer and most of the crew made surprised sounds when a brand new ship appeared and it almost looked identical to their old one.

“What did they do to her?” The chief engineer asked and pressed his face to the transparent aluminum.

“If what Calvin told me wasn't an exaggeration, she is pretty much a smaller copy of the Enterprise.” Riker said and the crew turned from the window to stare at him. “Yes, whatever you're thinking is right. Whatever the Enterprise has, so does the Aries.”

“A back-up warp core?” “Upgraded weapons?” “Advanced science labs?” “A full medical bay?” “Enhanced computer core?” Nearly everyone asked at the same time.

“A new holodeck?” A woman's lone voice asked and a few people chuckled. “The old one was glitchy.”

“All of the above.” Riker said and his crew cheered.

After a quick inspection of their new ship and the crew confirmed that their personal things hadn't been destroyed or lost, the USS Aries and six sting ships left the Kryptonian Empire at warp eight, two steps better than the previous ship's capabilities.

*

After a short interview process and records examination, Commander Elizabeth Shelby was chosen as Commander Riker's replacement. Admiral Picket believed that she would be a good fit for the crew and it cleaned up part of the mess of the ship decommissions he was still struggling with.

*BEEP!* *BEEP!*

Picket sighed at the interruption and accepted the call on his main console display. “Picket here.”

“You've got to see this!” His good friend Admiral Hossum said and his face was replaced with a short video f the USS Aries dissolving and being replicated. When it had finished, the admiral was back on the screen. “What the hell am I supposed to do now?”

Picket couldn't stop his laugh. “I knew I couldn't keep you from seeing that.”

“You knew it was possible?” Hossum asked, surprised.

You are reading story Kal-El in Star Trek: TNG at novel35.com

“It was the very first thing I thought of when I read the inspection team's reports.” Picket said.

Hossum rubbed a hand over his own face. “When this gets out to the general population...”

“...you can tell them it's proprietary technology from an associate world and not a full federation member.” Picket interrupted.

Hossum's bleak face changed to a happy one. “That's great news!”

Picket chuckled. “I knew you would take it that way.”

Hossum nodded several times. “Yes, yes. I can work with that. We don't have official access to anything like that yet. No, not yet. Maybe not for years.”

Picket laughed. “You have plenty of time to adapt to any change that might come.”

Hossum grinned at him. “I'm glad I called you first! I'll see you on the weekend for lunch.” He said and ended the call.

“It was nice hearing from you, too.” Picket said to the dark screen and shook his head at his friend's reaction. He went back to work and seriously debated asking the head of the diplomatic corps for a favor.

A brand new ship that was still in the design phase, showing up just as three other ships came out of the shipyards, might be the kick in the pants that the federation needed to get off its butt. They could already replicate the parts they needed and it shouldn't take eight months to a year for a ship to be constructed.

Although, that wasn't his department. Picket only worked with the people to crew them and the ships were the responsibility of someone else. He thought of his good friend and his responsibility to supply and equip those ships. Technically, he wouldn't be out of a job. It would just have to change duties a bit to fit into the new construction model if the Kryptonian Empire could be convinced to loan Starfleet a shipyard.

I think I'll hold off on asking for that favor. Picket thought and went back to shuffling personnel around.

*

Captain Picard stood beside transporter chief Miles O'Brien and waited for the signal to come through.

“Signal acknowledged. Energizing.” Miles said and used the transporter controls.

A quite short woman appeared on the transporter pad and she looked a little surprised to see the captain was waiting for her.

“Commander.” Picard said and nodded at the door to leave. “Welcome to the Enterprise.” He said when Shelby matched his steps and they walked side by side as they left the transporter room. “I run things a certain way on the ships I command. You will follow my orders and maintain discipline.”

“Understood, sir.” Shelby said.

“This is a front-line ship with Starfleet's bravest and brightest. I also have a ship full of families and children.” Picard said with a flat tone. “I have been a confirmed bachelor since I was of age and I am not a person that likes children, Commander. However, I have a ship full of children that I need to be a role model to.”

“Captain?” Shelby asked, almost hesitantly.

“You will continue to project an appropriate image for me to be both a role model for the children and for me to keep my distance from them.”

“Ah. I understand, sir. I'll do my best to keep both you and the children happy.” Shelby said and Picard nodded.

“Personnel and duty rosters are your main responsibility. I expect you to maintain a viable working schedule and fix any holes or discrepancies that the previous first officer and the crew changes since then have made to the normal roster. Please have it done by the end of your next duty shift.” Picard said.

“Yes, sir.” Shelby said.

“Also, Counsellor Troi has scheduled interview sessions with the replacement crew over the next several off-duty shifts. You will need to coordinate with her if you need to meet any of them to clarify their duties.”

“I'll make sure to not disrupt anything going on, sir.” Shelby responded.

“Good.” Picard said and came to a stop in front of a closed door. “These are your quarters. If you aren't happy with them, then do your job and fix the problem.” He said with a smile.

Shelby couldn't stop her soft laugh. “Yes, sir. Understood.”

“I'll see you during the next shift, Commander.” Picard said and started to walk away, then stopped. “I have a tendency to call my first officer Number One when we get to know each other better and I rely on them. Will that be a problem?”

Shelby straightened her back and stood at attention. “No, sir. I will be quite happy when that happens.”

Picard nodded and walked on towards the turbolift. When the doors closed, he chuckled. No one but him would ever know that he always greeted first officers with nearly the exact same speech and they almost always reacted the same way, no matter who they were. Male or female, there was no difference.

*

The USS Enterprise was ordered to survey an area of unexplored planets with unusually short lifespans, due to increased and severe geological changes. Because the area was so large, an estimate of a month would be needed for the scientific examinations and biological specimens to be taken.

With the planets usually exploding afterwards, their work would be quite beneficial for saving any rare animals and plants that couldn't be found anywhere else in the galaxy.

Less than a day into the initial survey, Lieutenant Commander Data picked up a primitive radio communication from one of the planets they hadn't surveyed yet. He reported it to the captain and the crew realized that one of the planets that were about to suffer one of the severe geological changes, was actually inhabited.

Calvin was the most affected by this news and Deanna leapt from her chair and hugged him from behind. It was so similar to his own homeworld that he asked to be assigned to the science team that was conducting the investigations of the source of the seismic activities.

If they could discover the cause, there might be a way to ease the symptoms and possibly save the residents, even if they were a pre-warp civilization.

Picard placed a hand on his shoulder and nodded.

Calvin joined the group and he didn't automatically assume command, mainly because he was going to be too busy using his own shuttlecraft while performing the deep scans of the planet. When he explained about his ship's capabilities, the lieutenant in charge asked if the entire group could join him. He agreed and brought the six others of the team to the shuttlebay and they boarded his shuttlecraft.

“This thing is wonderful!” One of the pretty ensigns said as she entered the shuttle and looked around.

“It's technically an ambassador vessel for the Kryptonians.” Calvin said as he sat in the pilot's chair. “As you can see, it has two science stations like the bridge of the Enterprise has, one on each side. A spot for a navigator, the pilot, and two spare seats at the back of the cockpit.”

“We can share.” One of the male ensigns said and smiled at the pretty one. “You sit and I'll brace with the back of the chair.”

“Sure.” She said and smiled back.

Everyone sat or stood and Calvin took off out through the open shuttlebay doors. They made appreciative sounds at the speed of the thing as they flew away from the Enterprise towards the planet with detected life on it.

“Okay, people.” The lieutenant in charge said as the shuttle settled into orbit of the seismically active planet. “Ensign Crusher was nice enough to loan us his people's futuristic technology. Let's not waste it and get this job done soonest!”

“Yes, sir!” They all said, even Calvin, and they all got to work.

Three days of double shifts later, they had their answer. The tectonic plates of the planet were shifting and grinding. All of them. It wasn't just a local earthquake that the residents were experiencing. It was a worldquake caused by the internal pressure from the planet's core.

“So, who wants to tell Captain Picard?” The pretty ensign asked with a worried look on her face.

“As the most senior and the one in charge, it should be me.” The lieutenant said. “I wouldn't mind some backup from the ensign usually assigned to the bridge.”

Calvin chuckled. “We can tell him Johnson's idea about using photon torpedoes set at a resonating frequency to blow part of the antarctic apart to ease the pressure.”

“It's a valid strategy.” The pretty ensign said. “It's far enough away that the population won't notice...”

“I agree.” Calvin interrupted and lightly touched her hand. “I was laughing because the captain is a strong proponent about non-interference with pre-warp civilizations because of the Prime Directive.”

She looked surprised for a moment, then her hand turned over and held his. “I see. Thanks, Calvin.”

“We can buy them a few years with that. Maybe a decade.” The ensign that liked her said. “In the life of a planet, that's barely a split second sneeze.”

“What should we recommend to the captain?” One of the others asked and motioned to the viewscreen. “It's getting pretty dangerous down there.”

Calvin thought about keeping quiet, then sighed. “I'm going to recommend something that I really shouldn't.”

“Oh? What's that?” Ensign Johnson asked and kept holding his hand.

“Mine the planet's core for energy.” Calvin said and felt the hand holding his stiffen.

“You want to... mine the planet's core... for energy.” The lieutenant in charge said, his voice full of disbelief.

“It will buy the planet a few thousand years. At least.” Calvin said.

“Five thousand, eight hundred, and two years. Give or take a month.” Kay One said over the intercom.

“Wow.” Ensign Johnson's voice whispered into the silence.

“When can it be done?” The lieutenant asked.

“A core energy engine is already on its way.” Kay One said. “ETA, six hours.”

“Six hours? How long have you been planning this?” One of the other female ensigns asked.

“Since Maker made the suggestion about five and a half minutes ago.” Kay One responded.

“But... that's... you...” The lieutenant muttered.

“The hyperdrive can be shifted into the highest energy output available without damaging the ship.” Kay One said. “Our redesigns of the recovered plans have turned out even better than projected.”

“It's amazing what a little ingenuity and a different viewpoint can do to change how someone views a problem.” Calvin said and smiled at Ensign Johnson. “I'll need my hand to turn back to the flight console.”

A few of the other team members chuckled and Johnson blushed.

“S-sorry, Calvin.” She said and let his hand go.

Calvin held on and smiled warmly at her. “It's okay to be interested in someone, Emily. There's no harm in it.”

Emily's blush didn't lessen as she looked at the guy who liked her. “I hope not.”

The guy smiled. “After three days of working in such close quarters, I want to hold Calvin's hand, too.”

That made everyone chuckle, even the lieutenant.

“Ensign Crusher, take us back. We have a meeting with the captain to get to.” The lieutenant ordered.

“Yes, sir.” Calvin said and gave Johnson's hand a light squeeze and then he turned to shake the guy's hand that she liked. That made him laugh out loud and he shook Calvin's hand enthusiastically.

*

Picard sat at his desk in his ready room and held his head in his hands. He had just had a pretty heated verbal argument with an ensign under his command. That wasn't the problem, however. No, it was that Ensign Crusher had agreed with him and he had not given the order that would completely bypass the federation's Prime Directive of non-interference.

Emperor El had approved it.

Picard rubbed his forehead with his thumbs and did his best to not curse in French again. As only an associate world to the federation, the Kryptonian Empire was not beholden to follow Starfleet's policies. They could use them if they chose to; but, they didn't have to. At all.

That was a huge problem when dealing with civilizations not associated with the federation, because Picard did not have the authority to tell an Emperor of a nation that he shouldn't interfere. The door chime beeped and he didn't speak as he dropped a hand to the small panel on his desk and opened the door. He didn't look up as someone entered and the door closed behind them.

“The Emperor would like to express his deepest sympathies towards you personally.” Deanna's formal voice said from in front of Picard's desk. “He would not normally do things like this, because it sets a very dangerous precedent and endangers any future application to the federation to become a member.”

Picard sighed and lifted his head to see a sympathetic look on the counsellor's face. “I apologize if you are getting even part of what I am feeling right now, Counsellor.”

Deanna smiled sadly. “I'm getting it doubly so from both you and Cal, captain.” She admitted. “It's tearing him up inside, because he knows if he had been around when his own planet had been facing a similar crisis, he could have handled it and would have saved everyone.”

Picard nodded and sat up straight. “If he had, he wouldn't have arrived here when he did, which would have precluded him developing the procedures to save his world in the first place.”

Deanna nodded. “Exactly, sir. Cal knows... he believes...” She stopped talking and took several breaths. “If he hadn't met us, his own methods of thinking would have never developed. He couldn't have saved anyone, let alone himself, if he had been an adult at the time of his world's destruction.”

Picard stopped his sigh. “He's trying to prevent a similar circumstance with these people.”

“Yes, sir. He knows he is stepping on a lot of toes in the federation. He also knows he can't let a similar situation happen and condemn an entire species of humanoids to death, just because their planet decided it was no longer able to handle the seismic stress it had been put under.”

Picard sighed and reluctantly nodded. “I can see his point of view.”

Deanna sighed as well. “He also recognizes that this situation may appear again, considering the nature of the Enterprise's mission to explore new worlds and to meet new civilizations.”

“Is that from the Emperor or the Ensign?”

“Both, sir.” Deanna said. “As his wife, I am supremely positioned to tell you how much this conflict is eating up both aspects of Calvin's identities, in the same capacity that it is bothering you, sir.”

Picard sat back and had to acknowledge that being two people with two different and vested interests in the Enterprise's mission, must be a huge burden for Calvin to bear, considering he was a single person. Being a captain was difficult enough for Picard to handle. He could barely imagine what an Emperor had to worry about.

“The Emperor proposes that his actions be kept completely separate from those of Ensign Crusher's.” Deanna said and Picard nodded acceptance. “As compensation for the incident he will be causing, even though the federation doesn't actually have jurisdiction this far from the galactic core, his highness has agreed to provide the federation with Kryptonian proprietary cloaking technology.”

Picard froze in his seat and didn't even breathe.

“Unlike the current standards that are being used by both the Romulans and the Klingons, Kryptonian cloaking technology is a complete cloak and no weaknesses exist.”

“The federation is forbidden by treaties to never develop that kind of technology.” Picard said.

“The federation didn't develop it, nor will they. The devices are owned by the Kryptonian Empire and block all sensory and visual means of detection.” Deanna said and couldn't stop her smile. “The contracts Calvin signed with the diplomatic corps gives him a lot of leeway when it concerns his technology, sir. The vice-admiral that is the head of the department said that there were loopholes he could fly the flagship through.”

Picard sat there, completely stunned. “Counsellor... Deanna.” He said, his voice soft. “Are you telling me that he can give the federation cloaking technology that can be installed in our ships?”

“Easily, sir. Just like the plasma manifold.” Deanna said. “The best part is that it is not a one and done deal. You can choose what aspects to hide. Visual, electronic, or even physical. You can choose all of it or none as well. I believe Calvin described it as being like a poltergeist. The ship can be an intangible ghost that affects the world around them and no one would know.”

Picard wasn't sure how he could respond to that.

“As an example, His Highness Emperor El has already delivered a phantom drive to Geordi and Sarah in engineering.” Deanna said and smiled at Captain Picard's shocked look. “They should have it installed within the next two hours.”

“You have... he already gave...” Picard whispered.

“Who better than the flagship of the federation to test out new technology?” Deanna asked.

Picard gave her a pointed look. “This doesn't mitigate the diplomatic problem.”

“No, sir. It's just an apology.” Deanna said and bowed slightly. “If you will excuse me, I will confirm with my Emperor that his gift has been received as it was intended.”

Picard huffed. “A huge bribe to an ensign's commanding officer?”

“Yes, sir.” Deanna said with a smile on her face.

Picard nodded. “Dismissed.”

Deanna left his office and Picard sat back in his chair. His report to Starfleet was going to cause a lot of waves, especially if this so-called phantom drive actually worked as Deanna claimed. It really was a clever way to bypass the federation's restrictive treaties.

That an entire civilization had been saved by the same man's actions was inconsequential in the grand scheme of things.

*

A month later, the outer hull of Homeworld was completed, to much fanfare on the mechanical world. One million Kays celebrated the achievement and invited their creator to the grand unveiling of the Kryptonian Dyson Sphere called Homeworld.

The Enterprise had been assigned to a critical escort mission, so only Calvin and Deanna were able to come. They stopped off at Betazed and picked up Deanna's mother and the Kryptonian flagship. They used the ship's hyperdrive to arrive as quickly as possible and joined in the celebration of the homeworld's shell completion.

“This really is a wonder of technology, Cal.” Lwaxana said as she hugged and kissed her handsome son-in-law before she cuddled into his side on the couch in the observation lounge that looked over the interior of the sphere. “What are you going to do with it?”

Calvin kissed the older woman's cheek and looked at Deanna cuddled into his other side. “Do you want to tell her or should we keep it a surprise?”

Deanna leaned in and gave him a kiss. “I think she can handle the information, assuming you present it correctly.”

Calvin laughed. “Bluntly and with shock and awe?”

Deanna laughed as well. “Exactly!”

“What are you two laughing about?” Lwaxana asked, her own laughter bubbling as she felt both of their amusement flood into her.

“I told Deanna that I was going to do something completely ridiculous with the interior.” Calvin said and Deanna hugged his side.

“You are going to outrage the entire federation, aren't you?” Lwaxana asked with a huge smile.

“How many member worlds are there in the federation?” Calvin asked her.

“I believe the last count was 350 worlds.” Lwaxana said and then she gasped as both Deanna and Calvin filtered huge smug feelings and thoughts into her through Deanna's mental link to her.

“How many world surfaces can fit inside Homeworld?” Calvin asked Deanna.

“If you keep it to a mile of thickness, 350.” Deanna said.

“Doesn't that sound like a perfect marriage gift for my Empress?” Calvin asked and kissed his wife.

“It sounds just perfect, my Emperor.” Deanna said and basked in the love he felt for her.

Lwaxana's mind was stunned by what she had just heard and felt. Her son-in-law had just promised to have all of the member worlds of the federation replicated inside the Kryptonian Homeworld.

“Kay One, please initiate the scanning protocols and send out the fleet.” Calvin said. “The sooner the scans of the chosen planets are completed, the sooner we can fill in all of this empty space.”

“Initiated.” Kay One said. “Deploying the fleet.” She paused in speaking. “Hyperdrives activated. Estimated time of arrival of all ships throughout the federation, fifteen hours.”

“Be sure to scan the wildlife as well. We can't have a barren landscape with no sustainability.” Calvin reminded her.

“It will be done, Maker.” Kay One said.

“Thank you.” Calvin said and hugged the two women at his sides. “When the first scans are received, have the spiders come inside to start the replication.”

“Estimated completion will be in three months, nine days, and thirteen hours.” Kay One said.

“I hope that's okay with you, my Empress.” Calvin asked Deanna.

“We're performing the official Kryptonian wedding ceremony tomorrow, so I suppose I can hide my disappointment that you can't work miracles all of the time.” Deanna joked.

Both Calvin and Lwaxana laughed.

“Little One, you are truly precious!” Lwaxana exclaimed and leaned across her son-in-law to hug her daughter and kissed her forehead.

“She really is.” Calvin said and the three of them sat there and relaxed as they held each other.

Their new world was going to appear in front of them, in due time. They would have it all, in due time.

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