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"Doppelgänger" by A. Rhea King
Rating: PG CHAPTER 1 The winding down of the warp drive startled Archer out of sleep. He rolled over, watching the stars outside his port window go from blurred streaks to single specks of light as Enterprise slowed to a stop. Slow was good. That meant they weren’t having a confrontation but there were plenty of other things just as bad that could be the cause of it. Archer reached up and pushed the companel button. “Archer to the bridge.” “Sir, we have a problem,” the lieutenant said before Archer could ask, “Our current heading will take us into uncharted space, sir.” “What?” Archer looked up at companel. “That wasn’t supposed to happen for another week.” “We made a course change two days ago and that brought us to the edge of uncharted space.” “I’m on my way,” Archer said, throwing the covers back. “Wake up T’Pol. Tell her to report to the bridge.” “Aye, sir.” # Trip walked into the mess hall, stopping at the buffet to fill a tray before joining Malcolm at his table. Trip slid into the chair across from him, dove into his breakfast. “Good morning, sir,” Malcolm said, glancing at Trip, “You’re running behind this morning.” “How often does the Cap’n pull Vardee away in the middle of the night?” Trip asked in a hushed voice. “Thankfully, not very often.” “Thankfully?” Trip asked in a regular voice. Malcolm smiled. “The twins wake up cranky when their mum isn’t around. Seems I’ve yet to get the morning rituals down correctly.” Trip laughed. “I--” “Lieutenant Reed and Commander Tucker, please report to the Diedra’s bridge,” Archer said on Enterprise’s COM. Trip frowned, looking at his tray. “I was really hungry this morning.” Malcolm chuckled. He headed toward the door, jabbing, “Shouldn’t wake up so late, sir,” as he walked away. Trip grabbed his mug of coffee, a link of sausage and three pancakes and then hurried to catch up with Malcolm. “Do you know why we’ve stopped?” Malcolm asked. “Naw. I just woke up, remember?” Trip smiled at Malcolm. “Ah. I forgot.” Trip bit off a bite of sausage. “I’m glad I don’t have kids to worry about.” “They certainly make mornings a lot more hectic. Of course,” Malcolm’s smile turned sly, “would your children have pointed ears?” “Malcolm!” Trip laughed. “Just wondering, sir.” Malcolm stopped at the lift to wait for it. He looked back at Trip. “Just wondering.” “They would be beautiful like their mother!” Trip finished off the sausage. The lift opened on F deck and the two headed toward loading bay three. “So you two have discussed the matter then?” Malcolm asked. “Are you kidding?” Trip tore off a piece of pancake and popped it in his mouth. “I wouldn’t even know where to start with her. My biggest fear would be a Vulcan misunderstanding. I start talking kids, she thinks I’m proposing sort of misunderstanding” The two men turned into the loading bay. Malcolm smiled. “That could be detrimental if you aren’t wanting to propose, that is.” “What’s that supposed to mean?” “Nothing.” “Malcolm.” “It meant nothing, Trip.” “What has Vardee been telling you?” “Nothing. Honest.” Trip chuckled. “I don’t believe you, Malcolm.” The two walked down the hall onto the Diedra’s bridge. Ensigns Mayweather and Sato were sitting in chairs at stations on opposite sides of the bridge. The night shift senior officer, Lieutenant O’Malley, was leaning against the wall. Sista was sitting in the captain’s chair with Archer sitting in the chair on her right and T’Pol on her left. “Diedra, initiate English translator,” Sista ordered. “What’s up, Cap’n?” Trip asked, leaning on the railing behind Sista. “We reached the edge of charted space last night,” Archer said, “and an hour ago I received the okay to continue from Starfleet. We have a bit of a problem, however.” “Which is?” Trip bit off a piece of pancake. Sista looked back at Trip. “The computers on Diedra and Enterprise aren’t the same. The star charts are incompatible and you and Jokra get to figure out how to make them compatible.” Trip grinned. “I was hoping to have something fun and exciting to do today.” Malcolm looked at Trip. “You have an odd sense of fun and exciting, sir.” Trip leaned toward Malcolm. “Your fun and exciting involves things going 'kaboom', which I find odd and disturbing.” Archer stood up from his chair. “This is top priority Trip, so pull whomever you need to get this done. I don’t like flying blind.” Trip grinned. “Not to mention how much it hurts when ya run up on those space ghosts and other anomalies?” Archer laughed. “You are in a really good mood. Care to share?” “I’m hiding a desire to get even with you, sir. I was really looking forward to syrup on this pancake.” Trip held up his pancake. Archer chuckled. “I’ll tell you how it tastes.” Archer looked up at the holographic view screen at the front of the bridge. “Right now we’re waiting for--” “You wanted me, Sista?” a voice asked. “Brila,” Archer finished. Everyone looked at Brila. She was standing behind Malcolm, rubbing her sleepy eyes and yawning. “Brila, we need you to locate any Menshara class planets within twenty light-years beyond the red line.” Sista motioned to the holographic view screen. Brila walked over to the navigation console and began working with the controls. The view screen changed to a perspective view that changed two more times as it zoomed in on the area where the red boundary of Starfleet and Vulcan star charts stopped. A new star chart appeared and quickly dots on the chart began to disappear until there were only six lit up in red. “These are the only Menshara class planets or moons within twenty light-years, sirs,” Brila replied. “Do we have any information on them?” Sista asked, leaning forward in her chair. Brila yawned and then went back to work. At the bottom of the screen six boxes appeared and information began scrolling through them. “We only have reconnaissance on three. None had any advance technology.” Archer looked at Sista. “You didn’t stop at them because they didn’t have advance technology?” “We never visited a world that didn’t have at least warp three technology,” Sista told him. “We learned it was not safe to.” T’Pol looked at Archer but said nothing. “I see,” Archer commented, sitting back down. “However..” Sista leaned back. “Brila, wasn’t there a planet with humans on it?” “Humans?” the humans asked in a chorus. “Yes,” Sista answered. “We didn’t know that’s what they were at the time.” The third box from the right pulled up to the left side of the screen and the information showed up in red. The speck on the view screen that indicated the planet pulsed slowly. “There,” Sista leaned forward again, “This was it. But they are pre-warp probably even now.” “But they were humans?” Trip asked. “I assume so, however, we only did orbital reconnaissance. Had they been Jit or Varlikon, they would have been far more technologically advanced, but without actually going to the surface and getting tricorder readings it is impossible to be certain.” “I want to see your reconnaissance,” Archer demanded. Brila began tapping on her console. The view screen brought up pictures of the planet and the humans on the Diedra’s bridge could only stare. The pictures looked like they were taken straight out of a history text that covered the early to mid-nineteen hundreds. In a photograph of a large city the streets were filled with automobiles that looked like the first few models produced on Earth. Horse drawn wagons, carriages and carts and pedestrians intermingled on the cobblestone streets with the automobiles. Another image showed a farm with a man behind a team of horses and a till with half the field already turned dark, rich brown and the other half specked with cut cornstalks. Another picture showed a port with ships and the last picture showed a marina filled with a variety of boats docked and coming or leaving. Brila looked back at Archer. “They had an odd mixture of technologies, sir, but it was only ten Earth years that we were there. It is doubtful that they have warp capabilities yet.” “How close is that planet?” “I agree with Vardee, Captain. I doubt they would be warp capable yet,” T’Pol commented. “I don’t care. If they’re human, I have to see this place,” Archer said. “I second that motion,” Travis said. “And the floor passes the vote,” Trip joked. “How far, Brila?” Archer asked. “It would take us a week and a half to reach the planet at top warp.” “Anything closer?” “Yes, sir. One planet is four days away and a second is eight days, sir.” Archer curbed his excitement as he sat back, knowing he had a responsibility. “Of course, Captain,” Hoshi started and everyone looked at her. “Those two planets have been there for God only knows how long. I bet in another three or four weeks, they would still be there.” Malcolm leaned on the rail behind Archer. “And you haven’t asked Vardee or Brila if there were any inhabitants on the other two planets or even if they are warp capable, sir.” “And it would be the first planet we came across that had humans. Pre-warp or not,” Trip added. Archer looked up at Lieutenant O’Malley, “Your thoughts Preston?” “It would be in Starfleet’s best interest to investigate another human culture.” Archer grinned. Some days he absolutely loved his crew. “Vardee,” Archer said. “Yes, Jon?” Sista looked at Archer, putting on a serious mask. “Are the other two planets inhabited?” “Brila?” Sista looked at Brila. Brila had been watching them with a smile. She looked back at her console. “The first, the planet four days away, was at the start of an ice age when we passed it. There were no humanoid inhabitants reported. The second planet did have humanoid inhabitants, but their technology was no more advanced than simple tools and fire.” “Then perhaps.. How did you word it, Preston?” Archer asked, smiling at him. Lieutenant O’Malley looked down at Archer, repeating with a smile, “It would be in Starfleet’s best interest to investigate another human culture, sir.” “It would be. Brila, can you send those coordinates to helm? And open a channel to helm.” “Diedra, open COM to Enterprise helm. Go ahead, sir,” Brila said. “Archer to helm.” The ensign at helm replied. “Yes, sir?” “You should have just received coordinates, ensign.” “Yes, sir.” “Start out for these coordinates at warp one. I’ll inform you when we’re prepared to go to warp three.” “Yes, sir.” “Archer out,” Archer looked up at Trip. “Make those star charts compatible, Trip.” “Yes, sir.” “That’ll be all, dismissed crew. T’Pol,” Archer looked at her. “I need to discuss one of your projects. May we over breakfast?” T’Pol nodded. Trip watched everyone but Sista leave the bridge. He reached down and tugged on a pinch of hair. Sista looked up at him. “So, have breakfast yet?” “I was about to ask you the same,” Sista asked him. “Let’s go eat and then figure out how to break things.” Sista stood, narrowing her eyes. “You are in a really good mood.” Trip only grinned in response. # Archer hoped his giddiness was well hidden behind his serious mask. He straightened the hand painted tie drawn snuggly around his neck and fastened a simple latinum tiepin to it as he walked down the hall to loading bay three. Archer turned into the bay, reaching down to straighten the cuffs of his dark blue light wool suit coat. The ship steward had given him a long sleeve off-white linen shirt and dark blue light wool suit pants to go with the coat. He had suggested Archer wear his black belt with a simple latinum buckle, which Archer had finally found tucked into the most out of reach corner of his closet. As he was getting ready to leave the steward had dropped of a pair of dark brown Oxfords and a brimmed felt hat that was the same off white of his shirt and had a wide black silk band fastened around it. Archer smiled, remembering the thought he’d had as he passed a mirror on his way out of his quarters. He looked like he was ready to go racketeering with Al Capone in this getup. Archer walked around the Diedra and stepped on board. He turned to his right and through the second door. Trip, Hoshi, Travis, T’Pol, Malcolm and Ensigns Elizabeth Cutler and Nathan Novakovich stood beside the transporter PADD. In a matter of seconds Archer took in what had taken the ship steward three days to make. Nathan was dressed in a light mustard colored long sleeve shirt. He wore a brown and mustard colored two-tone tie of a textured weave and adorned with a simple silver tiepin like Archer’s. His shoes were a pair of dark brown laced shoes and his ensemble was complete with a black tweed newsboy cap that cast a deep shadow over his eyes under the Diedra’s lights. Travis was dressed almost identical to Nathan, except that his clothes were chokeberry red and black and he wore a simple striped chokeberry red and black tie that ended in an arrow. Trip was dressed in a pale blue and white striped no-collar linen shirt that was neatly tucked into a pair of stitched cuff navy blue linen pants accented with a simple black belt and silver buckle. He also wore a pair of dark brown laced shoes and a black tweed newsboy cap that sat at a slight angle over his right eye. Malcolm looked like he had stepped straight out of a gangster movie with his gray felt Trilby hat that had a narrow silk maroon band around it. He wore a light wool maroon shirt under a light gray suit coat. Against the shirt a simple woven flat-bottomed maroon colored silk tie complete with a fake diamond tiepin. His hands were slid into the pockets of light wool suit pants that matched the coat. The ensemble was completed with a pair of fringe tongue Oxfords. Hoshi was wearing thin wire frame eyeglasses for look and brought immediate attraction to her dark eyes before the gaze continued to the rest of her outfit. Her hair was fixed into a neat bun at the base of her neck, giving room for the hard felt hat with a turn-back brim and trimmed with a wide black satin band to sit neatly on her black hair. Her blouse was a fine woolen crêpe forest green with a black satin border along a deep 'V' shaped neckline bound with main body fabric. Her hands were stuffed into bound 'V' shaped pockets of forest green coat with high yoke and tight sleeves with flared bound cuffs and over which an untied black silk tie with fringe end was draped. Her skirt was a forest green with a black 'V' shaped insert from which a pair of dark brown rayon stockings emerged only to disappear into a pair of two-tone leather shoes. A shallow-crowned canvas hat with wide brim rested on Elizabeth’s dark brown hair that had been given body waves to make it look fuller. White silk stockings disappeared into black patent leather low heel, pointed toe crossover strap shoes. She wore a light green and eggshell white floral print cotton dress that had sleeves cut in one with a long tubular bodice, wide hip-level belt, and a skirt with a pleated center panel. The short three-quarter white cotton gloves she was wearing gave her hands a dainty look. The surprise of the lot was T’Pol. She was dressed in a dark red cloche hat with a ribbon a shade lighter red fashioned into an arrow shape on the left side. Under the hat she was wearing a bobbed style wig. Both the hat and the wig covered her ears and apparently someone had attacked her with makeup to bring down her eyebrows so it would be nearly impossible to mistake her for anything but human. She was wearing a pair of suntan colored rayon stockings and black glacé kid shoes with low louis heels. The waistline of her dark red, short sleeved dress fell on her natural hips and a loose hem stopped the dress just above mid-calf. It had a rounded-square neckline with crossover strap detail on the front and back. The most surprising part of her attire was the simple string of pearls adorning her neck. Archer suspected it was a loan from some crewman, but they shone brilliantly against T’Pol’s dark skin. “You’ll go down four at a time,” Sista informed him. Archer looked around at her. She stood behind the transporter controls, resting Kasbra on her left hip with her arm wrapped around the baby. Kasbra was cooing and giggling and occasionally waved her arms toward Malcolm. “Are you sure you can’t calibrate the shielding to--” Archer started as he turned to look at Trip. Trip rolled his eyes. “NO!” Trip looked at Archer. “How they can have such a strange mixture of technology down there is far beyond me, but for the hundredth time, Cap’n, I cannot recalibrate anything on a shuttle pod to deflect radar. I can make it look smaller, I can make it look bigger and I can even throw the radar off twenty kilometers, but I cannot make it disappear comin’ from outer space. We’ll be lucky if they don’t detect Enterprise or us transporting to the surface.” “I hate transporters,” Archer growled. He turned to his away team. “For the most part it looks like we’ll step right into the twenties or thirties, but they do have some advanced technology. Don’t act surprised if you see something that looks out of the ordinary. Remember, this isn’t Earth. Understood?” “Yes, sir,” the seven replied. “I can’t believe you found a city that they speak English in,” Elizabeth commented. “A really outdated English,” Archer commented as he stepped onto the transporter pad. T’Pol, Travis and Trip stepped on with him. “Ready?” Sista asked the four from behind the transporter controls. “No,” Archer answered. Sista smiled. “Energizing. Have fun kids.” Archer closed his eyes until he felt sun on his face. He looked up at a brilliant blue sky speckled with fluffy white clouds. Archer smiled, feeling a light breeze play with the hair at the back of his neck. A six-foot wood fence enclosed the bare lot they had transported into. Beyond the lot he could see the peaks of single level houses. Archer heard four more transport and turned. Hoshi, Malcolm, Elizabeth and Nathan stood behind him. “The parade is this way, Captain,” Hoshi said, motioning in a direction. “First names, Hoshi. Let’s not get any more attention than we want here,” Archer reminded her. “Yes, si..Jon.” Archer laughed, following her out of the lot onto a sidewalk. The street could have easily been mistaken for a street from most any small 1920 or 1930’s American town. Most of the lawns were neat and tidy with flowers of a wide variety decorating them. Cars were parked on the street, in driveways or in the shade of carports or garages. There were a couple people outside, but the street was mostly deserted. “This way,” Hoshi said, motioning. “I can’t believe these cars,” Trip said, looking at one as they passed it. “I can’t believe how much like home this looks like,” Elizabeth smiled when Archer looked back at her. “I grew up in a small town.” Archer nodded, looking across the street. An elderly woman was sitting on her front porch. She waved to them with a smile. Archer returned the greeting. The eight turned at the corner. “Did you hear what this parade is for?” Archer asked. “A holiday,” Hoshi looked up at him. “I couldn’t figure out what the holiday was for though.” “And you got all that from a radio broadcast?” Nathan asked. “I’ve been listening to radio stations for the last three days,” Hoshi replied, smiling, “The music sounds a lot like music back home, but in languages I could spend the next month interpreting! Talk about a gold mine.” “There!” Elizabeth grinned. They could see the crowd of people at the end of the street and a float was passing in front of them. The eight stopped at the back of the crowd, cheering and laughing with the crowd. # Officer Samuel watched his child’s middle school float pass before he turned and continued walking behind the crowd of people with his partner. “So you coming over for cards tomorrow night?” Officer Zimmerman asked. “Maybe,” Samuel answered. “Saren’s trying to ‘suade me in ta goin’ with her to the folks this weekend.” “Ya ain’t, are you?” “I dunno,” Samuel looked down the crowd, spotting a group of people walking up to the back of the crowd. He slowed his walk to a stop. His partner stopped, looking back at him. “What’s wrong, Sam?” “Give me the vid pad, Jeo?” Zimmerman searched his pockets and pulled out a device. It was silver colored, the length of a pen and the width of half a fist, coming to a dull point at both ends. There was a slight bulge on the side that was colored black and a green LED pulsated on the bulge. Zimmerman handed the device to Samuel. Samuel pulled the bulge out to reveal a clear screen with light green grid lines across it. He gave the silver bulge a slight squeeze and it turned on. Information flashed across the screen and a computer-enhanced graphic of a female face appeared. “State authentication,” the face audibly requested. “Samuel, Dorian. Al pike five one niner. Authenticate.” “Authentication accepted. Precede Officer Samuel,” the face commanded. It zoomed back so the whole body could be seen and nine cubes slowly orbited the female. “Transmitting command. Pull all mug shots for Haeri Two Scars, a.k.a. Haeri Swank, a.k.a. Will DeFranco, a.k.a. Tony Striden,” Samuel said. The graphic reached up and pulled a cube to it, quickly processing the command given. Zimmerman looked at him and then looked around. His eyes immediately found Archer standing in the crowd. He moved closer to Samuel’s side, waiting for the image to come up. Archer’s picture showed up on the screen and the charges list began to scroll through dozens of offenses. The two officers looked at one another. “Haeri Two Scars is dead, Sam,” Zimmerman argued against what Samuel was suggesting. “Him getting’ bumped is the buzz on all the channels today. Said he died in an explosion east side. They found his corpse for Setir’s sake!” “Okay.” Samuel looked at Archer. “You wanna go over there and see if it’s his good twin and hope he doesn’t start shooting into a crowd of people like he did at the Rushe Freedom Day parade to keep from being walked and booked?” Zimmerman frowned. “We need backup for this one. He’s bound to have some of his men.” Samuel looked at the video pad. “Samuel to HQ.” A brunette woman appeared. She had her hair swept into a bun and was gnawing a piece of gum as she filed her nails. “Yeah Sam! How’s Mikhail’s float look?” “It looks swell, Steph. Steph, we need backup down on Wikens and Yabaro. We’ve spotted Haeri Two Scars. Zimmerman will meet ‘em a block west of here and I’ll keep an eye on Two Scars.” “The Haeri Two Scars?” she said, her gum almost falling out of her mouth when her jaw slacked. “The one we got word was killed last night when that warehouse lit up on the east side?” “That’s the one. And he don’t look very dead Steph.” “Awright,” Steph reached over and pulled a slim microphone around. “All units in the area of Wikens and Yabaro report to the corner of Yabaro and Everyt. Officers require backup on a capture and detain,” Steph looked back at the screen. “You boys be careful, awright? Don’t need ta be attend two more funerals this week. Talk about a downer!” “We will be, Steph. Thanks.” Steph winked and disappeared from the screen. Samuel looked at Zimmerman. “Get down there and meet them.” Zimmerman turned and hurried back through the crowd to meet the units coming for backup. Samuel slowly made his way through the crowd, keeping his eye on Archer. |
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