Back In Time

[John Randall 0]

OFFICIAL LOG

LIEUTENANT JOHN RANDALL

USS CHALLENGER

 

(Personal Log Stardate 11302.17)

 

 

The ship dropped out of warp speed, and the braking thrusters

fired. In engineering, John sat unconscious at the warp core panel,

strapped to his chair. He began to stir groggily after a few moments,

then he heard the voice of chief engineer Eddie Freeman shouting

to he and Steve Davis, wanting to know if they had awakened. The

chief came up to the back of John's chair. He leaned over, studying

the warp core panel, then looked down. "Hey, man, you comin' back

around?" he asked.

 

John put a hand to the back of his neck, and rubbed it softly.

"I have one hell of a headache, Chief," he said thickly. Freeman gave

a half-smile, and replied, "Yeah, I hear that." He straightened up.

"Last time I felt like this was when we hit that elaron mine field. Nearly

died that time. Take deep breaths; it's supposed to help." John nodded,

wincing as he did so, and attempted to follow his superior's advice.

After a few seconds, he did feel a little better. Freeman turned to go

back to his office, and said over his shoulder, "Take your time, but not

too much. And get that gun if you haven't already." John glanced down

at the warp core panel, and froze in disbelief. "Chief, we got a problem,"

he said.

 

Freeman, who had arrived back at the main console where his

duffel bag was, looked up hastily at the concerned tone of his top assistant's

voice. "What's up?" he asked warily. Randall looked at him. "The warp

engines are out, and impulse power is beginning to fail. We may have

burned out the crystals." Eddie's eyes widened slightly, and his face

reflected concern as well. "And we're in 1969," he mused almost to himself.

John said, "Well, sir, I anticipated this from reading Commander Scott's

books, and while we were at Earth Spacedock, I requisitioned some spare

crystals. Steve and his crew should be able to handle the extraction while

we're on the mission."

 

Freeman's face showed noticable relief as he sat down in a nearby

chair. "Dude, you are getting a medal, or a promotion, or something for

that." John smiled briefly, and said, "Well, sir, if I hadn't read Scott's books,

we would be in a pickle, as my grandpa used to say." Freeman smiled and

nodded, and resumed putting his stuff into his duffel bag. John walked by

the main console, then pulled up short as he thought of something. He said,

"Well, I need to go to my quarters, and get dressed. Chief, may I suggest

you call the bridge, and tell them about the engines? We need to move the

ship away from Earth ASAP." Freeman said, "Yep," and bent down to thumb

the 'comm. Randall walked to the engineering doors, which swooshed open

as he approached, and went out into the corridor, heading for the turbolift.

 

He stepped inside and said, "Deck 8." The lift whisked him away, and,

a few moments later, deposited him at the deck. John had been assigned

new quarters on deck 3 when he received his promotion to full lieutenant, and

would be moved into them after the current mission ended. He strode down

the corridor, and the cabin doors swooshed open as he approached. He

went in, stripped off his uniform, and dived into the head for a very quick water

shower. He finished, toweled himself dry, and went to his bedroom. He put on

a tank-top T shirt, then a button-down shirt with a NASA logo on the left breast

pocket. He took a shoulder holster from his closet, put it on, then got his

grandfather's Colt .45 revolver, and slipped it into the holster. He then put on

a pair of work slacks, wing-tip shoes, stood, walked over to the mirror, and

combed his still-wet hair into a ducktail. He then surveyed himself in a mirror,

and nodded.

 

He filled a backpack with spare clothes, and a box of ammunition for the

Colt. He then looked curiously at a leather object which he had read in the

computer archives was called a "billfold" or "wallet" in those days. The computer

recommended he take it along, and he remembered that the Earth of 1969 used

money. Real, actual currency. He remembered reading about it at Starfleet

Academy as well. 'Never thought I would actually have to use anything like that,'

he thought, then shrugged. 'The computer knows best,' he thought, and put

the wallet into the back pocket of his slacks. He took one final look in the mirror,

nodded to himself, then exited the cabin, heading for the turbolift. He stepped in,

and said, "Deck 10." The lift whisked him away.

 

John arrived at deck 10, exited the 'lift, and went along the corridor to the

transporter room. He entered, finding several of the crew who had been selected

for the mission already there. He walked over to join them, and took a jacket out

of his backpack, putting it on. Eddie Freeman said to him, "Man, I feel weird in this

outfit. Have to admit, these jeans are comfortable, though." Randall glanced over

at him, then impulsively said, "You look groovy, chief." Freeman eyed him for a

second, then laughed. "I'll take anything that isn't, 'you look like you're from the

future,' to be honest," he replied. Randall smiled. "I'm trying to get into the lingo

of the time," he said. Freeman frowned. "I'm not even gonna bother," he said.

"Gonna wind up saying something that means 'good' when someone tells me

their grandmother died or something." John eyed him for a moment at that remark,

then said guardedly, "Well, sir, as you said, as long as you don't look 'far out, man,'

you should be fine."

 

About that time, one of the commanding officers of the mission, Morrison,

cleared his throat. "May I have your attention!" The chatter stopped, and all eyes

snapped to the commander. Some late arrivals came in, and John noticed Lieutenant

H.G. Reed was one of them. He caught her eye and nodded at her; she nodded back,

and came over to stand by him. Morrison said, "I am handing you each 100 dollars

in the country's currency. Be careful how you spend it." He began handing each

crew member the currency. As he was making the rounds, John whispered to Reed,

"You look very nice, Lieutenant." The female helmsman was wearing a blue uniform

with an Air Force logo on the left side of her blouse. The uniform was completed by a

pencil skirt, hose with seams, and high heels.

 

She flushed slightly at the compliment, and nodded, glancing at him briefly.

"Thank you, Lieutenant. I do not suppose this will last very long." Morrison arrived

at that moment to hand the two of them their currency. John glanced curiously at

the bills, then remembered he was supposed to carry them in his "billfold." He took

the leather object from his pants pocket, inserted the bills in the only place that would

take them without folding them, then put the "billfold" back into his pocket. He glanced

back at the female lieutenant, who had finished putting her currency away, and said,

"We can only hope." Reed glanced at him, then nodded. "This mission is going to be

difficult, in a myriad of ways."

 

Morrison finished handing out the currency, then got involved with teasing first

officer Erica Rinax about hers. Finally, the captain, who had made his way down from

the bridge to see the team off, cleared his throat. "Let's try for some decorum down there;

good luck, everyone. The future of Earth depends on you." Everyone nodded and replied

with affirmations to the captain's statement. Morrison became serious, and said, "The

largest gap in this mission is just how much information we don't have, and the little time

we have to find it out. It's imperative that the original Apollo 11 mission complete as history

has shown. Otherwise, the future we return to could be vastly different than you know.

No one wants Earth to be called New Romulus or Borg Matrix 001." Commander Zach

Murphy chimed in with, "Or serve in the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics."

 

The away team then assembled onto the transporter pad. When they were in

position, Captain Ja'Lale nodded to the transporter chief, and the team shimmered out

of existence. They rematerialized in a wooded clearing. The commanders took a head

count, verifying everyone had transported safely. Commander Murphy then said, "All

right. Let's get into town and settle in, shall we?" The Starfleet marines who were them

quickly formed a perimeter around the group, and they began walking toward a clump

of bushes that Murphy said concealed two vans that the covert operatives had procured

and hidden for the away team's use.

 

A few minutes of walking later, the group arrived at the bushes, and two vehicles

were indeed there. The commanders identified them as a Volkswagon and a Ford Econoline.

John remembered reading about the vans in his study of the time period. The commanders

suggested the team split in two to transport into town, and John immediately headed for the

Ford van, having read it was the more powerful of the two. He boarded the van, and headed

for the far back seat, sliding to the window side where he could look out. The other members

began boarding, and, a few seconds later, John felt someone sit beside him. He glanced

over, and saw it was Lieutenant Reed. He gave her a quick smile, which she returned, then

he resumed staring out the window.

 

A few minutes later, a vibration spread throughout the van, and, with a slight lurch,

the vehicle began to move. They were soon speeding along at a pretty good pace. John

watched the scenery roll by the window, his thoughts drifting back home to Centaurus, where

he remembered speeding along a wooded road much like this one in his groundcar. The

dirt road soon turned into an asphalt-covered road, then, a few minutes later, they turned

onto a concrete-covered road that went up an incline to another asphalt-covered road.

John remembered from his study of this time period that this multi-lane highway, filled with

other vehicles, had been called an "Interstate" because it connected states to each other.

He was also trying to remember that, in this era, this country was still called the "United States

Of America."

 

There was fascinating scenery along this road as well. Endless signs dotted the landscape.

They ranged from speed limit to cautionary to advertisements. Towns and cities were also

marked as well. John thought to himself, 'I would go crazy trying to figure all this out.' Then he

thought, 'No, I wouldn't, because I would have grown up with all this.' Still, it was....bewildering.

After a short time, the van left the asphalt highway, traveling down a concrete covered incline.

They turned onto another asphalt road, and negotiated their way down it. John noted that

Starfleet Marine Hunter Matheson was 'driving', as they referred to it in this era, and highly

approved of the Marine's skills. 'Wonder how much time he spent in a holodeck doing this,'

thought Randall wryly.

 

They turned down a road lined with houses on either side. Children were out on the lawns

playing as they drove past. The van turned into a concrete covered short road, which John

recalled was termed a 'driveway,' and the vehicle came to a stop. On the left was a huge house

which Randall assumed would be their headquarters and living accomdations for the mission.

The crew began exiting the van, and John stepped off the van onto the grass covered lawn.

He set his backpack down, and stretched thankfully, getting his blood circulating again. A voice

came from behind him. "Okay, sir?" it asked. John turned to see Marine Hunter Matheson

standing looking at him. He smiled briefly at the marine. "Yeah, just getting rid of some kinks,"

he replied, and Matheson nodded. "Roger that, sir," he said, then went to assist Reed and Marine

Captain Cassidy Granger with their bags.

 

The team assembled in what was called a 'garage,' Randall remembered. Morrison and

Murphy did another head count, then Murphy said, "Okay, we might as well get settled in, guys.

Since tomorrow is a holiday, we'll have two days to rest and orient ourselves." Then he started

joking around with Rinax about shooting off fireworks tomorrow, and Randall soon grew impatient

with the whole thing. He raised his voice slightly, and said, "So, Commander Murphy, do we get

rooms, or what?" The bit of an edge in his voice made the chatter die momentarily, and Rinax

quickly said, "At 0600, we'll have a debriefing tomorrow morning, right, Murph?" "That's right,"

replied the commander. "We'll have a lot to discuss there, so get some good rest." John shook

his head, grabbed his backpack, and headed for the door of the building, following Matheson,

whom he had seen enter ahead of him. The marine went down a hallway, opened a door, and

disappeared into a room. Randall paused, then stopped at the first door he came to, and did the

same. He threw his backpack onto the bed, and stretched out beside it, letting the tension

drain from his body. He was very apprehensive about this mission, he suddenly realized;

and he didn't know why. All he knew was, he had a feeling something bad was going to happen.

 

 

 

END LOG