Episode 6: "Heaven"

Captain Fenriss Barbosa was lying in the grass. Life hadn't been any better before now. It might sound odd, but she considered being 'stranded' here the best thing that happened in her life. And in the life of her crew. She knew they all agreed. Lt. Teichmann here for instance. She was certainly one of those who loved this place. Hell, they *all* loved this place. It was... it was heaven. Compared to this, Risa was just a backwater planet.

At first, she had resisted this 'Slade' person, when she took over the USS Challenger: her ship. She felt a pang of sorrow at not being able to be on the Bridge anymore, but... well, she supposed she could also be grateful to this renegade officer for leaving her and her crew stranded on this planet, which the crew had dubbed 'heaven'. Because it certainly was. Her life on the Challenger was over, as far as she was concerned. Her 'afterlife' in 'heaven' had just begun. And she was enjoying every minute of it. Closing her eyes, she took in a deep breath. The fog which found its way through the yellow flowers, entered her nostrils, and she smiled. What better life was there than this?

"Captain Barbosa." A voice came from nearby. When Barbosa opened her eyes, she noticed several Starfleet personnel standing around her: Starfleet personnel with phasers. Starfleet personnel which she didn't recognise. All of a sudden, she felt threatened. What were they doing here? Still, she didn't let it show.

"That is me." She answered, even though all that she wore now of her Starfleet uniform was her commbadge, and that was only for practical reasons. She had long ago opted to just wear her shirt: a uniform like that hardly seemed relaxing. Lt. Teichmann had thought differently though, but then again, who was she to dictate what her crew should or shouldn't wear? "To whom do I have the honour speaking?"

"Captain McMillan, USS Gibraltar." came the curt response. "Allow me to introduce my officers. My First Officer, Commander Arado. Lt. Heron, Tactical Officer. Ensign Braveheart, Science Officer. Ensign Menkez, Operations Officer. Lt.jg Bourne, helmsman, and Doctor Seesaw, our Medical Officer." He paused. "We uh... came to rescue you."

Alarm bells started to ring in Barbosa's mind. Rescue? Etta Teichmann seemed to be wondering the same thing. "Rescue?" She voiced her concerns.

Captain McMillan didn't seem to pick that up. Either that, or he ignored the statement. "We regret to inform you, that your ship, the USS Challenger, was lost. Slade, the renegade, piloted it on a course into a star. We barely had time to get out of there ourselves." He paused, and offered a genuine "I'm sorry."

Barbosa frowned. "That really is too bad. She was a good ship." she said, and she meant it. She had spent a lot of time on the Bridge on that Starship, and she would miss it. But perhaps it was a blessing in disguise, like everything Slade had did to her so far. Perhaps the loss of the Challenger would be a satisfying reason for them to stay here, on this planet. She decided to push it. "But we do not require rescue, Captain. We're perfectly alright here. Our crew has decided to stay here." She paused, and gestured around. "What more could we want? You are welcome to stay too, of course."

"You are saying," one of the Gibraltar officers, Lt. Heron, spoke up, still wearing her phaser rifle, "That you are not returning to Starfleet?"

Barbosa nodded. "That is exactly what we're saying. And it's not just my decision. Ask any of my crew."

Teichmann now spoke up. "It's true. We love this place, and we will *not* leave it." She was very convinced of this, as she should be. Barbosa smiled silently: Teichmann always had a knack for defending her Captain. Well, hopefully it wouldn't come to that. If this other Captain would just accept the wishes of the Gibraltar crew...

But it didn't seem that he would. He actually seemed shocked at the very idea that an entire crew could decide to stay somewhere. "But Captain. What about your duties? Don't you care for your ship?"

At this, Barbosa sat up. "Of course I care. But as you said, the Challenger is lost. That is a pity. But it doesn't change the fact that we love this place, and we're not leaving."

At that moment, Doctor Seesaw closed her tricorder: she had been scanning the two Challenger officers until now. "They seem to be healthy, Captain." she reported to her CO. "No sign of injuries or anything. Though I am getting some anomalous readings that I have to verify."

The look of concern on McMillan's face said it all, as well as the rediculous conclusion he took afterwards. "Could there be something in the environment, causing them to act like this?"

"There could be." was the Doctor's answer. "I would need to run more tests."

"Oh don't be rediculous." Teichmann interrupted. "We're fine, can't you see that? And this place is just wonderful." She looked around, and many of the angry features on her face disappeared. "We love this place, Captain McMillan. We won't go."

McMillan simply nodded to Doctor Seesaw, and then turned back to Barbosa. "Captain. A few words please. Ensigns Braveheart and Menkez, search the area. Mr. Bourne, please stay with Ms. Teichmann. Ms. Heron, go pick some flowers. They're lovely."

At the mention of that last order, everyone turned to face the Gibraltar Captain, who seemed to realise what he had just said too. Barbosa merely smiled. This had happened to the Challenger crew too. At first they had fought it, since the symptoms were less than pleasant. But when they finally gave up the fight, the symptoms disappeared, and they began to see how beautiful this place was.

"I mean... keep an eye out." McMillan corrected himself, as he shook his head. "Doctor, do whatever tests you need. We need to find out what is happening... to us, as well."



About half an hour later, Captain McMillan was no further in convincing Captain Barbosa to leave, Lt.jg Bourne had nausea attacks, Ensign Menkez found he could no longer walk, and Lt. Heron was swinging through the trees. There was definitely something going on, Seesaw figured, but she didn't know what. There was some sort of gas from all around her, influencing people in all kinds of different ways. She had to find out what was causing it. She had to...

And then it hit her. The fog. Quickly, she moved to higher ground, above this fog, and started scanning. Damnit. She thought. Her suspicions were true. This fog contained some sort of gas. If someone were exposed to it too much, it would be lethal...

And that it was. Suddenly, she got a call from her Captain: one of the Challenger personnel had dropped dead, just as he was reporting to Captain Barbosa. Seesaw scanned the body, and confirmed with a frown what she had detected earlier. "It's the fog."

She would have thought that this would convince Captain Barbosa to return with them to the Gibraltar, but... no. Apparently the fog had already clouded Barbosa's mind. And it would do the same to all the Gibraltar crewmembers, if they stayed here much longer. "Captain, we have to go." she informed McMillan, once they were out of hearing range of the two Challenger crewmen. "We shouldn't be exposed to this fog much longer. You've seen the damage it can do."

"Then what would you suggest?" McMillan asked, his tone of voice more argumentative, more angry than Seesaw ever heard it before. This fog was affecting him too. "We cannot go without the Challenger crew."

"We can shoot them." Lt. Heron said, jumping out of a nearby tree. "Stun them, and beam them over." She brandished her phaser rifle, and besides her, Lt.jg Bourne did the same. "Let me at them Sir, and..."

"No." McMillan said, much to Seesaw's relief. "No, we'll solve this a different way. I don't want to fight fellow Starfleet officers." He paused. "I need alternatives."

It was Commander Arado who spoke up. "We need to let them go to sleep." He suggested. "Concentrated pockets of anastazine gas would do the trick. We launch probes and set up portable forcefields, so that the gas doesn't escape. When it has done its work, we beam up the unconscious Challenger crew."

The Captain seemed to like this idea. Seesaw didn't: there were many effects the gas could have in combination with this fog... but she had to admit that she always like this idea better than just shooting everyone. And there were no alternatives. So finally, she nodded in approval.

"Very well Commander." McMillan stated, finally a smile on his face. "Make it so. Return to the Gibraltar. We will try to convince Captain Barbosa, one last time."



Captain McMillan sighed, as he entered the Bridge. He had really hoped his colleague from the Challenger would listen to reason. But she hadn't. Barbosa and Teichmann had refused to come back on board, but they did say "there'll always be a place for you here, Captain." Somehow, those hadn't been comforting words.

And now those two officers and the rest of their crew, lay unconscious in Sickbay, the cargobays, hell, even the shuttlebays. Luckily Starfleet was already dispatching a ship to take over these many people from the Intrepid class vessel.

"Captain," Ensign Braveheart spoke up, "I suggest we launch a few markers, warning others of this planet."

Sitting down in his chair, McMillan nodded. "Agreed. Let's not let anyone else go through this." He turned to his left, where he saw Commander Arado sitting. He looked up too, and straight into McMillan's eyes. "You know Sir," He said, obviously having something on his mind, "Because of our little rescue trip, we might have lost all track of where Slade could be now. Perhaps next time we should... consider other options too."

McMillan bit his lip. Catching Slade *was* their main mission. Why *hadn't* he gone after her? Another ship could have easily been dispatched to rescue the Challenger crew. Was it because he had known Slade in the past too? Was it because he actually *didn't* want revenge for what she had done to them at the Challenger? Or was it because he was afraid of her?

He shook his head. "Perhaps, Commander. We have sent out probes anyway... perhaps they'll find Slade. Only time will tell."

He took in a deep breath. Only time will tell. "Mr. Bourne... set a course for the Starfleet ship we're supposed to rendezvouz with. And... Engage."