Chapter
1

"Typical."

Tev glanced again at the door, but it remained closed. Where was he? Not that Stevens would use the door, necessarily, but it provided a good focal point. And he was long overdue on checking in. He and that Starfleet instructor, Sparks, had dealt with the malfunctioning turbolift, and had rescued Ben Martin, the student trapped within. That was over an hour ago. Martin was back in engineering now, but Stevens should have reported in himself, to let Tev know what had happened. Especially since Martin had mentioned that Stevens had been injured.

"Computer," Tev called out, "Locate Specialist Stevens."

"Access denied."

Damn and blast! Of course, he'd tried locating Stevens several times already, and that had been the response each time. For most requests, the computer still recognized his authority and complied, but when it came to shutting down the program, exiting the suite, or locating Stevens and Sparks, it refused. Tev dearly wished he had access to the holosuite's programming panels—then he would teach it to respect him properly. Unfortunately, revealing those was another thing it refused to do.

He glanced around the captain's quarters—his quarters—again. The Hyperion was not a large ship by any stretch, but the rooms were well arranged and certainly this was larger than his cabin on the da Vinci. It was actually larger than Captain Gold's rooms there—Tev knew this because he had memorized the measurements of every room on the ship before he had gone on board. It would be hard to give this up, once the exams were over.

Next to his bed was a small nightstand, a flask, and a book sitting atop it. Tev frowned. The flask was his, a present from his granduncle upon finishing first in his scholastic exit exams, but the book did not belong there. He walked over and picked it up. It was a handsome volume, leather-bound with gilt edges, and had a certain comforting heft to it. Then the title caught his eye:

The Plight of the Hyperion

Intrigued, Tev flipped the book open to the first page and read:

Tev, it's Stevens. The computer's locked us out, and we're stuck in ghost mode. I tried sending you a direct message through the communicators, but it was blocked. Looks like someone's programmed the computer to cut us off from everyone else, in every way possible. Then I thought of this. The computer is still letting us alter things, as long as it doesn't lead to anyone stopping the program. So I created this book.

Alex and I think tha

The text ended abruptly there, and began again a page later with some drivel about a kidnapped spaceship and a band of blue-haired teen rescuers. Stevens clearly had not written that. Tev tossed the book onto his bed and began pacing. The computer was locking them in, as Stevens had called it, ghost mode? That would explain why he'd been unable to—

He lost his train of thought when something moved off to the side, at the edge of his peripheral vision. Turning, Tev found himself facing his bathroom mirror, and his own reflection—which was frantically gesturing to him. Approaching the mirror, Tev saw that his reflection was holding its hands oddly.

"What exactly are you doing to my image?" he demanded of the mirror. "That posture is unbecoming of a Starfleet officer, much less a starship captain. I demand that you straighten up at once!"

The reflection started banging its head against the glass. Then it raised one hand and thumbed its nose at him.

"How dare you! If you were a real person, instead of my own reflection, I would have you brought up on charges of insubordination! You're worse than Stevens!"

At that, the reflection nodded. And Tev understood.

"Stevens? What do you mean, hijacking my reflection? Ah, wait—the computer caught on to your book idea, and so you switched over to here. Fine. Who is behind this?"

The reflection shrugged.

"No idea? Is it someone within the holosuite?"

The reflection nodded but then shrugged again.

"You think so, but are not certain?" Another nod. "Is Sparks with you?" Nod. "Is he injured?" A shake of the head. "Are you injured?" Nod. "Badly?" Nod and shake. "Moderately?" Nod. "Do you require medical attention?" Nod. "Is your life at risk?" Shrug. "I see."

Tev idly stroked his chin, but the reflection did not move. "I will monitor the students, and watch for any signs of complicity. Since the two of you are trapped in this intangible state, you'd best spend your time studying the matter. Perhaps you can deduce who is behind this. Communicate with me when you have any new information, via any method necessary."

Copyright © 2005 by Paramount Pictures