[tnpir4002]

It's a fan-based production that I did a preliminary version of before that I'm going back and redoing now in full force. The script for the final version isn't fully fleshed out, but I've got a basic story outline down:

The story opens in deep space with a group of starships chasing an Insurrection-style shuttlecraft, with a space station mysteriously in the background. Despite there being a task force of three starships, two Akira-class and one Constellation, the three seem inexplicably incapable of hitting the shuttle with phasers. Torpedoes fired at the shuttle also miss and go awry as happened in "Genesis." Brief shots in the shuttle's cockpit focus on the pilot, immersed in the chore of evading the pursuing starships' weapons. Cutaways to the aft cargo compartment reveal several sophisticated-looking components secured for transport, likely the target of the pursuing starships. Some of them look suspiciously like components of a Federation Intrepid-class warp core.

On the bridge of one of the pursuing vessels, the crew attempts to compensate for the shuttle's sensor jamming so they can lock their weapons. Repeated sensor modifications fail, and the three ships are unable to affect the shuttlecraft. Before long the shuttle reaches its destination and loops around a midsize moon; the starships follow, only to discover a smoking crater on the moon's surface.

Cut to Star Trek Voyager-style title sequence.

One year later...

Cut to a deep-space research station (played by the Caretaker's Array). The crew are going about their daily lives, when an Intrepid-class starship drops out of warp nearby and its commander--the shuttle pilot from the teaser--requests to come aboard. In the administrator's office, the shuttle pilot is revealed to be one Dr. Brandon Bridges, my character, and the station commander one Dr. Edward Chellik, stunned to see his old friend seemingly back from the dead. Dr. Bridges reveals part of why he has come--he needs experimental components being developed at the station to complete a project of unknown intent. Chellik refuses, and invites Dr. Bridges to remain on the station while Chellik informs friends--Dr. Bridges thanks Chellik for his hospitality and leaves the office. Chellik, sensing trouble, contacts station security.

Meanwhile, deep within the station...in a dark room strewn with sophisticated equipment, a door hums silently open, and Dr. Bridges steps in to examine the room's contents. Taking out his tricorder, the scientist scans the assortment of parts and equipment, and selects the piece he needs. Tagging it for transport, he calls back to his starship for a beamout--only to have the lab's lights come up and Chellik step in, flanked by two stern-faced security guards wielding large phaser rifles. A tense showdown ends with Dr. Bridges successfully activating his transporter and escaping, and the Voyager lookalike doing an abrupt about-face--much faster than a standard Intrepid-class starship should be capable of--and disappear into warp. Chellik watches the starship escape on one of the lab's viewscreens, and softly wishes his old friend good luck on his journey.

Meanwhile, sectors away, Captain Gaius Reyf of the Starship Fitzgerald makes a log entry declaring an end to a multi-week survey mission in the Beta Quadrant, and that an urgent transmission from Mellis II disrupts their plans for some shore leave. In the ship's observation lounge, Reyf talks with Chellik, and it is revealed that Reyf is Dr. Bridges' oldest friend and was commanding one of the starships who ineffectively attempted to stop the shuttlecraft a year earlier. Surprised to learn his old friend is still alive, Reyf asks about the scientist's actions and is disturbed upon learning what was stolen from the space station--and hearing Chellik's descriptions of the schematics he saw, Reyf reacts with alarm as he realizes what Dr. Bridges is doing and where he must go next. Returning hurriedly to the bridge, Reyf polls his crew and deduces Dr. Bridges' most likely destination. Knowing time is short, he sets a course for the Devil's Heart black hole, and the Fitzgerald races off at maximum warp.

A short time later, Reyf is in his quarters, reviewing Dr. Bridges' service record and attempting to figure out all that has happened, when counselor Troi (on detached service from the USS Enterprise) pays him a visit. Together, the two of them access Starfleet records on Dr. Bridges, and as they learn more, Troi warns Reyf that to be capable of faking his own death and then seemingly turning against all his friends and his Starfleet ideals, something serious must have happened and that Reyf should not expect to find the same idealistic young man he knew at the Academy, and that Dr. Bridges might be capable of anything. As Reyf digests her warning, a comm call from the bridge announces that the Fitzgerald has arrived at Sector 585. Reyf orders the ship to drop to impulse as he and Troi report to the bridge. A quick sensor scan locates the scientist's starship exactly where Reyf feared it would be--hovering dangerously close to the black hole. Conscious of the risks to his ship and crew, Reyf orders an intercept course, and the Fitzgerald takes off towards the black hole.

Meanwhile, at the black hole...

The starship I.S.S. Voyager is just moving into position. Unaware that the Fitzgerald is in the sector on an intercept course, Dr. Bridges orders the ship's computer to activate a containment field and begin an unknown "extraction procedure." The forward tractor beam initiates, drawing something up from the black hole's event horizon; in the transporter room, six empty canisters fill as the transporter engages and brings in a glowing gold substance. In the cargo bay, a large and very exotic-looking device begins to hum with power; we intercut with the starship's bridge as Dr. Bridges works, and various parts of the device begin to light up and activate. Within minutes, the device appears to be fully powered.

Back at the Fitzgerald...

The starship has gone to red alert in preparation for a showdown with Dr. Bridges. Reyf orders the forward shields up and the forward weapons armed; just then, the ship comes into visual range of the black hole, and the awe-inspiring sight of the ISS Voyager against the massive thing fills the viewscreen. Reyf hails the ship but fails to get a response, until he contacts Dr. Bridges by name. At first Dr. Bridges dismisses the Fitzgerald and refuses to communicate, until Reyf makes a personal request to meet and discuss the situation. Reluctantly, Dr. Bridges agrees to allow Reyf to board his vessel to that end. Over the objections of his first officer, Reyf beams himself--alone and unarmed--aboard the ISS Voyager.

The next few scenes follow Reyf and Bridges through the ISS Voyager as Dr. Bridges explains his plan, and reveals his intentions to travel back in time. Stunned, Reyf asks why--but all the mad scientist will say is that he intends to right a serious wrong. After Reyf repeatedly questions him, Bridges explains that elements in his own past have converged to make him into a person he no longer recognizes--and he wants to go back in time to set things right. Reyf, confused, states his belief that Dr. Bridges is actually a good man, but that sets the doctor off and a tense showdown ensues (in the style of "The Wounded" or First Contact), at the end of which Dr. Bridges sees the error of his ways, and wordlessly shuts down the time machine in the cargo bay. Pleased, Reyf and he exchange glances. Minutes later, Reyf is back on board the Fitzgerald and gives his crew a full briefing on what almost happened, and explains to counselor Troi the particulars of the trauma and betrayal that led the doctor to this point.

Just as he expresses a certainty that Dr. Bridges has indeed stood down and that they should make preparations to tow the ISS Voyager to a nearby starbase, as many of its components seem far more advanced than current Federation standard, a comm call from the bridge alerts Reyf and his staff that Voyager has just taken off into warp. Reyf orders his helm to keep pace with the wayward starship, and a chase ensues. Reyf again calls for Dr. Bridges to stand down, but the mad scientist refuses--wishing Reyf luck, he closes the channel. Reyf calls for red alert, and his first officer reminds him of the challenge of overcoming Voyager's defenses--but citing the Fitzgerald's own advanced weaponry Reyf states it is not an impossibility, and orders quantum torpedoes launched. The weapons hit Voyager's shields hard, but sensor scans fail to detect any damage. A second plan to disrupt Voyager's shields and disable its warp drive with a tachyon pulse also fails--and with a temporal field beginning to form around the rogue ship, Reyf makes a difficult choice and orders the deployment of the Fitzgerald's most fearsome weapons, an isokinetic charge with a multi-isoton yield that should overcome even the Voyager's seemingly impenetrable deflectors. The weapons impact the starship just as the temporal field comes into alignment, and in a bright flash the renegade scientist and his ship seem to disappear. Sensor readings are at first inconclusive, but Reyf feels a horrible certainty that his actions have resulted in his old friend's death.

Later, in his ready room, Reyf is reflecting on the events when a chime comes at the door. In walks Lt Cmdr Data, also on detached service from the Enterprise along with Troi, who asks Reyf about the encounter and requests guidance on the appropriate feelings under these circumstances, questioning when it is appropriate to kill or die for one's principles. Reyf reveals that compromising his ideals was what led Dr. Bridges to the path of his own demise, and that while Reyf feels sure he did the right thing in defending his own principles, that no human should ever learn to cope with the loss of even one another life--because to become accustomed to it is to lose a small part of one's own humanity.

Data then suggests the logical course of action is to accept the loss and move on, but Reyf gets a strange look in his eye and he tells the android he is not so certain that Dr. Bridges is dead, and that wherever the mad scientist is, it's exactly where he wants to be--and that he's at last found happiness. The final shot is of the Fitzgerald flying into space.

An alternate ending I had considered was to show a time rift opening and see the ISS Voyager approaching Earth, but I prefer to leave the ultimate fate of my character an unknown, and to allow the audience to interpret that ending in their own way.

What do you guys think? In the strictest sense this is something of a bottle show since it's all set in space, and we don't make planetfall, but I don't think it suffers because of that. In total, we see Voyager's bridge (both light AND dark), turbolift interior (as seen in "Author, Author"), corridors and residential corridors, transporter room, science lab, Astrometrics, cargo bay, captain's ready room, captain's quarters, briefing room, and even holodeck (every major set except for sickbay); we see the custom interior I did for Chellik's office aboard the station; we see TNG's film bridge, corridors, transporter room, ready room (lit a lot like "Yesterday's Enterprise"), observation lounge, turbolift (as seen in Generations), captain's quarters, and residential corridors. All in all, hopefully enough eye candy to keep even the staunchiest of audiences happy.

I'm still trying to come up with a bridge design for the Akira-class ships that pursue the shuttle in the very beginning (oh yeah, we also see the Type-11 shuttlecraft with interiors), I may just base it on the bridge design for the Prometheus or the Equinox (same set, slightly different layout) and be done with it, I plan to use the Voyager-era uniforms in the prologue but the STFC-era uniforms thereafter for continuity's sake. I'd welcome any suggestions on this front. I had considered making the pursuer a single Galaxy-class ship, so I could just re-dress my film bridge to match the series, but that seemed like too much of a copout all the way around.

I'd appreciate any suggestions you guys might have on this one!