Moments later, the intercom announces, "Lt Trask, security chief reporting. Captain, someone just appeared in the crew lounge—two someones that is. Human, male and female. Dressed oddly, answer to Spaxter, NFN, and Louella, also NFN. Spaxter appears to have cerebral implants and a bionic hand. Louella appears to be unenhanced. They claim to be friendly, from Earth, but nothing else they say makes much sense... Something about a South American anti-tech cult and a supercomputer named MARS. When pressed on how they got here, they say they... jumped..."
This message was lightly edited by the player at 23:18, Mon 30 Mar 2020.

[OOC: I'm assuming one or all three of you will want to talk to this "Spaxter" fellow, whether in the brig or a briefing room]

When Thelev walks in, Lt Trask is standing guard on two basic Humans.

Spaxter is wearing a twentieth century double-breasted suit and tie topped off with a classic fedora. He's wearing a leather glove on his right hand, while Louella is wearing a strapless cocktail dress, long blonde curls around her bare shoulders, as if they'd arrived from a party. They are also coated in a layer of dust and have traces of dried mud on their shoes.

"Hi, there," says Spaxter brightly, as if the armed guard wasn't holding him in custody. "Call me Spaxter. Say, I'll bet you get this all the time, but you're... blue. With antennae. Snazzy threads. This lovely lady is my main squeeze, Louella."

"Pleased to meet you," she says breathlessly. "Where are we? I'm assuming you're the captain. Your bully-boy here  wouldn't let us get cleaned up. We're not usually this dusty—well I'm not, at least." She gives Spaxter a sideways look.

Trask says, "Sir, these two simply stepped out of a solid bulkhead. No sign of a transporter effect. Refused to give more than a single name each, saying they wanted to talk to the big cheese."

Spaxter holds out his hand. "Sam Spaxter, under-the-covers, out-of-the-woodwork, ex-secret agent and sometime private eye. Pardon the gauntlet. It became fused to my hand during the battle against Akhenaten in the Ray-Gun club. This is Louella Goodbody—she was there then after we the Earth from his Vague Plague, we wound up in a South America where an anti-tech cult had taken over. You know how things can change when you jump. Then MARS had us save the Earth again, this time from cheesey fifties-style aliens at Woodstock and we wound up back in South America. I'd thought we were out of jumps, but I found a couple in my pocket and here we are. Where, by the way, is here. I'm assuming this is some sort of space ship—at least it's not upholstered in blue vinyl—so what the hell is the year? Slip me the whole helix, Slim," he says in rapid-fire staccato without taking a breath.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:12, Sun 15 Nov 2020.

In reply to Odyssey GM (msg # 23):

" Mr. Spaxter, Ms. Goodbody, I'm Captain Thelev, commanding officer of the USS Odyssey. " he replies.

Using his knowledge of 20th Century Earth, he based his intro on. Does any of this sound familiar outside of the cloth they are wearing.

In an attempt to be vague and not give away anything I will rattle off the current star date, based on the fact that Andoria was one of the founding member, if Sam Spaxter knew of the current time system he would know of blue skinned people with antennae. "It is Stardate nnnnn.nn"

[OOC: Could not find a conversion tool for 2290s]

" It is tough for me to say what year it is in your terms, since I don't know when or where you are from. Once I knew that I could possibly convert our Stardate into your time frame. You mentioned you thought you were out of jumps, can I assume you are time travelers of a sort? " he asks.

" Oh would you mind if we did a few quick medical scans of you, to ensure you are not bringing anything harmful to us onto our ship.  Since you did come aboard in an unorthodox method. " assuming someone else other than Lt. Trask is with him he nods hoping they do more than just a medical scan.

[OOC: By my calculations, based on whole cloth, the date is March 14, 2290, 07:25 hours, or SD 9239.51]

The clothing worn by Spaxter is mid-late 20^th business wear, and that worn by Louella is a somewhat fanciful evening gown with a vaguely Egyptian theme. The references to a post-apocalyptic South American antitech cult seem to place them in Argentina post WW III during the Post-Atomic Horror. It's very confusing.

Khendron does a quick search in the historical database and comes up with a result for Spaxter. He finds an obscure reference to a pair of obscure radio plays (audio only) from 1986-87 called Spaxter and Spaxterback, the synopses of which match what Spaxter is saying about his own history.

When it's pointed out that the historical database claims he's a fictional character, he replies wryly, "Yeah, I get that a lot."

[OOC: A note on Stardates: I established a rationale for stardates quite awhile ago: http://www.coldnorth.com/owen/.../source/stardate.htm —this is based on canon sources and on-air examples.

I determined that the Star Trek, a Space Odyssey would begin in 2290, three years before Star Trek VI, on my birthday. I took the closest established stardates from the movies closest to that date and extrapolated that the date Jan. 01, 2290, 12:43:12 = SD 9200.00 , and thus Mar. 07, 2290, 12:45:00 = SD 9211.83. Noting that this post was Mar.14, 2290, 07:25:00 ,based on the morning briefing starting at 07:00 I simply calculated the number of hours and divided that by 8 hours 45.95 minutes to give 18.514 stardates.

So much for a peek behind the curtain...]
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:12, Wed 01 Apr 2020.

Spaxter replies, "Time traveller? Um, yeah, maybe. Jumps can change all sorts of things. Time? Sure, I guess. Makes as much sense as anything... They seem to warp reality. I mean, one day you're living in a representative democracy and then you use a jump and Zam! the world is ruled by an Emperor. It's not always that big a change, though. Sometimes it's a little thing, like you wind up five minutes before you left, or twelve hours later... So, yeah, time travel happens. Mostly it's like a change in probability, though, like history went different some time in the past. It's enough to rip your cortex.

"Medical scans? Sure, I guess. I mean, I've got my meld gear, courtesy of my former employer, the Company. You know, like the See Eye Aye? And the Shadow Shield, which stops anyone else from brain-snooping me in return. And my gauntlet—can't take it off since it got fused to my system by the feedback from Ahkenaten's bundle. It's kind of a multipurpose tool with built-in defensive systems." He doffs his hat, revealing a number of silver discs embedded in his scalp, mostly concealed by his hair. Then he pulls off the thin black leather glove, revealing a series of burnished plates encasing the flesh. "I invented the gauntlet. Used to be able to take it off, but now? No way, nohow—it's like it's part of me now."

He looks at the gauntlet on his hand. "Hey, looks like MARS did some adjustments to it. Looks a lot sleeker than before... Hmmmm, I wonder..." He flexes his fingers.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:21, Wed 01 Apr 2020.

I arrive moments later.  I get taken aback by the antique garments.

“Oh hello”.

I notice Thelev’s ease and turn slightly to him

“So I see we have some guests”

In reply to Commodore Bradron McCurrvey (msg # 28):

" Commodore McCurrvey , our guests are Sam Spaxter and Louella Goodbody. " he introduces each of them pausing briefly between each for Bradron to acknowledge them.

" According to Mr. Spaxter, he tells us that they are both time and dimensional travelers, and it sounds like they have come from perhaps our Earth past perhaps a different Earth past. And as you walked in he was just telling us a bit about his gauntlet. " trying to capture the key highlights without tipping anything of their own knowledge and understanding of these areas.

He turns slightly to his XO (CSO) to see if he is scanning Spaxter based on his acknowledgement we could.

"Commodore?" Spaxter looks bemused. "Does that mean you're the Captain's captain?"

Louella kicks him, based on his reaction. "No, Spax, it just means he's the Captain's superior officer!" she says sardonically.

"Yeah, I know. Just trying to lighten the mood," he replies. "Based on what Captain... Thelev? was saying, I assume we're some time in the future and we're on some kind of... starship. Based on the flag in the corner, you're from a United Federation of Planets? So, the Captain and his geriatric biker friend Ken (I'm assuming that Thelev introduced Mercer by name) are aliens? I was expecting some sort of short, bulbous-headed grey fellow or a sexy green slave girl in a shiny metallic bikini. And what your Lieutenant Trask there is brandishing is either a stun gun or a disintegrator, eh?"

Khendron raises an eyebrow at the geriatric biker remark. His scans reveal deep cortical implants and the so-called gauntlet, which appears to have been expertly grafted onto Spaxter's hand, contrary to his description of its having been fused to his hand by some sort of feedback.

In reply to Sam Spaxter (msg # 30):

"Mr. Spaxter," says Khendron. "If you are looking for alien, perhaps you should look no further than yourselves. The way your implants are expertly integration with your body suggests very advanced technology! And as for good looking women in sexy clothing..." Khendron drops a wink in Louella's direction.

In reply to Captain Khendron Mercer (msg # 31):

Looking at Louella and then turning towards Sam “ I am the captain of this ship and in fact the Commodore is my commanding officer. “. Turning to Khendron “ This is my XO Captain Mercer, this ship is not typical of the number of Captain’s and above.  And yes this ship and crew are part of the United Federation of Planets. “

“ As for the weapon likely a combination of both a stun gun and a disintegrator, I’m sure the Lt. has it set on stun right now.  And as when we are if you were previously at our timelines Earth we are a bit over 300 years in the future.  Perhaps we should go somewhere we can have a seat and talk. “


OOC: if I can get anyone to the side I will ask them to make sure for the time being we keep Dr. Smith away from them, but I want Dr. Smith to dig up what he can on these two. At least not until I can confirm their paths have not crossed.

When Mercer mentions the gauntlet, Spaxter looks at it as if seeing it for the first time. "Hey, when MARS said he was doing a few upgrades, I guess he adjusted the gauntlet. I've been too busy since then to inspect it, but it wasn't causing me any pain so I kinda forgot about it. And yeah MARS was quite the advanced computer. In his reality, he pretty much ran the planet, while keeping his capabilities a secret from the governments that built him... or it, or whatever. Not certain what gender preferences AIs have after all..."

Louella catches Mercer's wink and says, "Well, I'm not exactly green... I'm a hundred per cent human, Kenmdash;can I call you Ken? Hey, I thought all space navies were all spit'n'polish, but you've got a real mane and 'staches that would make Fu Manchu proud. But Spax was being a bit snarky with the geriatric biker bit—you don't really look that old..." She flashes a mouthful of gleaming white teeth in a wide grin.

While Spaxter is musing about this MARS's gender identity and Louella is flirting with Mercer, Thelev is able to speak to Trask, who leaves to brief Smith.

The intercom chimes and announces, "Navigation to Capt Thelev, please inform the Commodore that we've officially crossed the boarder with the Affiliation of Outer Free Worlds. The light cruiser FWS Montgomery is hailing us."

"United Federation of Planets? Affiliation of Outer Free Worlds? Sounds very official." says Spaxter, pulling the black leather glove back on over the gauntlet. "Reminds me of an old episode of Space Ranger on TV."
This message was last edited by the player at 14:50, Fri 03 Apr 2020.

In reply to Sam Spaxter (msg # 33):

"You'll find that I am not that old at all!", says Khendron to Louella with a playful grin. He then adds, with a more serious note "Your colourful companion implied he used some sort of device—a 'jump' I think he called it—to get you here. Does that mean you are able to 'jump' away as well?"

"A jump is—well, I'm not a biochemist, so I'm not really sure how it works, but it's a pill, sort of like a gel-cap... you know, like for a cold medication, that you swallow and it transports you somewhere else. But it changes things, so I think it sort of flips you into another reality where you already are where you want to go. At least that's what the big brains think—I just know what I read or see on the newsbyte. I'm no scientist," says Louella.

It occurs to Khendron that if this jump is something biochemical and they've ingested it recently, there might be trace residue in their systems so he can figure out just what it is. He'll need to get Dr. Driveon to do a bioscan of them both as soon as possible. That would be a good idea anyway, if they did come directly from some post-Apocalyptic agrarian anti-tech society without the transporter and its biofilters.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:50, Fri 03 Apr 2020.

In reply to Louella (msg # 35):

" Captain Mercer, the guests are yours.  Mr. Spaxter and Ms. Goodbody, I'm needed on the bridge and I will leave you in the hands of my XO. Commodore, as you likely heard we are entering Affiliation of Outer Free Worlds, and are being hailed, we should return to the bridge. " Thelev said.

He steps over to the intercom and replies " Commander DesMarias, I have informed the Commodore, I'm on my way to the bridge. Commander Thoma prepare to open a channel to the FWS Montgomery. "

Before stepping out of the Crew Lounge he glances over to McCurrvey to see if he was coming.

In reply to Captain Thelev (msg # 36):

Khendron contacts Dr. Driveon and requests that he meet them in sick bay. He then gestures for the 2 visitors to accompany him.

"While the captain and the commodore are dealing with the natives," he says, "I'll take you to sick bay for a medical checkup. Then we can get you setup in some guest quarters.

"Will you be needing one or two cabins?" Khendron asks, catching Louelle's eye.

Arriving at the sickbay, Mercer and the two guests encounter Dr. Driveon, who approaches them. "Come this way, Mr. Spaxter and Ms. Goodbody. I'm Dr. Willard Driveon. We'll get your in-routine done right away. I'm told you were recently in a high-risk environment. This is Dr. Clearbranch and Nurse Parducci. They'll conduct your examination, Ms. Goodbody. I'll see to yours, Mr. Spaxter."

As Louella leaves with the doctor and nurse, Khendron overhears her ask the nurse, "Is that really Marcus Welby?" The door slides shut behind them, he muses that her surname certainly fits her and turns his attention to Driveon and Spaxter. Driveon has Spaxter sit on the edge of an examination bed and strip to the waist.

"Patient is a male Human, apparently in good health, well muscled and in his mid-thirties," Driveon begins, speaking clearly for the computer's audio pickup. "Patient has a cerebral implant and an enhanced prosthesis on his right hand. Patient indicates that he was recently in a post-war environment with an anti-technological agrarian culture. So, lets begin with a wide-spectrum immune booster..."

Khendron has available to him a console where he can examine the scans of Spaxter and his enhancements.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:13, Sun 15 Nov 2020.

As Thelev and McCurrvey enter the bridge, Thoma announces, "I have the captain of the Free Worlds Ship Montgomery on hailing frequencies. Captain de Laroche, go ahead, sir."


Captain de Laroche is a swarthy Human with a kepi and a waxed moustache. "Commodore, Captain, I am Henri de Laroche of the light cruiser Montgomery. Welcome to the Baker's Dozen. Captain Thelev, congratulations on your new command. It is my first time seeing one of your new Excelsiors up close, and I must say it makes the Monty look like a child's toy. Most impressive. I have been ordered to accompany you to Baker's World for Commodore McCurrvey's meeting with President Baker." Henri de Laroche is a short, stout man with a soft voice and a slight French accent.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:14, Sun 15 Nov 2020.

In reply to Commander Thoma (msg # 39):

Thelev stands in front of the center seat and replies. " Captain de Laroche, thank you very much.  The United Federation of Planets is pleased to be here to show our support to our ally the Baker' Dozen. If you and the Montgomery can lead the way we will follow you to Baker's World for the Commodore's meeting with Predisdent Baker. Hopefully during our visit to Baker's World we will find the time, so I can give you a tour of the USS Odyssey. "

In reply to Commander Thoma (msg # 39):

Meanwhile in sick bay, Khendron is looking at the scans the doctor is making with interest.

"By the way, Doctor," he says "Mr Spaxter's transportation method involves the ingestion of a pill. Be sure to look out for any odd biochemical traces in the bloodstream. We might need to reproduce it if Mr Spaxter ever wants to go home again."

A thought occurs to Khendron. "I am sorry, Mr Spaxter, I don't think anybody has asked you this. Do you have somewhere that you consider home? And why did you leave wherever you were before this?"

"Very well, Captain, Commodore. Again, welcome. I am transmitting a navigational course to your Cdr DesMarais." replies de Laroche.

The FWS Montgomery is an old Lancaster class light cruiser, obsolete by Federation standards but a powerful ship in its day. Collette taps in the course and Saavik engages the warp drive to follow the Monty at a comfortable Warp 5.

"ETA Baker's World in 47.8 hours," confirms Saavik.

Meanwhile, down in sickbay, Dr. Diveon has completed Spaxter's examination. "Now, you say you originated on Earth in the late 21^st century in a place called Million Mind City, which was an area enveloping old New York City through to Boston. You were a field officer for the American Central Intelligence Agency, who installed this Meld, an artificial psionic enhancer. You designed this gauntlet for the Agency, and at a later date it became fused to your body by an overload. Then, two years later you were reconstructed by this AI, MARS, who claimed that it had genetically engineered your body and infused it with a personality it had extrapolated from fictional accounts. We've done some research into your claims and can find no historical records of any MARS project. Indeed, it seems well beyond anything that was technologically possible at the time, especially given the devastation caused by World War III."

"World War what-now?" asks Spaxter. "That was averted when I was a kid—never happened!"

"What about Wierdstock?" asks Louella. "The alien invasion? Barada Nikto and the Callers?"

"Ah, yes. About that..." Dr. Driveon presses the intercom. "Dr. Smith, can you brief our friends on your findings?"

"Of course, doctor," replies the intercom. The door opens and Smith walks in.

"I've discovered references to an abandoned project proposed by DARPA to link three supercomputers together in the manner you've described, but they suffered a feedback loop and a complete failure. The project was abandoned in 2020. As for your rock concert, in 2024 there was indeed a Woodstock III on the original site of the famous rock concert, on its 55^th anniversary. The opening act was indeed a group named the callers, led by the infamous cult leader Barada Nikto, who had spiked all the food and beverages there with a psychoactive drug which caused mass hallucinations and hysteria," he states. "As for you, Mr. Spaxter, I have found references to you as a character in a 1986 audio drama written and starring one Jeff Green. The narrative of this drama follows your story. You, sir, appear to be a fictional character."

"Yeah, I get that a lot," replies Spaxter resignedly.

"Furthermore," interjects Driveon, "Both you and Ms. Goodbody do show signs of having been genetically engineered. However, you are not a product of the Nazi super-soldier programme that produced Khan Singh. In fact, you show signs of massive gene splicing. You are, in effect, completely artificial human beings."

"Indeed, your appearance seems also to be artificial. You look exactly like an actor from the early 21st century," Smith continues. He calls up a hologram of a man who closely resembles Spaxter. "Sam Spaxter, meet Nathan Fillion."

"Zam, Spax!" cries Louella, "That's you!"

[OOC: Insert Khendron's post here]

Spaxter looks completely flabbergasted. "Hell, I don't know... Home? What's that? I'll be damned if I can figure this whole thing out."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:34, Mon 06 Apr 2020.

In reply to Captain Henri de Laroche (msg # 42):

"Dr. Diveon," says Khendron, "if Mr. Spaxter and Ms. Goodbody are indeed artificial, do your scans give an indication of the actual age of their bodies, as opposed to their apparent age?"

He turns to Spaxter and Goodbody and adds "Sorry to be so blunt about it. Artificial or not, you are obviously sentient beings with feelings and by extension, rights. But we need to either confirm or refute the possibility that you have both been created specifically to be sent to this time and place, for some unknown purpose."

Another notion occurs to Khendron. "I wonder if there are any fans of 20th century audio dramas on board. I can't explain how, but perhaps somebody somehow conjured our guests up from their imagination. Dr. Smith, can you check if, other than for your research, any crew members have recently accessed such audio dramas in the ship's entertainment archives?"

[OOC: If you're interested in Spaxter's backstory, here it is as he experienced it: http://www.coldnorth.com/owen/files/Jeff%20Green/ ]

"So you're saying that what MARS told me wasn't just a dream or hallucination? So I'm some sort of clone? I'm not me? Even my face isn't mine, but this Fillion fellow's? Zam!" exclaims Spaxter.

"Spax, what the photon are you talking about? Ken, you're really freaking me out," says Louella. "I'm not sure I can wrap my mind around this."

Driveon pulls out the remote peripheral for his tricorder. It warbles as he points it at Louella. "Easy miss. Your blood pressure is spiking. Breathe slowly. Nurse, please prepare a hypospray with 5cc improvoline. It'll help you relax, Ms. Goodbody."

Nurse Parducci produces the hypo and Louella submits to the shot. She relaxes and says, "Whoo—sorry. Like I said, I'm a little freaked out. Spax, did you know about this?" She looks as if she's going to cry.

"Sorry, baby, but I half-didn't believe it myself. Then, when the aliens showed up there wasn't time. Once we wound up back in South America there didn't seem to be any point." says Spaxter.

"Well, I'm pissed off at you, Spax!" She turns  away from Spaxter, tears trickling down her cheeks.

Driveon says, "Louella, would you like some privacy? Andrea?" he looks to Nurse Parducci. "Show Ms. Goodbody to the meditation room, would you?"

"So, I'm gonna have to accept the fact that I'm only..." he looks at the doctor... "What, a week old?"

"Well, biologically, a little older than that. The accelerated maturation this MARS put you through developed you to be cosmetically about 35—36 years old, but there's absolutely no wear and tear on your systems, no genetic diseases or weaknesses, so physically you're in your prime. Say, 18 years old... -ish. You're in excellent shape. Not Olympic level, but extremely athletic. Louella, as well. However, you are, aside from your implants, pure Human, not an android or anything like that. You're in peak condition, but nothing to indicate that you're... enhanced. You should live a long and active life; both of you." Driveon leans back in his chair.

Meanwhile, Khendron has cursorily analysed the readings on Spaxter's implant and gauntlet. The implant seems to incorporate neural boosters and self-repair circuitry. He's not certain how to evaluate Spaxter's claims that it is some sort of mind-meld equipment and/or psi shield. While such things are theoretically possible, Federation science is undeveloped in this area... The gauntlet, on the other hand, seems to have some sort of intravenous feeding system, incredible grip strength, reinforced striking surfaces, and a peculiar mechanism which may be some sort of hand-to-hand defensive weapon.

The communications system chimes. "XO to the bridge, please." comes Thoma's voice.

In reply to Sam Spaxter (msg # 45):

Once on our way Thelev turns to science " Basic long range scans of the systems and planets we pass on our way to Baker's World.  Mainly want to confirm everything is consistent with Star Fleets records, let me know if anything is strange. Oh yeah, also let me know if you spot the IKS, they have as much right to be here as us, but still would like to know if they are around. "