The Messiah

The Messiah

By JD1

Rating: PG, Mystery, Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe
Disclaimer: It all belongs to Paramount. No profit was made

******************

Part One

He was in a huge room. A beautiful room. The bed was king sized and had fancy material and pillows on it. The confiner was ruby red and the pillows were a variation of royal blues, purple, and reds. A canopy covered the top of it, and white, silk curtains could be slid around it while you slept in it.

The room, though barely decorated, was filled well. A large desk with a monitor and all was set up in one corner. In another, there appeared to be a dressing area of sorts. A dresser was filled with clothing. Next to it was a screen to dress behind. A full-length mirror was next to that, closing the circle it all formed. The mirror was on a gold stand and had the same gold framing. And the bed was in the other corner.

Interestingly enough, the room had only three corners. The room was in a triangular shape. There were no real lights in the room but on the ceiling there were what looked like fireflies flying around. They were not real insects, but gave the appearance of them.

As he looked around, there were no doors, windows, or any exits or entrances that he could detect. This scared him and, although the room was welcoming, their absence made it lose quality.

He walked over to the mirror and looked at his reflection. He wore leather boots that came up to his knees. The navy blue, leather material of his pants, was tucked neatly into them. He had a one pieced suit that came up to his neck. Even his hands were covered with black leather gloves.

When he reached his face, he saw that there were brown spots that traveled in almost a straight line across his chin and jaw line. Also, they ran across his forehead. His eyes had a coolness that frightened even him.

He sprung up in his bed as his blankets fell to his thighs. His face and chest was soaked in sweat and a cold chill ran through his body. His heart rate slowed from the erotic beat it had taken and was returning to normal.

He ran a hand through his black hair before standing up and walking into the bathroom that connected with his room. The cold water, he had turned on, felt great against his flushed skin.

He looked at up at his reflection in the mirror. The spots in the dream where gone and he could see the points on his ears again. The bronzy color returned to his face and his control came back to him.

He had had the dream before, quite a few times. But lately he had been having it more often. That was the fifth time this week he had had that dream. Every time was the same; he was in the room and walked over to the mirror. The evil-look in his eyes and the spots on his face scared the heck out of him. The species and uniform were completely unknown to him.

**The Next Morning**

The next morning, he sat down to eat his breakfast when, “Hey, Kid. You feelin’ all right?” The southern drawl pierced his ears. He would recognize it any where as his father’s.

“Yes,” he answered not quite truthfully. “Why do you ask?”

“No reason. I just heard ya in the bathroom in the middle of the night.”

“Sorry if I disturbed you.” He hadn’t looked directly at him, still moping in self-pity and thinking of the dream.

“Na,” he sat down and began to eat his own breakfast: scrambled eggs. He was going to have bacon, but after living with a Vulcan for fifteen years and a half-Vulcan for fourteen, he had stopped eating much of meat. “You stoppin’ by the Academy after school?”

“Of course.” After a pause he added, “Commander Lea has offered to let me sit in on her class again today. Would that be all right?”

“Yea, of course. Shiloh,” the young Vulcan looked up at his father when he heard his name. “Jon told me that your request to be allowed to train and learn on the Academy grounds next year, to prepare for the exams ... has been denied.” Shiloh bowed his head in disappointment, but his father grinned wider. “They’ve decided to allow you to take them next year.”

He looked up at his father; his eyes wide with excitement. “Really!”

“On strict bases.” Shiloh became very serious, ready to do anything for this chance. “You have to keep your grades where they are for the rest of the quarter, anywhere below a 98 will not be acceptable. Your exams will be graded with the most scrutiny. And if your grades at the Academy drop below a 95, or your conduct is anything but that of the perfect gentleman, you will be put back to your normal school. Do you understand?”

Shiloh nodded. ‘No problem, good grades for now, as good grades there, good conduct. I can handle this’, Shiloh thought.

**Zefferan Cochran Middle School, San Francisco, California**

“Arghh! Seventy-four. I hate school! It’s a good thing today’s the last day before spring break. How did you do?” Tom Peterson asked his two friends, Shiloh Tucker and John Chapman, after being handed back their math tests.

“I got a eighty-five,” John said with a shrug.

“One hundred and ten.”

“Like always,” Tom complained.

“Always is a inadequate term. I cannot always get a one hundred and ten for there is not usually extra credit. And when there is, it can be more or less,” Shiloh retorted in a monotone, Vulcan kind of way.
“Vulcans,” Tom and John said at the same time. They were both human and found that Shiloh, the half-human, half-Vulcan hybrid was quite interesting. They had no prejudice toward the Vulcan race in general, though there were plenty of Vulcans they didn’t like.

Shiloh, himself, had a mixture of Vulcan and human friends. Around the Vulcan ones, he acted mostly Vulcan. But in the presents of his human counterparts, he found that acting like a human came more natural. But when he acted Vulcan, it annoyed them and that was fun.

When school was over, Shiloh got his stuff to go to the Academy. He put away his books, since he had no homework, and then grabbed the PADD with all the tactical information Commander Lea went over last week.

He was very interested in tactical and security stuff. But he was told that he was also very skilled in diplomacy and a great leader. He had always been good at a lot of things and his genius and great memory added to that.

He was also much stronger and more athletic than most Vulcans his age. He learned Vulcan and Human martial arts when he was younger and that added strength and flexibility helped a lot in that as well.

Those were some of the reasons he was being allowed to take the Starfleet Academy entrance examines at fourteen (he would be fifteen in a few months) instead of sixteen. The other reason was that his dad worked at the Academy, teaching engineering classes, and his mother was a respected Vulcan Starfleet Captain, which she switched over to after the Vulcans and Humans had created the Federation. Not to mention that his father, mother, and even him slightly, knew Admiral Archer who had a lot of power in Starfleet.

He often visited the Academy and sat in on classes. Sometimes the teacher, like Commander Lea, gave him PADDs on what they did, talked about, and so on. He also had competed with some of the cadets and beat them almost all the time.

As he reached the transporter pad, he told the technician where he was going and stood on it. The world faded away and was replaced with new lighting, faces, and location. He stepped off and looked around, getting his bearings.

He went to his right and headed for the giant building. Cadets swarmed everywhere; trying to get to class, back to their dorm, the transporter, or just enjoying the lovely view. Shiloh walked up the familiar and well-traveled path to Lea’s classroom. He had become virtually a part of it. Next year, he knew this would be the main class, if he made it, which he knew he would.

“Shiloh, I just heard the news. Congratulations,” Commander Lea’s graceful voice reached his sensitive ears.

He nodded at her, “Thank-you.”

“Well, once you make it in, I expect to find your name on my roster for real.” He smiled at her joke and toke his seat at the back of the class. He didn’t want to interrupt the class and his sharp eyes made it easy to see the front of the board.

Shiloh sat quietly in the back as he listened to the lecture. It was about what to do in the scenario that you have been captured, you’re out numbered and gunned, and the only allies you have actually are working with the enemy. Though none of the cadets or Shiloh thought that this would ever be relevant, it was intriguing.

Just then, the door opened to reveal a young ensign. He walked over to Commander Lea and said something Shiloh couldn’t hear from the back. Lea nodded to the ensign and pointed at Shiloh. The ensign walked up to him and told him in a kind but bored voice, “The California is in orbit. Your mother wishes to speak to you.” His eyes lit up at that and Lea nodded at him. As he passed by Lea, she handed him the PADD with her lecture on it and headed out the door.

Shiloh had not seen his mother in person for almost a year. When she had accepted the command of the California, Trip thought it best to remain with his job at the Academy so Shiloh could stay on firm ground for once.

He had been born on the Enterprise and stayed there until the mission ended; when he was six. They stayed on Earth for five months before Trip got a position on the St. Louis and brought the two of them along. When he was nine, they lived on Vulcan for about six months before T’Pol got the posting of Second In Command of the Arkansas. When he was thirteen, Trip was assigned to the teaching job at the Academy and soon after T’Pol got her first command.

**The California**

He walked onto the bridge of the California. He could see the twenty or so officers walk back and fore as they gave reports and ran scans. Shiloh, used to bridges and other Starships, crossed the space between himself and an officer with practiced ease.

“Excuse me, could you tell me where the Captain is, Commander?”

The commander turned around and looked at him with a hint of disgust; apparently he didn’t much care for Vulcans and/or children. “Children are not allowed on the Bridge. Besides the Captain has better things to do with her time than speak to juveniles like you.”

“That ‘juvenile’ is my son and I will not have you talking to him in that manner. Is that understood?” T’Pol walked across the span from her ready room to the two standing in the middle of the bridge; everyone’s eyes on them.

“Yes, sir.”

“Shiloh, follow me.” T’Pol turned on her heels and walked toward her ready room. Shiloh followed behind and threw a cunning smile at the Commander.

Once inside, T’Pol enveloped Shiloh in a huge hug. “My, look how much you have grown. How are you?”

“Well. Starfleet Academy has even allowed me to take the exams at the end of the year instead of waiting,” Shiloh said in a rush, excited about it.

“Congratulations. That’s quite an accomplishment.”

“Thank-you. So, when do I get the ship?”

“Now, if you’d like. But first, I have a question I need to ask you.” With his nod, she continued, “Our next assignment is very close to Vulcan. Given that I have no vital role in anything, I will be taking advantage of these facts and visiting my parents. Since you have not seen them in some time, I was wondering if you would like to come.”

“Yes, I would love to,” Shiloh blurted out.

“Then tell your father and pack some clothing. I will inform Commander Darwin to prepare a spare room for you.”

Shiloh had told Trip and of course he had no objections. With the exception of declining his invite to come with them, stating that his grandparents wouldn’t be thrilled by that. After he packed all the necessities, clothes, his PADDs to study, and anything else of worth, he made his way back to the transport station.

Once on the California, Commander Darwin was waiting for him. “Your room is this way,” he said with a forced smile and led him to the deck and room he was staying on.

Darwin pressed the door release and Shiloh stepped in. It was the standard Starfleet bedroom and computer terminal with the door to the bathroom on one side. “Your mother is on the other side of this deck if you need her. Room 301.”

“Thank-you,” he said in a polite manner and gave him a nod of the head telling him that he was dismissed.

The next day, T’Pol was good on her word and had given Shiloh the tour of the ship. Last was the bridge. When he got up there, he looked around and noticed the similarities to the Enterprise, St. Lewis, and Arkansas.

“Captain, we have a ship approaching our location and fast,” the Helm officer announced.

“Can you identify it?”

“I don’t know. We’ve never encountered anything like it.”

“On screen.” The helmsman complied and what was brought on the screen amazed all of them. They stared in wonder at the beautiful ship that floated only a few kilometers away. Even the stoic Vulcans were gapping at the spectacular sight.

It was shaped a lot like bird. It had wings and a nose that was in the shape of a beak. The neck was at least 100km and the whole of the ship was about 300km. The color of the ship was what amazed them most, though. It was a rainbow. The ship glittered in light. There were bright blues, pinks, reds, purples, greens, and yellows that all seemed to rotate around the ship; one minute the neck is one color and the head is another, the next they are both different colors.

Shiloh forced himself to look down at the console when he heard a beep. “Ah, sir, they are powering for-” He was interrupted when the ship rocked as a single torpedo hit it. A blue light shoot out from the ship and hit the shielding.

“Sir, shields are down.”

“What!” The Commander Darwin yelled.

“I don’t-” The tactical officer was interrupted as well when sirens went off; indicating that they alien race had boarded.

“Shiloh, get out of here,” T’Pol yelled at her son and he complied. He ran up to the turbolift and when the door opened he ran straight into a pair of legs that did not belong to anyone on the crew.

Slowly Shiloh looked up at the face, towering far above him. He gasped for the face was that of the species that invaded his dream. Suddenly, the man grabbed his arm and spun him around, pressing him against his muscular body.

The alien pointed a weapon at the surrounding people. “I do not wish to harm anyone. All I want is the child.”

Shiloh had been looking down at him arm that was still in the alien’s grasp, but this particular alien could hold him to the point of his falling on his knees crying, the grip would be so tight. But it was incredibly loose.

When Shiloh heard the alien talk, he knew that he would not harm him. When he saw the protests of the bridge crew and his mother, he piped up. “It’s ok. I’ll go with him.”

“Don’t be insane, you-”

“I will go with him.” Shiloh’s firm voice and the look in his eyes made the Commander and his mother shut up.

The alien smiled the wicked smile he was capable of and said something into a small communicator. The next second, Shiloh was in another room in a completely other ship. The walls were as gorgeous as the outside of the ship; changing colors and all.

“Did I hurt you?” Came the sincere question of his captor, who had released him from his tight hold.

“No.”

“I am deeply sorry for what I am about to do.” It was then that Shiloh realized there was another person in the room. He was considerably shorter than the first but he also held a hypospray. He heard the hissing and felt the pain in his neck. Slowly the world around him disappeared and the black void of his unconscious took over.

**California, T’Pol’s Room**

After they had taken Shiloh, their ship immediately left. The California had tried to case after their ship but it was like it had just disappeared. T’Pol, still a little jumpy because of what happened, retired to her room and left the repairs up to Commander Darwin.

She lit her meditation candles and sat down on the pad she always used. No matter how many techniques she tried, she could not relax or allow herself to calm down. Her mind continued to wander back to her son’s abduction.

“Sir, shields are down.”
“What!” Commander Darwin yelled.
“I don’t-” The tactical officer was interrupted as well when sirens went off; indicating that they alien race had boarded.
“Shiloh, get out of here,” T’Pol yelled at her son and he complied.
He ran up to the turbolift and when the door opened he ran straight into a pair of legs. Slowly Shiloh looked up at the face, when, suddenly, the man grabbed his arm and spun him around. The alien pointed a weapon at the surrounding people. “I do not wish to harm anyone. All I want is the child.”
Shiloh had been looking down at him arm that was still in the alien’s grasp. When he looked up, he said. “It’s ok. I’ll go with him.”
“Don’t be insane, you-”
“I will go with him.” Shiloh’s firm voice and the look in his eyes made the Commander and his mother shut up.
The alien smiled the wicked smile and said something into a small communicator. The next second, Shiloh was gone.

She now remembered the alien. Not back when her adrenalin was pumping and maternal instinct where kicking in; then she did not take the time to observe him and notice the distinct features that made him a Taso. That made him Captain Terion.

She recalled what happened to her well. What they did to her. What they did to Trip. Was that what they were doing to Shiloh?

But then that didn’t exactly add up. The Taso took her and Trip because they were just there but this Taso wanted Shiloh and no one else. Why? He even seemed to try and be gentle with him. Again, why would they do that?

The next day, the California had worked its way back to Earth and T’Pol had a long talk with her husband. He was outraged. At the Taso, at himself for not being there, and just at the entire universe itself.

“There was nothing you could have done, Trip.” T’Pol tried to sooth him with this but it only help a little.

“I know. So when are you going after this ship?”

T’Pol looked away. “Admiral Forrest has declined my request to pursue the ship myself or assign any other ship to the job.”

“What! He can’t!”

“He can and he did.”

**Unknown**

His eyes fluttered opened and he saw that he was not in his own room. When the cloudiness cleared, he recalled the events on the California and his capture. As he looked around the room he noticed some disturbing similarities.

For one, the room was in a triangular shape. Second, there were no visible doors or windows. When he looked at the bed he had been sprawled out on, it had the same ruby red comforter and pillows.

He stood up and realized that he was extremely cold. When he brought his arms across his chest, he could feel that the shirt he was wearing had been removed. When he looked down at himself, his shoes, socks, and shirt were gone.

He sat back down on the bed, reflecting on everything that happened. All of a sudden, a hissing noise a door makes entered his thoughts. He looked at the direction it came from and saw that an opened door was there.

He stood up in surprise as his captor, Terion, the man who knocked him out, and a guard entered the room. “Don not worry, we will not harm you.”

“I know.”

“And how do you know that,” Terion asked.

“It you intended on harming me, then when you grabbed me it would have been far rougher since your strength can do so. You would have not asked my health nor would he have apologized for drugging me. Also you specifically said you wanted me, implying a purpose. If you intended on having me do something, I would not be as useful if harmed,” Shiloh stated with the ease of a Vulcan.

“You’re very smart,” who Shiloh assumed was the doctor, replied.

“Simple logic.”

“We must ask that you come with us.” Terion said in a way that seemed to give him a choice. He nodded his head and followed him and the doctor out; the guard following the trio.

They walked down endless hallways, none seeming to have doors of any type. Finally, they stopped and the doctor walked into a room. When he got close enough, the door merely appeared from, what seemed like, nowhere.

Shiloh watched in amazement, even as he himself was brought through. He looked back at the door when it again became camouflaged; matching the color changes in the wall.

“Lay down on this.” The doctor gestured to a medical bed and he complied, not knowing why they wanted to examine him. He heard the doctor push some buttons and read the readings it detected from Shiloh. “I apologize for what I must do now.” Shiloh, though confused, nodded and then felt binds strapping down his forehead, upper and lower legs, elbows, lower arms, and chest.

He could no longer see the doctor, but he was listening to everything the Doctor did. The doctor, first, picked up an instrument; its job unknown to Shiloh. He was afraid of what he was about to do but, strangely enough, he trusted these people.

The next thing he knew, a blinding pain coursed through out his body. He screamed out in pain as he knew the purpose of the binds that held him down. He was touched five more times by the instrument the doctor held; each time in a different place but there was always the same amount of excruciating pain.

“I am very sorry.”

“Yea,” Shiloh chocked out as the doctor picked something else up.

The doctor walked over the other alien and whispered something to him. Normally, Shiloh would have been able to hear everything but in his state he only made out some of it. “He is…ne.”

“Do i…en.”

The doctor walked back over to him, apologized for whatever he was about to do, and jabbed something into his upper left arm. His arm felt as though it was on fire and the blinding pain shot throughout his body. He screamed out for he could not contain the pain he felt.

When the first wave of pain left him, the doctor took the instrument away. The newly scarred and burned flesh was still quite tender but felt harder than ever.

He looked down at and saw that the burn formed a picture. They branded him. The picture was that of a planet, it seemed. With what looked like three moons orbited it.

**Starfleet Headquarters**

Admiral Archer walked swiftly down the halls as he headed to Admiral Forrest’s office. Trip had just told him the news and how Forrest wouldn’t give the ok to try and find him. He had seen the fury in Trip’s eyes and, though he was just as angry, he told Trip that he would go since Trip would be likely to throw stuff or hurt him.

He stopped as he reached the door and hit the door release. With the ‘enter’ from Forrest he walked in and found Forrest sitting at his desk. Forrest looked up and put on a forced smile before greeting him with a, “Hey, Jon. What can I do for you?”

“You can explain this, Admiral.” Archer tossed a PADD onto the desk. Forrest picked it up and silently skimmed it. “Recognize them. Your cancellation orders for the rescue mission of Shiloh Tucker.”

“Yes.”

“Why can’t we go after him. Trip and T’Pol are two of the finest officers you just can’t-”

Forrest saying, “I have to because I have my orders," cut off Archer. “I love the kid, but… with these orders I can’t.”

“Orders? Orders from who? Tell me Admiral!”

“That’s…classified.”

“Tell me!”

“It wouldn’t do you any good. Jon, please, don’t ask questions that have answers you don’t want to hear.”

When Archer heard that comment, he remembered someone who said that same thing almost fifteen years ago.

“Do not ask question that have answers you do not want to hear,” and with that, the screen went blank.
“Sir, they’ve just went to warp. Should we follow?” Travis Mayweather asked after checking his console. He turned, expectantly, to the Captain as he waited for his orders.
“No, no. We can stay here until repairs are finished.” His reply was met with confused stares, but they complied nonetheless.
T’Pol, on the other hand, spoke what everyone was thinking, “Why are we not following them, sir?”
Archer looked at her, not at all surprised that she asked, “He told us not to look any further, I’m respecting that.”
“Respecting that! Sir, with all do respect, they just attacked us!” Malcolm said, outraged.
“I understand that, but… something about his comment… whatever their mission, it was very important… and personal. And I can respect that.”

‘The Taso,’ his mind shouted. T’Pol had mentioned that it might have been the Taso but she couldn’t tell, it being so long. If the two were working together, it would stand to reason he wouldn’t send a ship to find them. But why Shiloh? It made no sense.

“Fine, sir,” Archer had left it alone the last time he heard that and he wasn’t about to do it this time. Not following them may have caused this to happen, and it may not have done anything either way, but he wasn’t going to find out what would happened if he didn’t do anything this time.

“I think Starfleet or Admiral Forrest may be working with the Taso or whoever took Shiloh,” Archer said in a hushed voice to Trip and T’Pol. He had filled them in on the meeting he had had and neither was too thrilled.

“It just doesn’t make sense, Jon. Why take Shiloh?”

“I don’t know, Trip,” Archer said, his voice resigned. “Where are we even going to start. No one has ever encountered them, not besides us and now.”

“But what do they want with him?”

“What did they want with us?” T’Pol said, putting a soothing hand on his shoulder. Trip closed his eyes and tried not to remember. His still bore scares on his back because of them and had silently swore not to let his son have a single scar from them.

“We have to try and find him.”

“And we will.” Archer’s eyes lit up, “If they are in league with each other then they must meet every now and then. If we can find when and where they’re next meeting is-”

“Then we can find the Taso,” Trip finished for him. “I’ll look through the files and all. Try to find somethin’.”

“All right, but remember, this has to be covert. Be careful and cover your tracks, we don’t want them to know we know.”

“Right.”

“And what do we do?” T’Pol asked Archer.

“We want to find the location and time. Then you arrange for my… ‘tour’ of your ship and we take off for it.”

“Excellent plan,” T’Pol sarcastically replied as they started to walk toward the transport pad and Trip headed towards the Admiral’s office. “Let’s just hope it works.” Archer laughed; she was becoming more and more human by the minute.

*********

Continue to Part 2

Back to Fan Fiction Main Menu

Have a comment to make about this story? Do so in the Trip Fan Fiction forum at the HoTBBS!