| abstract | - "No, no, no! Get your hands off that!" Enterprise snarled. Why oh why did she have to be babysitter? And to 3 unfrozen humans from the 20th century at that! The woman she liked well enough. She was a kind-hearted person, if not a little shy. The druggie was a bit loud-mouthed for her taste but he had good intentions. But the tall man, besides Q he was the only other person she would happily beam into space at the first opportunity. "Now ah don' know 'bout the rest of ya, but somethin' goin' on here." The tall man said. "The tension on this ship has jumped up." "Well even if you're right, what can we do about it?" The druggie asked. "And besides these old boys don't need us tellin' them where the bear sits. And looky here what that young fella made for me." He picked on the guitar Data had the replicator produce and began strumming it lovingly. "How did he do that?" The woman asked. "Called it a pattern replicator. Plays real nice too." He replied. "I am trying to tell you there is a situation developing on this ship that directly affects us and all you care about is that guitar?!" Enterprise was liking the tall man less and less. He really was going to be beamed into space at this rate. "Hey now! These folks don't need us swimmin' in their soup. So why don't we just sit on back and let them do their jobs." The druggie said. "Thank you." Enterprise muttered. First bar he stopped at, his first round was on her. "Well that may be alright for you, but I am not willing to let my fate be decided by others. And I at least wanna know what's going on." The tall man growled. "You want to know what's going on?" Enterprise hissed, losing patience. "A Romulan force of unknown size and intentions has been attacking the boarder outposts in my territory! I am going to investigate. I don't know if their intentions are hostile or are merely a calculated measure to draw out Starfleet's flagship. Now you lot will sit down and be quiet for the duration of this trip!" The three exchanged glances until the druggie spoke up. "Um, who is this?" He asked timidly. "This is the United Space Ship Enterprise. NCC-1701-D." The starship rolled her eyes as the two men fainted. The woman, though a little shaken, snorted at their antics. "Thank you." She said. "Ugh, they were beginning to get on my nerves. "The starship grumbled. Enterprise bared her teeth as the Romulan decloaked off her starboard side. "You're in my territory, Romulan!" She hissed. "Explain yourself." "I was merely curious." The warbird shrugged. "And 'curiosity' led to the destruction of 9 outposts?" Enterprise snarled. "I wished to see what response the Federation would give. You, I assume, are its flagship." The warbird smirked. "Indeed, now answer my question. Why are you in my territory?" Enterprise hissed. "Several of our outposts were destroyed in a manner similar to yours. Once I saw the devastation, I knew it could not possibly have been your doing." That blow hurt but Enterprise shoved it aside for now. She would not allow the warbird to antagonize her. "Who is responsible?" Enterprise asked. "They don't know. They're hoping you do. But they're too arrogant to ask." The tall man interupted. "Can I shoot him please!" Enterprise hissed. Picard lay a soothing hand on his ship's helm and Enterprise relaxed slightly. She worked her jaw and her blue eyes blazed. "We don't know who is responsible." The warbird said. Enterprise sighed. "I would like to offer a proposal. We can explore the neutral zone together, to find who is responsible." She said. "Agreed. But know this, Enterprise. We are no longer negligent. Our absence was a mistake that has been corrected. We are back." With that, the warbird warped away. "I think my life just got a lot more complicated." Enterprise groaned. "Indeed, get him off my bridge." Picard ordered the security team. The tall man began to move back into the turbolift but not before a a low level shot of electricity hit his behind. He yelped and the doors closed, obscuring any further words he might've said. "Enterprise." Picard began and the starship braced herself for a scolding. "Nice shot." Her captain praised and everyone on the bridge chuckled, including Enterprise.
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