Where No One Has Gone Before Pt. 01

"I heard that once, a long time ago. They were playing some of those old songs from the hippie days. As I recall, it was funny as hell." She looked at me. "You know how to play that?"

"Yeah, you wanna hear it?" I asked.

"Please," she said. I looked at Kyra.

"You really want to hear that again?" I asked her. Her face broke into a wide grin as she nodded her head.

"Oh yes, please. I loved that," she said.

"Well, alright," I said, slipping back into my imitation as best I could. I began picking the guitar and went through it again, this time coaxing Axel and Myra to sing with us at the end. We all had a good time singing the end of the song together and I was surprised to see Axel get into it with gusto. He actually had a good voice.

"You know, you're pretty good with that thing. Maybe you ought to play in the Officer's Club now and then," he said.

"I might be coaxed into that," I said. He laughed and stood up.

"That was fun, but I need to hit the rack. See you in the morning," he said. Myra got up and joined him. After they left, Kyra wrapped her arms around me.

"That was fun," she said. "Think we can do that again?"

"I guess so," I told her. We cuddled on the couch for a while and shared another cup of hot chocolate, then went to bed. The next morning after breakfast, we had our usual briefing with Captain Hawkins. She called me out at the end of the meeting.

"By the way, Number Two," she said. "Just for future reference, if you decide to have another sing-along in your cabin without inviting me, we're going to have a problem. Understand?" she asked with a smile.

"Yes, ma'am," I said, smiling back.

The next two weeks went by fast as we prepared the ship for its launch. I managed to find some time to work out in the gym. Kyra surprised me when she expressed an interest in Grav Tac. At first, she just wanted to watch me work out, which was fine. Then she expressed an interest in learning the form.

"You ever spend any time in zero-g?" I asked her.

"Only when I went through my orientation," she said. "It felt really... strange." I laughed at that.

"Trust me?" I asked.

"Implicitly," she said. I held out my hand.

"Go ahead, take my hand," I told her. After she had my hand, I turned the gravity down to 0 G. I watched her eyes go wide as she felt the gravity diminish. We both began to float and I used my feet to push against the floor, taking her up with me. "Watch your head," I told her as we approached the ceiling. She put a hand up and stopped her upward motion.

I brought my feet up and pushed against the wall while holding her hand, propelling us into the middle of the room. She looked like she was about to panic, but I calmed her down. I let go of her hand and began going through an exercise that involved a lot of rolls, twists and turns.

"Why don't you try it?" I asked when I finished.

"Are you sure? I'm scared. What do I do?"

"It's okay. Breathe slowly. Concentrate. Start by bringing your knees up as close to your chest as you can. Pretend you're in a swimming pool. Then use your body and force yourself to roll, like a ball." I watched as she brought her knees up. She hadn't developed the flexibility yet, but she did pretty good for someone who had never done anything like this before. I helped her go through some of the routines. I stopped her before she went out of control and eased her out of the position she had assumed so she could get her bearings.

"The trick is to gain control over your own muscles so you can overcome the reduced gravity," I said. "Once you get the flexibility and control, you'll be amazed at what you can do." I took her hand and gently brought us back to the control, where I turned the gravity back up. As the gravity took hold, we both ended up on the floor, and I steadied Kyra as she got to her feet.

"Wow," she said. "That was fun. A bit scary, but fun. You looked so graceful up there, it almost looked like a mid-air ballet. How long have you been doing that?"

"About ten years now," I said. "I took martial arts when I was younger, and started doing this when I got to the Academy."

"Would you be willing to teach me that?"

"Sure, I'd love to," I told her. I finished my workout and we headed back to the cabin. After taking a shower, we sat down with a cup of her hot chocolate. Then the door chime sounded.

"It's open," I announced. The hatch slid back to reveal Leesa and Axel. "Please, come in," I said.

"Are we interrupting anything?" Leesa asked.

"Oh no," I said. "We're just having a cup of hot chocolate. Would you care for some?"

"That's alright," Leesa said. "We won't be here long. We just wanted to stop by and ask a favor of you if that's alright."

"Sure, anything," I said.

"Well, I'm planning a little bon voyage party for the evening before our launch," Leesa said. "We've reserved a venue at Huygens that can accommodate all of us, and we were wondering if you'd be willing to provide some entertainment."

"Sure," I said. "But I don't play any of the modern stuff."

"That's okay," she said. "They have a band that can back you up if you want. Is that okay? I can give you some time to get with them and rehearse if you want. Kyra can join you if you want."

"Well, okay," I said.

"That's terrific, Bill," Leesa said. "Here's the band leader's contact info. I told him I'd get with you first, and he said for you to send him the list of songs you want to play. I'll leave the rehearsal schedule up to you."

"Thank you," I said, taking the card from her.

"Just make sure you've got everything under control here first," she said.

"Of course," I told her.

"Thank you so much," she said.

"You're welcome," I said. After they left, Kyra and I looked at each other.

"Sounds like it'll be a lot of fun," Kyra said.

"Yeah," I said. One more thing on my plate, I thought. Oh well... I instantly started putting together a list of songs in my head and before the night was over had a good idea of what I wanted to play. I didn't know if the band was familiar with any of these tunes, so I put together a file that included audio and sent them off.

I heard back from Jason Roberts, the band leader Leesa told me about, the next day. He seemed fairly excited to get my list and told me he was familiar with a lot of the songs on it. We worked out a rehearsal schedule that would see Kyra and I going to Huygens four times over the next six days. The party itself was set to go seven days from today. I gave the schedule to Axel and he approved it, then arranged for transport.

Kyra and I enjoyed our trips to Huygens and we all had a good time in the rehearsal. I was surprised the band seemed to be familiar with many of the songs I had chosen. Jason had a request for an old Doobie Brothers song, one I really liked, but I knew I wouldn't be able to do it on the acoustic guitar I had.

"No problem," he said. "I've got an old electric guitar in the back gathering dust that'll be perfect." He pulled it out and brought it to me. I was stunned to see it was an ancient 1950s-vintage Fender Stratocaster with a reverb bar, and it looked to be in near-perfect condition. I checked it over quite carefully, and saw the strings were fairly new. I looked at Jason.

"Is this for real?" I asked. "Where did you get this thing?"

"Ran across it about a month ago when I was cleaning out an old storeroom out back," he said. "I have no idea where it came from. Tried to find the owner, but had no luck."

"This thing has to be worth hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars." He nodded his head.

"Yup," he said. "I just replaced the strings, tuned it up and tested it out. Probably hasn't been played for 50 years or more. Strangely enough, after all these years, it still works like new. Go ahead, let's see what ya got." I checked the tuning and plugged in the amplifier. I was a bit nervous about turning it up, but Jason didn't seem concerned.

What the hell, I thought. I began by playing the opening to an old song made famous by The Animals back in the 1960s. I liked the way this ancient guitar sounded and it felt good in my hands. The band began following me and I started to sing. Of course, I'm no Eric Burdon, but I did my best.

"There is a house in New Orleans," I began. "They call the Rising Sun. And it's been the ruin of many a poor boy. And God, I know I'm one." Kyra listened as I sung and applauded when we finished.

"Not bad," Jason said. "We'll need to work on the timing some, but I think it'll work. What do you say we ramp it up a bit. Wanna try that old Doobie Brothers tune?"

"Sure, why not," I said. After a bit of discussion, I turned up the volume a bit and started playing the familiar opening of "China Grove." The band picked right up and before long, we were rocking the place out. Kyra clapped and bobbed her head as we played.

"Outstanding!" Jason said after we finished. "Commander, if you ever decide on a career change, let me know." We all laughed at that. We went through the rest of the songs and worked out a play list for the evening. After confirming our rehearsal schedule, we called it a night.

Kyra and I made it to the venue early on the night of the party and set up the stage. It had been years since I had played in front of an audience and I had butterflies in my stomach. We ate dinner with the crew and listened as Leesa gave us all a stirring message.

She turned on a large overhead monitor and we all watched as the president made a few remarks, supposedly live from the White House. Then Admiral Cartwright, wearing his full dress uniform, stood up and gave another speech.

"Each and every one of you have been carefully chosen for this mission," he said. "And tomorrow, each and every one of you will go down in history as being the first to go where no human being has ever gone before. The hopes and prayers of every single one of us go with you. Godspeed, Enterprise," he said, raising his glass in a toast. We gave a hearty "oorah" and joined him in his toast.

"And now, let's hear some music," he commanded with a smile, eliciting shouts and cheers. That was my cue, and I made my way to the stage as Leesa introduced us. The crew clapped as I took my place at the front of the band and picked up the ancient guitar.

We opened with a rousing version of "China Grove," then played the rest of the tunes on our list, which included a couple of old Gordon Lightfoot tunes, "House of the Rising Sun," "Have You Ever Seen The Rain," "The City of New Orleans," wrapping up the set by asking the audience for requests.

"Alice's Restaurant Massacree," Kyra yelled out from the audience. I turned to the band and smiled. Somehow, I felt they knew this was going to happen. So I put the Stratocaster down and picked up my acoustic, plugging it in.

"The little lady has asked to hear 'Alice's Restaurant Massacree," I said. "Who am I to turn down a request from such a lovely lady? Well, here goes," I said, slipping into my Arlo Guthrie impersonation. "Just so you know," I said, picking the tune, "'Alice's Restaurant' isn't the name of the restaurant. It's just the name of the song. That's why it's called 'Alice's Restaurant,'" I said, getting some laughs.

I went through the song, and everyone seemed to like it. At the end, I encouraged everyone to sing along, which they did. But that wasn't the end of it.

"That was horrible," I deadpanned, still in "Arlo Guthrie" mode, causing many to laugh. "We need to do that again. This time with some gusto. Why don't we let the universe know that 'Enterprise' is on her way." That brought out a series of whoops and "yeahs" from the crew. Leesa smiled as she heard the crew shout.

We went through the ending one more time, and everyone sang even louder. A table full of engineers shouted out "just a half a mile from the railroad tracks" and Jonathan ad-libbed, "except for Alice" after I finished the first "you can get anything you want" line in the song. That brought about a lot of laughter. I put an end tag on the song and brought it to a close after that. Everyone stood and applauded loudly. Clapping, Leesa came to the front of the group.

"Thank you, Commander Jones," she said, still clapping. "Everyone give it up for our own Lt. Commander Jones," she said. Everyone clapped and whistled at that. After a few minutes, Leesa continued.

"That's gonna have to wrap it up for tonight, everyone," she said. "Tomorrow is the big day. Have fun, see the rest of the base and enjoy yourselves. Shuttles will be flying every hour on the hour. Just be back on board by 0400. Launch is at 1000. Goodnight." She turned to me, smiled and shook my hand. "Thank you for that, Bill," she said. "That was wonderful."

"Thank you, Captain," I said.

"Why don't you and Kyra take the rest of the night off. I'll see you back on board by 0400."

"Will do," I said. I was in the middle of putting my guitar away when I heard a familiar voice behind me.

"I guess they'll make anyone a Commander these days." I turned to see Alan Simmons, the Captain of the Armstrong, along with his First Officer, Commander Alice Brewster. I stood up and motioned for Kyra to join us. After the introductions, I turned to Alan.

"I didn't know you would be here," I said.

"We've been assigned escort duty," he said. "They want us to shadow Enterprise to her Q-point tomorrow. I guess they thought you might need a guide dog or something." The "Q-point" was where Enterprise would engage its FTL engines.

"Well, I can't think of a better one," I said with a laugh.

"How are you doing these days, Bill?" Alan asked.

"I'm doing well, sir, thanks for asking. Kyra here gets a lot of the credit for that," I said, turning to her.

"You take good care of this man, you hear me?" Alice said. Kyra smiled.

"I will, don't worry," she said.

"By the way, I didn't know you could play a six-string," Alan said. "You sounded pretty good up there."

"Thank you," I said. "This is the first time I've been able to take my guitar with me on a mission."

"At least I got to hear you play. I look forward to hearing you play again," he said.

"That could be a while," I told him.

"It'll be worth the wait," he said with a smile. "We'd better get going and let you two finish celebrating. It's been good seeing you again, Bill. And it's good meeting you as well, Kyra. Take care of yourself out there."

"It's good seeing you as well, sir," I said.

"Good luck to you two, Bill," Alice said. "We'll see you when you get back."

"Thank you, Alice, and thanks for coming by." They left and I turned to get my gear when Jason came up to me with a guitar case and a small amplifier.

"Don't forget your guitar," he said.

"I've already got it," I said. "Thanks."

"No, I mean, this one," he said, handing me the case with the Stratocaster.

"I can't take this," I said. "I'm sure you can sell it and get good money for it."

"I could," he said. "But I'd rather see it get a good home with someone who knows how to make it sing."

"Are you sure about this?" I asked.

"Absolutely," he said. "Just do me a favor."

"Anything," I said.

"Next time you're in town, come by and play with us again."

"That could be another five years," I said.

"Then it'll be worth the wait," he said. "Take care of yourself, Bill. You're always welcome here." He extended a hand and I shook it.

"Thank you, Jason, it's been a lot of fun," I said. "And I'll be back."

"I'll be here," he said. We said our goodbyes and left the venue. By now, most of the crew had left, so Kyra and I got a room for the evening where we spent hours making love. Kyra wrapped herself around me when we finally finished and put her mouth next to my ear.

"I love you, Bill Jones," she whispered.

"And I love you right back, Kyra Williams," I said before we fell asleep.

0400 -- that's 4:00 am for those not familiar with military time -- comes awful early. Kyra and I made the last shuttle to Galileo Station and reported to the Officer of the Deck just in time. We made it to our quarters where I stashed both guitars and changed into my flight suit.

The ship was bustling with activity as the crew prepared for launch. I heard a lot of compliments as I made my rounds to verify things were getting under way. Then it was time for me to report to my station. After the Captain's quick briefing, we took our stations and I began my pre-launch checks.

Finally the time came for departure. Everyone nervously sat in their places making their final checks when Leesa began now-familiar rundown.

"Ops," she called out.

"All systems go for launch," I said.

"Engineering!"

"All systems nominal and within normal parameters. Go for launch, Captain," said Lt. Commander Sorenson, who was at the engineering station for launch.

"Weapons!"

"All systems calibrated and locked, sir. All weapons accounted for," the Weapons Officer said.

"Comm!"

"Communications five by five, Captain," the senior communications officer said.

"Navigation!"

"Course laid in and locked, Captain. ETA to Q-Point three hours," said Lt. Torres, the senior navigator.

"Number One!"

"All personnel present and accounted for, Captain. All systems and stations report go for launch," Axel replied. Leesa punched a button on her console.

"Houston, this is Enterprise. Request clearance for launch."

"Clearance for launch approved, Enterprise. Godspeed," said a voice from the communications speaker overhead. Leesa nodded her head and punched the console again.

"Roger that, Houston," she said. She punched another button and spoke again. "Galileo Station, this is Enterprise. Clearance for launch granted. Disconnect and retract all lines."

"Roger that, Enterprise, lines retracting," said another voice from the speaker. We heard the noise of the lines disengaging from the ship reverberate throughout the ship and knew that we were on our own power from this time forward.

"Open space doors," Leesa said, speaking into her comm unit.

"Space doors opening," a voice said from the speaker. We watched and saw the giant doors open in front of us. Leesa waited until she got the green light indicating the doors were fully opened.

"Maneuvering thrusters only, helm. Take us out, nice and slow," she said.

"Maneuvering thrusters, ahead, Captain," the helm answered. I felt the giant behemoth begin to move and as we went forward, I glanced out the porthole next to me. There, on the station's observation decks, were a number of people, standing at attention while giving a hand salute. Leesa flashed the running lights in response as the ship moved forward. We cleared the station doors and heard the announcement from station control shortly thereafter.

"Enterprise, you are clear and free to navigate," a voice said from the speaker.

"Roger that, Galileo Station," Leesa said in response. "Helm, ahead one quarter."

"One-quarter, aye, aye, Captain," the pilot said, adjusting his controls. I felt a bit more pressure as the g-forces pushed me further into my seat. I looked at a monitor on my console and saw the Armstrong following behind.

"Set vector for Q-point, navigator," Leesa said.

"Vector set, aye aye, Captain," the navigator said. "The road is clear."

"All ahead half, helm," Leesa said.

"All ahead half, aye aye, Captain," the pilot answered. The g-forces built up even more as the ship picked up speed.

"Warp status, engineering," Leesa asked about a half hour later.

"Warp bubble forming, Captain."

"Increase to full, engage plasma engines," Leesa said.

"Increasing to full, plasma-ion engines engaged," the pilot said. The ship shook just a bit as it picked up speed. I looked in the monitor and saw the Armstrong staying with us.

"Take us to max-Q, helm," Leesa said after a while.

"Increasing to max-Q," the pilot said, pushing the controls even further. I felt the ship shudder just a bit as it picked up speed. Looking at the monitor, I saw Armstrong start to fall back slightly.