The Shaping of Clay

 Episode Name:  The Shaping of Clay

   Written By:  Starfleet

         Cast:  Tyler and Park.

  Produced By:  Starfleet

  Directed By:  Starfleet

     Aired On:  Tue Sep 10 11:36:43 2002

     Stardate:  52623.1

Time: Tue Sep 10 11:25:58 2002

Stardate: 52623

Cylindrical in shape and three full stories tall, the computer core is unlike any standard issue core. Catwalks line the circumference at the upper levels, with standard Starfleet doors leading off of them. Banks of isolinear cores surround this lower level, in the center of which is something entirely alien. A three meter tall cyan crystalline stump, of a barely opaque substance, sits in the center of it all. It rests on a meter-tall circular base of what appears to be exposed circuitry, and the 'roots' of the stump burrow into the very circuitry that is below it. It appears to be suspended by a forcefield, as the base has a glowing white ring around it. Taut tethers reach down from the ceiling to suspend the stump should the fields ever fail. An interface console faces the stump about a meter away from its base. The whole room hums with the sound of electricity, and the stump appears to pulsate with a gentle inner light. The area, unlike other computer cores on starships, is deserted of personnel.

Park wanders into the room, not bothering to sneak since the doors have already betrayed his presence.

Tyler's working at her terminal on the raised dais. She glances over toward the doors and smiles. "Aaron," she says, surprised by his presence.

Park grins broadly, "I thought I'd come down and see how you were doing."

Tyler steps down off the dais. The bags under her eyes make it evident she's had no sleep. She wraps her arms around him and buries her head in his chest. "I'm so glad you're here, Aaron. I'm starting to get scared."

Park hugs her tightly to him, worry overcoming the smile on his face as soon as he sees her condition. "What's going on, sweetie?"

Tyler looks up. "Michael and Lt. Ghorev went to go save Bela, and they're not back yet. It's been a whole day."

Park looks at her with disbelief, "They did WHAT? What happened?"

"Michael wanted to save Bela so I sent them with the Artifact to Minos' ship.. They've been captured," Wendy says. "I'm really scared I've messed up, Aaron."

Park keeps a comforting hand on Tyler's shoulder, "OK, start from the beginning. HOW did they get captured?"

Tyler frowns. "Michael came to me and asked if I could find Bela with the Artifact.. I agreed. He called Lt. Ghorev up here, and together they went to save Bela. But they were interdicted. They didn't arrive at the location they were supposed to. They're prisoners of Minos."

Park takes a deep breath, obviously out of his element. "So, can we pull them OUT with the Artifact?"

Tyler shakes her head. "No. You have to have a temporal tricorder set to the right subspace frequencies," she says. "They /had/ one.. But now they have no equipment and are in slave collars. Minos has some kind of technology that did this, but I can't see it."

Park pauses for along moment before speaking, "What are our options? Can you remodulate the frequancy or maybe transport someone CLOSE to the ship?" He's trying to be helpful, but this is OBVIOUSLY not his area of expertise.

Tyler sighs and shakes her head. "Our options are to tell the Commander," she says. "The first officer and second officer just don't disappear for a while without people asking questions."

Park sighs, "What if I went over there and got them out? I mean, if you change the transport frequancy to something different, maybe we can do it without telling Commander Balin."

Tyler shakes her head. "No, Aaron... I won't send you over there. It happened when I transported them - they were literally snatched out of the artifact's grasp. It will happen to you too..." She sighs softly. "I feel so useless."

Park shakes his head, "There's got to be SOMETHING we can do."

Tyler pulls away from Park and wrings her hands. She tries to think, as she paces toward the artifact. She frowns, then shakes her head. "I'm too worried about the interdiction, Aaron. I don't want to go near it - there is no telling how much range it has."

Park nods slowly, "OK." He pauses to think, "What if we tried transporting some things into the area and try to figure it out? At least that would give us an idea, right?"

Tyler says, "Their gear made it into a separate location from theirs or the transport point.. But that means the interdictor can separate biological objects from non-biological objects."

Park pauses to think for a moment, "Then let's transport plants. That's biological matter."

Tyler snaps a finger. "Better yet, transporter biomatter. Do you think you can get us a canister?" she asks. She refers to what the engineers use to test the transporters with - it simulates a humanoid.

Park nods, "I don't see why not. I'm sure that I can come up with some 'experiment' that I need it for."

Park says, "I'll be right back."

Park walks out and into the hallway.

Park has left.

A little while later..

Park has arrived.

Park comes back into the room, struggling with a large canister. "OK, here it is."

Tyler's already at work at the console. "I've set the destination to their current location. I want to see what happens when we put something into their location.." She turns and looks at Park. She can't help but smile as he struggles. "You're wonderful, Aaron."

Park smiles broadly, "You're in trouble, sweetie. You know that I'll do what I can to help."

"Aaron," Wendy says to him. "I.." Her breathing stops for a moment and her breath hitches. She says, "I think you should put that over there by the artifact."

"Wendy, what's wrong?", he asks, moving toward her quickly.

Tyler shakes her head. "N-nothing, Aaron, I'm okay," she says, and offers him a smile just to be sure. "Thanks for getting the container." She tiptoes up and kisses his cheek.

Park looks closely at Tyler, "Did the Artifact say something to you? You're studdering, Wendy, and that always means something has shaken you." He DOES move the canister to where she's directed, though.

Tyler shakes her head again and smiles to Park. "I'm fine, I promise. We should get to work. We've got to try and save them.."

Park nods slowly, "OK. What do you need me to do?"

Tyler gestures to the spot in front of the artifact. "Push that over there. And stand back." She gives him a little smile of thanks, and then walks up onto her dais.

Park drags the canister over toward the dias, placing it where Tyler has indicated. He smiles up at the Artifact and reaches out to give the Artifact a pat, but hits a forcefield. He grins anyway, "Well, so much for the personal touch, huh? Thanks for helping out anyway, though." With that, he moves back behind Wendy. "Now what?"

Tyler taps at the console. "Now, I set the final coordinates, and push the button." She engages the artifact which hums and glows a little brighter. A small dot of flashing white energy appears over the canister. The blue-white light coalesces, begins to spin, flashing the room. "I love this part," she says to Park. She reaches down and takes his hand in hers. The ball of light grows, slowly at first, but then increases suddenly in size until it consumes two meters in a square. It blinks out. The artifact dims once again and the canister is gone.

Park holds to Tyler's hand, watching with a smile. "That's a nice light show. It really DOES look incredible when it's all lit up like that."

Tyler smiles. "It's wonderful." Wendy releases his hand and moves to the console. She begins to tap at it. "Don't freak out. I kind of space out while it shows me things. I have to look for the canister."

Park looks a little nervous at that, "Well, OK. I guess I'll just stand here and...........stand here."

Tyler blushes a little. "Don't watch," she says softly.

Park says, "Why not?"

Tyler grins. "Cause it's embarrassing?"

Park chuckles, "I won't make fun of you, I promise."

Wendy blushes deeper but looks back to the console. She can be strong about it. She begins to tap on the console.

Suddenly, Aaron is overcome by a flood of white light and sound, like a 15 foot ocean wave washing over him. Salt air. The sound of sea gulls. His balance is shifting rapidly. When he opens his eyes he is on a 25 ft sailboat, and wearing surfing trunks and nothing else.

Park reaches out to catch himself on anything he can find. "Whoa!", is all he can manage to get out as he surveys his 'new' surroundings.

A familiar voice can be heard from below. "Dinner is ready." It's Wendy's voice.

Park looks around slowly and then moves over toward the cabin door. "Wendy?", he asks.

"C'mon, it's getting cold," Wendy says. There is no land in sight. Two surfboards are lashed to the side of the cabin. One is certainly recognizable as Wendy's.

Park moves slowly down the into the cabin, looking thoroughly confused as he goes.

Tyler is licking her fingers. She looks about.. fifteen years old. A plate is sitting at the small table with a glass of juice that rocks as the ship does. "It's your favorite." Sitting on the plate is a broiled mahi-mahi steak with melted butter and wedges of lemon. It appears to be seasoned with something on top. She sits down across from him with her own plate of the same.

Park is completely taken aback by what's transpiring. "Wendy!? Where the heck AM I?"

Tyler says quietly, "I ask myself that a lot. S-sit down and eat, Michael. Let's not r-ruin a good meal.. Please?"

"Michael?", he asks. He quickly looks around for a mirror to make sure that he's, well, still HIM.

The napkin holder, weighted at the bottom so it won't slide around, is a polished silver. Park takes a look at himself, and, he's not Park. He's a relatively handsome younger man, with long, curly blonde hair. His tan is indicative of someone who lives in the sun almost all year round. Wendy begins to eat silently.

Park looks around again, trying to make SOME sense of what's happening to him. He looks at the plate, and seeing no other option, sits down and begins to eat. "So, um.....How was your day?"

Tyler stops chewing and glances from her plate up to Michael. There is a look of confusion as she probes the meaning behind his question. "Are you f-f-feeling okay?" she asks him. Her own question is nervous.

Park pauses for a moment, then decides to take advantage of the moment, "I guess so. Just got a little confused for a second." He takes a bite of his food, "So, how was your day?"

Tyler shrugs a little. She carefully slides out from the table and takes her plate to the kitchen. "I.. Uh..." She stops.

Park pauses in his eating, "What's the matter?"

Tyler sets her plate on the countertop. She looks like she's about to cry. "You're g-going to be mad," she says. Her voice hitches a notch. "Please d-d-don't b-be m-m-mad,"

Park remains totally calm and stands up and moves to hug Wendy. "What's the matter? I PROMISE I won't be mad."

Tyler cowers away from him as if he is about to strike her and backs into a corner. She holds up her hands defensively and begins to sob softly. "Please oh please oh please no please," she repeats like a mantra. Maybe getting close wasn't a good idea.

Park backs away, completely shocked. "Wendy, I'm not going to hit you. Just tell me what's wrong."

Tyler sniffles and watches him back away. She drops her hands, finally. She moves toward the stairs and puts a hand on the door frame to steady herself from the rocking boat. "You're g-going to h-hit me when I tell you, M-michael." She wipes her eyes, which are glossing with tears, across the back of her arm. "I leave for Starfleet Academy tomorrow," she says. She runs up the stairs quickly. "Please don't!" she yells and flees to the top deck.

Park just stands in stunned silence, shocked to the core at what's he's heard. Suddenly, many of Wendy's old personality traits are making sense.

Like it began, it ends. Park is standing in the core once again after a hiss of white light washes over him. Wendy is at the dais console, blinking several times. "I've found it. It's.. In a store room of some kind. It was interdicted," she says. She sighs. "And they knew it came. By the time I found it, Minos' men were checking it out. He knows what we're up to, I'll bet."

Park sits hard on the floor and puts his head into his hands as he tries to pull himself together. The shocking knowledge of now knowing that Wendy's brother abused her is nearly overwhelming.

Tyler looks over at Park finally, and worry crosses her features. "Aaron," she says, moving to his side. "Are you okay?" She puts a hand on his forehead and pushes back his bangs to feel if he's feverish. The concern for him is written all over her features.

Park takes a couple of deep breaths and takes her hand in his to steady himself. "I'm fine, Wendy. I think I just got a little dizzy."

Tyler smiles to him and kisses his cheek again. "Don't scare me," she says. "What happened?"

Park takes a deep breath and pushes her hair aside to put a hand on Wendy's cheek. "I saw what happened the day you told Michael that you were leaving for the Academy."

Tyler's lip quivers and she nods. "That was a terrible day," she says. Wendy swallows with an audible click. "I had a lot of terrible days. But I'm a stronger person now. He can't treat me like that and get away with it. Not any more."

Park pulls her in close and hugs her tighly. "I'm so sorry, Wendy.", is all he can say. What else CAN he say, knowing first-hand what her life was like?

Tyler holds him tight in return. "We've talked about this before," she says. "Well, maybe not. I've talked about it before.." She pulls away from him. "Aaron, I have something I have to tell you."

Park looks into Wendy's eyes, "What is it?"

Tyler gets out, "I..." She stops for a moment but she keeps staring into Park's eyes. "...Should have talked to you about it before. I'm sorry."

"Wendy,", he says softly, "you can tell me anything, you know that. Is there something else that you wanted to say?"

Tyler nods slowly, still entranced by his eyes. The nod turns into a head shake. "I need to sleep," she says, blinking a few times. "I've been up for 36 hours."

Park nods slowly as he stands, "OK, sweetie. I'm sorry I kept you up. I didn't realize you'd been awake for so long."

Tyler stands up and drags him over, around a computer bank to a cot. It's wide enough for one and a half persons. "Just a nap.." she says. "I've got to help Michael." She sits down on the cot and tugs at his hand. "You're welcome to stay."

Park smiles, "I'd like that. I honestly don't want to be away from you right now."

Tyler pulls him down beside her, lies down on her side in his arms. She gives him a gentle kiss on the cheek goodnight. It takes a few moments to get everything comfortable on the little cot, but soon Wendy is fast asleep, nestled in Park's arms. Despite how exhausted she is, and despite how distressed about Edwards and Ghorev she is, she finds a way to smile a little as she rests.