From: petitc@nuge106.its.rpi.edu (Christopher Jon Petit)
Subject: Snobtrek:  The Royal Generation "Horse of a Different Color"
Reply-To: petitc@rpi.edu
Organization: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY.
Date: Sun, 22 Nov 1992 17:56:12 GMT

[Fade in as we see the Enterprise, regally decorated, slow out of warp]

Picard:  King's Personal Diary.  Stardate 31428.3.  We are en route to 
         Star Castle 7, for minor repairs, and to celebrate the Christmas
         holiday tradition.

[Picard turns off the computer, and walks onto the Bridge.  A subspace message
is coming in]

Picard:  Onscreen.

[We see a man bent over in front of the console.  People are running around
in the background, screaming.  There seems to be a general air of chaos which
hangs heavy on this station]

Caller:  David Granspiel to the Enterprise.  Come in Enterprise.

Picard:  We have received your communication.  What's the matter?

David:  We're being taken over.  It's almost too late.  I....

[The screen blinks off, showing the familiar starfield]

Picard:  Navigator, do we know where that signal was coming from?

Navigator:  Yes, your majesty.  It was coming from our tower in the Beta
            Gamma cluster.

Picard:  Then set our course for the Beta Gamma cluster, full speed.

Navigator:  It is done, your majesty.

[We see the Enterprise warp out of the current space]

		<< Insert Cheezy Commercial (tm) here >>

Picard:  King's Personal Diary.  We are now en route to the Beta Gamma
         cluster, where we believe something terrible has happened to our
         Tower located there.

[Picard's comm panel beeps urgently.  He walks over to it and activates it]

Navigator:  Your majesty, we have reached the Beta Gamma cluster, and are near
            the location of the transmission.

Picard:  Are there any signs of life?

Navigator:  There are none, your majesty.  Also, there doesn't even seem to
            be a Tower there, anymore.

Picard:  WHAT?!?

Navigator:  It looks like the ground where we built the Tower hasn't been
            disturbed for a thousand years.

Picard:  Thank you, Navigator.

[Picard closes the comm panel, and walks out onto the Bridge]

Picard:  Do you have any more information about what happened below, now that
         we're closer to the Tower's previous location?

[A man in curious-looking robes is sitting at a panel.   He answers]

Man:  Your majesty, there seems to be a small fluctuation in the space-time
      continum below.

Picard:  A fluctuation?

Man:  Yes, your majesty.

Picard:  I believe we should go ashore with a landing party to discover more
         about what has happened below.  Duke Data, Viscount Laforge, and
         Lady Deanna, I'd like you to come ashore with me.

[Deanna Laforge and Data say]:  We'd be honored, your majesty.

[We see the four people beam down in a familiar effect.  There is a glowing
blue disk that is almost throbbing with energy.  It is spinning, looking like
someone dumped a can of blue paint into a tornado.  In the center of the storm,
we can see a small, fuzzy scene]

Picard:  Examine that portal with your Glasses.  Do you see anything else about
         this vortex?

[Deanna, Data and Laforge pull out what look like small crystal balls, encased
within a firm, black case, and point the balls at the vortex]

Data:  Your majesty, it seems to be a distortion of both space and time.  It
       does not appear stable.

[Just then, an earthquake shakes the planet's surface.  The ground begins to
open up]

Picard:  Get us back on board NOW!

Operator:  We can't, your majesty.  Magnetic interference prevents us from
           activating the Gangplank.

[As the splitting continues, it reveals a seething inferno of fire just beneath
them.  Picard thinks and quickly makes the only reasonable choice]

Picard:  Into the vortex.

[Data, Deanna and Laforge all say]:  WHAT?!?

Picard:  Either we take our chances with the vortex, or certainly die.

[Picard jumps into the vortex.  Data, Deanna and Laforge follow seconds later,
getting in just as the ground under their feet disappears]

		<< Insert Cheezy Commercial (tm) here >>




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