startrek enterprise fanfiction

Apr

2014

Review – Take Back the Night

Take Back the Night!

Take Back the Night Background

Once The Cure is Worse Than the Disease was posted, readers began asking me about a sequel. Nobody wanted to leave it the way it had been left, which was with Doctor An Nguyen becoming disillusioned and the Daranaeans left to their own devices and sexist ways, with lip service being paid to the Prime Directive.

I decided I wanted a small piece of a revolution, and so I got an idea. There would be an injustice, and the women would rise up.

Plot

The real Take Back the Night movement is about women holding forth against violence against women, including rape, particularly date rape.

For the Daranaean, the elder Inta, this would be a form of marital rape that would spark the powder keg of a plot. I had already established that third caste women had no right to refuse sexual relations, and so the beginning is her refusing to sleep with her husband, Arnis. In fact, the first word of the story is simply her saying, “No!”

That is the only word she says in the entire piece. And in fact, that is the only word I have from her. Yet it is enough.

Violence

For her refusal, she is hit, hard, and she falls to the floor, hitting her head. This causes her death and, just as importantly, the death of her unborn fetus.

While her death is not actionable, the first legal question is whether the death of the unborn child is. This is, of course, distasteful to most of us, but I figure that alien cultures may very well have rather alien ideas about justice and mercy.

Take Back the Night

As the story unfolds, someone other than Arnis gets the blame. Hence the Cochrane and the Columbia both play a part in helping that person be exonerated. And they also help in having the real killer charged with the crime.

Story Postings

Rating

The story is Rated K+.

Upshot

I think this is one of the better stories I have written, as the action moves from Daranaean home to both starships, a space battle, and eventually a courtroom and even the Beta Council chamber on Daranaea. Perhaps the best part about the story is that, while it resolves the immediate issue, it doesn’t fix all of the Daranaeans’ problems overnight. There’s plenty more story fodder, and many injustices remain. But at least there are a few less of them. I’m very proud of this story.

Apr

2014

Portrait of a Character – Milena Chelenska

Milena Chelenska was originally a creation as a part of a wholly original time travel series. However, that series is no more.

Origins

She was always a doctor, and was always a Holocaust survivor, based on Franz Kafka’s real-life lover, Milena Jesenska. As a love interest for Richard Daniels, I feel that she shines even more.

Portrayal

Barking Up the Muse Tree | jespah | Janet Gershen-Siegel | Barking-Up-the-Muse-Tree-jespah-Janet-Gershen-Siegel-

Michaela Dolinova as Milena Chelenska (image is for educational purposes only)

Milena is played by Czech actress Michaela Dolinova.

It was very important for me, for the actress to be Czech in origin. This is because not only the ethnicity is important, but so is the accent.

I love that this actress is older, too, as Milena is meant to be worn down by the world.

Personality

Beaten down by the world and skeptical of the good in it, Milena survives more because she refuses to die than for any other reason. She experiences horrors at Dachau, including being a part of desperately trying to give a pregnant inmate an abortion before the Nazis discover the unnamed woman’s pregnancy. It all goes horribly wrong, and the unnamed woman dies. Milena vows to, if she survives, only help others. This also means illegal euthanasia for her neighbor, Mrs. Klinghofer, when Klinghofer’s inoperable cancer becomes truly intolerable.

Barking Up the Muse Tree | jespah | Janet Gershen-Siegel | Milena Jesenska (image is for educational purposes only)

The Real Milena Jesenska (image is for educational purposes only)

Milena first shows up, in the chronological order of the stories, by Tripp Tucker, during Day of the Dead, when he’s interphased to the liberation of Dachau in 1945. Milena and her sister, Noemy, along with Mrs. Klinghofer make friends with Tucker and other soldiers.

Milena is not seen again until Spring Thaw, when Rick is sent to 1969 in order to make sure that Prague Spring ends. By the time of He Stays a Stranger, Rick realizes that he’s in love with her.

Relationships

Elijah Kohak

Elijah, a neighbor’s son, is Milena’s boy next door type. But he’s Orthodox, and Milena and her family aren’t, so his parents don’t agree to a marriage. Instead, Elijah is promised to another. When they are shipping to Dachau, only his father and her sister remain. This is because her parents have committed suicide. Also, Elijah’s mother has died as the result of a rape and beating. At the time of selection, because his father is going to be killed, even though Elijah could have lived, he sacrifices himself. Hence he goes to the death side, and is gassed.

Milena admits that she has taken lovers since his death. However, she’s never really gotten over him until she meets Rick.

Richard Daniels

With Rick, she finds an intellectual equal and is able to unburden herself. He, in turn, unburdens himself about Jun. They work together to heal each other. By the time of He Stays a Stranger, he realizes that he cannot just leave her in the past. In Mirror Masquerade, they are together, and she is practicing a form of medicine in the deep future.

Theme Music

Rick and Milena’s theme is Jim Croce‘s Time in a Bottle.

Mirror Universe

Portrait of a Character – Milena Chelenska

Mirror Milena (Michaela Dolinova)

There are no real impediments to her existence in the Mirror Universe. I feel she’d be carefree, maybe even wealthy.

She could even be one of the very few Mirror Universe women who didn’t have a lousy life.

Quote

“I have conclusive evidence that we are not alone in the universe. And I am well aware of exactly how insane that sounds, so I shall endeavor to explain.”

Upshot

I love this character and she will definitely show up again.

Feb

2014

Review – Conversations with Heroes

Conversations with Heroes was a lot like taking dictation.

Background

As a part of the 2013 ficlet flashdance challenge, we were tasked with creating a posting every day of one week, with at least 1,000 words. I decided to tie the whole shebang together with a documentary filmmaker creating a work about the Xindi War.

Plot

In Between Days

It’s just after the war has ended, and independent filmmaker Carlos Castillo has an assignment to cover the Xindi War from the perspective of the people who fought it.

Sharp-eyed readers should spot that Carlos is a prime universe counterpart to one of the men killed by Doug Beckett, as is outlined in Fortune.

The prime universe Carlos comes to the NX-01, but he also tracks down crew members like Lili, who are off the ship (as is established in Everybody Knows This is Nowhere). He interviews the following crew members –

Jonathan Archer – he discusses the turning point for this character, a Star Trek: Enterprise canon act where he forced an Ossarian pirate into an airlock.
Maryam Haroun – Maryam mentions her Muslim faith. Also, she talks about the deaths of fellow crew members and feels that her failure to pray may have had a correlation with that.
Lili O’Day – Lili relives killing She Who Almost Didn’t Breed in Time, which was originally outlined in Reversal and The Mess.
Jennifer Crossman – her memory is of the canon act of deceiving Degra.
Malcolm Reed – Malcolm talks about Jay‘s death.

The final piece is Carlos’s own statements about having met the Enterprise‘s crew. And he mentions the effect this assignment has personally had on him.

Story Postings

Rating

The story is Rated K.

Upshot

The story was well-received. I also loved the pressure creativity aspect of it. This story also has the third-highest number of reviews of any story of mine (only Reversal and Revved Up have more).

I can’t wait to do this kind of story again.

Feb

2014

Review – Party on Risa

Party on Risa is just fluff.

Background

At a much smaller Star Trek site that I really don’t go to anymore, they celebrated once I’d hit a certain number of posts. As a thank you for that, I posted this little party story. It’s only meant to be a bit of fluff. However, I was able to add a bit to my lore. For a long time, this was the first story in my saga.

Plot

In Between Days

Hence as a fill in for the canon episode Two Days and Two Nights, I wrote this story in order to give a little depth to Travis. After all, in the episode, about all that happens is that he suffers an injury while rock climbing on Risa. But he didn’t start off rock climbing. At least, I didn’t want him to.

Hence, the little bit of fan fiction.

One thing I was able to do with this small story was to bring in Witannen a lot faster and earlier than before. With no statement of the name of the species (and Travis leaves quickly, plus in Star Trek: Enterprise canon he’s knocked out not too long after that), there’s no real first contact. However, for sharp-eyed readers, the stage is set for this species. Hence when the Witannen show up in Together, he really should have remembered them. But with him losing consciousness in canon, it fits that he would either not remember or maybe even suffer just a tiny bit of amnesia.

Story Postings

Rating

The story is Rated K.

Upshot

The story has little purpose, other than to be a little fluff. It succeeds in that area, to be sure.

You can find me on Google+.

Jan

2014

Review – Before the Fall

Before the Fall references pride.

Background

For an early Lili story, I got the idea as I was given a prompt for a story about the seven deadly sins. I chose pride.

Jonathan Frakes as Chef Will Slocum (image is for educational purposes only)

For quite a while, I had had the idea of pitting Will and Lili against each other in an Iron Chef-style competition.

Putting together the prequel idea, pride and the competition brought me directly to this story.

Plot

Naomi Watts as Lili O’Day (image is for educational purposes)

Lili is a new employee on the NX-01, recently hired by Will and so this is after both Voracious and Harvest.

It’s the middle of the Xindi War, and the crew needs a break. Apart from an extra Movie Night, what do you do for entertainment? Hence the idea for a competition was thought up.

I decided the judges would be Jonathan, Malcolm and Jay, thereby prefiguring Lili’s relationship with Malcolm and her connection to Jay, plus her failed connection, during the first E² alternate timeline, with Jonathan. The food, too, would prefigure some things, including the smoky cumin which is referenced in Temper.

Preston Jennings makes an appearance, thereby tying the story to More, More, More! He is Chef’s assistant between Daniels and Lili. Lili selects Brian Delacroix as her assistant, thereby neatly prefiguring his becoming a chef (hinted at in Reversal, and then fully realized in Together and Fortune).

Hoshi and Chip host the event, which is broadcast throughout the ship. The secret ingredient, almonds, must be incorporated into all of the dishes that Lili and Will make. Then the judges anonymously taste and decide, giving points for flavor, originality and presentation. Lili and Brian work well as a team, and poor Preston has a bit of a meltdown. As for Will, well, you know what pride goeth before, right?

Story Postings

Rating

The story is Rated K.

Upshot

I like the frenzied nature of the competition and the details about the work that goes into it. I have watched these kinds of shows more than once, and they continue to amaze me with people’s creativity and risk-taking. Plus, truth be told, it’s a bit of a slam at the Frakes character, given my annoyance with These Are the Voyages. I think it worked out pretty well.

Dec

2013

Review – November 13th

November 13th Background

November 13th works as a bridge story. It connects In Between Days to Times of the HG Wells.

For a Weekly Free Write called ‘berth of a career’, I got the idea of a messy bunk in my head, and could not get it out.

In Between Days

Adding to this idea was the Star Trek: Enterprise canon tidbit that Daniels had roomed with a slob. In order to anchor between In Between Days and Times of the HG Wells, it made sense to have a younger character.

That younger character would be connected to Daniels, hence bridging the gap between In Between Days and the deep future of The Times of the HG Wells.

Plot

Clockworks

Craig Willets, now an older man, would be dictating his memoirs, when he’d remember something quirky from his past.

The date is what triggers it for Craig. He remembers a very specific, yet puzzling, event.

On that day, back in 2151, he was just minding his own business, but was remembering his old roommate, who had left in a hurry. It had been explained to Craig that Daniels had been a time traveler. Craig wasn’t sure how he felt about that. As a slob, he has no idea, but a pair of his boots are missing.

Forward into the Past

The action then shifts to 1699, where Daniels is preparing to bed Jennifer Crossman‘s ancestor, the widow Lucretia Crossman, in Penn’s Woods. This is to be Rick’s first temporal conquest. He’s eager to get going, and then realizes that he forgot something back in 2151.

Penn’s Woods at Bowman’s Hill (Photo credit: tgpotterfield)

He excuses himself and goes to the only private place – the outhouse. While in there, he taps out a quick message to Craig and has the boots sent to November 13th, 2151. Why that date? That’s what date it is in 1699. But it does not match the date when Daniels departed from the NX-01. Craig realizes, much later, that his old roommate made a mistake with the date.

Story Postings

Rating

The story is Rated K.

Upshot

I like the slight silliness of the story, that something so mild and minor could bring the two series together.

You can find me on Google+.

Dec

2013

Review – The Mess

This mess should be really disturbing.

Background

In Between Days

This scene was a part of Reversal, and in Fortune, but it never really got its due until a Weekly Free Write about chores.

I wanted very much to have a story that starts off as cleaning a kitchen and then, well, what sort of dirt is it, anyway?

You don’t want to know.

Plot

On November 22nd of 2153, Lili is alone in the NX-01‘s kitchen. She is panting. The air smells like turkey cooking, as it is Thanksgiving. She’s got a cast iron skillet in her hands. Reed‘s voice is on the intercom.

And there’s a messing on the wall, and there’s dirt on the floor.

As the story goes on, it becomes apparent that there have been boarding parties on the ship. So what is on the floor, and on the wall, are the remains of something sentient. Hayes and Slocum come in. And Lili is still, barely, coherent.

Hayes takes the enemy’s rifle and leaves. However, before he does so, he translates the name on the uniform patch – She Who Almost Didn’t Breed in Time. For Lili, that could be an apt descriptor as well.

Slocum tosses away the pan, and finally breaks Lili out of her almost catatonic state. And while it is not quite business as usual, they have to go on anyway.

Lili remembers the story in Conversations with Heroes, although she feels anything but heroic.

Story Postings

Rating

The story is Rated K.

Upshot

I like how the story played out although I think I could have emphasized Lili’s panting and her fear and her coming down from an adrenaline high, a little bit more.

Nov

2013

Review – On the Radio

Radio. It can bring back a memory in a snap.

On the Radio Background

On the Radio

A friend passed away earlier in 2013, and I was having some trouble processing it. I decided to attempt to process it through art.

As a result, I worked in my own feelings by trying to tease out Hoshi and T’Pol‘s feelings about Tripp‘s passing.

And, the reason why I call this canon character Tripp instead of Trip is because of this very man who, in real life, is no more.

Plot

As Tucker has died, the two women who knew him best mourn him in different ways. T’Pol’s canon relationship is well-known. She ends up breaking down in front of Jay Hayes‘s replacement, Major Strong Bear Dawson, who everybody calls Bud. Bud is the sole eyewitness to her breakdown, and he tells her he won’t say anything to anyone. She asks how she can repay his kindness and he tells her to just go and have a good life.

Hoshi’s relationship with Tripp is outlined in Together. But the song that is the title of the piece, and is woven throughout this songfic, was played during the party outlined in More, More, More! Hoshi reveals that she and Tripp danced to it. She comes to the realization that it served as a prelude to their time together, and that Tucker may have liked her before then. For her, the music, and a dance with Travis, are how she feels she can cope.

When she and T’Pol are alone together, she passes the music from the party to the Vulcan, urging her to listen so that she can, in a way, understand another facet of Tripp’s personality, something she may not have already known. It is a final act of generosity between women who were not exactly romantic rivals, but rather were romantic steps or links in the chain that was Tripp’s life.

Music

Apart from the Donna Summer song, the entire playlist from More, More, More! is as follows –

Alicia Bridges – I Love the Night Life
The Trammps – Disco Inferno
The Bee Gees – More Than a Woman
Andrea True Connection – More, More, More!
Silver Convention – Fly, Robin, Fly
Patrick Hernandez – Born To Be Alive
Thelma Houston – Don’t Leave Me This Way
Lipps Inc. – Funky Town
Van McCoy – The Hustle
The Bee Gees – Night Fever
Kool & the Gang – Celebration
Gloria Gaynor – I Will Survive
The Weather Girls – It’s Raining Men
Michael Jackson – Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough
Lobo – Me and You and a Dog named Boo
Melanie – Brand New Key
The Captain and Tennille – Love Will Keep Us Together
Commodores – Brick House
Tavares – It Only Takes a Minute
Donna Summer – On the Radio
La Flavour – Mandolay
Earth Wind & Fire – Let’s Groove
K.C. & the Sunshine Band – That’s the Way I Like It
Village People – YMCA
The Bee Gees – Stayin’ Alive
Chic – Le Freak
Rick James – Super Freak
Tavares – Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel
Vicki Sue Robinson – Turn the Beat Around
Barry White – Can’t Get Enough of Your Love
Hues Corporation – Rock the Boat
Sister Sledge – We Are Family
Diana Ross – Love Hangover
Kool & the Gang – Ladies Night
A Taste of Honey – Boogie Oogie Oogie
Donna Summer – Last Dance

Story Postings

Rating

The story is rated K.

Upshot

As a story, I think it works pretty well. Reactions have been mixed; some critics have said they thought T’Pol would not act as forcefully as she does, but Star Trek: Enterprise canon dictates that this is a former trellium addict and so her emotions are still not fully under control, even years later.

In this story, I am probably more like the Hoshi character. Removed but mournful, and saddened by the wasted potential more than anything else. I have no problem with Tucker being killed off in canon. People die and they should die in space. Space is far from safe, particularly during that era. But I wanted to see a lot more of the aftermath. I hope this aftermath/afterimage type of story can work for readers.

Oct

2013

Review – Where No Gerbil Has Gone Before

Gerbil? Yeah. Really.

Background

In response to a prompt about comedy, the idea of fraternity-style hijinks and an all-out prank war gave rise to this silly story.

Where No Gerbil Has Gone Before

Adding to the fun is the fact that the cover comes from a screenshot of Tripp Tucker‘s quarters in the final episode of the series.

These really are his Star Trek: Enterprise canon belongings. Hence the cover and the image mesh perfectly with the action on the page (although that’s actually an armadillo).

Plot

Deb and Chip are alone in his quarters. This is her first time staying overnight. Aidan is in Sick Bay, but it’s nothing serious. Chip has a romantic evening in mind, when Deb finds … Stella.

Stella is a stuffed toy. And so Chip needs to come clean about how and why he’s got Stella (who does not belong to him). Therefore, he begins to tell a story about the early days of the NX program. This was when there was an engineering competition to perfect an incredibly dull but necessary piece of canon equipment, inertial dampers. So a big part of the plot hinges on silly things happening when people are supposed to be ultra-serious.

Story Postings

Rating

The Story is Rated K.

Upshot

I enjoyed writing this story a great deal, and apparently my peers enjoyed reading it. Because I won the monthly challenge! I really like it. This includes how it dovetails with canon personnel, its shout outs to Worcester Polytechnical Institute in Worcester, Massachusetts (a place I have visited several times), and its neat fit into my own fan fiction. Because the story is silly, it covers up a few more difficult issues. These include Aidan being in sickbay, and Emory Erickson reminiscing about Quinn. However, it also works as a means of getting people onto the ship who do not originally belong there. Chip in particular gets a good explanation of why he’s there in the first place.

Oct

2013

Review – Apple

Apple? So of course I thought of temptation.

Background

In Between Days

For my own prompt about temptation, I decided to fill in a missing scene from Reversal. The idea was also to dovetail with a scene in Fortune, where Shelby and Travis spend time together, and it appears that they might be starting a relationship soon.

But I did not want things to run smoothly.

Plot

It is the day after the day of all-orange food. Lili is not sleeping well, because she has been dreaming about Doug. Jennifer is even teasing her a bit about it. And just like in Reversal, this is somewhat embarrassing to Lili.

A perfect Gala

She sets out harvest produce for the crew, and then Lili explains what’s available for dessert. It is a fruit and cheese plate. Malcolm looks up as she is speaking, thereby neatly prefiguring his own interest in her. Much later in my fan fiction, he confesses he was first smitten with her on the day of the all-orange food. She seemed to be a lot like “sunshine and happiness”.

Shelby picks up an uncut, perfectly ripe Gala apple, and she offers it to Travis. Tripp Tucker even jokes about Adam and Eve. And then Travis flees the scene.

Story Postings

Rating

The Story is Rated K.

Upshot

For a small fill-in scene, I think the story works just fine. I would not add it permanently to Reversal, though, as I feel it would interrupt a lot of the flow. But it was fun to add a different slant to a day in that story that doesn’t get a lot of detail. This time around, the characters get more depth and dimension.

Review – Take Back the Night

Take Back the Night Background

Plot

Violence

Story Postings

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Portrait of a Character – Milena Chelenska

Origins

Portrayal

Personality

Relationships

Elijah Kohak

Richard Daniels

Theme Music

Mirror Universe

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Review – Conversations with Heroes

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Review – Party on Risa

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Review – Before the Fall

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November 13th Background

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Forward into the Past

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Review – The Mess

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Review – On the Radio

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Review – Where No Gerbil Has Gone Before

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Review – Apple