9

CHARACTERS, REALITIES, AND STORY-TO-DATE

To Begin : In the Universe labelled 'Starting Over' The Battle Of Veridian III in 2371 had a different outcome than in 'Generations'. While James Kirk lived, Jean-Luc Picard died. Using his ability to traverse the timestream, fallen Wunderkind Wesley Crusher still finds that he cannot save his Captain. In grief and sudden confusion, he ends up on Vulcan in 2285--in an alternate reality.

In the Universe labelled 'The Ancient Destroyer' a great many things are different. Chief among them is the fact that, in a few short months, relative time, the Alpha Quadrant will come under assault by a megameter-plus Dragon, The Ancient Destroyer of Myth. Also known as King Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster of Toho Pictures, the creature long ago killed the only life-form that could have stopped it cold : His well-known Arch-Enemy does not exist in this Au.

But Peter Kirk and his wife Saavik are prophesied beings called The Rock. With luck, skill, and a few surprises, they might stop The End Of Days. Here, Jim Kirk's brother Sam was sterile, so Jim is Peter's biological father as well as his legal uncle. Here, Spock is Saavik's father, but she does not know this, and he is distant to her, a result of the fact that Saavik's birth was the result of several brutal betrayals. Far closer to her are her grandparents on Vulcan, her adoptive father James Kirk, and her adoptive brother/th'yla/husband Peter. They have both suffered horribly at the hands of those who worship the monster. They are both Psis of immense power--and much of it is still held in reserve for the final battle with Ghidorah. To coin a cliche', though--their greatest power is their love for one another--which has often seen them through a sometimes brutal relationship.

Walter O'Reilly, aka 'Radar', ( 2004 ), is an Immortal, and is both very far removed from the naive company clerk at the 4077th and yet still very much the same. Like his mentors, The Highland Macleods, he accepts what he is and tries to find joy where he can. Like them, he is a trained killer who takes no joy in The Game--but who is prepared to win it. Unable to have children of his own, he is a proud and active Godfather to Blake Pierce ( Born Tokyo, 1999 ), the daughter of his old friends, Hawkeye Pierce and Margaret Houlihan-Pierce, themselves Immortals of another kind--and superhuman, as a result of early experiments in The Eugenics Wars. Blake was very nearly born with abilities as far above her parents' as theirs are above normal humans. She's also cute, and knows it. Plus, she is a self-appointed terror to Immortals Methos and Cassandra as they attempt to leave the sins and hates of the past behind. Cass will likely forgive Methos for his past depravities before she forgives The Pierces for having little Blake.

In 1997, on one Au version of Earth, The Space Family Robinson departed for Alpha Centauri on a mission to colonize the worlds surrounding our sun's nearest neighbor in this galaxy, aboard The Jupiter 2. When they were presumed dead, space-exploration cutbacks on Earth were the least of the family's troubles. With friendly alien races few and far between, and with the same selfish fool in tow constantly re-affirming their opinion of him by his actions, the journey lasted ten years. With Smith dead and The Robot destroyed, the six remaining began the task of readying Alpha Centauri Four. But the time cooped up together had taken its toll.

As the adults --Parents John and Maureen Robinson, and Don and Judy Robinson West-- spent more time together on the journey, the two younger children found themselves alone. Growing up early, they became close friends and found they could tell each other anything. Will and Penny thus bypassed the sibling problems of their childhood--but by the time they arrived on AC4, they were 20 and 23---having also bypassed dating and the company of non-related teenagers. Sent off to live on one of AC4's three continents, they sublimated their desire for a social life and regrets over lost childhood to their main task.

Completing a ten-year task in three years as a result, they found that the work to maintain their efforts was no longer enough to keep them from noticing one another. They were still good, but they weren't kids anymore--and isolation finally did what one might expect--and they began a consensual, non-abusive, incestuous union. Their guilt is great, but it is something they could live with--had they not also fallen in love with one another. Now, even when others arrive--they have decided they will remain together. Three recent discoveries may change things. Penny is now pregnant, they now know they are adopted, and posess abilities much like Peter and Saavik Kirk's. But their relationship still troubles them, as does their family's original choice to send them away.

Anthony Fremont - ( Dead Universe, Twilight Zone ) Youth is a time of innocence--but also of blatant selfishness. Posessing the destructive power of King Ghidorah, the intrusive telepathy of a Betazoid on mental steroids, and the moral compass of Doctor Zachary Smith, Anthony Fremont is an evil monster in the form of a six-year old boy--who happens to resemble Will Robinson at that same age. Intensely fearful of and hating unhappy thoughts, Anthony has murdered every other being in his universe, including his own family, ultimately scattering his victims' atoms to the point where even he cannot reassemble them. Sensing unhappy thoughts from the other universes, he used Wesley Crusher to draw in the other five, so he can torment and destroy them. Now, our seven heroes will make a stand, and try to send Anthony to 'The Cornfield'. But their reality-jumping may not be done--just yet.