And They're Off
| Star Traks: Waystation | |
| Episode name | And They're Off |
|---|---|
| Season | Stardate 58--- |
| Episode number | 1 |
| Writer(s) | Alan Decker |
| Year | 2381 |
| Stardate | Unknown |
| Chronology | |
| Previous in series | Pomp And Circumstances |
| Next in series | Winging It |
| Previous in timeline | Love Honor And Evade [VEX] |
| Next in timeline | Clash Of The Titan [VEX] |
Federation President Bradley Dillon makes an announcement that sets off a flurry of activity across the Federation. But it's the activities happening on Waystation that might be the real problem for him.
Summary
Federation President Bradley Dillon announces that he will be running for re-election (or election, really, since he wasn't elected the first time to be re-elected this time).
After the announcement, Bradley meets with Captain Lisa Beck in Starfleet Square Mall to tell her that he needs space in the mall for his campaign office. Since the mall is full, he needs Beck to evict one of the stores from the mall. Their discussion is interrupted by a sudden explosion that catches them both in the blast. Beck wakes up in the Infirmary and learns that Bradley is okay but that Krilik's Klingon Formal Wear Shop was destroyed in the explosion. Bradley's Special Secret Section insist that they have the jurisdiction to investigate the bombing, and they demand that Starfleet stay out of the way.
Bradley takes over the station's all-call system and announces to the station's residences that he is fine and that the Special Secret Section will be interviewing every man, woman, and child on board in their search for the culprit. Beck is furious. She orders Lieutenant Commanders Craig Porter and Sean Russell to find a way to lock Bradley out of their systems while she goes to pay Bradley a visit. She insists that Bradley change his tactics, but Bradley refuses.
After securing the station's computer systems to the best of their ability, Russell and Porter turn their attention to the remains of Krilik's. Both officers feel like something is wrong with the situation. Without telling Beck their plans, they find a way past the Special Secret Section operatives cordoning off Krilik's and investigate. Russell quickly sees what he needs to see and tells Porter that they need to find Krilik. The Klingon dressmaker had his own security monitors in his store, and he shows Russell the footage. Russell tells Porter that he is certain that the bomb was set inside the store, and he needs Porter to analyze the composition of the explosive.
An hour later, Porter and Russell meet with Beck in her office. They have with them the culprit, a teenaged girl named Tiffany Beecher. Tiffany had purchased a prom dress at Krilik's and then, to make sure that no one else showed up with her dress, she blew up the store using a combination of lipstick, diet soda, and Breen-Gay pain cream, as detailed in the "Debutante's Handbook." Beck and Bradley were not the targets. They just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. She asks Bradley to come to her office, and, when he arrives with two Special Secret Section operatives, she lets him know the truth about the bombing. Bradley is unmoved. He has the Special Secret Section take Tiffany into custody anyway, and the Starfleet officers are told that the incident has been classified for reasons of Federation Security. If they talk about what happened or Tiffany, they will be arrested and charged with treason. Bradley and the Special Secret Section operatives beam away with Tiffany.
Featuring
- Captain Lisa Beck
- Commander Walter Morales
- Lieutenant Commander Craig Porter
- Lieutenant Commander Sean Russell
- Yeoman Tina Jones
- Dr. Diantha
- Bradley Dillon
Also Featuring
Author's Comments
Since I ended the last run of stories with an actual ending as opposed to a cliffhanger, I was able to spend this story setting things up for this run instead of trying to locate a missing space station or something. My first priority was to get the Bradley Dillon re-election storyline moving.
Actually my original plan was to have Bradley make his announcement at the end of the last run. I thought it would be funny for him to do it right after Beck stopped the Romulans and while everyone is still standing around in a bit of shock (and in Picard's case, just his underwear). But then I realized that it would be out of character for Bradley to do it then. He's usually a bit smoother when it comes to these things, so I decided to delay the announcement to the beginning of this run. I think it works better here and serves as a nice way to kick things off.