Unexpected Home Coming - Part One

Posted on Sat Mar 14th, 2020 @ 2:21am by Colonel Anthony "Ironhide" Raynor & Gunnery Sergeant Olga Vaal & Colonel Jack "Dirty Jack" Hassel
Edited on on Sat Mar 14th, 2020 @ 2:22am

Mission: Mission 95: Through the Looking Glass
Location: Various Locations - Starbase 12
Timeline: 1000Hrs - September 6th, 2392

Ensign Nick Hassel pulled his shuttle into one of Starbase 12's shuttle bays. The vehicle was still cloaked and he had to be cautious as to not be hit by another craft. He found an open docking place and landed. Thank's to Haniko Nakamura he knew how to pull the shuttle's memory so whoever finds the shuttle here abandoned cannot know who flew it in. Of course, any good tech crew can find the black box but that takes time and by that time it won't be his problem.

He checked to see that no ground crew were around before deactivating the cloak. He then slipped out of the flight hanger. He checked to make sure the corridor was empty before he talked to the ship's computer.

"Computer: This is Ensign Nick Hassel. Change my name to Nick Hall, protocol 67 alpha 51." He ordered the computer.

"Confirmed, you are now known as Nick Hall." The computer replied. Nick took the name from the first letter in his father's name and the last two letter's in his mother's name. He added the last L to conform to the standard spelling of the name.

"Computer: give me the location of Jack Hassel." He asked.

"Group Master Jack Hassel is in the Pilot's Administration Area." It replied.

"Computer: Display directions on the nearest board," Nick asked. The schematics of the Starbase appeared on a nearby screen.

He slowly moved around to the pilot's training area. Everyone was busy so no one paid any attention to him. He looked around until he found Jack Hassel's office. He pulled an old picture of his parents from a trouser pocket to get a good look at him. He then looked around the corner. There at his desk was a middle-aged blonde man, his father. Nick's heart started to pound. He had no idea what to do next. He had not planned out that far. What should he say to him? He didn't have a long time to think as by this time had gotten Jack's attention.

"Can I help you?" Jack asked.

"Er..umm...ogk...mpy..." Nick stumbled.

"Are you okay?" Jack asked, concerned.

"No... I mean yes...I mean I'm good." Nick stumbled.

"Alright," Jack looked at the young officer, not sure what he was up to."Can I help you with something?"

"No...I mean yes." Nick continued to stumble and Jack looked at the odd Ensign's behavior. "I want to join the pilot corp."

"Okay, well it looks like your already in the flight control branch. Do you have any fighter training?" Jack asked.

"Yes, I do." Nick answered clearly this time. "I was trained at the academy to be a fighter pilot. Due to the needs of the wars, I was reassigned to flight control."

"What wars?" Jack asked, not sure what Nick was talking about. Nick had made a mistake. He forgot things were different in this universe. The Federation was fighting wars on multiple fronts here.

"Oh, I mean there were new ships getting deployed to the Breen border. They needed a lot more flight control officers quickly so that's what happened to me. Yeah, that sounds right." Nick replied.

"I never heard that." Jack stated, a little surprised. "What ship did you serve on?"

"The...um...USS Lombard." Nick answered.

"To be honest never heard of her." Jack told him.

"Well...luckily nothing happened." Nick told Jack who seemed to be willing to believe that.

"So you want back into the pilot corp?" Jack asked.

"Yes, Sir. Very much so, Sir." Nick answered.

"Well, I am going to need your name." Jack told him.

"Oh...yes Sir. My name is Nick Hall. Yes, my name is Nick Hall." Nick told Jack.

"Alright Ensign Nick Hall, all look at your file and get back to you," Jack replied.

"Thank you, Sir." Nick answered gratefully.

"Your dismissed Ensign." Jack told him.

"Thank you, Sir." Nick replied before leaving.

Jack was going to give Nick's files an honest going over. They always needed new pilot's and a trained and qualified pilot was always welcome. He would just need some refresher training to get him up to speed.

As Nick was leaving the area he realized that while he made progress on joining the fighter corp, he never really got to tell his father who he was. Maybe it would be easier with his mother, he thought to himself.

"Computer: give me the location of Olga Hassel."

"There is no such person on the Roanoke." the computer answered.

She might not be on the ship, Nick thought. It was only a quirk that he found out that his father was aboard. His mother was in another branch or may not be in Star Fleet or even more sad, dead.

Computer: Query, is there an Olga Hassel in the battle fleet?" he asked.

"Searching..." The computer replied. "There is no one of that name among any of the battle fleet."

Nick was disappointed. Maybe she was dead? What if she still used her maiden name? Nick asked himself.

"Computer: Where is Olga Vaal?"

"Gunnery Sergeant Olga Vaal is in the Marine armory." it answered.

That made sense. His mother was a marine. He thought she would have more rank by this time. Maybe she left Star Fleet for a while to have more children? Maybe he has brothers and sister? He also thought for a moment what was he going to tell his other self? That he had to share his parents? Nick put it out of his mind as he headed towards the armory.

He slowly looked around. It was busy in the armory. The marines were loading in several creates. As he rounded a corner he noticed a red-headed marine taking inventory with her PaDD. He slipped back around the corner to watch her.

Olga noticed the young man watching her from the corner of her eye. She tried to ignore him and keep working. Nick couldn't help but stare. What did he say to her? She probably wouldn't believe him but he was willing to have a DNA test to prove his claims.

It had been several minutes and the young conn officer was still staring at Olga. She finally lost her patience. "You!" she shouted and pointed at Nick.

"Me?" He asked, trying to be unassuming.

"Yes, you Ensign." Olga shouted. "Come here." Olga used her extended finger to beckon the young officer over. Nick sheepishly obeyed Olga. "What are you doing here?"

"Um..." Nick found himself speechless and still staring at his mother.

"I'll be honest, you're creeping me out Ensign." Olga told him.

"I'm sorry." Nick quickly apologized.

"So why were you staring at me?" Olga asked.

"I didn't expect you to be so pretty." Nick honestly slipped out.

"Really?" Olga was a little shocked.

"Yes, your husband must be lucky?" Nick tried to control the damage.

"I'm happily divorced." Olga told Nick, who seemed to be stunned by the news.

"So what is your name Ensign?" Olga asked.

"Nick Hall, Ensign Nick Hall." Nick told her.

"Well, Mister Hall I don't think you're to much use here in the armory." Olga told him. "Wait! Are you part of the pilot corp? Do you know Jack Hassel?"

"Agh...I just meet him." Nick stumbled.

"I thought so. I'll deal with him later." Olga told Nick. "Until then, make yourself scarce in the armory. I may also recommend a long talk with counseling."

"Okay." Nick slipped away. Great, now my mother thinks I'm a pervert, Nick told himself. He was suddenly hungry and decided to go to the galley for food.

Was he a pilot?. Olga thought to herself. Did Dirty Jack put him up to this? She decided to go to the flight hanger.

Jack was talking to Iron Hide. "An ensign came by to try and join the fighter corps. He was a little odd but if he is a qualified pilot we can add him. The problem is I can't find his file."

Ironhide raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, we're in need of pilots. So whats the issue with this file?" he inquired. "Maybe it was misfiled under another name. Don't worry about it. Sometimes mistakes do happen." he shrugged. "What was his name?. I'll go have a look for missing files."

"His name is Nick Hall. He is an ensign assigned to flight control." Jack told him.

It was this time Olga came into the office. "You!" She pointed at Jack.

"Can I help you Gunnery Sergeant?" Jack asked in a cool voice.

"Really?" Olga asked. "Can I help you Gunnery Sergeant?" She mocked Jack in a deep goofy voice. "I'm your ex-wife. You know who I am."

"Alright Olga, what's up?" Jack asked with resignation.

"Your little ensign's wiener." Olga told him.

"I'm not sure I follow." Jack stated, confused.

Ironhide was confused as well but he opted to not say anything and hope this didn't get out of hand.

"You little Ensign Hall. You know, the one with the Oedipus complex." Olga told him. "Keep you little creep to yourself."

"I just meet the kid once." Jack explained.

"And that's all it took." Olga chided him. "This is your one warning, keep him away from me and the armory." She told him before she turned around and left.

Jack looked at Ironhide. "What the hell was that?"

"Well." Ironhide responded, his humor coming out. "Sounds like Ensign Hall has already been getting to know the natives," he responded as he frowned.

"Wait. Something isn't right here." as Ironhide turned back to Dirty Jack. "What did he say to you?. the Ensign, I mean. I have a funny feeling all of a sudden." he narrowed his eyes. "Have you been hearing about visitations from that alternate reality. The scuttlebutt hasn't shut up about it for weeks." he paused. "Maybe its nothing but. Humor me will ya?. Did he say anything that seemed odd to you."

"The whole encounter was odd." Jack told him. He thought for a moment. "He did mention something about the Federation being in multiple wars." Jack sat back in his chair. "That doesn't make sense though. He sneaks onto the ship undetected somehow and what does he do? Plant a bomb? No. Try and hijack the ship? No. Kills a lot of personnel? Lord knows, he was in the armory and had access to weapons. No. He tries to put in his application to the fighter corp and ogles a middle-aged NCO. It just doesn't sound right."

"Yeah, You're right. It sounds damned odd." Ironhide responded quietly. "Multiple wars..." he muttered softly. "Okay, here's the plan. When next he comes to you, tell him he's in but send him to sickbay for a medical exam. But. When he does, I want a DNA check. I'll go talk to a couple of the ladies in the hospital and Doctor R'Shav." as he regarded Dirty Jack with a dark gleam in his eye. "I mean, why eyeball your Ex-wife, of all people. Maybe I'm just being paranoid but you know they say it... Send a nutcase to catch a nutcase."

"I don't think he is nuts, just socially awkward," Jack replied.

"If I'm wrong then I'm wrong and I'll apologize for but. If I'm right, then he is more than he seems... We don't know if he's planted anything or done anything so we need to look into that as well. Just to be sure."

"Okay, I agree it wouldn't hurt to have him looked at. He isn't on the list of insurgents though. You know, the one that intelligence gave us. Neither his name nor description. Besides, what would a DNA scan do?" He asked him.

"Who is he related to." Ironhide responded, in a deadpan tone of voice. "Assuming that I'm being paranoid and that I'm right." he commented. "I mean, consider it." he regarded Hassel with a smile.

"Alright, I'll convince him to have a check-up." Jack conceded. "Ensign Nick Hall," Jack announced, "Please come to me at the flight hanger."

Nick was in the Green Dragon. He had just eaten a cheeseburger in a few minutes. He heard the announcement. "This is Nick Hall, on my way."

A few minutes later Nick was standing in front of Jack. "Hey there," Jack said friendly. "Before we can consider you for the position as a pilot you need a current medical examination. It will just take a few minutes and we are making arrangements with sickbay to give you a quick look."

"Alright Group Master," Nick replied.

"You can just call me Jack." He told him. "I do have a sensitive matter I'd like to talk to you about."

"Mmm...okay." Nick agreed.

"Why were you in the Marine armory?" Jack asked.

"Uh, I got lost." Nick's replied unsure.

"Uh huh." Jack didn't buy his excuse. "It's about Gunnery Sergeant Vaal. I know she looks halfway decent but the woman is old enough to be your mother."

Nick was a little taken aback. "Ah, no I didn't."

"Listen, I'm sure your not aware of this but we were once married. We are divorced now." Jack told him.

"Why did you get divorced?" Nick asked he was very interested to know what happened between his parents.

"You talked to her, isn't it obvious?" Jack asked. "I couldn't take enough lithium to deal with her." Jack noticed a frown appear on Nick's face.

"Don't look too down son. The woman is a ball buster. I celebrate the anniversary when I received my divorce papers with a bottle of fine whiskey." Jack told him.

Nick just whimpered. Jack sighed. "Go to sickbay and get a quick exam." Nick nodded his head and left.