The Cloud

Ad Astra Weekly Challenge

The Jemison and her crew check out a weird space cloud.

Fandom(s): Star Trek JEM
Character(s): JEM Ensemble Cast
Tags: Genfic, Ficlet

Rating: General Audiences
Content Warnings: N/A
Word Count: 674
Type: Oneshot, Standalone

Collection: Ad Astra Weekly Challenges

Weekly Writing Challenges on Ad Astra

Prompt #13: Altered States

"Approaching the cloud," Sha'Rel called out. "One kilometre until contact."

"Proceed at half-impulse," Ijeoma said. "I think that should be slow enough. Jory?"

"Half impulse should be just fine, Captain," the science officer said, eyes glued to their instruments.

A strange cloud of an unknown make-up had been spotted and reported to Starfleet by a freighter a few days before. The Jemison, the nearest vessel of a scientific and exploratory capability, was assigned to investigate. In the few days it took to travel to the cloud's location, they had come up with a strategy for capturing large samples without the use of probes, which had all been destroyed in a recent mishap. The solution involved flying the ship through the cloud at a slow pace, pulling along a net-like field to capture and collect samples.

"Half a kilometre," Sha'Rel said.

"Thirty seconds to contact," Holloway added. The two flight control officers, who had a habit of joking around on the job, were reliably serious and focused while a mission was in progress.

The bridge was silent as they watched the cloud approaching on the view screen.

"Celia," Ijeoma called, not taking her eyes from the screen.

A holographic woman in uniform appeared beside the captain's chair. "Yes, captain?"

"Monitor the ship's systems and hull," Ijeoma instucted. "Alert us if the cloud seems to have any effect on the ship."

"Aye, Captain," Celia said, her hologram vanishing.

"Contact in five," Hollow counted down, "four, three, two... contact."

The view screen showed the wisps of cloud parting as the ship cut through it. They all stared at the screen, entranced by the aurora of greens and blues swirling by.

Suddenly, Ijeoma began to laugh hysterically. The others on the bridge turned to her in confusion. The captain never laughed. Especially not like this. Ijeoma laughed so hard that tears began to stream down her face.

"Captain, are you— whoa," Holloway stopped short, gaping around the room with eyes wide and dilated. "Pretty colours," he said dreamily, reaching out to stroke something. Except there was only air in front of him.

"Ohhh, they are pretty," Sha'Rel said, her eyes growing large as well. She joined Holloway in petting some invisible thing between them. "And sooooft."

Celia materialized. "The cloud has penetrated the ship," she informed them. "It's integrated with the air supply. From my analysis, it isn't toxic, however, in organics it can produce—" she trailed off as she realized nobody was listening "—intoxicating effects." She frowned. Ijeoma was now on the floor, curled in a ball and laughing uncontrollably. Holloway and Sha'Rel were hypnotized by something only they could see. The science officer was trying to walk on their hands and failing, proclaiming that 'hands were the new feet.'

Celia, with her omnipotence aboard the Jemison, noticed that the entire crew compliment was acting strangely. There were people trying to walk on the walls, people singing loudly and off key, rolling around on the floor, sobbing uncontrollably, walking like crabs, and all variety of strange things.

Grimacing, Celia moved to the helm, reaching over Sha'Rel to access the panel. Of course, her hologram didn't actually have to come into contact for her to manipulate it, but it had been a habit for her to do so for the comfort of her crew, who were assured by such things. Plotting a course, Celia moved the ship out of the cloud, then accessed life support and initiated a full cycling of the ship's oxygen.

Before long, people started to come back to their senses. Ijeoma stopped laughing but was still on the floor. Holloway and Sha'Rel slowly went from fascinated and delighted to confused.

"Wait... why would hands be the new feet?" Jory, the science officer said. "That doesn't make any sense..."

Celia confirmed that all over the ship, the effect of the strange gas was wearing off.

Ijeoma stood up and straightened her uniform. The others on the bridge looked to her for answers. Ijeoma sighed. "How about we just pretend this never happened?"

They all agreed.

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