Star Trek Falcon Episode 101.2 - Spread your wings

Title: Star Trek Falcon – Episode one: Spread your wings
Chapter: 2 of 10

Rating: Fiction K+

Summary:

Captain Danielle Dolch has just received her first command, the newly upgraded USS Falcon. While the last few updates and tests are being conducted she and her crew arrive at the space doc for their mission of exploration near the Neutral zone.

Disclaimer: The Star Trek universe belongs to paramount pictures; I’m just borrowing it and using it as a playground.

Author Note:

Wow, it’s been a while since I had time for my fanfictions. I’ve been so busy lately I didn’t have any time to be at my computer, let alone write anything. Thankfully I have more spare time now so I’ll be picking up where I left off. Please note (for the people who read the first chapter a while ago) that I’ve changed the name of the Captain to Danielle (Dani) Dolch, somehow it seemed more fitting. As always I’d really appreciate it if you left a comment after you’re done reading. Constructive criticism is always welcome as well as ideas for later chapters and episodes.  

Chapter two - Flight to the Falcon

Emma still couldn’t believe she had been selected to serve aboard a vessel of exploration like the USS Falcon, let alone she’d be selected to be the Science Officer. An inexperienced Ensign like herself on the senior staff, wow, she just didn’t have words for it.

She had read the message over and over again, not quite believing what it said. She had always wanted to serve on a starship. As a matter of fact, it had been the main reason why she had joined Starfleet after she graduated from high school. But she had imagined starting out as a member of the science department, not as the head of it. When she had called Captain Dolch she still half expected it to be a prank pulled on her by one of her friends, but it wasn’t. She accepted her assignment shortly after meeting with the Captain.

For weeks she felt like she was walking on sunshine. She had told anybody who would or wouldn’t listen about her new assignment. She was quite sure she had driven her roommate mad as well as her colleagues, but shutting up about it had proven to be too much for her. So she had happily rambled on. It even became worse after she received details on her assignment. She was to investigate a small M-class planet near the Neutral Zone. The goal was to determine whether it would be suitable for establishing a colony. She couldn’t have been more pleased, Geology was her field of expertise after all.

Another pleasant surprise presented itself later that week when she received the list of crewmembers who were assigned to the USS Falcon. When she scanned the list for familiar names she discovered Mick Dolch was the newly appointed Chief Engineer. She had worked with the handsome engineer when she was temporary assigned to a research expedition. They had required assistance from a nearby Starfleet vessel when the cold had affected their systems. Mick had been part of the away team that came to their rescue. The two of them had immediately hit it off and she had felt sorry when he had to leave. She hadn’t expected to ever see him again. After all, the universe was a big place.

Now she found herself waiting for the shuttle that would bring her to the USS Falcon. Due to upgrades to the ship the transporters would be off line the whole week prior to departure, giving the crew the rare opportunity to take a shuttle to board the ship. Emma had been told the view was amazing so she hoped for a window seat. She smiled briefly at a flight attendant who passed her on his way to the gate. It probably wouldn’t be much longer now.

“Attention please, this is a call for Ensign Zinck of the USS Falcon. Please report to gate four immediately. I repeat, Ensign Zinck, please report to gate four.”

It took a few seconds for the message to sink in, but when it finally hit her she bolted to her feet. “Oh shoot!” The flight attendant who had just passed her looked up. Emma threw him a hasty look as she collected her things. “Wrong gate!” She exclaimed before she hurried off to the other side of the space station.

As she tried to speed up her pace she wondered what she had been thinking when she decided to wear heels that morning. With every few steps she took she tripped over her own feet. It wasn’t exactly contributing to the elegant image she had been aiming for. After a near collision with a plant she decided it had been enough and she stopped to take off her heels. At least she could actually run now.

When gate four finally came into view the man who made the final boarding call was getting ready to close the doors. Emma quickened her pace again. “Please wait!” She called out to him from the end of the hall. He looked up and watched with amusement as she came closer. Emma felt slightly embarrassed but did her best not to be too obvious about it. She slowed down and straightened her back. “Thank you.” She tried to brush her hair away from her sticky forehead but it didn’t really make any difference.

“Ensign Zinck I assume?” Emma studied the man closely. He had vivid blue eyes and half long curly blond hair. He was kind of short. Even on bare foot Emma easily had a few inches on him. She extended her hand.  “I’m so sorry.” She apologized, “I was at the wrong gate.”

 “No problem, could happen to anybody.” His handshake was firm, but not too much. “I’m Ensign Spinn, Helm Officer.” Emma smiled as she let go of Spinns hand. “I’m pleased to meet you.” She paused to look around. “Am I the only one who’s late?”

“I wouldn’t worry about that really, I waited half an hour for the Captain and the First Officer when they were boarding the Falcon. Fortunately they came to the right gate, otherwise it could’ve easily been hours.” Emma was unsure whether he was joking or not but laughed anyway, it was something about the way he described the scene. She could totally picture the captain running around the space station with her First Officer right behind her, just like Emma had done just moments ago. For some reason though, she pictured them still wearing their shoes. Speaking of which, Emma still wasn’t wearing any. She put her bags down and steadied herself to put her right shoe back on.

“All things considered” Spinn continued as Emma sought support of the wall while she stepped back into her other shoe. “I’ll be happy when Commander Dolch gets the transporters back online. I’m sick of being a bus driver.” Spinn held open the door to the gate. Emma picked up her bags again and nodded her thanks as she entered the gate. Spinn closed the doors behind her and followed her to the shuttle.

The shuttle was a slightly older model belonging to the USS Falcon. The interior was a little worn down, but for some reason it seemed fitting. It added character to the shuttle. Spinn closed the shuttle door behind her. “Just find a seat.” He told her before he sat down at the controls. Emma thanked him again and made her way past the occupied seats. Many of the crewmembers were talking to each other and Emma greeted some familiar faces as she passed. All the way in the back she found an empty seat by the window.

As she sat down the engines roared to life. She could hear Spinn checking in with the board computer and contacting flight control for further instructions. The flight to the Falcon would only take a couple of minutes since space dock was right next to the space station. Emma leaned over to her window to see if she could catch a glimpse of the space dock, but it was nowhere in sight. Instead she had a gorgeous view of Earth. She smiled to herself. It didn’t matter how many other amazing planets she saw, Earth would always be the most beautiful.

As the shuttle started moving Emma did her best to catch a last glimpse of home before it went out of view. For a while she only saw stars. Finally space dock came into view. “For anyone interested, we’re approaching space dock. If you look at your right you should have a pretty good view of the Falcon.” Spinn called over his shoulder. The voices went quiet as everybody turned their attention to the windows. Emma suppressed the urge to press her nose against the cool glass.

It was just as pretty as anybody had said it would be. There was a certain sense of peace to the ship as it just sat there. The Falcon wasn’t as big as most other ships going on similar missions. Captain Dolch had told her the Falcon had been build years ago to test whether smaller exploration vessels would be more efficient. Emma guessed it wasn’t, seeing the newer ships were all bigger.

“USS Falcon, this is shuttle one requesting permission to land.” Spinn sounded a little bored but Emma didn’t really pay any attention to him. Now that they came closer she could see a team of engineers working on the hull of the ship. She found herself briefly wondering whether Mick would be amongst them but quickly dismissed the thought. As Chief Engineer he probably had better things to do.

“Shuttle one, you have permission to land.” The shuttle turned and for a while the stars were all Emma saw through her window. When she straightened her back a little she could catch a glimpse of the front viewing screen. The shuttle was approaching the open doors of the Falcon’s shuttle bay. She looked out of her window again. That was going to be all she would see for a while, lots and lots of stars, slowly moving away from her. She could think of worse things.

The landing was so smooth Emma barely noticed the shuttle had set down at all. Spinn turned around to face his passengers. “Welcome aboard.” He said as he got up to open the shuttle doors. Emma got to her feet and gathered her things. Her adventure was about to begin. 

Why distractions are not always a problem

Happy Friday everyone! Today I'll be writing about distraction because that's really the theme of the week for me. Somehow I got nostalgic and started looking for old Power Ranger episodes, which I eventually found on project free TV. A little side note here: Project free TV is awesome. It holds links to episodes of pretty much every show you could think of. Which is great because living in the Netherlands (Europe) means that a lot of great shows air later here. So I relay on the internet to keep me up to date with my favorite fandoms. 

But lets get back to my discovery of 17 seasons of Power Rangers. Luckily for me, I only watched up to Power Rangers Light Speed Rescue. Everything after that doesn't have any nostalgic value for me and just seems silly. I also missed the Zeo and Turbo series because those weren't aired in my country. For some reason it made more sense to pick up with In Space I guess. Anyway, I was thrilled with hours of nostalgic entertainment ahead of me. So instead of writing I got stuck watching a kids show. Some people might think it's a waste of time, but here is why it's really not. 

First of all, even a simple story can be a huge inspiration. I also read many fanfictions written by either young or untalented authors just because there's something there that grabs my attention. Something that with a little twist could really be awesome. Just to give an example, my Arrow fanfiction came to mind when I was reading a fairly bad 'five to one' fanfiction by another author. She had written about five times Oliver Queen lived and one time he died. Obviously we only die once, but I thought it was interesting to turn that concept around and have him 'die' five times in a figurative sense instead. The idea wouldn't have come to mind if I had stopped reading after the first break. Personally, I'm glad I did. I really enjoy writing this particular story. 

Another great thing about kid shows is that it usually has a clear point to make. There's a lesson to be learned in every episode and usually it's a cliche. Now, I know that most writers claim you should keep yourself far from cliches while writing, but I have a different point of view here. A cliche is a cliche because it works, so use it to your advantage. Want some examples? Think about Harry Potter, a great story praised for originality. Boiled down to the core it's just another boy destined to destroy evil, one of many cliches. Or how about Star Trek and Star Wars, which can both be summarized in the same way using cliches. The point I'm trying to make is that you should know your cliches before you can write something original. Kids shows are a great way to get familiar with them. (Okay, so are the classics, but the classics don't go boom or have one liners!) 

My last argument only goes for non-native English speakers like myself, but I still want to share it with you. Watching as many shows as possible keeps my English skills up to date. Many of the non-native speakers don't speak English on a daily basis and usually it does show in their writings. Too keep my English from getting too rusty I watch as many movies and TV shows as possible. I also read a lot of English and try to talk to native speakers when I get a chance. I have to admit, Power Rangers is fairly simple, but it's still a lot of fun watching!

Now I should really get back on writing for my fanfiction pieces. I currently work on the second chapter of Star Trek Falcon episode one. If everything goes as planned it will be up this weekend. For all the Arrow fans, don't fear, I think I'll be able to pick up 'That last little bit' somewhere next week. 

As for now, thank you for reading and I hope you'll have a great weekend! 

~ Chell <3

Getting started with Beta Hero Fiction

Hello and welcome to my brand new blog: Beta Hero Fiction. 

Lets just start with introducing myself. My name is Chell and I'm from the Netherlands. Ever since I can remember I've been writing. Usually short stories, but also poetry, songs and stand up comedy. After an exchange program to the United States I stopped writing in my native language and refined my skills in English. It has been a challenge, but I think I'm getting there. 

Most of you however will know me by the name of Beta Hero, my nickname at Fanfiction.net. I've had an account for years, but only recently started publishing my own stories. Currently I have only two published stories due to an extremely busy summer (turns out apartments don't renovate themselves!) but there's more to come!

But why starting my own blog instead of just staying on Fanfiction.net? Well, I felt restricted by the rules. Sometimes I just want to share something else than just the story I wrote. I also like to share tips and tricks on how to make your stories better or a little insight on how I go through the writing process. Unfortunately Fanfiction.net simply doesn't offer an platform for these sort of things. 

Now, don't be afraid. I'm not leaving Fanfiction.net behind, I still like the community a lot! It's just that I'd like to add that little extra to my writing by offering you this blog to read. So today I've posted my stories here. In the future I'll first publish new chapters and/or stories here before I'll publish on Fanfiction.net. So if you like the newest stories hot of the press, come back and check this blog regularly! 

~ Chell <3

Arrow: The last little bit - Trust

Title: The last little bit
Chapter: 2 of 6
Fandom: Arrow
Time frame: Season one
Rating: Fiction-T 
Summary: Five times Oliver Queen died and one time he lived. 
Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own Arrow.

Author note:
This was an awesome piece to write, thanks to the great acting in the scene described. It really gave me something to work with. In this piece there are spoilers for episode 16: death to rights. If you haven’t seen it yet, I recommend to first watch this episode and then read this piece. Also, when this piece was written episode 16 was the last aired episode, so any inconsistencies with the episodes after that… Well, I’m just terribly sorry I’m no psychic. Enjoy and don’t forget to leave me a review! 

***

Trust

He found Tommy standing right outside his father’s private hospital room, deep in thought leaning against the wall. To any other it might seemed like Tommy didn’t notice his best friend walking down the hall but Oliver hadn’t missed the subtle eye movement. He threw away his empty coffee cup before approaching his friend.

Oliver wasn’t sure what to expect. All he knew was that the relationship between him and his best friend had become more complicated after the events of today.

“My dad’s gonna be okay, thanks to you.” Tommy didn’t look at Oliver, he just kept facing the wall opposite of the room. Oliver shook his head. “It’s thanks to you.” He simply replied as he stopped at his friend’s side.

“I once asked you what happened to you on that island. You said a lot, that doesn’t quite cover it.” There was a slight tremor in his voice as he spoke the words. The island, there it was again. Oliver shook his head. “Tommy, I…” he began his explanation but he was cut short. “I saw you kill those guys who kidnapped us when you first got back didn’t I?”

Oliver felt his heart sink. He had always assumed that Tommy had been unconscious during their encounter with their kidnappers when he first got back. Now that he came to think of it, he had only checked if Tommy was alive, he never checked whether he was conscious or not.

Tommy bowed his head. Oliver felt like their friendship would depend on what he had to say next but at the same time he found himself lost on what to say. So he resorted to the first thing that came to his mind. “I… I know you have a lot of questions.” He started.

“Yeah.” Tommy interrupted him again, then he paused and took a deep breath. “Yeah, but for now just the one.” For the first time since the conversation had started Tommy looked at Oliver, tears glimmering in his eyes. “Where you ever gonna tell me?”

Oliver found himself caught completely off guard by the question and the look in Tommy’s eyes. He had never seen his friend this hurt before, and it was because of him. He wanted to answer his question with yes so badly but he knew that would be another lie. At this point if just didn’t seem right to fix things with yet another lie. He shook his head then he looked at Tommy. “No.”

He felt horrible saying it, but it was the truth. He shook his head again. Tommy looked away and then nodded as if everything just became clear to him. Without saying another word he walked away. Leaving Oliver alone in the hallway, feeling like a part of him had just suddenly died.

Arrow: The last little bit - Survive

Title: The last little bit
Chapter: 1 of 6

Fandom: Arrow

Time frame: Season one

Rating: Fiction-T

Summary: Five times Oliver Queen died and one time he lived.

Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own Arrow. 

Author Note:

This fanficition is part of a little project I have for improving my writing and it will mostly contain actual scenes from ‘Arrow’. I’ve planned six chapters in this story based on the idea of five times Oliver Queen died and one time he lived. In every chapter there will be warnings in the author note for possible spoilers. For this chapter, there are no spoilers assuming you watched the pilot episode.

Since this is part of a project to improve my writing I’d very much like comments on what can be improved. Every comment/review is welcome but I’m especially looking for comments on consistency of the characters (in respect to the series), spelling/grammar and word choice since I’m not a native speaker. Anyway, enjoy this first chapter!

***

Survive

To Oliver it felt like it was so long ago that he watched the Queen Gambit break in half and sink to the bottom of the Chinese Sea, along with everyone not lucky enough to make it to the life raft. He wasn’t sure how long they had been aimlessly floating around. The days had sort of blurred together as nothing happened other than an occasional exchange of words between the three survivors of the shipwreck.

Most of the time, Oliver just tried to sleep. It seemed to be the only way to escape the gloomy thoughts his mind lingered on when he was awake. His father had one arm wrapped tightly around him, keeping him warm and feeling somewhat safe.

On the side of the raft sat the captain of the Queen Gambit, balancing a knife between his fingers and an empty crate. He appeared to be dozing off. Oliver’s father leaned in a little. “There is not enough for all of us.” He said in a low voice. Oliver opened his eyes briefly, but didn’t look at his father. “Save your strength.” He replied as he closed his eyes again.

“You can survive this, make it home.” His father paused briefly. “Make it matter, right my wrongs.” He continued as Oliver was only half listening. “But you gotta live through this first.” Oliver started to doze off again, his father anxiously shook him. “You hear me Olly? Do you hear me son?” Oliver looked briefly at his father, he didn’t understand his sudden distress. “Just rest Dad.” And he closed his eyes again.

His father nodded slowly. “Yeah…” Then he kissed his son’s forehead before gently lifting him off his arm. Oliver barely noticed and just let his body slide to the side, leaning against the edge of the life raft.

He was startled by the sound of gunfire, followed by a splashing sound. Oliver’s first instinct was to jump to his feet, but the unsteady floor prevented him from getting up. So he settled for crawling across the raft. “Dad?!” He stared at his father in shock.

“Survive.” He told Oliver before placing the gun to his own head. Oliver saw the fear in his eyes before he pulled the trigger. “Nooo!” There was nothing he could do but watch his father fall to the floor of the raft. “Nooo!” He screamed, but there was no one left to hear.

Oliver now was the last survivor of the Queen Gambit, but looking at his father’s body, he couldn’t help but to feel as dead as he’d ever be.

Star Trek Falcon Episode 101.1 Spread your wings

Title: Star Trek Falcon – Episode one: Spread your wings

Rating: Fiction K+

Chapter: 1 of 10

Summary:

Captain Danielle Dolch has just received her first command, the newly upgraded USS Falcon. While the last few updates and tests are being conducted she and her crew arrive at the space doc for their mission of exploration near the Neutral zone.

Disclaimer: The Star Trek universe belongs to paramount pictures, I’m just borrowing it and using it as a playground.

Author Note:

This is really just a hobby project that I work on because I like doing it. It is based on a story that I wrote almost 10 years ago. Characters and plotline have been improved and I promise that this time around, I will do a spelling and grammar check.

Chapter one - The appearance of favoritism

There was an uncomfortable silence. Nervously Danielle pulled on the sleeve of her uniform. At first she had been unsure whether this whole thing was a good idea. After all, people were going to say Mick only had gotten the position she had just offered him because he was her brother, or that she had only offered him the job because she didn’t want him to end up on a war vessel patrolling the Neutral Zone, which had been everything but neutral lately.

On the other hand, she couldn’t think of anybody more qualified for the job, even though she had given it some serious thought. “So, what do you say?” She didn’t bother to try to smile, he would see right through her anyway.

“You want me as your Chief Engineer?” Mick paused for a moment. “Are you sure that’s even going to work? No offence but aren’t we kind of familiar and stuff? I can’t say I can see myself following your orders.”

He clearly had the same concerns she had. She couldn’t help but to smile now. “Can’t you just see past the fact that I’m your sister?”

“Do pigs fly?”

“Depends, do they have wings?”

He smiled back at her. “Unlikely, but not impossible.” Slowly the smile faded from his face. She let him think for a moment. She couldn’t expect him to immediately say yes to something she had spent weeks thinking about before reaching her final conclusion. She wanted the best, and if that just happened to be her brother that didn’t change a thing. She still found herself unwilling to settle for second best. “Who did you have in mind for the rest of your senior staff?”

She handed him the data pad that had been sitting on the table the whole time. He picked it up and started reading while he took a sip of his coffee. “That’s actually a pretty impressive list you got there.” He said as he looked up. “But why the hell haven’t you selected a science officer. This is a mission of exploration right?”

“I had selected Lieutenant Turek, but he declined. He had also been offered a spot at a research facility that he found, I quote, ‘quite challenging’.”

Mick rolled his eyes. “Am I out of line saying that the pointy eared idiot actually did you a favor saying no?” She gave him a look and he smiled. “Aw, come on, you know I’m right here.”

“And you still wonder why I made it to starship captain and you didn’t?”

He took another sip of his coffee and laid down the pad. “I never said I did, politics just aren’t my thing I guess.” He paused as he glanced back at the pad. “Aren’t you going to request another science officer?”

She sighed. “No, I don’t know anybody else who stands out in the field. Any random officer will do as far as I’m concerned.”

“You want a suggestion?” He leaned back into his chair.

She gave him a questioning look. “Since when do you even know any science officers?”

He shrugged. “I worked with her on my last assignment. She’s sort of young but I think she really has potential.” He paused and studied her face. “You like potential right?”

She picked up the pad from the table. “What’s her name?”

“Ensign Emma Zinck.” He replied and she entered the name in the database. As the file loaded on the pad her attention was drawn to the picture of the ensign in question. Emma Zinck turned out to be quite handsome with her long blond hair, bright blue eyes and wide smile. As a matter of fact, she exactly fitted Mick’s taste in women.

She threw her brother a look. “Are you sure you don’t just like her to be a part of the decor?” She asked before taking another good look at the picture.

“Just read her file. If that doesn’t convince you I don’t know what will. It’s better than mine for crying out loud.”

“It’s not like that’s impressive.” Danielle mumbled as she quickly scanned the file. It wasn’t bad, far from actually. It wasn’t the best she had come across selecting a science officer, but overall it was better than average. Ensign Zinck had not only been accepted into Starfleet academy at her first application, but also managed to graduate in the top ten of her class four years later. She was inexperienced though, ensign Zinck had never been assigned to a starship before. Her previous assignments were mostly temporary assignments on outposts or star bases. Which only left her with one question, “Where did you meet her anyway? Wasn’t your last assignment on the USS something?”

“The USS Unicorn. Yeah, I was. I met Emma when the outpost she was assigned to needed our assistance. It was some sort of engineering problem I won’t bore you with. I was part of the away team.”

“So you two are on a first name basis?”

He rolled his eyes. “That’s what you got from what I just said?”

There was a silence. “I don’t know Mick. This might not be a good idea.”

“How is this not a good idea?”

“This might not be a good idea because you obviously have a personal connection to ensign Zinck.” Danielle felt as if she couldn’t stress the word not enough in this sentence.

Mick threw her a skeptic look. “So? It’s not like you are avoiding the appearance of favoritism seeing the fact that you asked me as your Chief Engineer. I don’t see the problem.” He paused for a moment to study his sister’s face. “You wanted the best right? Well, this is it.”

Danielle sighed. She knew her brother was stubborn. It had been one of many reasons why he never made it to command, but she knew he wasn’t stupid and having to spell everything out to him was becoming somewhat tiresome. “It’s a problem Mick, because I already asked you. One staff member I can explain using the term ‘coincidence’, but for some reason, that doesn’t work the second time around.”

“You’re talented, I’m sure you’ll find a way to explain.”

He smiled at her as she shook her head. “Flattery will get you nowhere Mick. So what will it be?” She put down the pad on the table as she looked at her brother. He leaned towards her a little.

“I’ll be your Chief Engineer if ensign Zinck will be your Science Officer.” He got out of his chair and looked down at his sister. “Let me know when you’ve figured it out okay?” Without saying another word, he walked off.

Danielle cursed herself. He hadn’t set foot on the ship, or even accepted his new position as Chief Engineer, but he had already done exactly what she had been afraid he’d do. She rubbed her forehead and glanced over at the pad on the table. How bad could it be really?

Getting up Danielle checked her coffee cup, it was empty. She got her coat of the back of the chair and picked up her pad and the empty cup. While she walked off to her next meeting she made a mental note to at least make her brother sweat for a couple of days before letting him know she accepted his terms.