The Final Frontier

by JulieGee

CHAPTER 1

"Gwen! It's massive! I had no idea," Ensign Emrys gasped as the shuttle entered Spacedock and headed towards their new home, the U.S.S. Excalibur. She was one of the new Sovereign-class starships, one of the most technologically advanced ships in the quadrant.

"It is pretty impressive," his friend replied. She was trying very hard not to laugh at his reaction. Her parents had served in StarFleet for years. She had been born on the Enterprise-D. Picard's ship. The Excalibur was actually slightly smaller. It had no room for families. The Federation's starship design philosophy had changed remarkably since their first encounter with the Borg. Starships were far too dangerous for children now.

"I understand the captain asked for you personally," her friend said, the awe in his voice apparent. There were ten new ensigns in the shuttle. Over a hundred had applied. Competition for the Excalibur had been fierce.

"Yes, it was pretty much a tie between the U.S.S. Archer and the Excalibur, but the captain worked with my mother ten years ago on the Lexington. She was their ops officer. The captain was their chief helmsman. They were... close." She wanted me to serve under him," she said as she snickered under her breath. He had been "close" with many young women over the years. His reputation in that area rivaled another golden haired captain from a century before.

"I have no idea why I was assigned to Excalibur. I expected a garbage scow after the 'simulator' incident," Emrys sighed.

Gwen smiled again. Merlin really was creative. Not overly wise, but extremely creative. Unlike the legendary Kirk he hadn't won the Kobayashi Maru simulation. Miraculously, he hadn't lost it, either. He blew up the simulator and took StarFleet Command's mainframe down with it instead!

No one knew how, and Merlin wasn't saying anything. Who could blame him? Admiral Janeway had threatened him with court martial if he said a word. The vulnerability he exploited existed on every starship in the Federation. Over the past several months most of the starships had been refitted to eliminate the weak spot, but some hadn't yet. His tactic would have to remain a secret until then.

Gwen didn't mention it, but she was quite sure that's why her friend had been assigned to the Excalibur. The starship had spent the past three weeks in Spacedock while they tore out its computer core. Excalibur's captain was a "thinking outside the box" kind of man. He would have recognized the young ensign's unpredictability as an asset and grabbed him as quickly as he could. Not every Captain wanted people who always followed the rules.

They watched as the shuttle entered the shuttlebay with a crisp "crack" as it penetrated the atmospheric containment field. Gwen could hardly stay in her seat. She had waited a lifetime for this opportunity, and now it was at hand.

Captain Pendragon and Commander Morgana were waiting in the shuttlebay to greet the newest members of their crew. Gwen's amusement continued unabated as she watched Merlin start to sweat. The upper echelons had that effect on new graduates.

Commander Morgana was a stunning, dark-haired woman. Her warm smile and soft brown eyes didn't change the fact that she had a backbone of steel.

Captain Pendragon was a study in softer shades. His golden hair caught the light, his softly tanned skin warm and welcoming. The occasional flicker of the blue containment field twinkled in his stunning azure eyes. The officers exited the shuttle, excitement evident, and snapped to attention in front of their new captain.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all," he said with his distinctive, resonant voice. "You're here for one reason. You're the best. You're brilliant, creative and competent. Commander Morgana will provide you with further details on your duty assignments and will assign you quarters. Take the next few days to explore the ship. Your responsibilities will start next week. Welcome aboard," the captain said.

The captain turned to walk out of the shuttlebay. He paused and glanced over his shoulder, his eyes narrowing slightly as he regarded the young half-Romulan. He walked over to him.

"Ensign Emrys, isn't it?" he asked.

Merlin's mouth opened but no words came out. Gwen elbowed him lightly in the ribs. "Um. Yeah! Yes, that's me. Merlin Emrys, sir."

"You're the one who crashed the fleet's systems, aren't you. They just finished installing the Excalibur's new computer core. I trust you have no other surprises for us?"

"Uh, no. No, sir!"

"Very good." He paused. He had intended on sharing their destination with his crew once they had departed, but this wasn't a bad time.

"You speak Romulan, don't you ensign?"

"Yes, Captain!"

"Hmm. The Excalibur has been assigned to patrol the Neutral Zone before the start of our five-year mission to explore the Beta quadrant. There have been strains on our already shaky relations with the Empire. Your language skills may prove useful. Report to the bridge tomorrow morning at 06:00."

"Oh, and don't blow up my ship like you did the simulator. I would be most unhappy with you."

There was a loud snicker from all present. The former cadets were well aware of their classmate's skill at upsetting the status quo. The captain smiled and walked out of the shuttlebay, leaving the much less anxious ensigns with Morgana.

Well, most of them were less anxious. Merlin's anxiety had gone through the roof.

The sound of soft beeps and the sight of what seemed to be a million little lights greeted Merlin as he rushed onto the bridge looking rumpled. He woke up late like he often did, and he didn't even have time for a sonic shower this morning. He walked over to the captain's chair looking nervous.

"I usually don't have a problem making myself understood, ensign. Perhaps I was unclear. I was quite certain I said 06:00. Not 06:20," Captain Pendragon said. Sitting in the centre seat on the Command dais, he was even more intimidating than he had been the previous day.

"No, Sir! I mean yes, Sir! I mean... You said 06:00, Sir."

"And yet you walked onto my bridge twenty minutes late. Perhaps you'd care to explain yourself? Actually, don't bother. We don't have time. Take the helm, Emrys," the Captain said sternly.

As his new, young, now completely frazzled officer scurried for the helm, the Captain glanced at his first officer. She was nearly as good at hiding a smile as he was.

"Ensign Gwen, inform Spacedock that we're departing. Set course for the Neutral Zone, maximum warp. Helm, initiate departure sequence and take us out. Prepare to go to warp on my command."

The captain's displeasure had so stressed the young ensign he was having a hard time thinking straight. It took him a second to remember which of the seats was the helm. He sat down and glanced at the keys in front of him. At least he was familiar with those. He had spent years learning them. He hit the necessary keys to free the ship from the dock. He relaxed a bit. He hadn't screwed up yet. He was going to make sure he wouldn't! Doing so his first shift would be embarrassing, to say the least!

"Yes, sir. Moorings cleared. Taking us out, full impulse," Merlin replied with only a slight quaver in his voice.

The Captain turned back to his First Officer. "Commander, our trip to the Neutral Zone should be uneventful. Perhaps we might want to..."

Wait! What did the ensign just say?

Morgana wasn't looking at the captain. She was looking at the viewscreen. She was looking at it in horror. "Ensign! Full THRUSTERS... not full IMPULSE!" she cried.

Everyone on the bridge was thrown to the deck as the ship lurched to the side. The loudest noise the captain had ever heard echoed through the bulkheads. It was the unmistakable groan of duranium on duranium.

"ALL STOP!"

He didn't have to say it. The ship stopped all by itself as it wedged between the not yet fully open Starbase doors. The ship's engines cut off just before they bent the massive doors out of alignment. Thankfully it would only take a few minutes for a tug to drag them into open space. It would take Engineering several days to knock out the dents and repaint the hull, though.

Gwen closed her eyes and sighed as she saw a flurry of lights come to life on her tactical panel. "Captain, incoming message from Spacedock. It's Admiral Sulu. He'd like a word with your helmsman."

"Oh, and engineering's next in queue. They're not happy, sir. They're REALLY not happy. I can hear swearing in at least eight languages."

Gwen wasn't sure how this was going to turn out, but she was positive her friend should avoid anyone wearing gold for the next few weeks.

Commander Morgana regarded the young man with a small amount of sympathy as they sat in her office. She would have torn an even deeper strip out of his hide than she already had if it weren't for his obvious humiliation. Even if she were so inclined, the legendary Admiral's lecture hadn't left all that many places to tear the strip out of.

"Ensign, I understand the bridge of a starship can be overwhelming. I also understand how the captain's irritation at your lack of punctuality threw you. Just don't let it happen again. EVER!" Commander Morgana said.

The Captain and Admiral Sulu had discussed the situation briefly as well.

"I was somewhat hard on the youth, Arthur. He reminds me of myself. Did I ever tell you I left the 'parking break' on when I tried to take the Enterprise to warp the first time? Kirk was merciful. You should be, too."

The Captain smiled. "Of course, Hikaru. And thank you for not mentioning my first time as YOUR helmsman." THAT was an incident the Captain had tried very hard to forget. He had never succeeded. The second loudest sound he had ever heard was the squeal of the port warp engine pylon twisting out of alignment. That had taken a week to fix. He never forgot to engage both engines simultaneously again.

Both men laughed as the Admiral closed the channel.

The Captain leaned back in the comfortable chair in his Ready Room as he shook his head. He had chosen the young ensign for his unpredictability. So far the young man hadn't let him down in that respect! Now the only question was whether his starship would survive him.

"Coffee. Decaf. Black," he ordered from the replicator. He didn't need any caffeine today!

The Captain decided he would leave the ensign at the helm in spite of his rather spectacular error. He'd have a lot of time to train the new officer and he knew from experience that the eyes of a captain boring into the back of an ensign sitting in the starboard seat a few metres from the Command Chair tended to encourage rapid improvement.

As he sipped his coffee he assured himself his decision had nothing to do with his inexplicable affection for the young man. It almost felt as if he had known Merlin for a lifetime. Or several.

The captain had received confirmation of their orders a few minutes before. After showing the flag along the Neutral Zone they'd begin their five-year mission. They had barely left Spacedock, and Emrys had already made it an exciting beginning. He just prayed the ensign wouldn't make it an exciting ending, too!

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A/N: OK, I've gotta admit, this first chapter has been a blast to write! PLEASE let me know if you enjoyed the chapter. I'm honestly not sure if others will enjoy reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it. It's a Merlin/Arthur relationship, but I plan to make it fairly tame compared to some of my other stories. I'm focusing a lot on humour, as you might be able to tell. I'm writing chapters for two other stories right now as well, so I'd really like to know if I should focus on them only, of if this one's good enough to continue. (Oh, in case you're wondering why I'm working on three stories, I get bored easily. Switching between them makes it more fun for me and I think the end result is better because of it.)

Thanks so much!

JulieGee