[Bridge]

Washborn Dedub glanced at the main viewscreen and ran another scan. A Nova Class ship was way better at scanning, and there was likely nothing that he would pick up using the Seattle’s equipment that they had not picked up half an hour ago. Still it gave him something to do as the bridge watch officer, other than observe Commander Cruz enter the Captain’s Ready Room wearing a dress.

He ran another scan, suddenly he noticed something. A sudden surge of energy from the planet below. It shot up and engulfed both ships, and that’s when things started getting weird. Walking to his control panel he found that gone were the scientific instruments of the science station and instead it was replaced with a soft serve ice cream machine.

He quickly made his way to the Captain’s ready room to find that it was now a jungle, with the Captain and First Officer climbing over vines and tree roots. 

“What’s going on?” Hawthorne said.

”We were just hit with a burst of energy from the planet,” Dedub said.

The Captain climbed out of his office, “Hail the Casanova.”

A frantic looking science officer appeared on the screen, “Sir.”

”What’s going on?” Hawthorne asked the junior officer, “Where is Captain Thomas?”

”Umm she’s a balloon sir,” the science officer said.

”Sorry?”

”Our best guess right now is that our away team trigged something. We’re trying to re-establish contact with them now,” the man said. 

“Okay Dedub, work with the Casanova to find a solution. We’ll get the senior staff into the conference room for an update in an hour,” the Captain said.

[Conference Room 1]

”What do you mean gone?” Hawthorne was finding the day increasingly taxing. He was used to straight forward problems, not whatever this was. This was some kind of magic, or Q or something beyond his control. Heck his counterpart on the Casanova was now a balloon, and that was not something that he wanted to happen to him. 

James Young the Lieutenant and Chief Engineering Officer nodded, “There is no rooms where the Holodecks were. They’re just gone, along with the people inside.”

Doctor T’Rala who was there in place of her boss Doctor Va’Tok the Chief Medical Officer who had been in one of those Holodecks nodded, “This energy is enhancing beyond our comprehension our neocortex and thalamus. Whatever it’s done is supercharging our imaginations.”

This was the kind of thing that was not covered in any training session that Starfleet held, or any of the literature to prepare you for being a Captain. It was also not something that he’d encountered in his career so he had nothing to guide him.

Lieutenant Washbrone Dedub provided the science update, “Sir, the Casanova’s away team thinks that they may have something. A local ritual that will appease the gods, but they are working on it as we speak. Ideally we don’t have to do anything.”

”I don’t like just letting another ship save us, keep looking at solutions and Lieutenant Kolem do what you can to limit the crew from making anything else on this ship disappear or turn into an ice cream machine,” Hawthorne said.

”Will do sir,” Kolem said, not sure if that was within her power as a Counsellor. The human mind did not work that way. Tell someone not to think of pink elephants and that’s all that they’d think about.

”Dismissed,” Hawthorn said tiredly as the small crew left the room.

”Well, that went about as expected,” Commander Cruz, still in her dress from the holodeck said.

”At least you got out of the holodeck before it vanished,” Hawthorne said.

”Not that I’m much help,” Cruz said.

”Kolem knows. About us, by the way. She’s made it clear we need to end it or tell Starfleet,” Hawthrone said, “She’s going to keep quiet for now, but I don’t know how long she can do that.”

Cruz sighed, “We should end it then.”

Hawthorne nodded, “Okay.”

It was not what he’d have picked but he had to respect her right to make this choice for herself and protect her career. She stood moving to the door, there was nothing more to say he figured, it was not like she had moved stuff into his cabin or had any personal effects to deal with. They were just, people who worked together. It was, likely for the best.

As Cruz approached the door it vanished, gone as if no door had ever been built. When she turned around the Captain was sitting there in a tuxedo that would have belonged in her holodeck spy simulation and not his duty uniform. He seemed surprised and tried to find his comm badge. 

“Computer,” he said giving up with communicators, “contact Young and tell him to get us out of here.”

There was no answer. Cruz swore and banged loudly on the wall which itself seemed to dissolve beneath her fists into the opulence of a 20th century casino in Europe.  This was definitely not getting them on track.

“Well since we’re here,” Hawthorne said straightening his tuxedo as he stood, “Let’s go see what’s being offered.”

[Engineering]

Half of the ship no longer seemed to exist, which was a problem. Nothing vital yet, and the vanished rooms had not been replaced with space collapsing into them, which was nice Thus far, apart from apparently not existing, this event of whatever they might call it was more annoying than fatal. Lieutenant Young had tasked his officers with a bunch of nearly impossible things, like finding the senior staff in the holodecks and now the Captain and First Officer who had also vanished.

He had done the inventory and was now pretty sure he was the acting First Officer under Tashai who was in Operations. It was not how he wanted this day to go.

Nor did he like working with a Romulan leaning against the console in full Tal Sh’air gear. He looked again at T’Rala the Assistant Chief Medical Officer who shot him a ‘what I didn’t do this‘ look. It was not her fault, he knew, she had not dressed like a Romulan spy, someone had imagined something racist about her and then now she appeared as one. It was the way this worked.

”You know you could be doing medical stuff,” he said.

”I don’t know what to do,” she protested, “How do you cure imagination, turn everyone into the Borg?”

In Young’s mind it was not a bad option at this point. It was only a matter of time before someone imagined away the life support system or the gravity. Lieutenant Commander Tashai was on the bridge helping to coordinate this with the Casanova’s XO who was part of the away team and had thus far been unaffected. Unfortunately if they could not stop this, the Seattle would be out of officers very soon.

“Why do you hang out here,” he asked, doing another check on everything.

”I said we’re friends, besides medical is just clown shoes right now. There’s nothing I can do if you turn into a plant or something,” she said.

Young grumbled, “People are going to start thinking there’s something going on between us.”

T’Rala smirked, “Between the nerdy engineer and the lovely Romulan spy?”

”You’re not a Romulan spy,” Young said.

T’Rala teased, “That you know of.“

Young grabbed her by the arm and dragged her behind him roughly into his office. She went along with the forceful gesture even though she could have put a stop to it easily. He closed the door and pointed a finger at her, “This is why people think that. You joke about it, it’s not a joke. You have to be serious.”

”People see the ears and the rest of me and make up their mind,“ T’Rala said, ”It’s not about joking. People just suck. Humans, Vulcans, Andorians, even Romulans. They all suck.”

Young held a finger up, “Just knock off this spy nonsense.”

”Why do you care, we’re not even friends according to you,” T’Rala shot back.

“I do care,” Young said.

”Prove it,” T’Rala taunted him.

Young kissed her.