USS EXCURSION
DANIELLE FRANCES DUCREST

Disclaimers: Buffy the Vamipire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon, Marti Noxon, Mutant Enemy, Kuzui Enterprises, Sandollar Television, Twentieth Century Fox Television, and UPN. Highlander belongs to Davis/Panzer Productions, Gaumont Télèvision, and Rysher Entertainment. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine belongs to the Roddenberys and Paramount Pictures. Any copyright infringements were not intended. This story was written for entertainment and not for profit.

Spoilers and Timing: Spoilers are for the other stories in my "An Immortal Life" series and for general Star Trek: Deep Space Nine tidbits. This story takes place before and during the Dominion War.

Summary: In the middle of a top-secret mission for Starfleet Intelligence, Xander remembers how he ended up where he was. It all started on the U. S. S. Excursion, his first Starfleet posting in the year 2363…

Captain Jules Kibar - of the Excursion; cousin to Joel

Commander Richard Petrovsky - 2IC of the Excursion; Russian ancestry

Lt. Commander Blakelee Elmwood - Joel's half-sister; head engineer of Excursion

Dr. Joel Kibar Elmwood - civilian; Blakelee's half-brother; CMO for the Excursion

Lt. Commander Kava Ek'noor - Andorian; assistant tactical/security chief of Excursion

Lt. Jihal - pilot of Excursion; Ginger's fiancé

Head Nurse Ginger Gray - Jihal's fiancée; head nurse of Excursion; civilian

2374-6 - Dominion War

2360 - Xander enrolls in Starfleet Academy in the officer's program

2363 - Xander is assigned to the Excursion

2370 - Xander leaves the Excursion and is sent on several classified missions

2373 or 2374 - Xander is assigned to Deep Space Eight

2375 - Excursion comes to DS8 for repairs

The shock wave knocked me clear across the field. I blacked out when I hit a tree, coming to moments later.

Sirens from around the wreckage filled the air. Debris, sparks, and fire rained down around me, sometimes even on me. Damn, but that hurt. The trees above, behind, and to either side began to smoke. Some caught fire and quickly became more bonfires. Fortunately, ___ ___ was a planet that saw wind only in the more southern regions. Unfortunately, it was the dry season, and the treeline was thick. No rain would come in time to save this ancient forest from burning down, with me along with it.

I got to my feet quickly and walked back into the field, shielding my face from the fires and the smoke. The structure I had lived in for many days had been destroyed completely. Double damn. Thankfully, I had been alone, because no one but an Immortal would have survived that.

I glanced up at the purple night sky as I heard the ship turn around for another pass. No doubt that their sensors had informed them that there was still a humanoid life sign. I started cursing as I scanned the stars, looking desperately for one that moved. If it was there, then I'd be spared having to be blown up by a photon torpedo or shot down by the enemy ship's phasers. At that moment, I'd give anything to be able to go back in time - again - just to prevent whoever was responsible from inventing those damn things. I'd take bullets over concentrated, deadly energy beams any century.

Come on, come on. Where was it? I cursed in many languages, quite a few of them dead, until I started coughing too much to continue. Not for the first time, I found myself missing my old shipmates. At least they'd make their presence known at the right moment in a life-or-death situation like this one.

Too bad there was no where to run. Nor did I have enough breath or time to perform a disguising spell that would hide me from those bloody sensors. Which was too bad, since I'd taken the time to learn one years ago just for an occasion like this one.

The whine of the attacking vessel's engine sounded almost directly overheard now. Its underbelly appeared in my line of vision, obscuring my view of the constellations and any orbiting ships.

Oh, well. Might as well go with a bang, give them something to remember me by if they cared to actually watch. I waved my arms. "That's right, assholes! I'm right here! Give me your best shot!"

If the old man was here, he would have said I'd gone completely bonkers.

I started coughing again, but it didn't matter; the rising smoke would make me invisible to their view screen anyway. Their sensors would still detect me easily, though, and that was all that mattered.

I heard rather than saw their phasers powering up. A red been pieced the fog, heading straight for me.

"Aw, fuck," I said. This was going to hurt like shit.

The world suddenly took on a blue hue and began to break apart into a thousand little pieces. As I beamed out, I saw the phaser pass through my energizing form.

It's about time.

I'm sure you're pretty familiar with my story by now, but I'll go over it again for old time's sake. I'm Immortal. I'm nearly twenty-four hundred years old while I’m also nearly four hundred years old. It depends on what day you ask me. My not-so loving parents christened me Alexander LaVelle Harris. That was back in 1981, or three hundred and eighty-two years ago, in a little town in California called Sunnydale. For geological reference, it was up the coast from San Francisco. I say "was" because it no longer exists. Go to the approximate place where Sunnydale is and you'll see a big crater that outclasses the Grand Canyon in depth. Yep, I'm talking about Hell Canyon. Appropriate name, that. I won't bother you with the details about that, since you probably already know.

My current alias is Mark Harris, serial number 190-Alpha-12356. Back in 2363, I had the rank of Lieutenant. I'd just graduated from the officers program at Starfleet Academy, and my first posting was going to be on the U. S. S. Excursion, an Akira Class starship whose primary mission was scientific exploration. It wasn't my first posting, nor would it be my last, but it was the first posting under my new alias.

The U. S. S. Excursion, serial number NCC-67542, Akira Class, was a sleek, new vessel fitted with the latest technologies in Starfleet. Among its arsenal were the new Type-XII phasers and Mark-X quantum torpedoes, and its systems utilized the gel packs and bio-circuitry that had been initially present in the Intrepid Class starships. It, along with many other Akira-class ships, were quickly being filled with new crewmen; some of those crewmen were experienced, while many were not. I was one of the lucky ones to get a posting as an officer on the Excursion. My new posting was chief mechanic, and I couldn't have been happier. As a newly minted Starfleet officer fresh out of the Academy, I couldn't have asked for a better assignment.

Sure, it wasn't my first posting in Starfleet and it wouldn't be my last, but my current alias, Lieutenant Mark Harris, had never been posted anywhere before. I was determined to keep it that way, which meant getting impressed with all my fellow fresh-out-of-Starfleet crewmembers over the types of things new officers get impressed over. Not that I wasn't impressed at all; the Excursion was quite a ship, and was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. As we were flown by shuttle up to the starship, which was in orbit about Earth, I made a silent vow to take care of her to my fullest ability.

Lt. Jihal whistled next to me as we stared at the ship's hull. The gills running up either side of his neck took in a deep breath after holding the last one for several minutes. "She's a beauty, all right."

I grunted my agreement. "Lt. Commander Elmwood's taken good care of her."

"Can't argue with that."

Blakelee Elmwood, the Excursion's Chief Engineer, was an old friend of my "family". So was her half-brother, Dr. Joel Kibar Elmwood, civilian and Chief Medical Officer of the Excursion. I didn't know the ship's Captain and Joel's cousin, Jules Kibar, as well as I knew those two. From what I'd heard, however, he was a good man, and a good choice for captain.

Our shuttle had ten passengers. The Excursion had ten shuttles total; eight of those were being used to transport crewmen, while the other two were used to transport equipment too delicate for a transporter. A new crewman's full outside view of the ship was traditional, and it was why we hadn't all been energized aboard. Jihal and I were the only senior officers on our shuttle. When we docked in the shuttle bay, a tall man was waiting for us. His uniform was red, and the pips on his shoulder marked him with the rank of Commander.

"Lts. Jihal and Harris?" he asked. His ascent was tinged with Russian influences.

We answered with 'Yes, sirs.'

He smiled. "I’m Commander Richard Petrovsky, First Officer of the Excursion. Come with me and I'll give you the grand tour."

We spent the next hour and a half going over the entire ship, from the engine rooms to the bridge and ending at our adjacent quarters. I've only been on a few Federation starships before then, but this was by far the most impressive. I think I was overcome with awe.

Commander Petrovsky told us we had two hours to get ourselves settled and fed before we had to report to the bridge for our first shift.

Jihal was so excited that he could hardly hold still long enough to eat his food. We went to the Mess Hall for our lunch. I was a little excited, but I was also wary. I hadn't seen either of my two friends yet and looked forward to meeting them both, but at the same time years of experience had taught me to be cautious around people I didn't know. I'd known Blakelee and Joel since they were children, and despite their insistence that the other crew members could be trusted, I decided to preserve my own judgement until I met them all. Jihal I had known throughout our Academy years, and while I trusted him, he didn't know about my Immortality. Petrovsky seemed to be made of very loyal Starfleet material. I'd have to watch myself around him.