SEASON FIVE

EPISODE 1: WHAT PRICE DUTY...
PART TWO

By: Elektra

 SPACE: THE FINAL FRONTIER. THESE ARE THE VOYAGES OF THE WWF TITANPRIZE. IT'S MISSION: TO EXPLORE AND ENTERTAIN NEW SOCIETIES AND NEW CIVILIZATIONS.  TO BOLDLY GO WHERE NO WRESTLER HAS GONE BEFORE!

TITANPRIZE CREW:

Captain Vincent K. McMahon
First Officer, Commander Shane McMahon
Chief Engineer, Commander Stephanie McMahon
Chief of Chiefs, Commander Linda McMahon
Chief of Security, Commander Kane
Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Taker
Diagnostics Officer, Lieutenant Commander Jericho
Tactical Officer, Lieutenant Commander Austin
Transporter Chief, Lieutenant Commander Debra McMichael
Communications Officer, Lieutenant Rock
Counselor Al Snow (assisted by H.E.A.D.)

... And many more!

WWF TITANPRIZE - CAPTAIN'S READY ROOM

    "Captain's log, Stardate 062320.00. There's still no sign of the PTC ship that took Lt. Commander Jericho and Dr. Taker. WrestleFleet has given us until the end of the day. If we are unable to locate our missing crewmen, we are to end our search, and claim them MIA. Then we are to continue with our duties as dictated by WrestleFleet," Captain McMahon stopped, and swore under his breath, grateful the computer didn't record it. He took a deep breath, and shouted the last words, "Computer, end the damn log!"

ENGINEERING

    "What the hell is this, Jeffrey?!" Commander Stephanie McMahon snapped as she held up Lt. Hardy's latest report, "It took you TWO hours to replace a gel pack on the power relays?"

    Lt. Jeff Hardy gritted his teeth, reminding himself not to snap at his superior officer, "It was FIFTEEN gel packs, Commander -- and we had just been attacked by the PTC!"

    "Screw the PTC!" Stephanie snapped, and waited... but no smart-ass reply came from any of the officers in Engineering. No rude comments about screwing anything. She frowned, "I'll be sure to report your incompetence to my father! Now get out of my sight!" Stephanie suddenly found herself very tired.

    "Commander," Jeff began, allowing a hint of anger into his voice, "Replacing gel packs is a delicate procedure! It takes time! And with as many as the PTC had damaged---"

    "I said GO AWAY!" Stephanie shouted, "That's an ORDER, Lieutenant!"

    Jeff fumed quietly, but took his leave.

    Ever since Lt. Commander Jericho had been taken by the PTC, Commander Stephanie's usual bitchiness had increased ten-fold.

THE SMACKDOWN

    The popular bar was unusually quiet. Terri, normally pleasant and willing to chat, went about her business silently. She looked at the empty bar stool -- where Unit Y2J would often sit, asking questions about human behaviour, and making hilarious cracks as he observed the going-ons in The Smackdown.

    He was Terri's favourite patron.

    Chyna came up to the bar with an empty tray, "Two Smackdown Specials, and one Raw Rocket for table 3," she said.

    "Coming up, " Terri replied, and reached under the bar to grab the ingredients. She sighed as she mixed together the drinks.

    Chyna looked at her sympathetically, "I miss him too," she said.

    Terri acknowledged Chyna's comment, knowing exactly who she was talking about. Terri nodded to the empty bar stool, "No one’s sat there since the PTC attack," she shook her head, "Apparently he took a point-blank phaser blast trying to save that ungrateful wench, Stephanie! Then the PTC took him..."

    "I'm sure he's ok," Chyna said, "I mean, he's GOT to be!" she smiled kindly, "He has too big an ego to be taken out so unceremoniously!"

    Terri wiped away a single tear, "I heard something today..." she said, "About WrestleFleet's stand regarding Chris, and Dr. Taker..."

    "What did they say?" Chyna asked.

    Terri took a deep breath, and spoke, "They said if McMahon is unable to find them by the end of today's cycle, they're going to call the Titanprize back to continue it's duties, and they'll declare them both MIA,"

    "WHAT?!" Chyna was livid, "They can't do that! They can't leave two crewmen out there to die at enemy hands!"

    Terri shook her head, "They consider Chris merely a computer. Apparently, they'd rather lose a computer then start a fight to get it back!"

    "He is NOT a computer!" Chyna said angrily, "He's our friend!"

    "Try selling that line to WrestleFleet!" Terri replied, then frowned, "As for Dr. Taker, WrestleFleet claims their records show Dr. U. Taker was killed in the line of duty 15 years ago!"

    "15 years ago?!" Chyna asked, "But I was told he's been stationed aboard the Titanprize for over ten years now!"

    "He was here before I even came on board, but..." Terri shrugged, "Apparently WrestleFleet had no knowledge of that, and Captain McMahon has been less then forward with information regarding his Chief Medical Officer..."

    "But..." Chyna shook her head, "Never mind!" She had learned long ago that there was very little anyone knew about Dr. Taker... and very little they wanted to know.

    "Still, " Terri said, "That doesn't excuse their stand on Chris! If I have to, I'll go to WrestleFleet headquarters myself and tell them exactly what I think of their holier-than-thou attitude!"

    "You mean WE will go to WrestleFleet headquarters!" Chyna said, "I'm with you on this one! But..." her voice grew serious, "What can we do?"

    Terri smiled, "We're women, sweetie! They’re MEN… mostly. I’m sure there’s a lot we can do!"

PTC CUBE SHIP - CORE

    "Unit Y2J will self-destruct in T-Minus 19 minutes," Lt. Commander Jericho spoke, his voice void of emotion.

    The drones rushed about, attempting to reprogram the ticking time-bomb before them.

    Lt. Commander Jericho felt a surge of power in his positronic brain, and paused, "Unit Y2J self-destruct halted,"

    Halted, not cancelled

    The PTC drones knew that meant the countdown could start up again any minute now.

    They feverishly continued their work.

PTC CUBE SHIP - CORRIDORS

    Dr. Taker stalked around the PTC ship, quiet as death. The drones were currently busy with Unit Y2J, and hadn't noticed the doctor free himself from the alcove. He had long-since figured out Lt. Commander Jericho's plan and, while he couldn't care less for the android, he did not see the need for the Y2J Unit to sacrifice himself, however pathetically noble it may be.

    Dr. Taker went up to the window of the cube ship, and looked out. Obviously the Titanprize had not yet located their wherabouts.

    Dr. Taker smiled coldly.

    Perhaps he could help the Titanprize out a bit...

WWF TITANPRIZE - BRIDGE

    Ensign Christian studied his reflection in the shiny black console before him. Suddenly, he screamed.

    His brother, who had been at the console behind him, quickly ran to his side, "What is it? What's wrong?!" he asked, concerned.

    "Look, Edge!!" Christian cried, and pointed to a green dot in his reflection, "I've got a ZIT! That is SO not fair!"

    Ensign Edge studied the green dot, then looked at his brother. He smiled, "You have nothing to worry about…"

    "I don't?" Christian asked, his voice small and frightened.

    "No! Your face is flawless... as usual!" Edge explained, "That..." he pointed to the dot on the console, "is only a PTC cube ship!"

    Christian sighed with relief, "Thank goodness! It's nothing important..." Then he did a double take, "PTC SHIP?!" he turned to his brother, "Perhaps we should tell the Captain about this. He's making his daily rounds,"

    "Good idea, brother!" Edge said, and tapped his comm badge, "Ensign Edge to Captain McMahon,"

    McMahon's voice came through the comm, "Report, Mr. Edge."

    "We have good news and bad news, sir.."

    "What's the bad news?" McMahon asked.

    "Sensors detect the PTC Cube ship heading straight for us... but the good news is that Christian's face is still totally flawless!"  McMahon muttered something about what Christian could do with his flawless face. Edge furrowed his brow, "I think that may be physically impossible, sir..."

    "Shut up, Ensign!" McMahon snapped, "I'm on my way!"

PTC CUBE SHIP

    Another surge of energy invaded Unit Y2J's positronic brain. He felt a tingle of pain down his right arm and quickly rerouted the power surge back through the wires to one of the drones attempting to reprogram him.

    The drone screamed -- a very human scream -- and short circuited, falling in a heap.

    Suddenly, an image entered Jericho's mind:

    "Daddy, you said you'd take me and Shane to Disneyland today!" a ten year old girl cried.

    "Daddy's been called away on WrestleFleet business Stephie, honey. Maybe next time..."

    The little girl pouted, "That's what you said LAST time!" she snapped, and walked away.

    When she was old enough, she would join WrestleFleet. Then maybe daddy would finally notice her.

    The scene fast forwarded ten years:

    A 20 year old Stephanie sat in the washroom, crying. The proudest moment of her life -- her WrestleFleet graduation -- and Captain Vince McMahon was too busy with his stupid ship to attend!

    What did she have to do to get her father's attention? Start acting like a cheap slut, sullying the McMahon name?

    Lt. Commander Jericho quickly put up a firewall, preventing the PTC from seeing any more of Stephanie's memories -- memories she had involuntarily shared with him when they had escaped from the Ja'Ret a few months ago. Unit Y2J felt a strange need to protect Stephanie's secrets.

    And it had nothing to do with duty this time...

    The PTC threw another energy surge into Lt. Commander Jericho's positronic matrix.

    The Y2J Unit twitched, then spoke again, "Self-destruct re-activated. Unit Y2J will self-destruct in T-Minus 19 minutes..."

WWF TITANPRIZE - BRIDGE

    "How long before we're in transporter range, Ensign Edge?"

    "About 15 minutes, sir..."

    McMahon nodded, "Bridge to Lt. Commander McMichael. As soon as we get within transporter range, beam Jericho and Dr. Taker aboard the Titanprize!"

    "Yes, sir!" McMichael replied.

    "Sir, if I may ask..." Ensign Christian began, "Where did the PTC ship come from? Our sensors didn’t pick it up until it was right in front of us..."

    "It doesn't matter, Ensign. The ship is here NOW!" Captain McMahon snapped. No doubt Dr. Taker had something to do with the re-emergence of the PTC ship.... but the crew need not know that.

PTC CUBE SHIP

    "Unit Y2J will self-destruct in T-minus 8 minutes," Jericho droned on.

    "We cannot reprogram the android's self-destruct sequence," one automaton spoke to another.

    Jericho stopped counting for a moment, "Once the self-destruct sequence is activated, it cannot be shut down," he said, his voice flat and unemotional, "Unit Y2J will self-destruct in T-minus 7 minutes..."

WWF TITANPRIZE - BRIDGE

    "Sir! We're within transporter range!" Ensign Edge announced.

    "Do it, Debra!" McMahon commanded.

    "Yes, sir!" Lt. Commander McMichael's voice came through the comm system. There was a pause, and then,  "Uh, sir..." McMichael spoke, "They're aboard but... you may want to call a bomb squad in here..."

ENGINEERING

    "Unit Y2J will self-destruct in T-minus 4 minutes..."

    Commander Stephanie looked at the containment field that held Lt. Commander Jericho, then turned back to the readouts on her console.

    "Well, can you deactivate the self-destruct?" Captain McMahon asked as he looked over his daughter's shoulder.

    "I'm trying, dad!" Stephanie replied as she studied the Y2J Unit's complex blueprints and stats. "This isn't exactly a user-friendly manual, you know!"  She sighed and went up to the containment field. The field would protect the ship should Stephanie be unable to cancel Unit Y2J's self-destruct, "Damn you, Jericho!" she snapped angrily, "Would you really have killed yourself to stop the PTC?!"

    "Yes," he replied, "It was my duty to prevent them from finding out WrestleFleet's secrets,"

    "Forget DUTY!" She shouted, "What about YOU? Don't you care that you’re going to die?"

    "I have deactivated my emotion chip. I do not care about anything at the present time..."

    "Not even about how your misguided friends will miss you if you go BOOOOOM?!" she asked.

    Lt. Commander Jericho put his hands against the containment field -- an energy tube that looked and felt like glass -- and leaned forward, "Would you miss me if I go BOOOOOM?" he asked quietly.

    Stephanie looked at him, and backed away. His question startled her. Even more so did the answer she almost provided, "Why are you suddenly acting so melodramatic?" she asked quickly, "I thought you turned off your emotion chip!"

    Lt. Commander Jericho blinked, somewhat confused, "I did..." he replied, then brought his hands down to his sides, stepping back from the containment field, "Unit Y2J will self-destruct in T-minus 3 minutes..."

    Commander Stephanie put her hands on her hips, deep in thought. Suddenly, she smiled, "That's IT!" She said, and quickly lowered the containment field. She turned to the Y2J Unit, "Take your shirt off!" she commanded.

    "Steph??" Captain McMahon said, eyeing his daughter warily.

    She put a hand up to hush him and turned back to Jericho, "Take it off!" she repeated. Jericho did so. She took the shirt from him and put it on her console, "Now... lie down!"

    "Steph, this isn't very appropriate..." McMahon started.

    Commander Stephanie ignored him, and nodded to Jericho.

    The Y2J Unit lay on the floor.

    Stephanie sat on him and put her hands on his chest, trying to feel for something.

    "STEPH!" Captain McMahon sputtered. "What are you DOING?"

    "SHUT UP, DAD!" Stephanie snapped, "Get your mind out of the gutter!" She then returned to her task, "Here we go!" she pressed a hidden button on Lt. Commander Jericho's side.

    Unit Y2J's chest cavity opened, revealing a mess of wires. Stephanie put her hands inside and quickly studied each wire. "Not this one. Not this one... damnit!" she was getting frustrated. "Which one is connected to the self-destruct?!" she asked, but Unit Y2J was no help.

    "Unit Y2J will self-destruct in T-Minus 2 minutes. Unit Y2J will self-destruct in T-Minus 1 minute, 59 seconds. Unit Y2J will---"

    "Unit Y2J will SHUT THE HELL UP before I detach his voice box!" Stephanie snapped, then grabbed his hand, and switched his emotion chip on. Maybe it would stop the infernal countdown.  Maybe he could help her disengage his damn self-destruct!

    Jericho blinked, then everything came into focus, especially Stephanie... who was still sitting on top of him, "What the HELL are you doing, Skank?!" he shouted.

    "I'm trying to save your worthless life, JERK!" Stephanie replied angrily.

    Jericho noticed his open chest, and looked up at her. He noticed something on her face, and furrowed his brow. Jericho carefully lifted a hand and touched her cheek...

    Stephanie jumped, "Don't you DARE touch me, you disgusting bucket of bolts!"

    Jericho held his hand out to her... and she noticed a drop of wetness, "You're crying," he said, "Or am I to assume you have something in your eye?"  Stephanie didn't answer, and slapped his hand away as she continued studying the wires in his chest, "What, exactly, are you doing?"  he repeated.

    "I'm trying to deactivate your stupid self-destruct sequence, idiot!" she snapped.

    Jericho was silent for a moment, then, "Done..."

    Stephanie stopped, hands full of Unit Y2J-insides. She looked down at him, "What??"

    "I said DONE! My self-destruct is cancelled." he replied.

    Commander Stephanie fumed, "You mean to tell me I went through ALL THAT... and you could cancel it at any time?!"

    "With my emotion chip activated, yes..."

    Stephanie furrowed her brow, "What do you mean?!"

    "My emotion chip includes a self-preservation program," he explained, "My need for self-preservation overrode the self-destruct sequence!"

    Stephanie opened and closed her mouth. Jericho thought she did a great imitation of a fish. Finally, she spoke, "So you mean to tell me that if I hadn't turned your emotion chip on---"

    "I would be in 20 million gorgeous little pieces right now... yes..."

    "And what a shame THAT would be..." she replied sarcastically.

    The two looked at each other for a moment, then Jericho finally spoke, "Do you mind?" he asked, and gestured for her to get off him, "Unless you have some kinky little fantasy I don't want to know about..."

    Stephanie frowned angrily and snapped his chest shut, "Sorry, but I don't go for artificial men!" she replied snidely, and stood up.

    "But you go for superficial men... don't you, Stephie?" he said, and gracefully jumped to his feet in a rather athletic gesture.

    "Show off...!" Stephanie commented.

    "Trashbag ‘ho…" Jericho replied, and hovered beside her.

    "What do you want?!" she asked.

    He held out his hand, "My shirt! Or would you rather I go TOPLESS for the rest of the day?"

    Stephanie grabbed his shirt from her console and threw it at him, "Take it and just go SOMEWHERE..." She snapped.

    The two glared at each other silently, the tension so thick, McMahon could cut it with a laser-scalpel.

    Captain McMahon cleared his throat. Jericho turned to him, having forgotten he was even there, "Sir?"

    "Lt. Commander Jericho," the Captain started, "You have the rest of the day off," he put a hand on Unit Y2J's shoulder, "Thank you for offering to sacrifice yourself for the good of WrestleFleet! I will mention it in my report."

    Jericho nodded, "But the PTC is still out there!"

    "Well, we----" Suddenly a large explosion echoed like thunder, and the ship shook violently, throwing Stephanie against Unit Y2J.

    She grabbed him tightly, bracing herself for the next impact... whatever it was that had hit them!

    Nothing happened.

    "Excuse me, Skankanie... but I thought you didn't go for artificial men?!"

    Stephanie looked up at him, and quickly shoved him away, " I was just trying to brace myself!"

    "Sure you were! Hey... it's ok, Stephie! I'll just add it to one of your many secrets!"

    Stephanie winced. Did he have to remind her of that? "Screw you, Chris..." she snapped, hurt and angry.

    "You only wish..."  he whispered smugly.

    She let out a frustrated shout, and pushed past him as she quickly walked to the other side of Engineering to check for any damages. He merely smirked at her reaction.

    Captain McMahon hit his comm badge, "McMahon to Bridge! Report! What the HELL just happened?"

    "Well, Pops..." Commander Shane's voice cam through the comm, "The PTC ship just... uh... exploded... "

    "What?! HOW?!"

    "I don't know, Pops! I REALLY don't know!"

    Captain McMahon shook his head and turned to Jericho, "You're dismissed. Enjoy the rest of the day while I try to figure out how the hell that ship exploded!"

    Jericho quickly put his uniform top on, and walked out of Engineering.

    Captain McMahon watched the Y2J Unit leave, then headed off to find the ONLY person who could explain what had just happened to the PTC ship.

   Dr. Taker.

THE SMACKDOWN

    Terri shouted happily when Lt. Commander Jericho came through the doors. She quickly bounded up to him and hugged him. A little too tightly. "Chris! Thank god, you're ok!" She replied.

   "Yes. I'm fine."

    Chyna came up to him, "It's good to see you back, Chris..." she said, and held out a hand.

    Jericho ignored Chyna's hand and hugged her respectfully - all past arguments forgotten.

    He stepped back and looked at the two women in front of him, "Don't tell me you two had given me up for dead!"

    Terri smiled, "We were worried! We didn't know!" she headed to the bar, "Come sit! Have a free drink!"

    "Free?" Jericho repeated, and quickly hopped up on his usual bar stool, "I'm game!"

    Terri handed him a drink, and looked across the Smackdown, "Speaking of games..."

    Jericho followed her gaze, and saw Ensign Helmsley glaring daggers at him from the other side of the room, "He's just jealous because people actually give a damn about me…"

   By now, other crewmembers had gathered around Jericho, shaking his hand and congratulating him on returning safe and sound.  He thanked them, his emotion chip working over time. He actually felt like crying hearing all the well-wishes from his fellow crewmen and women.

    Jericho gulped down the rest of his drink and turned to Terri, "Can I get a free refill?"

    Terri raised an eyebrow, "I didn't miss you that much, Chris..."

    Jericho sighed, and paid the required credits for his next drink.

    Ah yes! It was good to be back!