Cruising For Trouble
| Star Traks: The Original Series | |
| Episode name | Crusing For Trouble |
|---|---|
| Season | |
| Episode number | |
| Writer(s) | Alan Decker |
| Year | 2374 |
| Stardate | 51306 |
| Chronology | |
| Previous in series | Choice Blend [TRK] |
| Next in series | Alone On Christmas [TRK] |
| Previous in timeline | Wrapped In The Ribbon [VEX] |
| Next in timeline | No Trespassing [VEX] |
Dillon and Hawkins take a vacation on the newly christened S.S. Pomposity. The crew and owner don't want them there. The passengers look down on them. And Dillon's parents are on board. Unfortunately, those are the bright points of the trip.
Summary
After a particularly rough mission, Commander Travis Dillon and Lieutenant Patricia Hawkins take a vacation together on the maiden voyage the SS Pomposity. The Pomposity is the latest and most opulent creation of Simms Cruise Lines, and John Simms, Jr. himself has taken command of the voyage to Vulcan. Of course, there's not much commanding to do, since the ship is completely automated. The voyage is full of VIPs from across the Federation, so Simms is more than a little disgusted to see two lowly Starfleet Officers on board (Hawkins was able to use some personal connections to obtain the tickets) and is not shy about letting Dillon and Hawkins know it. Even worse, Dillon and Hawkins learn that Dillon's parents, Dr. Richard Dillon and Linda Dillon won tickets and are on board.
To add to the fun, the Starfleet Officers discover that a Founder, Ragoo has slipped on board as well. Ragoo has subtly altered the Pomposity's course, sending it into Klingon space, in hopes of causing a galactic incident. Dillon takes command, but Ragoo quickly disables communications, the engines, main power, and auxiliary control. Powerless, the ship is quickly intecepted by a Klingon Bird of Prey commanded by Captain Donask, who is less than pleased to see Dillon again. Dillon agrees to hand himself over to her in exchange for Donask towing the Pomposity safely out of Klingon space. Donask agrees and takes Dillon back to her ship without doing anything about the Pomposity's Changeling problem.
Ragoo, furious that his plan has been thwarted, tries to kill Hawkins and Simms by blowing up the Pomposity's bridge. Hawkins and Simms escape, but the bridge is destroyed. While the Pomposity crew attempts repairs with parts supplied by the Klingons, Donask sets in to torture Dillon. Her plans are derailed, though, when she discovers that she and the human share a love for ancient Earth action films. Donsak decides to release Dillon (roughing him up a bit first for appearances sake) and returns him to the Pomposity. With his plan a failure, Ragoo makes a last-ditch effort to kill the people who stopped him, namely Dillon and Hawkins. Posing as Richard Dillon, Ragoo verbally thrashes Dillon merciless, wanting to cause the man as much psychological pain as possible before striking the killing blow. Before he can, though, Dillon snaps and punches what he thinks is his father, revealing that Richard is actually Ragoo. The Klingons blast Ragoo, killing him, and the real Richard is found stuffed in a supply locker.
The Pomposity is towed to Starbase 212, where Dillon and Hawkins spend the rest of their vacation. Meanwhile, Dillon's brother, Bradley Dillon, arranges passage for their parents to Vulcan. Richard gets in a few parting shots at his son and tells Linda that he's worried that Hawkins will ruin his experiment.
Featuring
- Commander Travis Dillon
- Lieutenant Patricia Hawkins
- Captain Alexander Rydell
- Lieutenant Commander Jaroch
- Dr. Elizabeth Aldridge
Also Featuring
Author's Comments
This is another story written after Star Traks 6, when I was supposedly done with the original crew. I don't remember exactly what sparked the idea, but I knew I wanted to do something to give the Dillon/Hawkins relationship a bit more development before "Star Traks 6."
The names of the species and ocean in the mission at the start of the story are all plays on indigestion medications: Alkaxians (Alka-Seltzer), Tumsersans (Tums), and Peptlik (Pepcid).