Written by Karen Mollett

Characters herein are © Walt Disney corporation. Distribute freely, but do not modify.

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Disclaimer: Gadget Hackwrench and the other Rescue Rangers are the property of Disney. Star Trek, Star Trek:TNG, and any characters from those TV shows were created by Gene Roddenberry, who shared his incredible vision with us for so many years; they are also the property of Paramount (I think). Mystery is a character from a Star Trek:TNG novel, "Metamorphosis", which was a result of countless hours of hard work by Jean Lorrah. In other words, if you recognize a character, I didn't create it.

Please distribute, print, or burn freely, but do not modify and then claim it as your creation (as if anyone would WANT to...).

Whew! Now that I have gotten all of that out of the way, I hope my first attempt at a fan-fic (in which Gadget is the main character) amuses you.

--Karen Mollett

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           Enterprise D pulls away from the docking ring of Deep Space 5.
The crew is unaware that there is an extra passenger on board.
The ships sensors ignore the presence of this diminutive creature
as she attempts to figure out why she is now standing in bio-lab #1
and, more importantly, how the heck she's going to getout. She then
spots a computer terminal (just about every room in the ship has
some sort of computer interface). However, it is built into a wall
and is 4 feet off the ground. Problem is, she's only about 3 inches
tall. She searches the pockets of her lavender jumpsuit and then
looks at her feet. She sees one of her "harpoon guns" (it looks more
like a small-scale crossbow to me)that she had invented (she wasn't
named *Gadget* Hackwrench for nothin'!) and picks it up.

          Gadget takes careful aim. The plunger shoots out and sticks
firmly to the wall, just above the console. Gadget climbs up the
"rope" and begins messing with the computer. She uses a "guest"
log-in and manages to access the schematic diagrams of the
Enterprise (don't ask ME how she found them, ask HER...). The
knowledge that she is on board a starship both thrills her and
confuses her. While it's probably obvious why this would thrill
her, it confuses her because she knows nothing like this exists
in her time or on her world. Therefore, she logically concludes
that she has either traveled through time or has somehow slipped
into another dimension. It seems odd; she doesn't recall being
near anything that could trigger such a phenomenon. It also
seems odd that this would happen a day after she had stayed up
late with Dale to watch a Star Trek:TNG marathon on the local
FOX station. She disregards the last thought as coincidence and
accesses more information.

           Meanwhile, Lt. Cmdr. Data notices an unknown user is
accessing information about the ship on the computer's network
and decides to investigate. He tracks the user to a console in
bio-lab #1 and alerts security as he walks over there. Data
pauses in front of the door to bio-lab #1, but it does not open.
The pale android prys the doors open and scans the lab; first
visually, then with a tri-corder. He puzzles over the readouts
from his tri-corder and notices something stuck to the wall, just
above the console. "Curious." he comments as a security team walks
over to him. "What is it, Commander?" asks a human male (wearing
a mustard & black security uniform). Data replies, "It appears
to be a tiny plunger with a string attached to it." The security
team exchanges puzzled looks.

           Gadget exits a Jefferys tube and lowers herself near a
terminal in Main Engineering while Data (still in bio-lab #1)
reports his strange discovery to Cmdr. Riker. The ship's sensors
no longer ignore her (because she has entered a sensitive and
vital area of the ship). Gadget hides as Lt. LaForge moves
toward the terminal. He examines the screen and dismisses the
whole affair as a false alarm. He makes a mental note to check
that internal sensory array when he has time. Gadget examines
the warp engines (from a distance) and tries to figure out how
they work and the principles involved with their operation. She
doesn't quite succeed, but writes some of her observations down
on her mouse-sized clipboard, which she pullsout from one of her
pockets. (Hmm. I wonder how she gets all that crap--er,um wonderful
stuff--into her pockets? Pockets of Holding?). Her observations
gave her a lot of ideas, so she jots them down as well. She leaves
the area in order to find a terminal that isn't in such a busy place.

           She heads for a transporter room (did she find the report
concerning Captain James T. Kirk's experience in an alternate
universe & read it--or had she seen "Mirror, Mirror" and remembered
it?), but ends up in an empty crew cabin. "Ooops! I must have
miscalculated!" She says to herself and then looks up. She
sees a computer interface. "But this will work." She uses her
"harpoon gun" again and climbs up--only to discover that the
console was a food replicator. "Ooops, again! Two mistakes in
a row? How unlike me..." She plays with the replicator, but
nothing useful happens. She slides down, retrieves the plunger
and leaves the area. However, as she was leaving, she encounters
Mystery, the ship's wandering Siamese cat. (Have you read
"Metamorphosis", a TNG novel by Jean Lorrah? Apparently Gadget
has...) The cat is called Mystery because "no one knew how she
got through or around doors, detectors, or forcefields...".
Gadget does her rendition of a Ferengi Marauder that has been
confronted by a Romulan Bird-of-Prey: all about and warp 9!
(In other words, she turned and ran like heck.)

           The chases ends in sick bay, where a certain red-haired
doctor picks up the Siamese and scolds it for coming into her
sick bay. Dr. Beverly Crusher turns Mystery loose in the
corridor and goes back into sick bay. Gadget hides and realizes
that the chase had nearly exhausted her. She finds a safe place
to rest and soon falls asleep...

           Gadget woke up to the sound of two chipmunks arguing. She
looked around and discovered that she was in the RangerWing.
Gadget rubbed her eyes, yawned, and declared, "Golly! Monty must
have put some weird spices in his cheese sauce last night! And I
really *should* make a video recording device in case Dale talks me
into watching another Star Trek marathon." She shook her head
vigorously and still heard Chip yelling at Dale. She stumbled
out of the half-repaired RangerWing and walked toward the source
of all the shouting.

End of File :)