Chapter 5 - Chapter Five
Submitted July 21, 2011 Updated June 21, 2012 Status Incomplete | The Year is 2382. The Borg are defeated, and the Typhon Pact sits at the Federation's door. Despite this, Starfleet continues is promise of Exploration, sending the USS Endalla and its Intrepid crew into the Gamma Quadrant.
Category:
Television » Star Trek series |
Chapter 5 - Chapter Five
Chapter 5 - Chapter Five
Chief Flight Officer’s Log
Stardate 59077.47
Well, this is it, it’s been almost a month since we launched and we’re heading out on our exploratory mission. What’s unique about what we’re doing is we’re headed into what little we’ve explored of the Gama Quadrant. Sure, we know plenty of what’s on the Gamma terminus of the Bajoran wormhole, including what little the Dominion did give us in terms of star charts did help somewhat, but that’s on the other side of the quadrant, leaving about ninety percent of it uncharted.
What makes today special is we’re going to be passing into uncharted space. The last ship that was out this way was the Cerberus, I don’t know why I’m taking this personal, but Mike was at the helm when she was out here, and now that he’s gone, it’s kind of hard not to think of him when something that reminds me of him…
Come on Marion, get it together.
“Computer, end recording.” Marion instructed, wiping tears from her eyes. “Save for further revision.”
She looked over on to her dresser and saw Bruno looking at her, having crawled half way up the wall of his cage. “Yeah yeah, I’ll get you a carrot.” She told the little creature, dropping a small carrot into his cage where he didn’t even wait for it finish hitting the ground before setting upon it like a ravenous beast.
She stopped a moment and picked up a photograph of her and Mike at Marion’s graduation from the academy. Things were simpler back then, she thought looking at the smiles they both had. The Dominion War had just ended; the Borg hadn’t yet tried to invade. She gently placed the photograph back where she had it wearing a sorrowful smile, then headed towards the bridge.
Over the last month, Marion had developed a routine. She would leave early for her shift in order to go over the evening shifts sensor readings with the Endalla’s chief science officer, Amber Fox. The two quickly hit it off and had become quick friends, sharing similar interests, as well as being highly skilled in computer sciences. Marion knew she was good, and although she wouldn’t admit it, she knew that Amber was better.
As she exited the turbo-lift onto the bridge, she was greeted by a smiling woman handing her a cup containing a steaming liquid. Marion knew it was her morning vice, a cup of hot chocolate just the way she liked it, she quickly took it and gingerly took a sip, enjoying every bit of it.
When she first met Amber, she was a bit unsettled with her. Amber is a tall African American woman in her early thirties. She wasn’t the prettiest woman you would ever meet, but she had that girl next door charm. What was unsettling was the burn scars she had on the left side of her face and on her left hand. Marion guessed that the scar went further then what wasn’t covered by her uniform. Amber explained that it was an injury she sustained while stationed on Betazed when the Dominion invaded and occupied the planet. During the initial planetary bombardment, the building across the street from the café where she was eating breakfast burst into flames as it was shelled from orbit. She spent the remainder of the occupation in a coma, only to wake up in waning months of the war. She had always been a confidant person, so she decided to keep the scars.
“You ok Marion?” she asked. “You look like you’ve been crying.”
“I’m alright. And yes, I was, a little.” Marion explained. “You know the last ship that was out this ways?”
“The Cerberus?”
“Yeah. A very good friend of mine served on her. He was at Risa when the Borg attacked.” Marion said quietly, staring into her hot chocolate. She remembered watching the Federation News service report about it. It was like all of the other planets that were attacked. The planet would be bombarded from orbit until nothing was left of the surface but molten glass, and what few survivors managed to escape, did so at the cost of Starfleet vessels buying them the time they needed knowing full well what that meant. “So, what do you have in store for us today?” Marion asked, changing the subject.
“I wouldn’t mind hearing this too.” Major Scott chimed in, nursing his own cup of coffee. “What, don’t let me stop you, you were going to bring me what you thought was cool anyways, thought I’d see what else we were missing.” James said with a sly smirk on his face.
“Major, I would never withhold any information from you.” Amber said defensively. Marion just looked on, stunned.
“I’m just joshing you commander, I did the same thing back during the war.” James said with a chuckle. “Anyways, what’s out there?” he asked.
“Well sir, there’s an Emission Nebula about two light-years from our current heading. The gravimetric readings we’re getting from it suggest that there may be a proto-star nearing the end of its current stage in its life cycle.” Amber explained, handing him a padd with the details.
“Well, I’d classify this as ‘cool’. I’ll run this by the Captain when he comes on shift.” James told her.
“Major, I think we’ll have to put the Nebula on hold, I’m picking up a distress call, audio only.” Lieutenant Halee Valco, the Endalla’s chief of security.
“On speakers L-T.” James said, nodding in her direction while sitting down in the center chair.
“We are the Reezen people. Our planet is facing immanent ecological disaster. A derelict starship is on a collision course with our planet. It is emitting high amounts of radiation and we are unable to get near the ship to alter its course due it being outfitted with heavy weaponry, and our own weapons have thus far been unable to penetrate its defenses. Please help us.”
“Message repeats after that. There’s some rudimentary sensory data embedded in the transmission.”
The bridge fell silent and all faces were looking at James for what to do. This made him nervous as all hell, but he managed to keep that from surfacing. This would be his first command decision since taking the first officer post on the Endalla.
“Lieutenant Andrews, alter course to intercept and go to warp nine. Commander Fox, go over the sensor data and see if you can come up with something to counter act the radiation.” James ordered; he then turned to Halee at the security station. “Contact them back on their frequency and inform them that we’re on our way and that we’ll do what we can.” James then tapped his comm. badge. “Captain Reynolds to the bridge.”
“What do we have, people?” Captain Reynolds asked, addressing his senior staff.
“The ship in question, which is similar to a large tramp freighter, is emitting large amounts of theta radiation,” Amber began; “Our sensors are unable to penetrate the interference from this distance, but my guess is that its holds are filled with large amounts of antimatter waste.”
“Tactical options?” Jon asked Lt. Valco
“I would advise against destroying the ship outright, it would spread the waste throughout the system and would eventually reach planet side.” Halee answered.
“I take it the amount of radiation would interfere with tractor beams?” Jon said, directing the question to his Operations officer, a young Bajoran woman named Li Essa, who at that moment was more focused on the padd in front of her then the meeting that was taking place. “Ensign Li…” he said, finally causing her to look up and fidget in her seat.
“Sorry, sir, you’re right, we wouldn’t be able to get a stable lock with this much radiation.” She said, finally.
“Anything else you would like to add? You were pretty focused on that padd.” Jon pointed out, sensing an idea forming in the Ensign’s mind.
“I think I might have a way to move the ship out of its current course.”
“I’m all ears, ensign.”
“We can’t lock on to it with tractor beams, destroying it is out of the question, and with this amount of theta rads transporters are out. I’ve been looking at the schematics that we were given, and it’s similar to a class of Bajoran cargo ship that fell out of use during the occupation.” Essa said, taking a deep breath. “It fell out of use because of a sensor blind-spot in its aft ventral quarter, it gave the Cardassians a way to approach undetected and disable the ship and steal its cargo. If I’m right, we should be able to approach with a shuttle craft and get a team aboard via EVA.”
“Are ya daft, lassie?” Said the ship’s doctor, Commander William Macmillan. “The radiation would overcome’em in minutes.”
“I wouldn’t say that just yet Mac; James, don’t the new Marine combat hard suits have radiation protection?” Jon mentioned to his first officer.
“Yeah, should give us, I don’t know, ten to twenty minutes before we start frying.”
“If that’s the case, I’ll prepare some Arithrazine treatments, should take care of any radiation poisoning.” Doctor Macmillan said.
“Alright, James, take a two man security detail and an engineering team aboard, Miss Andrews, you’ll pilot the shuttle. Get on board and alter its course.” Jon ordered.
Stardate 59077.47
Well, this is it, it’s been almost a month since we launched and we’re heading out on our exploratory mission. What’s unique about what we’re doing is we’re headed into what little we’ve explored of the Gama Quadrant. Sure, we know plenty of what’s on the Gamma terminus of the Bajoran wormhole, including what little the Dominion did give us in terms of star charts did help somewhat, but that’s on the other side of the quadrant, leaving about ninety percent of it uncharted.
What makes today special is we’re going to be passing into uncharted space. The last ship that was out this way was the Cerberus, I don’t know why I’m taking this personal, but Mike was at the helm when she was out here, and now that he’s gone, it’s kind of hard not to think of him when something that reminds me of him…
Come on Marion, get it together.
“Computer, end recording.” Marion instructed, wiping tears from her eyes. “Save for further revision.”
She looked over on to her dresser and saw Bruno looking at her, having crawled half way up the wall of his cage. “Yeah yeah, I’ll get you a carrot.” She told the little creature, dropping a small carrot into his cage where he didn’t even wait for it finish hitting the ground before setting upon it like a ravenous beast.
She stopped a moment and picked up a photograph of her and Mike at Marion’s graduation from the academy. Things were simpler back then, she thought looking at the smiles they both had. The Dominion War had just ended; the Borg hadn’t yet tried to invade. She gently placed the photograph back where she had it wearing a sorrowful smile, then headed towards the bridge.
Over the last month, Marion had developed a routine. She would leave early for her shift in order to go over the evening shifts sensor readings with the Endalla’s chief science officer, Amber Fox. The two quickly hit it off and had become quick friends, sharing similar interests, as well as being highly skilled in computer sciences. Marion knew she was good, and although she wouldn’t admit it, she knew that Amber was better.
As she exited the turbo-lift onto the bridge, she was greeted by a smiling woman handing her a cup containing a steaming liquid. Marion knew it was her morning vice, a cup of hot chocolate just the way she liked it, she quickly took it and gingerly took a sip, enjoying every bit of it.
When she first met Amber, she was a bit unsettled with her. Amber is a tall African American woman in her early thirties. She wasn’t the prettiest woman you would ever meet, but she had that girl next door charm. What was unsettling was the burn scars she had on the left side of her face and on her left hand. Marion guessed that the scar went further then what wasn’t covered by her uniform. Amber explained that it was an injury she sustained while stationed on Betazed when the Dominion invaded and occupied the planet. During the initial planetary bombardment, the building across the street from the café where she was eating breakfast burst into flames as it was shelled from orbit. She spent the remainder of the occupation in a coma, only to wake up in waning months of the war. She had always been a confidant person, so she decided to keep the scars.
“You ok Marion?” she asked. “You look like you’ve been crying.”
“I’m alright. And yes, I was, a little.” Marion explained. “You know the last ship that was out this ways?”
“The Cerberus?”
“Yeah. A very good friend of mine served on her. He was at Risa when the Borg attacked.” Marion said quietly, staring into her hot chocolate. She remembered watching the Federation News service report about it. It was like all of the other planets that were attacked. The planet would be bombarded from orbit until nothing was left of the surface but molten glass, and what few survivors managed to escape, did so at the cost of Starfleet vessels buying them the time they needed knowing full well what that meant. “So, what do you have in store for us today?” Marion asked, changing the subject.
“I wouldn’t mind hearing this too.” Major Scott chimed in, nursing his own cup of coffee. “What, don’t let me stop you, you were going to bring me what you thought was cool anyways, thought I’d see what else we were missing.” James said with a sly smirk on his face.
“Major, I would never withhold any information from you.” Amber said defensively. Marion just looked on, stunned.
“I’m just joshing you commander, I did the same thing back during the war.” James said with a chuckle. “Anyways, what’s out there?” he asked.
“Well sir, there’s an Emission Nebula about two light-years from our current heading. The gravimetric readings we’re getting from it suggest that there may be a proto-star nearing the end of its current stage in its life cycle.” Amber explained, handing him a padd with the details.
“Well, I’d classify this as ‘cool’. I’ll run this by the Captain when he comes on shift.” James told her.
“Major, I think we’ll have to put the Nebula on hold, I’m picking up a distress call, audio only.” Lieutenant Halee Valco, the Endalla’s chief of security.
“On speakers L-T.” James said, nodding in her direction while sitting down in the center chair.
“We are the Reezen people. Our planet is facing immanent ecological disaster. A derelict starship is on a collision course with our planet. It is emitting high amounts of radiation and we are unable to get near the ship to alter its course due it being outfitted with heavy weaponry, and our own weapons have thus far been unable to penetrate its defenses. Please help us.”
“Message repeats after that. There’s some rudimentary sensory data embedded in the transmission.”
The bridge fell silent and all faces were looking at James for what to do. This made him nervous as all hell, but he managed to keep that from surfacing. This would be his first command decision since taking the first officer post on the Endalla.
“Lieutenant Andrews, alter course to intercept and go to warp nine. Commander Fox, go over the sensor data and see if you can come up with something to counter act the radiation.” James ordered; he then turned to Halee at the security station. “Contact them back on their frequency and inform them that we’re on our way and that we’ll do what we can.” James then tapped his comm. badge. “Captain Reynolds to the bridge.”
* * *
“What do we have, people?” Captain Reynolds asked, addressing his senior staff.
“The ship in question, which is similar to a large tramp freighter, is emitting large amounts of theta radiation,” Amber began; “Our sensors are unable to penetrate the interference from this distance, but my guess is that its holds are filled with large amounts of antimatter waste.”
“Tactical options?” Jon asked Lt. Valco
“I would advise against destroying the ship outright, it would spread the waste throughout the system and would eventually reach planet side.” Halee answered.
“I take it the amount of radiation would interfere with tractor beams?” Jon said, directing the question to his Operations officer, a young Bajoran woman named Li Essa, who at that moment was more focused on the padd in front of her then the meeting that was taking place. “Ensign Li…” he said, finally causing her to look up and fidget in her seat.
“Sorry, sir, you’re right, we wouldn’t be able to get a stable lock with this much radiation.” She said, finally.
“Anything else you would like to add? You were pretty focused on that padd.” Jon pointed out, sensing an idea forming in the Ensign’s mind.
“I think I might have a way to move the ship out of its current course.”
“I’m all ears, ensign.”
“We can’t lock on to it with tractor beams, destroying it is out of the question, and with this amount of theta rads transporters are out. I’ve been looking at the schematics that we were given, and it’s similar to a class of Bajoran cargo ship that fell out of use during the occupation.” Essa said, taking a deep breath. “It fell out of use because of a sensor blind-spot in its aft ventral quarter, it gave the Cardassians a way to approach undetected and disable the ship and steal its cargo. If I’m right, we should be able to approach with a shuttle craft and get a team aboard via EVA.”
“Are ya daft, lassie?” Said the ship’s doctor, Commander William Macmillan. “The radiation would overcome’em in minutes.”
“I wouldn’t say that just yet Mac; James, don’t the new Marine combat hard suits have radiation protection?” Jon mentioned to his first officer.
“Yeah, should give us, I don’t know, ten to twenty minutes before we start frying.”
“If that’s the case, I’ll prepare some Arithrazine treatments, should take care of any radiation poisoning.” Doctor Macmillan said.
“Alright, James, take a two man security detail and an engineering team aboard, Miss Andrews, you’ll pilot the shuttle. Get on board and alter its course.” Jon ordered.
Comments
You are not authorized to comment here. Your must be registered and logged in to comment