STAR TREK: INTO THE FINAL FRONTIER - "The Signal"

Five days into their maiden voyage, the crew of Enterprise picks up a mysterious signal. As young ensign Skon tries to decipher its message, captain Edison has to make the tough decision whether or not to change course.

Read the next chapter of STAR TREK: INTO THE FINAL FRONTIER here or download it by following this link.

*******
February 1st, 2152
2 months after the events in “A Change Of Plans”

Balthazar Edison leans against the viewport of his ready room on board the Enterprise NX-01. Through the transparent aluminum, he watches the stars streak by at warp five speed. His thoughts seem to wander off…

It’s hard to believe it’s only been two months since admiral Reed unexpectedly landed his shuttlepod at the porch of his sister’s Sarah’s farm on Terra Nova and offered him the captaincy of the fastest starship ever to be built by humans.

He looks down at his uniform and smiles. He still has to get used to wearing that blue jumpsuit with gold colored piping at the shoulders. A uniform specially designed by the United Earth Space Program Agency for the crew of the Enterprise NX-01. The four rectangular silver pips displayed on his right chest confirm his rank on board the ship: that of captain.

At the word captain, his thoughts seem to be drifting further off again. After the loss of the USS Invincible nine months ago, a part of him never wanted to set foot onboard a starship ever again. He had done his service, exemplary - many would say he went above and beyond on more occasions than even he could remember. An honorable discharge would soon follow and after that, settling down on Terra Nova. Maybe even starting his own family. At least that was the plan.

Life, of course, seldomly runs according to plan. And when he saw admiral Stuart Reed stepping out of the shuttlepod at his sister Sarah’s farm, he realized that the months spent with his sister and his nephew David had been nothing more than an interlude. His true destiny is to travel the stars. It always has been. How could he ever have talked himself into thinking otherwise?

The Enterprise NX-01 definitely wouldn’t have been his first choice for command. But admiral Reed convinced him that the untested and inexperienced crew needed a man like him to guide them through the dangers of unexplored space. And as much as he loathed the idea to commandeer a ship full of scientists, he had to agree with the admiral.

Suddenly his route down memory lane is halted by the door chime. As he looks away from the viewport, towards the door: “Enter.”

The door to the Ready Room slides open, revealing commander Erika Hernandez - his first officer, wearing the same uniform as him, only with blue colored piping at the shoulders indicating she is also part of the science division onboard the ship.

Since the ship left the orbital drydock five days ago, contact between him and Hernandez had been limited to work related issues only. Edison had invited her twice for dinner. Not just out of courtesy alone but, more importantly, to give them both the chance to get to know each other on a more personal level. He always felt that a captain and first officer should be able to rely on each other blindly. Anticipate each other’s plans in crisis situations when there is often little room for consultation or debate. But so far Hernandez had friendly declined his invitations twice, each time claiming to be needed elsewhere on the ship.

As he watches Hernandez standing in the doorway, fiddling with a padd in her hand, he suddenly realizes that gaining the trust of his first officer could be the greatest challenge of this mission.

On her side of the Ready Room, Hernandez seems to be frozen in time. Just like Edison before her only moments ago, she too is being thrown back in time, right back to that moment when director Nogura informed her about Edison’s appointment as captain of the Enterprise. Although she never officially held the rank of captain, she was one of the leading supervisors of the NX-01 project. The stone cold fact that she was passed over for the captaincy in favor of a navy officer - who most likely was more familiar with holding a phase pistol than a padd - felt pretty much like a demotion. It had taken her friend and mentor - chief engineer of the Enterprise, Henri Archer - a lot of effort and many long talks, often lasting deep into the night, to convince her not to abandon the project all together and accept the position as first officer. In the end she realized he was right: at least here, on the Enterprise, she could make a difference. Even if it meant she had to play second fiddle to a space cowboy.

As she clears her throat, trying to get back to the here and now, she steps into the Ready Room. The door closes behind her.

Edison points at the small coach to his left: “Please have a seat commander.”

As he sits down behind his desk, Hernandez dryly replies: “Thank you, Sir. But I prefer to stand.”

Edison smiles: “Of course. As you wish, commander.”

As she hands him the padd: “About half an hour ago our sensors picked up on a signal with a pattern that is consistent with that of a communication’s transmission.”

Edison checks the data on the padd. His interest definitely piqued: “Origin of the signal?”

“A planetary system, Sir. Only two light years from our present heading. With your permission I’d like to change the ship’s course to further explore the origins of that signal.”

Edison looks up from the padd and starts punching a set of keys on his desktop monitor. As a star chart flips online: “This planetary system of yours doesn’t appear on any of our star charts.” Putting on his best poker face, trying not to show his excitement: “We both know the Agency has given a very specific flight plan for us to follow. We know which systems they want us to explore. And they wouldn’t appreciate us deviating from their roadmap either. If something goes wrong out there, it would be almost impossible for them to set up a rescue mission.”

The captain’s sudden love for rules and regulations seem to take Hernandez by surprise. Did she misjudge her captain, the space cowboy, after all?
As she folds her hands behind her back, ready to make her plea with the captain: “May I remind you, Sir, that one of the reasons we’re out here is to seek out new life? This signal could be a once in a lifetime opportunity. The chance for us to make first contact with an alien lifeform. A chance we shouldn’t discard solely based on directives from the Agency. Their rules aren’t written in stone, they are merely guidelines.”

Edison leans back in his chair and smiles: “You’re absolutely right, commander.”

Hernandez raises her right eyebrow, confused by the captain’s sudden change of heart. But then a little smile forms across her lips as she realizes him quoting the Agency’s directives only just a moment ago was nothing more but a test. A test to see how far she’d be willing to go to bend the rules. Clever of him. Very clever.

Edison gets up from his chair and hands her back the padd. “Order Helm to set a course for the source of that mysterious signal of yours.”

“Yes, Sir. Right away.”

Just as she turns around and is about to hit the exit door key, Edison stops her by suggesting: “Perhaps this could be a job for ensign Skon. Something for our Syrrannite friend to sink his teeth in. Let’s see if he is as talented at cracking alien languages as his people claimed him to be.”

Hernandez just nods at him as she exits the Ready Room.

Edison walks back to the viewport and smiles, excited by the adventure that might lie ahead and perhaps also because for the first time since they left Earth he was able to put a smile on his first officer’s face. Perhaps there is still hope for the two of them.

***
ENTERPRISE NX-01 - E-DECK - MESS HALL

Young ensign Skon sits by himself in a quiet corner of the mess hall on E deck, eating his breakfast. Today it’s scrambled eggs with a slice of toast. One of Earth’s more simpler early morning dishes.

As he brings a full fork to his mouth and starts chewing, he looks around the mess hall, observing the human crew members. Unlike him, they all appear to enjoy company at their tables. There are tables of two, three and even one with five people - all chatting and eating, mixed with the occasional laughter as someone tells a joke or an anecdote.

These past few days there have been moments where he wanted to sit down with them. Talk to them. Laugh with them. Join in on the fun. But these are all emotions. Emotions he had learned to repress ever since he was an infant, living with his parents on Romulus.

He grew up in a family that honored the teachings of Surak - the father of all that is logic. Millenia ago on Romulus, Surak’s Seventh Disciple - a man named Syrran - taught his followers that uncontrolled emotions inevitably lead to death and destruction. Only by controlling one’s emotions and following the principles of logic could one find true salvation.

Until about a century ago, the followers of Syrran - called Syrrannites - had managed to co-exist in relative peace with their Romulan brothers and sisters who still followed the old ways.

However a lot has changed since then. Ever since the Romulan Empire started to expand beyond their own solar system, founding their so-called Star Empire, the Syrrannites were considered to be a threat to the very survival of the Romulan state and the true Romulan way of life.

But there is still hope for his people and that hope is called Vulcan. A planet where, according to ancient scriptures, Surak and his first disciples founded the perfect society based in the purest logic. A place he and his family could truly call ‘home’ - a safe haven for their way of life. Its location however, is only known to a handful, passed on from one generation to another.

At great cost to their own safety, he and his family managed to board a ship on a clandestine journey to the promised world of Vulcan. But their ship was attacked and they crash landed on the human colony of Terra Nova. With their captain dead and the navigation database destroyed, the location of Vulcan is lost to them - perhaps forever.

Now they have to rely on these humans to find Vulcan. In exchange for their help, his people offered Skon’s expertise as a xenolinguist to expand the human’s database on alien languages.

That project eventually led to his posting as communication officer on the Enterprise. It’s ironic that his attempt to flee a world ruled by emotions eventually brought him on board a ship full of humans who quite possibly are as equally passionate as his Romulan brethren.

But where the earthlings are apparently trying to find a way to live in co-existence with the alien cultures around them, the Romulans only see a universe to be conquered.

Suddenly Skon looks up from his table as he hears his name being called through the ship's intercom system. It’s the voice of commander Hernandez. Apparently his presence is needed on the bridge. His eyes widen as he comes to the only logical conclusion possible: they made contact with another species.

He quickly picks up his tray, puts it back in one of the empty food dispensers and exits the mess hall.

***
SPACE

The Enterprise slowly sets course for a little white dot orbiting a red gas giant.

***
ENTERPRISE NX-01 - A-DECK - BRIDGE

Skon exits the turbolift and steps onto the bridge which is, for the first time since Enterprise left drydock, bustling with activity. Excitement lingers in the air.

Edison looks up from his captain’s seat at the center of the bridge as he notices Skon’s presence: “I’m sorry we had to interrupt your breakfast, ensign.” As he looks back at the view screen that is now projecting the image of a moon covered with oceans and ice: “But we picked up a signal, possibly a communication’s transmission, coming from the third moon orbiting a red gas giant. We could definitely use someone with your talents to translate its message.”

Skon nods his head as he passes behind commander Hernandez who is sitting at the science station located on the captain’s left-hand side.

As he sits down at his station next to Hernandez, he picks up his earpiece - a small white, round, module - and places it against his left ear. He tabs one of the keys on his computer console to activate the recording of the signal.

The recording plays a few times over. Strange words echo inside his ear, spoken by what appears to be a female voice. It definitely sounds like a transmission of some sort. But the language is unfamiliar to him. He lets the transmission play in slow motion in an attempt to get a better grasp on the words. Often the intonation in which words are spoken can reveal the intentions of the speaker.

Whilst trying to focus on the transmission, from his right eye corner he sees the captain getting up from his chair and moving towards the communication station - his station.

“Any luck with the signal, ensign?”, the captain asks.

The job of an exolinguist demands precision. One word wrongly translated could mean the difference between war or peace. And precision demands patience. If the captain expected him to interpret the signal with one simple push of a button, he is definitely in for a disappointment.

As he tries to ignore the captain - who is now hoovering above his station - focusing on the alien language, he starts to notice a pattern in the words. Not only a pattern, but an underlying unrest that carries the words across subspace. He turns towards the captain, finally certain of his conclusion: “I believe it is a distress call, captain.”

The captain turns away from the communication station and slowly walks over to the helm station, manned by lieutenant JG Vivienne Mayweather.

As he looks up at the view screen, marveling at the beauty of the blue white colored moon, a sudden sense of anxiety starts creeping up on him: What happened down there? And more importantly: what the hell is he going to do next?

***

 

THE ENTPRISE NX-01

in standard orbit around a small moon. A frozen world resting in the shadow of a massive red gas giant

***
ENTERPRISE NX-01 - E-DECK - LAUNCH BAY

Ever since they picked up on the alien distress signal, crew and ship had been in high alert status.

Although Zefram Cochrane’s first warp flight took place almost 90 years ago, first contact with other alien civilizations had been the exception rather than the rule. Now with the development of the warp five engine, an entire universe of civilizations is about to open up to them. These are truly interesting times to be an explorer. But with exploration also comes danger. The unknown, however beautiful and exciting it might seem at first, could harbor threats to humanity and its very survival.

Aware of the dangers that could lurk down there on the moon below, captain Edison has assembled the best and brightest of his crew to be part of the first away mission under his command.

Lieutent JG Vivienne Mayweather in full EV suit sits in the cockpit of Shuttlepod One, going over the pilot checklist as is stand procedure before leaving ship.

Sitting behind her, on the port side, commander Erika Hernandez and armory officer lieutenant Malcom Reed. Sitting right across them are doctor Adanna Soong - head of Enterprise’s medical department - and ensign Skon - the communication officer responsible for deciphering the alien distress signal that originated from the moon’s surface only a few hours ago.

From the corner of her right eye, Hernandez notices that Skon doesn't seem to feel very comfortable. Beads of sweat are taking form on his forehead. As she looks up from her control station: “Are you feeling alright, ensign?”

Skon looks even more out of his element now that the rest of the away team seems to have noticed his restlessness. Starting to look pale: “I’ve always had trouble adjusting to cramped rooms.”

As Reed winks at doctor Soong: “Say Doctor, you don't happen to have a tranquilizer in your medical kit for our Syrrannite friend here do you?”

Doctor Soong places her left hand on Skon’s shoulder: “Just close your eyes for a moment and try to take a few slow and deep breaths.”

As Skon follows the doctor’s instructions, she continues: “Now try to focus on your breathing. It’ll help lessen your anxiety and calm your nerves.”

Seeing Skon’s face getting more color back in his cheeks, Soong looks back at Reed and with a deadpan seriousness: “Not every medical problem has to be solved with sedatives, lieutenant. They easily lead to addiction.”

“All right everyone,” Mayweather interrupts, “we’re ready to launch. Everybody buckle up.”

As the away team straps themselves in, they hear a clunk above their heads as the magnetic docking arm attaches itself to the shuttlepod.

***
AS THE SHUTTLEPOD

is lowered through the doors of the Enterprise’s launch bay and safely dropped into the vacuum of space, it slowly but steadily sets course for the moon down below.

***
INSIDE THE SHUTTLEPOD

the passengers suddenly start to bump into each other as the shuttlepod starts rocking back and forth.

Hernandez looks up from her control station but doesn’t seem to be alarmed.

Mayweather, quickly swivels around in her pilot seat: “I’m sorry, commander, but we’re experiencing some atmospheric turbulence. It’s just a case of some bad weather. Nothing to worry about.”

As she quickly turns back around, focusing on the pilot control panel, doctor Soong replies: “I’m sure we’re all in capable hands, lieutenant. If you can fly a ship at warp five, piloting a shuttlepod must seem like child’s play.”

Mayweather chuckles: “Thanks for the compliment, doctor.”

As she manages to stabilize the shuttlepod:

***
It pierces further through the atmosphere,

setting course for the alien complex located on the southern hemisphere of the moon.

The layout of the complex as well as the buildings themselves - lacking in any sort of visible defense system - indicate they are heading towards what most likely is a scientific research station of some sorts.

Mayweather takes the shuttlepod a few times around the complex, giving commander Hernandez the necessary time to properly scan the area.

As the shuttlepod's searchlights bring into view a small landing platform, Mayweather slowly takes the shuttlepod in for landing.

***
INSIDE THE ALIEN COMPLEX

The away team - all wearing their EV suits - is slowly moving through one of the corridors.

Lieutenant Reed is taking the lead, phase pistol in hand. Having started his career as an officer in Earth’s Stellar Navy before joining the United Earth Space Program Agency six years ago, he still has trouble fighting his basic instincts which tell him to shoot first and ask questions later. His line of thinking would probably not sit well with commander Hernandez who is just a few steps behind him, holding a portable scanner instead of a phase pistol. But even she would have to admit, albeit reluctantly: you can't explore anything when you're dead. Luckily for any alien that might come for them, his phase pistol comes with a stun setting.

Trailing just behind Hernandez are ensign Skon and doctor Soong - with her 67 years of age, the oldest crewmember on board the Enterprise. Her colleagues and dear friends at universities all across Earth thought she was suffering from some kind of mental illness when she expressed her wish to solicit for the position of chief medical officer on the first warp five starship. She had a successful academic career. A few more years and she could enjoy a well-deserved retirement, spending her final years happily with her children and grandchildren. Why would she risk all that, they wondered. But it was exactly the thought of retirement that drove her to this mission. The idea of no longer being able to be a valuable, contributing member of the scientific community made her feel like she was standing at the edge of an abyss, ready to fall off and never ever able to get back up on her feet. Her first and only passion was her work as a scientist, a doctor. Out here, in unexplored space, she could breathe new life into her career. And somehow it made her feel ‘young’ again.

The only crewmember missing down here with them is lieutenant JG Mayweather. Hernandez ordered her to stay behind in the shuttlepod in case they needed an emergency exit out of the alien compound.

As the away team slowly but steadily continues their search from corridor to corridor, Hernandez points at the various plaques attached to the walls. The alien writing on them consists out of a mix of curved horizontal lines and circles. “Anything familiar?” she asks Skon.

Skon shakes his head no: “I have never seen anything like it before, commander.”

Suddenly Reed halts and raises his hand, urging his colleagues to stay quiet and focused. Whispering into the com unit of his EV helmet, afraid anyone out there might hear him: “There's a door over there commander. Approximately 5 meters away. Do you have anything on scanner?”

As Hernandez points her scanner in the direction of the door: “Negative. It’s just a room. Scanner shows no bio signs or anything else of interest.”

“Then let’s have a closer look shall we?” Reed replies.

As the away team arrives at the doorway, their backs leaned against the walls, Reed is the first one to take a quick peek around the corner to see what's inside the room.

“Anything interesting in there, lieutenant?” Hernandez asks.

“It looks like some kind of office”, Reed replies, “Nothing out of the ordinary. I suggest I go in first to secure the room.”

Hernandez gives him a quick nod of the head, approving his next course of action.

Reed swiftly turns around his axes thus positioning himself between the doorposts, his phase pistol ready to stun any creature that might jump at his throat. Suddenly he notices a silhouette leaning on the desk. As he walks further into the room to get a clearer look: “Commander, you might want to take a look at this.”

***
INSIDE THE ALIEN COMPLEX - OFFICE

Where the entire away team is standing around the alien corpse.

Doctor Soong places her medkit on the desk: “Quite a remarkable species.”

“It looks humanoid”, Reed concludes.

“Yes. But those antennae… What biological purpose could they serve?” Hernandez wondered.

Where his human colleagues seem fascinated by the discovery of a new species, all Skon can is see a blue skinned, white haired humanoid with two antenna on his or hers - the gender of the alien has yet to be determined by doctor Soong's medical scan - forehead and nothing more. The beauty and wonder these humans are feeling right now seem to elude him completely. And somehow that carries some sense of comfort. After all it was only a few hours ago, in Enterprise’s mess hall, that he feared that being around these highly emotional creatures would lead him off the pad of logic that Syrran had laid out for his followers.

As doctor Soong sweeps her medical scanner up and down the alien corpse, she concludes: “The alien is female. Cellular decay indicate she died approximately twenty hours ago.”

“Are you able to determine the cause of death?” Hernandez wonders.

Soong takes another look at her medical scanner: “Preliminary scans show symptoms of an acute brain hemorrhage.” As she puts her medical scanner back into her medkit: “But to be absolutely certain I need to perform a full autopsy on the body.”

Suddenly the away team is startled by a stumbling noise coming from somewhere down the corridor.

Reed immediately raises his phase pistol and swiftly walks back to the door. As he peeks outside, into the corridor, there is no one there to be seen. But the sound continues and seems to be coming from a room further down the corridor.

Reed glances over his shoulder and gives Hernandez a quick nod, signaling her he is ready to move out in search of the origins of the noise.

As Reed exits the office, he’s quickly joined by the rest of the away team.

About fifteen meters down the corridor, the away team arrives at what looks like the main research lab of the complex.

***
INSIDE THE ALIEN COMPLEX - RESEARCH LAB

The lab is filled with workstations equipped with computers and laboratory instruments and to their horror it is littered with a dozen alien corpses, all belonging to the same species as the dead alien they just found a few moments ago.

Shocked to witness so much death around her, doctor Soong ignores all standard safety precautions and immediately steps past Reed as she walks over to one of the corpses. As she kneels down and takes out the medical scanner from her medkit, she starts taking scans from the strange blue colored alien lying next to her.

As Hernandez joins her: “Doctor?”

With a worrisome look: “Cause of dead seems to be the same as with the other alien we found in the office down the hall. But my scanner is just a basic diagnostic device. As I mentioned earlier, for a more thorough examination we'd need to take one of these bodies up to the Enterprise.”

“Is it wise to bring a dead body on board the ship, doctor? For all we know they died of some nasty viral infection that’s lethal to humans as well”, Reed interrupts.

Hernandez looks at doctor Soong: “Not if we respect all safety regulations, right, doctor?”

Doctor Soong nods: “If we follow our decontamination protocols rigorously, there shouldn’t be any dangers to ship or crew.” As she looks back down at the dead alien: “Part of our mission is to seek out new life lieutenant. Even if that new life comes in the form of a virus.”

As the three of them start discussing possible procedures to take the alien body with them on board the shuttlepod, Skon is lured towards a soft rumbling coming from within one of the closets in the lab.

Apparently the noise hasn’t been picked up by his fellow human crewmembers, but that shouldn’t come as a surprise to him. Extensive medical testing of some of the Syrrannite refugees that crash landed on Terra Nova had shown that Romulans have a superior hearing over humans.

With slow, carefully placed steps he finally arrives at the source of the noise. Logic dictates that since they’ve encountered dead only aliens so far, the noise must come from an overheated computer core or some other kind of equipment. But beneath the veil of logic runs a river of emotions, screaming he should watch out for what’s behind that door.

Trying to ignore those voices the best he can, his hand slowly reaches for the door handle. But before his fingers can even touch the metallic door handle, the door swings open, revealing a raving mad blue alien jumping at his throat.

The alien pushes the ensign flat onto the ground. Screaming in what sounds to them as unintelligible gibberish, the alien - with his antennae moving and twitching in every direction possible - tries to smash the glass of Skon’s EV helmet with his clenched fists.

Startled by the raving screams of the alien assaulting ensign Skon, the rest of the away team look up as they see Skon - hindered by the clumsiness of his EV suit - trying to throw the blue and white haired alien off of him.

Realizing Skon is no match for this mad alien, Reed quickly reaches for his phase pistol and fires a yellow beam directly at the alien.

It’s a perfect shot. The alien immediately drops down onto Skon and is no longer a threat.

Hernandez, still shocked by all the commotion, loses her calm as she shouts at Reed: “My god, you didn’t kill it, did you?”

Reed shows her the stun setting on his phase pistol and smiles: “Don’t worry, commander. Except for maybe a slight headache, our blue smurf over there will be just fine.”

Doctor Soong quickly runs over to Skon who meanwhile managed to roll the alien off of him. “Are you all right ensign?” she asks him with a worried look upon her face.

“Yes, doctor. Thank you for your concern”, Skon calmly replies.

Reassured by his answer, Soong quickly redirects her attention to the alien assailant. Running her medical scanner up and down: “The alien is male. It looks like he suffered some kind of head trauma, but I can’t detect any external wounds.” Turning off her scanner and looking back up at Hernandez: “We’ve got to bring him with us to Enterprise for further medical examination.”

Hernandez nods her head: “Agreed.” As she turns towards Reed: “Lieutenant: you and doctor Soong will head back to Enterprise with our patient. Ensign Skon and I will remain here in the lab to try to figure out what exactly happened to these aliens. Hopefully we’ll find some answers that can help us solve this mystery.”

“Actually, Sir, I’d feel a whole lot better if I stayed down here with you”, Reed replies with genuine concern. As armory officer he is responsible for not only tactical operations but also for security, both on and off ship. The thought of him sitting comfortably on the bridge while the away team is potentially putting itself in harm’s way down here in the alien complex just doesn’t sit well with him.

“I understand your concern lieutenant”, as she lays her hand on the holster carrying her phase pistol, “But I can handle more than a scanner. We’ll be alright.”

“Of course,” Reed answers with a forced smile - disappointed he is ordered back to the ship. “But may I at least suggest lieutenant Mayweather returns back down here as soon as we’ve made the transfer to Enterprise? This place might look relatively safe, but we’ve already encountered one raving mad alien. And where’s there is one, chances are there are more. Without a shuttlepod you’ll be trapped down here.”

“Agreed. But let’s just hope we won’t need an emergency exit”, as she turns to Skon: “Ready to do some more digging, ensign?”

“Ready when you are, commander”, Skon replies with a calm and steady voice, clearly already fully recovered from the alien attack on his life.

“OK people, we’ve got a job to do here, so let’s get to it”, Hernandez orders the away team.

***

 

***
CAPTAIN’S READY ROOM

And it’s been just under two hours since Shuttlepod One returned from the moon’s surface bringing with them the unconscious alien they found in one of the labs of the science station.

Edison sits behind his desk, browsing through various ship status reports. He should be focusing on the information that’s being displayed on his screen but his mind clearly isn’t on the job.

Ever since lieutenant Reed contacted him from the shuttlepod, informing them they’d be bringing a quote “alien smurf” onboard Enterprise, he’s been feeling on edge. He had hoped that Enterprise’s first mission under his command would run a little smoother. Right now though, he’s being confronted with a science station full of dead aliens with so far only one survivor found - barely alive - and an alien language they still don't understand. A dangerous cocktail if there ever was one. If this had been a Stellar Navy vessel, he would’ve probably have given his helm officer the order to leave this planetary system at maximum warp immediately. After all, the risks of a hostile outcome are far too great.

But, he realized, Enterprise is an exploratory vessel with one of its main mission objectives to seek out new life. And now that they’ve found it, albeit barely clinging on to life, trying to save it was the humane thing to do.

‘Well, let’s just hope these aliens understand the meaning of humane’, he thinks to himself, placing his elbows on his desk as he starts massaging the temples on his forehead in an attempt to relieve himself of some of the stress he’s feeling.

Just as he tries to refocus back on his computer screen, doctor Soong’s voice echoes over the intercom: “Sickbay to captain Edison.”

As Edison punches the intercom button on his desk: “Edison here, doctor. Go ahead.”

“We’ve got some good news captain. My team and I managed to halt the brain damage our patient suffered. But we need to keep him in a medically induced coma to further the healing process and maximize his chances for a full recovery.”

“Understood.”

“There is more, Sir. I think I’ve found what caused his brain damage and what possibly killed those other aliens down at the science station.”

His curiosity peeked: “I’m on my way to sickbay now, doctor”.

***
MEANWHILE INSIDE THE ALIEN COMPLEX

Commander Hernandez and ensign Skon are moving from one computer terminal to the next, randomly pushing keys on the control panels in an attempt to find something recognizably to the human or in the case of Skon, the Romulan eye.

“This is getting frustrating”, Hernandez lets her frustrations run free as she lets out a heavy sigh. “We don’t even understand their language. How the hell are we going to make any sense out of these symbols?”

As Hernandez seems to be hitting a dead end, Skon is focused on a schematic displayed on one of the mayor computer displays. It looks like a detailed map of the alien research lab. His index finger runs across the maze of lines and dots as he tries to pinpoint their current location within the complex.

Only now realizing Skon wasn’t listening to her, she walks over to him: “Anything interesting up here, ensign?”

Looking away from the display, without any sense of excitement: “Maybe commander.” Focusing his attention back to the display: “You see this octagonal room?”

Hernandez takes a step closer to get a better look: “Yes. This looks like the room we’re in.”

“Correct.” As his finger moves up to a white square delineated by two small blue circles. “These blue markers indicate that, whatever this room holds, it is important to these aliens.”

“Maybe the location of their life support system?”, Hernandez guesses.

“No commander. I do not think so. This room is too small to house any system to keep this complex up and running.” Moving his finger to the left corner of the display: “If I’m correct these symbols represent the maintenance room.”

“Than what are they keeping in that room?”

As they both stare back at the display as if hypnotized by the blue circles:

***
ENTEPRISE NX-01 - E-DECK - SICKBAY

Captain Edison walks into sickbay, currently guarded by an armory officer stationed there by direct order of lieutenant Reed.

Doctor Soong didn’t really appreciate this show of force inside her sickbay. Especially considering the comatose state her patient currently finds himself in. But as the captain made clear to her after she filed a formal complaint to his office: a doctor’s job is to take care of people who are sick or worse, suffering from injuries. It’s lieutenant Reed’s job to make sure the number of people who walk into her sickbay with deadly injuries is as low to zero as possible. Which means drastic measures are sometimes necessary to achieve that goal. The alien might not pose an imminent threat to the security of the ship right now, but his presence aboard Enterprise is an anomaly that must be monitored closely.

Although she didn’t agree with his assessment of the situation: from her point of view she is dealing with a patient in a critical medical condition - not an alien intruder with malevolent intentions - she understood that everyone on the Enterprise had his or her role to play. She is a doctor and lieutenant Reed is an armory officer. In order for this mission to be a success, she’d better start learning to trust the professionalism of her fellow crewmembers - even if she doesn’t like their decisions.

Doctor Soong looks up from her primary examination station as she watches Edison carefully examining the alien currently resting on one of the three recovery beds in sickbay.

“They do come in all colors, doctor.” Edison says as he reaches out his fingers to touch one of the alien’s antennae.

Doctor Soong clears her throat, startling Edison. As he looks up at her, he sees her shaking her head firmly ‘no’ at him. Realizing it’s probably not appropriate to touch a patient in a comatose state, even if he is a strange looking alien, he quickly reels in his curiosity.

“You told me over the com you found out what caused these aliens to suddenly drop dead at their workstations”, Edison continues.

Soong activates the medical view screen above the recovery bed. As an image flips up of the alien’s brain scan, she explains: “As you can see, our scans revealed an unusual high activity in the cerebral cortex. Almost as if it was overstimulated somehow, causing their brain to go into extreme psychosis.”

“Any ideas as what caused this… overstimulation?”

Soong looks up at the medical view screen as she lets out a deep sigh, showing her frustration: “No. Unfortunately we haven’t, Sir. We’ve never observed something like this before. We’re very much charting the medical frontier here.”

“What about our away team down at the alien complex? Do you think their safety is at risk?”

Soong turns back to Edison with a worrisome look upon her face: “The physiology of these aliens has a lot in common with our own. Which means humans could be as easily susceptible to whatever caused this as they were.”

Edison simply nods his head, realizing he has to get his away team back to Enterprise as soon as possible if he wants to prevent them of suffering the same fate as these blue aliens.

Just as he is about the exit sickbay, his name is being called through the ship’s intercom.

As he pushes the reply key on the intercom system located next to the door: “Edison here.”

Lieutenant Reed’s voice echoes through sickbay: “Captain. Long range scanners picked up an alien vessel dropping out of warp and entering the system.”

“How long till they reach us?”

A split second for a precise calculation after which Reed replies: “At their current speed, approximately 2 hours and 12 minutes.”

“Order the away team to return back to Enterprise immediately. I’m on my way to the bridge now.”

“Aye, Sir.”

As the captain leaves sickbay:

***
INSIDE THE ALIEN COMPLEX - RESEARCH LAB

Meanwhile commander Hernandez and ensign Skon have found their way into the main research lab inside the alien complex.

There is an uncomfortable and eerie stillness emanating from the lab. It’s quite dark, with the only illumination coming from the various work stations.

Without exchanging any words, they are both immediately attracted to what looks like a basin located at the center of the lab. Hernandez takes out her portable scanner, activating it as they carefully approach the basin.

Each arriving on opposite sides of the basin, Hernandez starts taking a couple of scans of the basin’s interior. Not carrying a scanner with him, Skon has only one way of verifying the basin’s content and that’s looking straight down into it.

As he does, he sees a squid-like creature resting in the water - cables attached to its body, running right up to the ceiling.

Having finished her scans: “The creature is alive.”

“And it’s in pain”, Skon concludes.

“Why do you draw that conclusion ensign?” Hernandez wonders as she puts away her scanner.

Seemingly surprised by his own assessment of the creature’s well-being: “I don’t know, commander.”

Suddenly Skon reaches for his helmet, screaming in pain - shouting: “No! Stop it! Make it stop!”

Startled and horrified by the screams of anguish coming from ensign Skon, Hernandez instinctively takes a few steps back before regaining her wit to confront the situation.

She runs around the basin to ensign Skon - who is now down onto his knees, still screaming in pain - and realizes whatever is happening to him, it’s linked to the alien squid.

As she pulls him back up onto his feet: “Come on, ensign. We’ve got to get you out of this room.”

And just then, Skon stops screaming. He looks up at Hernandez with eyes dazed as if just awoken from a terrible nightmare. And then it starts to dawn on him, as clear as crystal: “I know what happened here, commander.”

On Hernandez’ questioning look:

***

 

***
ENTERPRISE NX-01 - A-DECK - BRIDGE

Where captain Edison has taken his seat, eyes fixed onto the view screen currently displaying an alien vessel with an unfamiliar design approaching fast.

As he swivels his chair, now facing lieutenant Reed’s tactical station: “What have you got on scanners, lieutenant?”

Both of Reed’s hands fly across the keyboards of his station while he analyzes every bit of information that pops up on his screen: “That ship is armed to the teeth, captain. I’m detecting a formidable array of particle cannons composed of multiple forward cannon emplacements, port and starboard wing emitters, as well as dorsal and ventral emitters.”

As Edison turns his chair back towards the view screen: “That’s one hell of a beast we got out there.”

Contemplating their chances in a direct confrontation with the alien vessel, he turns to the young female ensign currently occupying the communication station: “Any word yet from the away team?”

“They’ve just broken the moon’s orbit, Sir. Approximately 10 minutes before they reach Enterprise.”

Edison turns back to Reed: “Estimated time before we come into firing range, lieutenant?”

After triple checking his calculations: “3 minutes and 40 seconds, Sir.”

“Dammit.” Edison smashes his balled right fist on the arm rest of his chair.

***
INSIDE SHUTTLEPOD ONE

As lieutenant JG Vivienne Mayweather pilots the shuttlepod safely out of the moon’s orbit, commander Hernandez is busy checking the sensory data being displayed on her small computer screen.

Troubled by what she just saw, she turns to ensign Skon who sits in the chair across her: “We won’t make it back to Enterprise in time. The alien vessel is approaching Enterprise’s position and it looks like they’re powering up their weapons.”

Skon takes a quick look at his own screen, checking the data for himself. After a moment of silence as he weighs their options, he concludes: “Commander, we have to maneuver ourselves between Enterprise and the alien ship.”

Upon hearing Skon’s seemingly absurd suggestion, Mayweather quickly swivels her chair towards the ensign: “You want me to put us in the middle of a possible crossfire? We’d be blown into a million pieces in no time. You do realize that, don’t you?”

“So we block the alien’s path to Enterprise. Other than giving them something else to shoot at, what are we supposed to do out there?” Hernandez intervenes.

“Let me try to talk to them commander.” Skon answers with deadpan seriousness.

Hernandez scoffs: “Talk to them?”

“Yes. When the creature down at the lab communicated with me, I saw flashes of images. Images connected to words. The creature tried to communicate with these aliens commander through visual association. It tried to stop them from hurting it. But they were overpowered by its message. Their brains just couldn’t handle this extreme intrusive way of communication.”

Not sounding very convinced, Hernandez replies: “And you believe you’ve picked up on enough of this alien language to relay the message we had nothing to do with what happened down there at their science station.”

As Skon straightens his shoulders: “Yes, commander. I believe I can be successful.”

Realizing the window of opportunity for a peaceful resolution is ticking away fast, she turns to Mayweather: “You heard the man, lieutenant. It’s time for us to play the diplomatic card. Let’s polarize the hull plating and wiggle us a way between Enterprise and the alien vessel.”

“Aye, commander. Should we contact Enterprise and advise them on our plan?”

Without looking up from het console: “No ensign. Our time is too short for debate.”

***
ENTERPRISE NX-01 - A-DECK - BRIDGE

Meanwhile on the bridge, tension is running high. After lieutenant Reed detected a weapon’s lock on Enterprise, captain Edison immediately ordered the polarization of the ship’s hull plating. Although Reed pushed the captain for bringing their own weapons online, Edison decided against it. Having seen the scans of the powerful ship hoovering before them, Edison realized their chances of success in combat were slim to non-existent. If there was any chance of a peaceful resolution, they should grab it with both hands.

As the captain swivels his chair towards the ensign manning the communication station in Skon’s absence: “Any response to our hailing?”

Aware of the weight that’s been placed on her shoulders, the ensign tries her best to make sense of the alien gibberish that’s coming through her ear piece: “They’re responding, Sir, but I can’t make any sense of it.” Noticing the worrisome frown upon Edison’s face, she stammers: “I’m sorry, captain.”

Suddenly Reed draws Edison’s attention by shouting: “Shuttlepod One, Sir.”

As Edison swivels his chair, now facing tactical again: “What about them?”

Looking up from his station, clearly baffled by the readings on his screen: “They’re setting course for the alien vessel, Sir.”

Edison jumps out of his chair: “They’re what?!”

Triple checking the data on his screen, Reed realizes this isn’t some false reading caused by a computer glitch. This is really happening. As he looks back up at the captain: “The shuttlepod is positioning itself between Enterprise and the hostile vessel, Sir.”

“On screen,” Edison barks.

As Reed brings the life footage of Shuttlepod One online on the main viewscreen, Edison orders the communication officer to contact commander Hernandez.

The ensign at communication tries her best but to her own frustration she doesn’t get a response form the shuttlepod.

“Are we being jammed by the hostile vessel?” Edison wonders out loud.

“No, Sir. They are receiving our transmissions but somehow they are unable to reply. I don’t understand, Sir,” the ensign answers confused.

Edison looks back at lieutenant Reed: “What the hell is going on out there?”

As Reed just shrugs his shoulders, unable to provide the captain with a reasonable explanation:

***
INSIDE SHUTTLEPOD ONE

Where tension is running equally high as on the bridge of Enterprise.

“We’re in position, commander,” Mayweather informs Hernandez.

“Thank you, lieutenant.”

As commander Hernandez looks up at ensign Skon: “Guess this is it, ensign: showtime.”

Looking confused, Skon answers: “Showtime, commander?”

If the situation wasn’t so dire, Skon’s reaction would certainly get a laugh out of her. Confronted however with a possible life and death scenario, there simply is no time for jokes or small talk. “It’s an old saying on Earth, ensign. It means you’ve got to get to work and prove to us that you’re capable of communicating with these aliens before they blow us apart.”

“Ah. I understand,” he replies as he raises his left eyebrow upwards. Turning back to his own console, he activates an open com channel to the alien vessel hoovering in front of them.

Almost instantly the face of a male blue alien appears on the view screen of Skon’s personal console. His expression is one of anger. Both his antenna are pointing menacingly forward. Without giving Skon a chance to formally introduce himself, the alien starts spouting incomprehensible words and sentences.

After the initial shock of being confronted with this seemingly raging mad alien, Skon closes his eyes as he tries to focus on the words that are spoken by the alien and less on its expression. And as he finds his own little safe spot in the eye of the storm, suddenly he starts picking up on some of the words, connecting them to the images shown to him earlier by the creature in the basin down at the science lab. Verbs, nouns and pronouns - all of a sudden it all seems to fall into place.

Surprised to have solved this language puzzle so quickly, Skon opens his eyes again and with new found confidence he starts addressing the alien in his own language. Commander Hernandez and lieutenant JG Mayweather look at each other confused, wondering what just happened.

As Skon manages to identify themselves, the alien replies: “My name is Thy’lek Shran. Commander of the Andorian warship Kumari. By entering this system and attacking our science station, you have violated the integrity of the Andorian Empire. I hereby order you to surrender your ship and crew to the Andorian Imperial Guard immediately.”

“Since your people have laid claim on this system, we will leave it at once. However we will not surrender ourselves to your Imperial Guard commander Shran,” Skon boldly states.

This seems to upset commander Shran even more: “You murdered our scientists! If you do not surrender yourselves to stand trial for your cruel misdeeds against my people, you will leave me no choice but to take justice into my own hands. And trust me when I say that I will show you no mercy!”

Responding in a calm, almost stoic voice to counterbalance the aggression coming from across the screen, Skon continues: “Commander. I understand your reaction to our presence here. But our vessel only responded to the distress signal sent out by your research lab. When we arrived here, all but one of your scientist were already dead. He is currently being treated by our physician onboard our mother ship, Enterprise.”

Skon continues with explaining to commander Shran what happened at the research lab down on the moon’s surface. A couple of months ago, the Andorian science team discovered a squid-like creature that appeared to use some variation on what is called ‘telepathy’ to communicate with each other. This was of great interest to their scientists, so they captured one of these creatures to examine it further. Held against its will, trying desperately to get back to its own kind, the creature tried to connect with the scientists through the only way it knew how: telepathy. Unfortunately, being exposed to these immense telepathic waves sent out by the creature trying to make a peaceful connection, the Andorian scientists succumbed to severe head trauma resulting in their death.

Skon, capable of communicating with the creature, together with commander Hernandez decided it would be best to set it free from its confinement. And so finally it was able to return safely to its own kind, to roam the deep dark oceans that cover the moon down below in freedom.

As Skon relays the account of the facts, the antennae on the Andorian commander Shran seem to lay down. Most likely a manifestation of his sadness. Realizing these humans had nothing to do with the death of his people, he barks an order to his tactical officer to take down their weapon’s lock on Enterprise and Shuttlepold One. There will be no more deaths today.

“Can I see our scientist?” he asks Skon.

Skon looks to his side at Hernandez, translating the Andorian’s request. The commander just nods her head with a big smile.

Looking back at the viewscreen, Skon replies: “Of course, commander Shran. We will contact our captain to make the necessary arrangements.”

As the transmission ends, Mayweather and Hernandez clap their hands together in a high five, making Skon raise his left eyebrow again - clearly not understanding the meaning of a high five.

***
OPEN SPACE

And it’s been two hours since Enterprise left the planetary system and the Andorians behind.

The ship cruises safely at warp 3, setting course for a gaseous anomaly to explore.

***
ENTEPRISE NX-01 - E-DECK - SICKBAY

The primary examination table is pulled out of the imaging chamber. Lying on the table in a white medical gown, is Skon.

“You can get up now ensign,” doctor Soong instructs the young ensign.

As Skon sits up straight, looking up at the data that’s being displayed on the view screen hanging above the imaging chamber: “Did your scans show anything abnormal, doctor?”

Doctor Soong looks at the scanning data displayed at her primary examination station. As she compares the images of his brain scan with those in his medical file, she concludes: “No. Scans show no deviations.” Turning back to Skon: “Which means, somehow, your species is able to communicate on some kind of telepathic level. Have there been any reports on similar cases like this on your home world?”

Skon shakes his head. “No. Not that I’m aware of.” But suddenly he starts remembering a story from ancient scriptures past down from generation to generation by the followers of Syrran: “However there is this story doctor. A story about Surak -our guide to all that is logic - and how he was able to communicate his thoughts to his disciples without the use of words by performing a sacred ritual. The details of this ritual, unfortunately like many other stories about Surak, were lost in history.”

“Well,” as doctor Soong puts away her medical equipment and deactivates the imaging chamber, “my father was a history professor. And he always believed there was a historical basis in myths and legends. You just have to look in the right places to find the answer. Maybe you should take another look at those scriptures of yours?”

Skon nods his head. “Thank you, doctor. I think I will.”

***
CAPTAIN’S READY ROOM

Captain Edison stands at the viewport, staring at the stars streaking by.

Sitting in the couch in the corner of the Ready Room, commander Hernandez.

After a moment of silence Edison turns around, now facing her: “I should laud you for your brave intervention commander. Lieutenant Reed has run every battle scenario possible and in each of them, Enterprise would have been no match for the Andorian battlecruiser. Your actions probably saved us all today.”

“Thank you, Sir. Although credit should go fully to ensign Skon. If it weren’t for him, we wouldn’t have been able to make contact with the Andorians,” Hernandez answers.

“That may be true commander, but you made the final call. It was you after all who decided to maneuver Shuttlepod One between our ship and the theirs.”

Feeling a sense of anger running beneath the captain’s words of praise, she tries to take the issue head-on: “But we should have informed you of our plan.”

Now Edison’s anger explodes: “Damn right you should have.” As he turns back to the viewport, trying to reign in his anger: “As captain I should be involved in every decision that involves the safety of this ship and its crew. Enterprise may not be a ship in service of Earth’s Stellar Navy, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a chain of command on this ship.”

“I understand, Sir,” Hernandez humbly replies, “it won’t happen again.”

Remembering his adventures with the Stellar Navy in just a blink of an eye: “Space is not only a place of wonders commander. It can be dangerous as well. That much we’ve learned today. We need each other if we’re going to survive out here.”

“I couldn’t agree more, Sir.”

“Good, I’m glad we understand each other.” Edison turns back to Hernandez, all of his anger having subsided, “I’ve invited lieutenant Mayweather and ensign Skon for dinner later this evening. Consider it a debriefing in a non-formal atmosphere. Would you care to join us?”

As Hernandez gets up from the couch, smiling: “I’d be happy to, Sir.”

Edison smiles too - content that his first officer accepted his reprimand without any resistance or hard feelings. If this had been a Navy vessel, she’d most likely have been stripped of her rank. But Enterprise is a science vessel, manned by mostly a civilian crew of scientists. In order for this mission to succeed, he too - as captain -has to adept to a new reality.

After all, the challenges that lie ahead of them will - without a doubt - need the best of both worlds.


TO BE CONTINUED …