Stardate 54332.57
Somewhere in the Hu'uro Cluster...
"We've got something on the long-range sensors, Captain."
Commander Linda Flynn spun the command chair to her left to face the Science station, pushing a strand of her usually-impeccably-coiffed red hair out of her tired eyes. "Please tell me it's not another sensor glitch. I'm not going without sleep for another ten hours while we chase across an asteroid belt for what turns out to be Lt. Hirano's mice loose in Engineering again."
The bridge crew shared a weary chuckle. Unfortunately, the USS Danville had been plagued by such problems practically since she'd left McKinley Station. A Block II Ambassador-class cruiser, the Danville had been dug out of mothballs and gutted, then packed with every sensor system the Corps of Engineers could scrounge that was at least minimally functional.. not to mention every civilian science geek from three sectors. Thusly equipped, the Danville was sent to the Hu'uro Cluster to 'catalogue' the (already catalogued) stellar nursery there.
As the Danville was still nominally a Starfleet vessel, a Starfleet command crew had been 'installed', and Commander Linda Flynn got the call. Or the shaft, she'd thought darkly, when the orders came through. There had been a lot of such assignments lately, with command-track officers who didn't agree with the Unified Command's recent actions shuffled off to dead-end, career-ending assignments.
Curse you, Admiral Durham, thought Linda.
"Doesn't seem to be a glitch, Captain," said Lawrence Fletcher from Science. "For what it's worth, I've run a diagnostic and this contact seems to be genuine." His soft British accent tickled her ears, and she smiled to herself. The accent had been the icing on the cake of the reasons why she'd married him, despite her friend Vivian Garcia-Shapiro.. sorry, make that Captain Garcia-Shapiro, commander of the lead ship of the new Daikatana-class cruisers.. telling her it would be career suicide. The things we do for love, she thought...
"Captain?"
"I'm sorry, Mr. Fletcher. What did you say?"
"I said, we need to get closer to get any actionable data on this contact. Initial readings indicate some sort of crystalline arrangement, but that's about it."
"Very well. Mr. Meap, ahead one-half impulse, close to five hundred thousand kilometers."
"Meap." The Danville shuddered slightly as the impulse engines sputtered to life and pushed the aged ship forward. About twenty minutes later, Commander Flynn ordered all stop.
"Close enough, Mr. Fletcher?" she asked. The Danville had a pitifully substandard weapons loadout, so Commander Flynn was understandably overcautious. Hell, we're outgunned by the runabout I managed to wrangle from Utopia Planitia...
"Let's see what we can get," he replied. "If we need to get closer, I'll let you know." He turned his focus to the Science station, aiming the Danville's strongest sensors at the contact. Before long, data started streaming across the monitors.
While they waited for the computer to collate the data, Lawrence stepped over to the command chair and rubbed Linda's shoulders gently.
"Did you see the last letter from the boys?"
"Yes, yes I did." Linda's son and stepson (Lawrence's only child) as well as Linda's daughter were assigned to the USS Challenger, currently in the far distant Gateway sector. Communication with Gateway was extremely difficult, so any word from the boys was very welcome. "They've both been assigned to the ship's engineering Alpha Team."
"That's my boys." Before Lawrence could say anything else, the computer chirped loudly. He moved back over to the Science station and looked over the various readouts. "That's peculiar..."
"I'm not sure I like the way you said that," Linda said.
"Well, the object is large, very large, and reading like a Crystalline Entity, but the crystal arrangement is different, more.. solid. I'm also getting some weird biological readings." Lawrence activated more sensor arrays and began tuning the ones already pointed at the contact. "Some sort of rhythmic pulsing.. I think I can put it on speakers." He flipped a switch, and the sound filled the bridge.
Thump. Thump-thump. Thump. Thump-thump. Thump. Thump-thump.
"That is peculiar," Linda said nervously. "It sounds like.. like a heartbeat. Is that even possible?" Before anyone could answer, several alarms started screaming at once, and the unknown object that had previously been a distant speck on the viewscreen was suddenly getting a lot closer.
"Mr. Meap, get us out of here, full reverse!" she yelled.
"Meap! Meap!" The diminutive alien at Helm fought with the controls; the Danville protested and the engines howled but she started to move slowly.. too slowly...
"Some sort of energy buildup in the contact's crystals," Lawrence shouted over the din in the bridge. "It's.. my God, the power levels..." A beam of intense power struck the Danville on the secondary hull's port side, slamming into the ship with incalculable force. Linda Flynn somehow managed to hold on and keep herself seated, but she could hear the sickening crunch of bones breaking as people on the bridge smashed into consoles or each other. The Danville began listing at an impossible angle, venting precious atmosphere and drive plasma.
"Another buildup!"
"All hands abandon ship! All hands abandon ship! All hands..."
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
to be continued
Somewhere in the Hu'uro Cluster...
"We've got something on the long-range sensors, Captain."
Commander Linda Flynn spun the command chair to her left to face the Science station, pushing a strand of her usually-impeccably-coiffed red hair out of her tired eyes. "Please tell me it's not another sensor glitch. I'm not going without sleep for another ten hours while we chase across an asteroid belt for what turns out to be Lt. Hirano's mice loose in Engineering again."
The bridge crew shared a weary chuckle. Unfortunately, the USS Danville had been plagued by such problems practically since she'd left McKinley Station. A Block II Ambassador-class cruiser, the Danville had been dug out of mothballs and gutted, then packed with every sensor system the Corps of Engineers could scrounge that was at least minimally functional.. not to mention every civilian science geek from three sectors. Thusly equipped, the Danville was sent to the Hu'uro Cluster to 'catalogue' the (already catalogued) stellar nursery there.
As the Danville was still nominally a Starfleet vessel, a Starfleet command crew had been 'installed', and Commander Linda Flynn got the call. Or the shaft, she'd thought darkly, when the orders came through. There had been a lot of such assignments lately, with command-track officers who didn't agree with the Unified Command's recent actions shuffled off to dead-end, career-ending assignments.
Curse you, Admiral Durham, thought Linda.
"Doesn't seem to be a glitch, Captain," said Lawrence Fletcher from Science. "For what it's worth, I've run a diagnostic and this contact seems to be genuine." His soft British accent tickled her ears, and she smiled to herself. The accent had been the icing on the cake of the reasons why she'd married him, despite her friend Vivian Garcia-Shapiro.. sorry, make that Captain Garcia-Shapiro, commander of the lead ship of the new Daikatana-class cruisers.. telling her it would be career suicide. The things we do for love, she thought...
"Captain?"
"I'm sorry, Mr. Fletcher. What did you say?"
"I said, we need to get closer to get any actionable data on this contact. Initial readings indicate some sort of crystalline arrangement, but that's about it."
"Very well. Mr. Meap, ahead one-half impulse, close to five hundred thousand kilometers."
"Meap." The Danville shuddered slightly as the impulse engines sputtered to life and pushed the aged ship forward. About twenty minutes later, Commander Flynn ordered all stop.
"Close enough, Mr. Fletcher?" she asked. The Danville had a pitifully substandard weapons loadout, so Commander Flynn was understandably overcautious. Hell, we're outgunned by the runabout I managed to wrangle from Utopia Planitia...
"Let's see what we can get," he replied. "If we need to get closer, I'll let you know." He turned his focus to the Science station, aiming the Danville's strongest sensors at the contact. Before long, data started streaming across the monitors.
While they waited for the computer to collate the data, Lawrence stepped over to the command chair and rubbed Linda's shoulders gently.
"Did you see the last letter from the boys?"
"Yes, yes I did." Linda's son and stepson (Lawrence's only child) as well as Linda's daughter were assigned to the USS Challenger, currently in the far distant Gateway sector. Communication with Gateway was extremely difficult, so any word from the boys was very welcome. "They've both been assigned to the ship's engineering Alpha Team."
"That's my boys." Before Lawrence could say anything else, the computer chirped loudly. He moved back over to the Science station and looked over the various readouts. "That's peculiar..."
"I'm not sure I like the way you said that," Linda said.
"Well, the object is large, very large, and reading like a Crystalline Entity, but the crystal arrangement is different, more.. solid. I'm also getting some weird biological readings." Lawrence activated more sensor arrays and began tuning the ones already pointed at the contact. "Some sort of rhythmic pulsing.. I think I can put it on speakers." He flipped a switch, and the sound filled the bridge.
Thump. Thump-thump. Thump. Thump-thump. Thump. Thump-thump.
"That is peculiar," Linda said nervously. "It sounds like.. like a heartbeat. Is that even possible?" Before anyone could answer, several alarms started screaming at once, and the unknown object that had previously been a distant speck on the viewscreen was suddenly getting a lot closer.
"Mr. Meap, get us out of here, full reverse!" she yelled.
"Meap! Meap!" The diminutive alien at Helm fought with the controls; the Danville protested and the engines howled but she started to move slowly.. too slowly...
"Some sort of energy buildup in the contact's crystals," Lawrence shouted over the din in the bridge. "It's.. my God, the power levels..." A beam of intense power struck the Danville on the secondary hull's port side, slamming into the ship with incalculable force. Linda Flynn somehow managed to hold on and keep herself seated, but she could hear the sickening crunch of bones breaking as people on the bridge smashed into consoles or each other. The Danville began listing at an impossible angle, venting precious atmosphere and drive plasma.
"Another buildup!"
"All hands abandon ship! All hands abandon ship! All hands..."
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
to be continued
Last edited:
) time to focus and, you know, write...
