Something of a gift!
- Thread starter unusualsuspex
- Start date
And then some CeJay! And then some!!!! 
INTERLUDE
Originator - SFHQ - NAVS & FLT PLANS (001)
Standard Navigation Mandatory Warning Zero Zero Seven Sierra Sierra
Area - An area bounded by the positions of the following stellar marks:
1. KESSIK
2. BELLATRIX (Gamma Orionis)
3. FGC-82659
Periphery and boundary markers at standard intervals. Marker frequency set as SSF33.213.
Duration - Permanent
Nature - Unknown
Further - This region of space has been noted as hazardous to navigation for some time. Ship’s sensor functions are unreliable throughout this region. Vessel losses of several major Federation members have been noted but have so far been credited to unknown phenomena in this area. Navigation within this zone is at ship master’s own risk. All vessels to maintain ship’s marker buoy on standby and subspace frequency 221.22 in reserve.
* * *
The creature had driven the storm to the limits of its power and even then had almost failed in its purpose. Having caught the energy sources seemingly at rest, it had extended itself to such a point of thinness that dissolution was only one of the fatal possibilities that faced it.
But having managed to snag the outer lying energy source with a tenuous grip, it had abandoned its hold on the storm and driven forward. The brief moment that it took for the energy source to respond had been enough for the creature to curl itself around the sources pulsing heart and relax for the first time in what seemed an eternity.
Feed soon.
Too tired to feed, but knowing that it now had time, it slowly entered a dormant state. Or at least almost dormant. It knew that its prey was now fleeing with no idea that it was already too late but it was fleeing in exactly the right direction; into the heart of the breeding ground where for aeons the creature had spawned. Hovering and slipping between realities, the creature would eventually expand into adjacent continuums and anchor itself before the final burst of light that would herald its ultimate dissolution. The birth of its race anew would follow as elements of the creature splintered, writhed and reformed to spread its seed across multiple realities.
Rest.
For now, it could rest and so must it be, because soon the energy released in its reformation and rebirth would devastate and scour clean a region of space only just recovering from the last renaissance.
Rest……..
Chapter Five
It had taken a further frantic hour for the storm to lose its impetus allowing the Atlas and her connected cargo drones to slow and eventually halt their headlong flight into the Delta Triangle. Aster ordered the yellow alert to be maintained at least until they could ascertain that none of the vessels had been affected by the close call. Unspoken was the concern that the Delta Triangle might offer its own dangers.
Throughout Atlas, engineering and diagnostic crews were examining the ship to ensure that the buffeting the storm had given them hadn’t dislodged or disrupted equipment and on the bridge, the captain listened carefully as reports came in.
“Captain?”
Aster turned to the loadmaster’s console and saw that he wore an expression that contained equal amounts of worry and confusion.
“Problem Mr Viljoen?”
“I can’t be certain at the moment Captain, but it concerns Delta Two.”
Standing, she made her way up from the command well and stood by the loadmaster’s station. Viljoen brought up a schematic of the cargo drone and pointed to a sidebar.
“These are the energy output readings from Delta Two when we were having trouble convincing it to tag along.”
Aster peered at the readings and saw a small portion of the graph where the energy output apparently flatlined, or rather…
“Am I reading that correctly Mr Viljoen? Energy levels were at optimum throughout that period but for that brief moment it looks like they were…I don’t know, absorbed or…” Aster shrugged at a loss for words to describe what had occurred.
“Absorbed is just about right Captain. The energy was being produced by the warp core but it wasn’t reaching the nacelles so there was no warp field produced.”
By this time, DeVille had completed his circuit of the bridge stations and was standing behind Viljoen and Aster.
“What do you make of this Tom?”
DeVille studied the screen for a moment but eventually, unable to fathom the bizarre readings, turned to Aster and said “‘Absorbed’ seems to sum it up but there’s nothing in the manual that would explain that.”
“Nothing in an engineering manual at any rate,” replied Aster, her Australian twang becoming more noticeable. Stepping back from the console, she straightened and declared, “Tom, Lieutenant Skell, with me. Comms, ask Commander Grax to round up a small security team and meet the landing party in transporter room two in five minutes. Commander Lense to report to the bridge.”
Within moments, the Chief Engineer appeared and Aster briefed her on the situation which left her just as confused as the rest of the bridge crew.
“I’d advise though Captain that you take a medical team with you. That energy has to be going somewhere even if it’s not registering on sensors.”
Nodding once, she became all business and headed for the turbolift. Pausing just before entering, she turned back and pointed a finger at Lense. “Remember where we are Andrea. Sensors probably won’t be of much help in here so until we sort this I want yellow alert maintained. First sign of trouble, bug out whether we’re back aboard or not, got it?”
Lense nodded once. “Captain, what if we can’t get Delta Two online?”
There was no hesitation when Aster said “Bug out, Andrea.”
By the time Aster, DeVille, Skell, Marriott and Nurse Ch’hath sparkled into being aboard Delta Two, Grax had already set up a standard perimeter around the beam in site. Quietly DeVille turned to Aster.
“Are you sure the security team are necessary Alison?”
Aster gave him a wry grin. “Are you sure they’re not?”
Before DeVille could do more than roll his eyes, Grax ambled forward in that strange but smooth gait that all Triexians possessed and reported to Aster.
“All decks confirmed clear of known life forms Captain, though I obviously don’t need to remind you that that doesn’t take into account unknown life forms.”
“Thank you Commander,” replied Aster taking a moment to cast a brief ‘told you so’ grin at DeVille. Taking in the remaining members of the landing party with a more serious mien, she continued, “Weapons are authorised, set to stun. Commander DeVille, your recommendations?”
Pausing for a moment to get a mental image of the cargo drone’s layout he finally replied, “Engineering would be the best place to start. Let me just tap into the network.”
He strode to a nearby console and began entering commands at the interface. Unlike the larger Atlas, the smaller cargo drone had no bridge as such and its engineering space was also much smaller. Much of the main hull of the drone was devoted to cargo space with a central vertical column of space given over to turbolift, Jeffries tubes and small but vitally important cargo handling areas.
“Internal sensors aren’t giving me any radiation or plasma warnings Captain, but I’d advise caution as we proceed. A leak of anything corrosive could well have affected sensors in any given area.” He tapped the screen, indicating the small engineering space. “As for our mystery energy drain…” He shrugged his shoulders
“Doctor?” Aster was all business now. She didn’t like mysteries at the best of times, but being immobile in the Delta Triangle with a troublesome cargo drone sealed the deal for her
“Well with the exception that he didn’t recommend we all beam back to the Atlas, I’d agree with the Commander. Tricorder scans aren’t picking up anything toxic or harmful but,” she nodded towards the Triexian security chief, “as Commander Grax rightly points out, that’s only the ‘harmful’ we know about.”
“Alright, Mr Grax, you have point. Let’s head for engineering and see whether we can persuade this recalcitrant bucket of bolts to play nicely.”
With Grax and Ensign Ward leading, the remaining members of the party followed with Lieutenant Sidhu bringing up the rear. Making their way from deck to deck towards engineering, they passed airlocks leading to sealed containers of quadro-triticale destined for Cestus III. The four grain hybrid of wheat and rye was not only hardy but gave an extremely high yield, just what the colonists there needed if they were ever hoping to become self-sufficient. It was a consignment that Aster wasn’t willing to lose easily.
Finally arriving at their destination, Grax took the proffered tricorder from Skell and scanned beyond the engineering door. Once or twice, the tricorder emitted what sounded to DeVille like desultory tones and Grax reset the scan with a somewhat lyrical curse.
“Problem Commander?” enquired Aster.
Skell stepped forward, holding his hand out for the tricorder. “If I may Commander?”
Grax gratefully handed the device to the Vulcan who made several adjustments to the scanning parameters before performing a scan himself. A raised eyebrow was the only visible reaction to the readings though for Skell, it might as well have been a scowl of disapproval.
“Captain, the readings are beyond inconclusive.” Aster raised her own eyebrow in response. “While I can scan the physical parameters of the engineering deck, there are moments when the tricorder reports that the room is changing in size before it reverts back to normal once more.” Skell paused as if afraid that the illogical properties he was seeing in the scan were taunting him.
“Mr Skell, today please?” Aster knew that Skell was only happy operating with hard facts at his disposal but with time of the essence, she wasn’t happy waiting.
He passed the tricorder to Aster who studied it for a moment before her other eyebrow rose to meet the first. Skell waited patiently with his hands calmly held behind his back. They may as well have been discussing the evening mess menu for all the emotion he showed.
“Is this even possible Skell?” Her voice reflected her incredulity.
“There are two options given the known facts Captain. One, this area of the Delta Triangle is indeed causing sensor issues that negate any reliable information being derived from scans. Or two,” he continued calmly, “the engineering deck in front of us is, at random intervals, expanding to encompass several cubic light years of space.”
FIVE
Throughout Atlas, engineering and diagnostic crews were examining the ship to ensure that the buffeting the storm had given them hadn’t dislodged or disrupted equipment and on the bridge, the captain listened carefully as reports came in.
“Captain?”
Aster turned to the loadmaster’s console and saw that he wore an expression that contained equal amounts of worry and confusion.
“Problem Mr Viljoen?”
“I can’t be certain at the moment Captain, but it concerns Delta Two.”
Standing, she made her way up from the command well and stood by the loadmaster’s station. Viljoen brought up a schematic of the cargo drone and pointed to a sidebar.
“These are the energy output readings from Delta Two when we were having trouble convincing it to tag along.”
Aster peered at the readings and saw a small portion of the graph where the energy output apparently flatlined, or rather…
“Am I reading that correctly Mr Viljoen? Energy levels were at optimum throughout that period but for that brief moment it looks like they were…I don’t know, absorbed or…” Aster shrugged at a loss for words to describe what had occurred.
“Absorbed is just about right Captain. The energy was being produced by the warp core but it wasn’t reaching the nacelles so there was no warp field produced.”
By this time, DeVille had completed his circuit of the bridge stations and was standing behind Viljoen and Aster.
“What do you make of this Tom?”
DeVille studied the screen for a moment but eventually, unable to fathom the bizarre readings, turned to Aster and said “‘Absorbed’ seems to sum it up but there’s nothing in the manual that would explain that.”
“Nothing in an engineering manual at any rate,” replied Aster, her Australian twang becoming more noticeable. Stepping back from the console, she straightened and declared, “Tom, Lieutenant Skell, with me. Comms, ask Commander Grax to round up a small security team and meet the landing party in transporter room two in five minutes. Commander Lense to report to the bridge.”
Within moments, the Chief Engineer appeared and Aster briefed her on the situation which left her just as confused as the rest of the bridge crew.
“I’d advise though Captain that you take a medical team with you. That energy has to be going somewhere even if it’s not registering on sensors.”
Nodding once, she became all business and headed for the turbolift. Pausing just before entering, she turned back and pointed a finger at Lense. “Remember where we are Andrea. Sensors probably won’t be of much help in here so until we sort this I want yellow alert maintained. First sign of trouble, bug out whether we’re back aboard or not, got it?”
Lense nodded once. “Captain, what if we can’t get Delta Two online?”
There was no hesitation when Aster said “Bug out, Andrea.”
* * *
By the time Aster, DeVille, Skell, Marriott and Nurse Ch’hath sparkled into being aboard Delta Two, Grax had already set up a standard perimeter around the beam in site. Quietly DeVille turned to Aster.
“Are you sure the security team are necessary Alison?”
Aster gave him a wry grin. “Are you sure they’re not?”
Before DeVille could do more than roll his eyes, Grax ambled forward in that strange but smooth gait that all Triexians possessed and reported to Aster.
“All decks confirmed clear of known life forms Captain, though I obviously don’t need to remind you that that doesn’t take into account unknown life forms.”
“Thank you Commander,” replied Aster taking a moment to cast a brief ‘told you so’ grin at DeVille. Taking in the remaining members of the landing party with a more serious mien, she continued, “Weapons are authorised, set to stun. Commander DeVille, your recommendations?”
Pausing for a moment to get a mental image of the cargo drone’s layout he finally replied, “Engineering would be the best place to start. Let me just tap into the network.”
He strode to a nearby console and began entering commands at the interface. Unlike the larger Atlas, the smaller cargo drone had no bridge as such and its engineering space was also much smaller. Much of the main hull of the drone was devoted to cargo space with a central vertical column of space given over to turbolift, Jeffries tubes and small but vitally important cargo handling areas.
“Internal sensors aren’t giving me any radiation or plasma warnings Captain, but I’d advise caution as we proceed. A leak of anything corrosive could well have affected sensors in any given area.” He tapped the screen, indicating the small engineering space. “As for our mystery energy drain…” He shrugged his shoulders
“Doctor?” Aster was all business now. She didn’t like mysteries at the best of times, but being immobile in the Delta Triangle with a troublesome cargo drone sealed the deal for her
“Well with the exception that he didn’t recommend we all beam back to the Atlas, I’d agree with the Commander. Tricorder scans aren’t picking up anything toxic or harmful but,” she nodded towards the Triexian security chief, “as Commander Grax rightly points out, that’s only the ‘harmful’ we know about.”
“Alright, Mr Grax, you have point. Let’s head for engineering and see whether we can persuade this recalcitrant bucket of bolts to play nicely.”
With Grax and Ensign Ward leading, the remaining members of the party followed with Lieutenant Sidhu bringing up the rear. Making their way from deck to deck towards engineering, they passed airlocks leading to sealed containers of quadro-triticale destined for Cestus III. The four grain hybrid of wheat and rye was not only hardy but gave an extremely high yield, just what the colonists there needed if they were ever hoping to become self-sufficient. It was a consignment that Aster wasn’t willing to lose easily.
Finally arriving at their destination, Grax took the proffered tricorder from Skell and scanned beyond the engineering door. Once or twice, the tricorder emitted what sounded to DeVille like desultory tones and Grax reset the scan with a somewhat lyrical curse.
“Problem Commander?” enquired Aster.
Skell stepped forward, holding his hand out for the tricorder. “If I may Commander?”
Grax gratefully handed the device to the Vulcan who made several adjustments to the scanning parameters before performing a scan himself. A raised eyebrow was the only visible reaction to the readings though for Skell, it might as well have been a scowl of disapproval.
“Captain, the readings are beyond inconclusive.” Aster raised her own eyebrow in response. “While I can scan the physical parameters of the engineering deck, there are moments when the tricorder reports that the room is changing in size before it reverts back to normal once more.” Skell paused as if afraid that the illogical properties he was seeing in the scan were taunting him.
“Mr Skell, today please?” Aster knew that Skell was only happy operating with hard facts at his disposal but with time of the essence, she wasn’t happy waiting.
He passed the tricorder to Aster who studied it for a moment before her other eyebrow rose to meet the first. Skell waited patiently with his hands calmly held behind his back. They may as well have been discussing the evening mess menu for all the emotion he showed.
“Is this even possible Skell?” Her voice reflected her incredulity.
“There are two options given the known facts Captain. One, this area of the Delta Triangle is indeed causing sensor issues that negate any reliable information being derived from scans. Or two,” he continued calmly, “the engineering deck in front of us is, at random intervals, expanding to encompass several cubic light years of space.”
Hmmmmmmmmm methinks thou doest hath a notion
Chapter Six
There was silence for several seconds as Aster tried to absorb the information.
“To be perfectly honest Captain, I would suggest the former of those two options rather than the latter.” Skell waved a hand towards the nearby bulkhead. “We know from Starfleet reports and continued navigation warnings that the Delta Triangle badly affects sensors in numerous random ways. It would seem more logical to suggest that this is one such event rather than the possibility of a very local rift in the time space continuum.”
She was about to reach for her communicator when Skell held up his hand.
“It would be unwise, however, to rule out the possibility altogether.”
Aster slowly finished her action and flipped open the grid.
“Aster to Atlas.”
“Lense here Captain.”
Feeling a chill run down her spine at the implications of Skell’s revelation, she realised that time was indeed running out if this proved to be anything but a sensor glitch.
“Commander, anything on sensors that I should be worried about?”
There was a slight pause as Lense obviously polled the crew around the bridge for an update, but eventually replied with “Negative Captain. Nothing untoward though we are receiving what appear to be occasional sensor echoes. All distant and none making any approach within several light years.”
“Could you scan the engineering deck here please Commander?”
To Lense’s credit, she didn’t request clarification for the somewhat unusual order, even though she was well aware that the landing party were equipped with both science and medical tricorders of their own. A moment later she replied.
“Nothing we weren’t already aware of Captain. We’re still seeing the energy flow being absorbed or otherwise redistributed but no sign of intruders or internal damage.”
On hearing the report, Skell immediately ran another scan from his tricorder.
“I concur Captain. The volume fluctuations appear to have ceased as Commander Lense reports.”
Aster absorbed the news with some trepidation, though she allowed none of that worry to show in her voice.
“Thanks Andrea. I want transporter rooms one and two to maintain a transporter lock on their respective parties and I want continuous scans of the engineering space here. If there’s even the hint of something you’re not happy with, I’m authorising emergency beam out.”
“Got it Captain.” In a quieter voice Lense finished with, “Be careful Captain. Atlas standing by.”
Closing the gold grid, Aster returned the communicator to her belt and once again removed her phaser.
“Let’s find out what’s happening then ladies and gentlemen. I believe we have some shore leave accrued on Cestus III that I, for one, don’t want to see delayed.”
Aster’s tone was light but her eyes were narrowed as she waved Grax and Ward forward to point once more.
Holding his phaser steadily in his centre hand, Grax reached forward with his left and tapped the controls opening the door to engineering. Ward quickly slipped inside the dimly lit room and broke to the left as Grax followed and moved nimbly on his three legs to the right.
Taking cover behind consoles and conduits, the two security officers leapfrogged forward covered by Sidhu who remained in partial cover at the door. For several minutes there was no sound from the room setting Aster’s nerves on edge. At last however, she heard the piping tones of Grax giving the all clear and Sidhu waved them forward.
Skell kept up a continuous tricorder scan of the room but was relieved to note no further occurrence of the fluctuating dimensions he’d witnessed earlier. Marriott also scanned the room with the medical tricorder assuring Aster that there was no harmful radiation or airborne threat to their health.
DeVille, meanwhile, had moved directly to the main engineering console. He studied the configuration of the power routing conduits, and then set a level five diagnostic in process before turning his attention back to the room.
“Any chance of getting a little more light in…?” Aster’s voice ended abruptly although he could see her silhouetted against the screen protecting the intermix chamber.
“Captain?”
She held up a hand for him to wait a moment and then tilted her head slightly. A moment later he saw her body posture relax and he released a sigh of relief.
“Sorry Tom, just getting jumpy in my old age. Thought I saw something…well it doesn’t matter. Let’s just have a little more light before I start jumping at my own shadow.”
DeVille turned back to the console once more and increased the lighting in the room to a comfortable level. When he returned his attention to the landing party he saw that Aster was deep in conversation with Skell as Grax and his team remained alert on the periphery. Marriott simply affected the world weary expression of somebody who felt their time would be better spent elsewhere as she handed the medical tricorder back to Ch’hath.
“Just what the hell is happening here Tom?” Though Aster’s voice was quiet, it seemed to carry and echo in the cathedral like space of the engineering deck. For his part, DeVille inspected the space around the warp core and shrugged slightly.
“Only one way to find out I guess.” He held his hand out towards the drone’s heart in a questioning gesture, “With your permission Captain?”
Aster nodded and he called Skell over.
“Mr Skell, I’ll need you to monitor the warp core and power taps from the main console there while I make a visual inspection of the main junctions from the gantry.”
Skell passed the tricorder to DeVille and moved to the activated main systems monitor to bring up the appropriate diagnostic routines. What happened next was so fast that even in hindsight the landing party members had difficulty deciding exactly what they had seen.
DeVille had climbed partway up the starboard access ladder and turned to ensure that Skell was ready when he felt a faint tingling on his skin. His immediate impression was that the feeling was the natural static discharge that occurred around high energy conduits but it was almost immediately accompanied by…
…the room stretched to infinity in front of Aster and for that instant she was grasped by a sudden vertiginous panic…
…Marriott fell to the floor fearing she was about to slide into an abyss so deep and terrifying that there would be no escape…
…as Grax attempted to steady himself with a tripedal stance that had been one of his greatest assets until now…
…and DeVille felt a surge of pressure pass him, causing him to lose his already tenuous grip on the gantry ladder…
Aster was picked up from the deck and thrown backwards, tumbling head over feet like a leaf tossed in a non-existent wind, before slamming into the forward bulkhead and sliding limply to the floor.
Coronas of light enveloped the entire party as the sing-song tinkle of the transporter effect took them in its grasp, spiriting them away from the familiar place that had suddenly become deadly.
SIX
“To be perfectly honest Captain, I would suggest the former of those two options rather than the latter.” Skell waved a hand towards the nearby bulkhead. “We know from Starfleet reports and continued navigation warnings that the Delta Triangle badly affects sensors in numerous random ways. It would seem more logical to suggest that this is one such event rather than the possibility of a very local rift in the time space continuum.”
She was about to reach for her communicator when Skell held up his hand.
“It would be unwise, however, to rule out the possibility altogether.”
Aster slowly finished her action and flipped open the grid.
“Aster to Atlas.”
“Lense here Captain.”
Feeling a chill run down her spine at the implications of Skell’s revelation, she realised that time was indeed running out if this proved to be anything but a sensor glitch.
“Commander, anything on sensors that I should be worried about?”
There was a slight pause as Lense obviously polled the crew around the bridge for an update, but eventually replied with “Negative Captain. Nothing untoward though we are receiving what appear to be occasional sensor echoes. All distant and none making any approach within several light years.”
“Could you scan the engineering deck here please Commander?”
To Lense’s credit, she didn’t request clarification for the somewhat unusual order, even though she was well aware that the landing party were equipped with both science and medical tricorders of their own. A moment later she replied.
“Nothing we weren’t already aware of Captain. We’re still seeing the energy flow being absorbed or otherwise redistributed but no sign of intruders or internal damage.”
On hearing the report, Skell immediately ran another scan from his tricorder.
“I concur Captain. The volume fluctuations appear to have ceased as Commander Lense reports.”
Aster absorbed the news with some trepidation, though she allowed none of that worry to show in her voice.
“Thanks Andrea. I want transporter rooms one and two to maintain a transporter lock on their respective parties and I want continuous scans of the engineering space here. If there’s even the hint of something you’re not happy with, I’m authorising emergency beam out.”
“Got it Captain.” In a quieter voice Lense finished with, “Be careful Captain. Atlas standing by.”
Closing the gold grid, Aster returned the communicator to her belt and once again removed her phaser.
“Let’s find out what’s happening then ladies and gentlemen. I believe we have some shore leave accrued on Cestus III that I, for one, don’t want to see delayed.”
Aster’s tone was light but her eyes were narrowed as she waved Grax and Ward forward to point once more.
Holding his phaser steadily in his centre hand, Grax reached forward with his left and tapped the controls opening the door to engineering. Ward quickly slipped inside the dimly lit room and broke to the left as Grax followed and moved nimbly on his three legs to the right.
Taking cover behind consoles and conduits, the two security officers leapfrogged forward covered by Sidhu who remained in partial cover at the door. For several minutes there was no sound from the room setting Aster’s nerves on edge. At last however, she heard the piping tones of Grax giving the all clear and Sidhu waved them forward.
Skell kept up a continuous tricorder scan of the room but was relieved to note no further occurrence of the fluctuating dimensions he’d witnessed earlier. Marriott also scanned the room with the medical tricorder assuring Aster that there was no harmful radiation or airborne threat to their health.
DeVille, meanwhile, had moved directly to the main engineering console. He studied the configuration of the power routing conduits, and then set a level five diagnostic in process before turning his attention back to the room.
“Any chance of getting a little more light in…?” Aster’s voice ended abruptly although he could see her silhouetted against the screen protecting the intermix chamber.
“Captain?”
She held up a hand for him to wait a moment and then tilted her head slightly. A moment later he saw her body posture relax and he released a sigh of relief.
“Sorry Tom, just getting jumpy in my old age. Thought I saw something…well it doesn’t matter. Let’s just have a little more light before I start jumping at my own shadow.”
DeVille turned back to the console once more and increased the lighting in the room to a comfortable level. When he returned his attention to the landing party he saw that Aster was deep in conversation with Skell as Grax and his team remained alert on the periphery. Marriott simply affected the world weary expression of somebody who felt their time would be better spent elsewhere as she handed the medical tricorder back to Ch’hath.
“Just what the hell is happening here Tom?” Though Aster’s voice was quiet, it seemed to carry and echo in the cathedral like space of the engineering deck. For his part, DeVille inspected the space around the warp core and shrugged slightly.
“Only one way to find out I guess.” He held his hand out towards the drone’s heart in a questioning gesture, “With your permission Captain?”
Aster nodded and he called Skell over.
“Mr Skell, I’ll need you to monitor the warp core and power taps from the main console there while I make a visual inspection of the main junctions from the gantry.”
Skell passed the tricorder to DeVille and moved to the activated main systems monitor to bring up the appropriate diagnostic routines. What happened next was so fast that even in hindsight the landing party members had difficulty deciding exactly what they had seen.
DeVille had climbed partway up the starboard access ladder and turned to ensure that Skell was ready when he felt a faint tingling on his skin. His immediate impression was that the feeling was the natural static discharge that occurred around high energy conduits but it was almost immediately accompanied by…
…the room stretched to infinity in front of Aster and for that instant she was grasped by a sudden vertiginous panic…
…Marriott fell to the floor fearing she was about to slide into an abyss so deep and terrifying that there would be no escape…
…as Grax attempted to steady himself with a tripedal stance that had been one of his greatest assets until now…
…and DeVille felt a surge of pressure pass him, causing him to lose his already tenuous grip on the gantry ladder…
Aster was picked up from the deck and thrown backwards, tumbling head over feet like a leaf tossed in a non-existent wind, before slamming into the forward bulkhead and sliding limply to the floor.
Coronas of light enveloped the entire party as the sing-song tinkle of the transporter effect took them in its grasp, spiriting them away from the familiar place that had suddenly become deadly.
Interlude
In its semi-dormant state, the creature had initially failed to detect the arrival and approach of the miniscule life forms, but even in its depleted and hungry state it didn’t perceive them as a threat. Its only benign thought was…
Others.
Having absorbed energy for a while from the source it had curled around, the creature began to awaken. It had need of more sustenance before the sundering, but now that it saw its goal in sight it knew that its task was assured. Just a little more time to rest and feed and…
It felt a wave of energy pass through itself and cast its own senses outward to discover that the larger energy source close by had emitted it. The creature wasn’t alarmed as the wave penetrated it and passed through and onwards. Was something trying to communicate with it?
That was when the creature became aware of these smaller entities. It was proof positive that the drain on the creature’s resources had been greater than it had believed. Under normal circumstances the proximity of even miniscule intelligences such as these would have been apparent much sooner.
Reaching out gently, it sensed familiar emotions in these tiny sparks of life.
Curiosity…passion…trepidation…
Perhaps, if it could just communicate its need to them, they would aid the creature, or at least not hinder it. It certainly felt no fear of them. With the gentlest extension of its being, it extended a probing tendril towards the nearest entity…
…and recoiled instantly as the tiny form was thrown across the room in which they stood.
No! No! I mean no harm!
But the damage was done. Within moments the beings dissolved in patterns of flickering energy and the creature realised with horror that in making a tentative attempt at communication it had unintentionally damaged, if not destroyed, one of the fragile life forms.
Alone again, it pondered the sudden need to adjust its plans and slowly withdrawing itself from other dimensions, it began to move.
INTERLUDE
In its semi-dormant state, the creature had initially failed to detect the arrival and approach of the miniscule life forms, but even in its depleted and hungry state it didn’t perceive them as a threat. Its only benign thought was…
Others.
Having absorbed energy for a while from the source it had curled around, the creature began to awaken. It had need of more sustenance before the sundering, but now that it saw its goal in sight it knew that its task was assured. Just a little more time to rest and feed and…
It felt a wave of energy pass through itself and cast its own senses outward to discover that the larger energy source close by had emitted it. The creature wasn’t alarmed as the wave penetrated it and passed through and onwards. Was something trying to communicate with it?
That was when the creature became aware of these smaller entities. It was proof positive that the drain on the creature’s resources had been greater than it had believed. Under normal circumstances the proximity of even miniscule intelligences such as these would have been apparent much sooner.
Reaching out gently, it sensed familiar emotions in these tiny sparks of life.
Curiosity…passion…trepidation…
Perhaps, if it could just communicate its need to them, they would aid the creature, or at least not hinder it. It certainly felt no fear of them. With the gentlest extension of its being, it extended a probing tendril towards the nearest entity…
…and recoiled instantly as the tiny form was thrown across the room in which they stood.
No! No! I mean no harm!
But the damage was done. Within moments the beings dissolved in patterns of flickering energy and the creature realised with horror that in making a tentative attempt at communication it had unintentionally damaged, if not destroyed, one of the fragile life forms.
Alone again, it pondered the sudden need to adjust its plans and slowly withdrawing itself from other dimensions, it began to move.
Well, work and rehabilitation has slowed the progress a little, but as the first story approaches its climax it will set the scene for story two 
On to the next chapter.....
On to the next chapter.....
SEVEN
As he desperately looked around the transporter room and spotted the prone form of Aster being tended to by Marriott, he was satisfied that for the moment That she was in the best possible hands. Dragging himself painfully to his feet, he brushed off the attentions of the transporter operator and stumbled to the comms panel on the wall.
“Bridge!”
“Commander, is everything…”
DeVille cut Schmitt short. “Andrea, red alert and get us out of here maximum warp. I don’t care which direction but I want at least 50,000 klicks between us and Delta Two!”
DeVille was gratified that Schmitt didn’t hesitate to question either his orders or the circumstances provoking them. Immediately, the subdued red glow of alert lighting was accompanied by the wail of the siren. Beneath his feet, the deck plates thrummed with the increase in power and within moments, DeVille knew they’d gone to warp.
Returning his attention to the transporter room, he saw that Aster was being carefully guided out on an anti-grav gurney while Marriott conducted an intense scan of Grax. The ashen security chief was holding his centre arm gingerly as he was administered an analgesic shot.
At that moment, a world of darkness closed in around him and it was the last thing he remembered for a while.
* * *
The light around her was intensely white and revealed nothing of her surroundings, assuming there were any surroundings to be revealed. She attempted to call out but heard nothing and even attempting to bring her hands before her eyes produced no results.
My God, is this death?
She had no reference point for this and began to feel a wave of panic well up inside her almost immediately quashed by a feeling of foolishness.
If I’m dead, panic seems a little pointless. Though to be honest she’d hoped for something a little more in the way of ‘heavenly’.
As her being became attuned and more alert to the place in which she found herself, she became aware of something. Something vast and terribly old, but it provoked no fear in her. Quite the opposite in fact; Aster derived a certain amount of comfort from whatever the presence may be. It at least meant that she wasn’t alone, although considering the depth of calm and age that encircled her, the notion of a final resting place actually seemed more likely than ever.
A shifting of pastel colours seemed to blur her vision for a second or two - assuming that what she was seeing was physical and not some mental illusion – before a susurration of white noise tickled at the peripheries of her hearing. At first it was like a single child whispering in the vast enclosed space of a cathedral; audible yet tantalisingly out of reach. Sound without words.
Thrusting forward with her mind, (and hoping that any physical body she may still retain was following), Aster attempted to move closer to the sound. Reaching out with all her senses, she strained to decipher the noises that bordered on intelligible. Although there was no apparent change in her surroundings, the white noise was beginning to alter tantalisingly.
Strangely, the pure whiteness of her surroundings took her back in time to a holiday in the Swiss Alps with her parents. She recalled the blinding glare of the snow covered mountains and for a moment was filled with the wistfulness of happy times.
Can you hear me?
The sound wrenched her mind back to the present with a jolt. The sense of age and quiet calmness she thought she had detected before seemed to encircle her again.
Yes she thought in response, hoping the sense of dread that had crept over her wasn’t evident in her thoughts, I can hear you. Where am I?
You are back where you came from.
The bizarreness of the reply stumped her for a moment. Where I came from?
I regret it is many of your lifespans since I last communicated with another. I find the experience…difficult.
Aster took the plunge and asked the question at the forefront of her mind. Who are you?
There was a subtle ripple in the whiteness and pastel colours shimmered around her. It evoked a sense of sadness though Aster wasn’t sure why.
I am the last,replied the voice, but I am also the rebirth.
She felt her mind starting to wander, the answers doing little to inform her of what was happening.
I’m sorry, I don’t understand. And truly, she didn’t.
This form of communication is so limited, came the voice, but I have already injured you in my haste to make you see. I do not wish to worsen the situation. I truly meant no harm.
A fleeting image of Delta Two’s engineering deck spinning around her head flitted through her mind, and suddenly she thought she understood.
You communicate with images and senses?
Yes! You saw?
Aster nodded, or at least thought she did in that phantom world of non-being and thought I think so, it was all so fast. Can you explain who you are in that manner? In thought images?
She felt slightly embarrassed that she was explaining herself as if to a child when the sense she got was of a consciousness so great, so benevolent, that she should be the infant.
I can!
Before Aster could reply, the universe exploded around her in the brightest, most overwhelming display of colour imaginable.
* * *
“Whoa Commander.” The voice was Marriott’s but his eyes were having trouble making out anything beyond a vague blur of medical blue. “I rarely strap a patient down but rank wouldn’t stop me trying.”
He heard the humour in her voice but it was backed by an undertone of worry. Relaxing back into his pillows, he attempted to bring his vision into focus while interrogating Marriott.
“What’s happening Jenny?”
He heard movement to his left and saw a blurred blue shape, presumably a medtech, move away before Marriott answered in a low voice.
“Commander Schmitt got us out of there pronto and we’re now holding at the 50,000 klick point. Nothing seems to have happened back at Delta Two as of yet.”
DeVille wasn’t even sure what he’d been expecting to happen, but following their hasty departure, nothing was a worrying anti-climax.
“What about the Captain?”
Marriott was silent for such a while that DeVille thought she’d left without him noticing until he heard her sigh wearily.
“Ostensibly, she’s in a coma Tom. Physically, one or two concussive lumps and bruises, but no detectable skull or brain damage that would account for it. We’re still running tests but at the moment I’m stumped.”
Dammit, this should’ve been a simple milk run out to the boondocks! Reining in his angry thoughts, he asked the Doctor if there was anything else he should know about.
“Medically, no. All things being equal you should be up and around fairly soon as long as you don’t push it. Mission wise, Commander Schmitt is fair busting a gut to get in and see you now you’re awake. Feel up to it.”
He knew if he said yes he’d be lying, but said it anyway. No matter how he felt, with the Captain temporarily down he wanted to be kept in the loop. The curtains around his bed parted; he only knew this because the light increased for a moment and Schmitt’s red clad blur replaced the departing Marriott’s blue.
“Don’t overtax him Andrea,” called the Doctor as she left, “or it’ll be even longer before he’s back on the bridge.”
“In brief then Andrea.” He attempted a grin but had no idea if he succeeded. “What do we have?”
He heard, (and partially saw), that the Chief Engineer had begun a slow space around the confines of his medical bed. It took her a while to speak, but when she did it chilled DeVille to the core.
“We’re in deep shit Sir.”
That's Chief Engineers for ya! 
Thanks for the ongoing read CeJay
Thanks for the ongoing read CeJay
Interlude
The creature obviously didn’t require anything so mundane as a transporter to move between places and, having drawn some sustenance from the warp core it had been wrapped around, reached out to anchor itself to the larger pulsating energy source that was even now bending space around itself.
It managed to obtain an anchorage on one of the containers just before the ship entered warp. Freeing itself from the other realms in which it also partially existed, it maintained its hold and gradually insinuated its invisible form into the spaces around the cargo.
It identified small power sources within that cargo, but its senses were almost overwhelmed by the nearby presence of the anti-matter. The power and nourishment it represented would enable it to achieve the sundering and affirm the rebirth of its race, but at what cost to the sparks of life here? it wondered.
During its long and eventful existence, it had revered life in whatever form it had encountered it. The very nature of its own being meant that there were no natural predators that might threaten it and only the direst of accidental spatial phenomena could cause it harm. Even then, the ability to slip through the cracks between realities provided it with an escape if it could act quickly enough.
That very reverence for other life however now provided it with a dilemma that it had not expected. If it was to attain the sundering and thereby renew its own species, it may very well mean the extinction of the lifeforms that were unwittingly aiding it.
And the time for avoiding such an incident was growing perilously thin.
INTERLUDE
It managed to obtain an anchorage on one of the containers just before the ship entered warp. Freeing itself from the other realms in which it also partially existed, it maintained its hold and gradually insinuated its invisible form into the spaces around the cargo.
It identified small power sources within that cargo, but its senses were almost overwhelmed by the nearby presence of the anti-matter. The power and nourishment it represented would enable it to achieve the sundering and affirm the rebirth of its race, but at what cost to the sparks of life here? it wondered.
During its long and eventful existence, it had revered life in whatever form it had encountered it. The very nature of its own being meant that there were no natural predators that might threaten it and only the direst of accidental spatial phenomena could cause it harm. Even then, the ability to slip through the cracks between realities provided it with an escape if it could act quickly enough.
That very reverence for other life however now provided it with a dilemma that it had not expected. If it was to attain the sundering and thereby renew its own species, it may very well mean the extinction of the lifeforms that were unwittingly aiding it.
And the time for avoiding such an incident was growing perilously thin.
Chapter Eight
“I don’t understand though Andrea.” DeVille shook his head in confusion, and suddenly wished he hadn’t. “Can’t we simply reverse our course and head back out the way we came in?”
Schmitt had explained to an increasingly bewildered DeVille that sensors were now useless; she’d told him they would be better strapping an engineer to the hull with a telescope and by the concern in her voice he almost believed she might try it.
The odd ‘sensor echoes’ she’d reported while they’d still been aboard Delta Two had proven to be just the start of it. Apparently, they were now recording stellar and planetary masses within a light year that quite simply didn’t exist. Subspace was occasionally popping into realspace and the ship was experiencing minor, but annoying, malfunctions.
“Reversing course would be fine if we could get the navicomp to agree to it, but without navigational points or beacons to steer by it simply rejects the request.” She shook her head. “We’re not even picking up the border marker buoys anymore. Manual override of helm is our next option, but I don’t need to tell you about the extra hazards that poses, especially here.”
He screwed his semi-useless eyes shut and let out a heartfelt sigh. Being immobile, at least for a short while, wouldn’t worry him quite so much if they hadn’t experienced the phenomena that had disabled the Captain aboard the cargo drone. Schmitt had made it quite clear that they couldn’t make a reliable scan of the drone even at 50,000 kilometres. Even if they could, they wouldn’t necessarily be able to interpret anything they got back.
“What about the shipboard issues?” he asked. “Any that threaten the ship?”
“It doesn’t seem that way. We’ve had proximity alarms from the containers with nothing evidently wrong, computer activity that didn’t amount to anything, shipwide intercom activations…even the chef complained that his equipment was turning itself on and off.”
If the situation hadn’t been so laden with danger, DeVille might have laughed at the vision of Viscotti chasing non-existent gremlins around the galley.
“Alright Andrea, maintain command until I can get myself functional again. Hold position here and try and keep a lock on Delta Two. I have no idea what happened over there but whatever it might be has already injured a landing party and disabled the Captain. If the drone makes any move under its own power you have my authority to use weapons.”
He though he detected a nod from the engineer and continued.
“In the meantime, I want an engineering crew to start at the rear of container two and work their way forward with as many tricorders as we can muster. I know the tricorders may be affected by this region of space as well but at least we might get an inkling as to what’s happening to Atlas.”
“On it Sir.” She made to leave and then turned back. “Be good to have you back on the bridge though Commander.”
He smiled to himself before calling the doctor back in to try and speed up the process.
Aster was still mentally reeling from all that she had learned. Although she was quite sure that she had only skimmed the surface of the creature’s life story it had been enough to enthral and excite her explorer’s soul. Despite all the life forms that Starfleet was discovering in its outward push of exploration, new ones were being revealed daily. She had always wondered how she would deal with a first contact situation and not once had it occurred to her that it would be while she was comatose in sickbay.
Opening her mind once more, she sensed that the creature had returned. It had departed so suddenly that she was convinced that something had happened to it. Now though, there was a sense of concern that she hadn’t felt before.
What’s wrong? She still found it difficult broadcast a thought rather than ask a question out loud and had to concentrate to do so. She knew that in her comatose state, which the creature had explained to her, it was unlikely that she would be speaking anyway.
The sundering is near Captain and I still need to absorb sustenance if I am to save my race.
It hesitated just long enough for Aster to sense the ‘but’ that was silently attached to the statement.
You are concerned.
More than concerned Captain.There was a significant pause that pre-empted the bad news that Aster knew was imminent. I have attempted to keep my draw on this vessel’s resources to a minimal amount in the hopes that I can work with the crew to our mutual benefit. As the sundering approaches however, any vestige of rationality I may have retained to this point will be torn from me…
…And you will react by instinct alone.
The silence that followed her statement was as loud as an exclaimed shout.
Can you reach any of the crew? Knowing what had happened to her, Aster felt that there was little chance of the prospect. The simple brush of the creature’s first attempt at communication had been the event that had placed Aster into a comatose state, enabling her to commune with the creature. Even now that she was aware of the creature’s benevolent nature, there was no way that she could communicate that to her crew unless and until she recovered from her coma. That was a possibility that the creature had told her it had no control over.
There is a slim option, but it is unknown whether I will be able to achieve this in the time I have left.
Perhaps, she thought, I may be able to do something. I suspect, however, it will require your assistance.
And Aster attempted to communicate her needs to the creature.
DeVille’s eyesight had cleared considerably though it still couldn’t be classed as on a par with his pre-encounter vision.
“At the rate that your vision is improving,” explained Marriott, “I’m hoping your vision should be 20/20 within an hour, two at the outside.”
“I’m assuming I can head back to the bridge then?” He asked the question, half expecting the answer before it was spoken. He was surprised then when Marriott granted him permission.
“With the following coda however.” DeVille noted the serious mien that Marriott wore as she replied. “There are basic similarities between neurological readings I took from both the Captain and yourself Tom. I’m guessing that the trace readings I’m getting from you are due to the fact that you were only caught on the fringe of that…” Marriott waved her hands slightly ineffectually, obviously not sure how to refer to the incident aboard Delta Two even now.
“Field?” offered Deville.
“That’s as good as anything I have,” she shrugged. “What I’m saying is that the Captain’s condition is almost certainly directly contributable to this ‘field’ as opposed to physical injury from the way she was tossed around.” He nodded, his mood turning sombre at the thought of his downed Captain.
“Look Tom, all I’m saying is that I still haven’t figured out the specifics of what happened there. If you feel the slightest side effects of…”
DeVille held up his hands with a slight smile. “Don’t worry Doctor, you’ll most definitely be the first to know about anything wrong believe me.”
With a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes, she replied “In that case Commander, stop taking up space in my Sickbay and get us the hell out of here. It’s starting to get on my nerves.”
In container pod 2, Ensign Bruckmeister tapped his hand against the side of his tricorder. He actually felt like beating it against the container of self-sealing stem bolts that he’d been trying to scan but knew it was unlikely to affect the bizarre and self-contradictory readings he was getting.
Starting his scan once again from the top of the container and working downwards, he almost dropped the recalcitrant tricorder in shock as a blaring klaxon began its strident call followed by an automated warning.
“All hands, pod separation will commence in one minute, I say again pod separation will commence in one minute. Preparing to initiate atmospheric containment protocols. All hands…”
Bruckmeister looked around in alarm and saw the same expression of shock on the faces of those around him.
“What the…”
He grabbed the communicator from his belt knowing it would be faster than trying to reach the nearest intercom panel.
“Bruckmeister to bridge, Bruckmeister to bridge, we have personnel down here!”
There was a delay that lasted just long enough to make Bruckmeister wonder whether something had happened to Atlas’s nerve centre before the voice of Commander Schmitt replied.
“Ensign, has anything happened down there?”
Bruckmeister’s panic was momentarily replaced by confusion. The shrugging of shoulders from those in his party merely confirmed what he already knew.
“Negative Commander. Everything is stable here as far as I’m aware. I’d assumed…”
The klaxons stopped bleating leaving Bruckmeister shouting into an unnerving silence.
“…that the separation had been initiated from the bridge.”
“Standby Ensign.” The line remained open and he could hear shouts of confusion begin to subside in the background. “Ensign? The alarm was false; there is no separation in progress.”
“Confirm that’s a false alarm Commander?” He wanted to believe it but his nerves were so badly rattled that he wanted substantiation of the fact before he made any further move.
The voice that replied this time was definitively male. Bruckmeister couldn’t help but smile knowing that at least the ship’s first officer was back on his feet. “That’s affirmative Ensign, a false alarm. All security and engineering teams report back to the ship immediately and I want decompression protocols implemented in both pods immediately.”
“Acknowledged Sir, we’ll commence egress immediately. Bruckmeister out.”
Snapping the grid on his communicator closed, he looked around at the confused faces surrounding him.
“You heard the Commander! Get your arses out of here and lock it down!”
There was no hesitation whatsoever.
EIGHT
Schmitt had explained to an increasingly bewildered DeVille that sensors were now useless; she’d told him they would be better strapping an engineer to the hull with a telescope and by the concern in her voice he almost believed she might try it.
The odd ‘sensor echoes’ she’d reported while they’d still been aboard Delta Two had proven to be just the start of it. Apparently, they were now recording stellar and planetary masses within a light year that quite simply didn’t exist. Subspace was occasionally popping into realspace and the ship was experiencing minor, but annoying, malfunctions.
“Reversing course would be fine if we could get the navicomp to agree to it, but without navigational points or beacons to steer by it simply rejects the request.” She shook her head. “We’re not even picking up the border marker buoys anymore. Manual override of helm is our next option, but I don’t need to tell you about the extra hazards that poses, especially here.”
He screwed his semi-useless eyes shut and let out a heartfelt sigh. Being immobile, at least for a short while, wouldn’t worry him quite so much if they hadn’t experienced the phenomena that had disabled the Captain aboard the cargo drone. Schmitt had made it quite clear that they couldn’t make a reliable scan of the drone even at 50,000 kilometres. Even if they could, they wouldn’t necessarily be able to interpret anything they got back.
“What about the shipboard issues?” he asked. “Any that threaten the ship?”
“It doesn’t seem that way. We’ve had proximity alarms from the containers with nothing evidently wrong, computer activity that didn’t amount to anything, shipwide intercom activations…even the chef complained that his equipment was turning itself on and off.”
If the situation hadn’t been so laden with danger, DeVille might have laughed at the vision of Viscotti chasing non-existent gremlins around the galley.
“Alright Andrea, maintain command until I can get myself functional again. Hold position here and try and keep a lock on Delta Two. I have no idea what happened over there but whatever it might be has already injured a landing party and disabled the Captain. If the drone makes any move under its own power you have my authority to use weapons.”
He though he detected a nod from the engineer and continued.
“In the meantime, I want an engineering crew to start at the rear of container two and work their way forward with as many tricorders as we can muster. I know the tricorders may be affected by this region of space as well but at least we might get an inkling as to what’s happening to Atlas.”
“On it Sir.” She made to leave and then turned back. “Be good to have you back on the bridge though Commander.”
He smiled to himself before calling the doctor back in to try and speed up the process.
* * *
Opening her mind once more, she sensed that the creature had returned. It had departed so suddenly that she was convinced that something had happened to it. Now though, there was a sense of concern that she hadn’t felt before.
What’s wrong? She still found it difficult broadcast a thought rather than ask a question out loud and had to concentrate to do so. She knew that in her comatose state, which the creature had explained to her, it was unlikely that she would be speaking anyway.
The sundering is near Captain and I still need to absorb sustenance if I am to save my race.
It hesitated just long enough for Aster to sense the ‘but’ that was silently attached to the statement.
You are concerned.
More than concerned Captain.There was a significant pause that pre-empted the bad news that Aster knew was imminent. I have attempted to keep my draw on this vessel’s resources to a minimal amount in the hopes that I can work with the crew to our mutual benefit. As the sundering approaches however, any vestige of rationality I may have retained to this point will be torn from me…
…And you will react by instinct alone.
The silence that followed her statement was as loud as an exclaimed shout.
Can you reach any of the crew? Knowing what had happened to her, Aster felt that there was little chance of the prospect. The simple brush of the creature’s first attempt at communication had been the event that had placed Aster into a comatose state, enabling her to commune with the creature. Even now that she was aware of the creature’s benevolent nature, there was no way that she could communicate that to her crew unless and until she recovered from her coma. That was a possibility that the creature had told her it had no control over.
There is a slim option, but it is unknown whether I will be able to achieve this in the time I have left.
Perhaps, she thought, I may be able to do something. I suspect, however, it will require your assistance.
And Aster attempted to communicate her needs to the creature.
* * *
“At the rate that your vision is improving,” explained Marriott, “I’m hoping your vision should be 20/20 within an hour, two at the outside.”
“I’m assuming I can head back to the bridge then?” He asked the question, half expecting the answer before it was spoken. He was surprised then when Marriott granted him permission.
“With the following coda however.” DeVille noted the serious mien that Marriott wore as she replied. “There are basic similarities between neurological readings I took from both the Captain and yourself Tom. I’m guessing that the trace readings I’m getting from you are due to the fact that you were only caught on the fringe of that…” Marriott waved her hands slightly ineffectually, obviously not sure how to refer to the incident aboard Delta Two even now.
“Field?” offered Deville.
“That’s as good as anything I have,” she shrugged. “What I’m saying is that the Captain’s condition is almost certainly directly contributable to this ‘field’ as opposed to physical injury from the way she was tossed around.” He nodded, his mood turning sombre at the thought of his downed Captain.
“Look Tom, all I’m saying is that I still haven’t figured out the specifics of what happened there. If you feel the slightest side effects of…”
DeVille held up his hands with a slight smile. “Don’t worry Doctor, you’ll most definitely be the first to know about anything wrong believe me.”
With a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes, she replied “In that case Commander, stop taking up space in my Sickbay and get us the hell out of here. It’s starting to get on my nerves.”
* * *
Starting his scan once again from the top of the container and working downwards, he almost dropped the recalcitrant tricorder in shock as a blaring klaxon began its strident call followed by an automated warning.
“All hands, pod separation will commence in one minute, I say again pod separation will commence in one minute. Preparing to initiate atmospheric containment protocols. All hands…”
Bruckmeister looked around in alarm and saw the same expression of shock on the faces of those around him.
“What the…”
He grabbed the communicator from his belt knowing it would be faster than trying to reach the nearest intercom panel.
“Bruckmeister to bridge, Bruckmeister to bridge, we have personnel down here!”
There was a delay that lasted just long enough to make Bruckmeister wonder whether something had happened to Atlas’s nerve centre before the voice of Commander Schmitt replied.
“Ensign, has anything happened down there?”
Bruckmeister’s panic was momentarily replaced by confusion. The shrugging of shoulders from those in his party merely confirmed what he already knew.
“Negative Commander. Everything is stable here as far as I’m aware. I’d assumed…”
The klaxons stopped bleating leaving Bruckmeister shouting into an unnerving silence.
“…that the separation had been initiated from the bridge.”
“Standby Ensign.” The line remained open and he could hear shouts of confusion begin to subside in the background. “Ensign? The alarm was false; there is no separation in progress.”
“Confirm that’s a false alarm Commander?” He wanted to believe it but his nerves were so badly rattled that he wanted substantiation of the fact before he made any further move.
The voice that replied this time was definitively male. Bruckmeister couldn’t help but smile knowing that at least the ship’s first officer was back on his feet. “That’s affirmative Ensign, a false alarm. All security and engineering teams report back to the ship immediately and I want decompression protocols implemented in both pods immediately.”
“Acknowledged Sir, we’ll commence egress immediately. Bruckmeister out.”
Snapping the grid on his communicator closed, he looked around at the confused faces surrounding him.
“You heard the Commander! Get your arses out of here and lock it down!”
There was no hesitation whatsoever.
You'll find out very shortly CeJay 
Chapter Nine
“Can it be done?”
Andrea Schmitt, now released from command to pursue her primary role of Chief Engineer, idly twisted a strand of hair around her finger as she pondered what DeVille had in mind.
“Ostensibly, yes,” she replied pursing her lips “but that would be in a perfect universe, something which we don’t appear to inhabit right now.”
DeVille knew she was right but with the ship being plagued by false alarms, intermittent faults that weren’t faults at all, he wasn’t about to remain in this mess for any longer than he had to. He couldn’t rely on those alarms remaining false ones.
His plan was to push Delta One out to the limits of its electronic tether to hopefully achieve two objectives. The first would be to make close up scans of Delta Two which had sat patiently (and worryingly inoffensively) 50,000 kilometres distant. They couldn’t be sure what the conditions would be like and whether any results they received back would be intelligible, but that was merely part one of the plan.
If Delta One traversed that distance without complications, then Atlas would follow in its sublight trail. If Delta Two proved as harmless as it was now acting they would then push the drones out in front of Atlas and keep going in a straight line until they hopefully cleared the area.
The ship shuddered slightly causing DeVille and Schmitt to look across towards Skell at the science station. The Vulcan’s face showed no sign of concern as the tremors subsided and he calmly reported to the pro tem Captain.
“More subspace incursions Sir. They appear to be gaining in magnitude which is…concerning as we still have no idea what is causing the phenomena.”
Turning his attention back to Schmitt, DeVille sighed and nodded. “I think the decision’s been made for us Andrea. Let’s try this before we get into quicksand.”
As Schmitt stepped over to the engineering station, DeVille made his way to Lense at the Loadmaster’s console and explained the plan. Lense was operationally in charge of both containers and the two drones although it would be the computer that actually controlled the drones.
“My prime concern is for the ship and crew Michael. If we have to cut loose either the containers or the drones to ensure that safety it’s a trade off I’m willing to accept, ok?”
Lense nodded his acceptance of DeVille’s unspoken order. “I’ll prime a computer protocol that will enable us to cut them free at a moments notice.”
Turning towards the command well, he raised his hand and with a grim smile said “Alright people let’s…” and froze in place, the grin still fixed to his face.
He could see a hand, but that was all. Surrounding it was darkness and yet the hand was crystal clear. The fingers were undoubtedly human and, if the neatly manicured fingernails were a guide, female. Something else nagged at the edges of his subconscious but it was pushed aside momentarily as the hand tapped the surface on which it rested.
The movements, which seemed random at first, began to drum a hypnotic rhythm which wasn’t musical but nevertheless triggered a memory in DeVille’s mind.
Three quick taps, a pause, then a single tap, then a short tap with two longs and a short…
‘Morse code!’ He now recognised the tappings for what they were but in that short period of thought had missed many letters. The vision wavered slightly but he concentrated on the hands movement; short tap and long tap, two short, long and short – the vision shimmered – one short tap, short long short…
And as Deville’s mind closed down to a pinpoint of light, he suddenly recognised the ring that had been on the hand.
“Medics to the bridge immediately!”
Schmitt grunted an obscure but nonetheless effective Andorian curse as DeVille collapsed by the command chair. Rushing to his side, she cradled his head and was glad to see that he didn’t appear to have injured it in any way during his fall.
Within moments, Marriott had appeared with two medtechs and an anti-grav gurney. Wasting no time she ran a medical scanner over DeVille’s still form and frowned slightly at the results.
“What happened Commander?”
Schmitt shrugged, concern written large across her face. “Nothing as far as I’m aware Doctor. I mean…nothing unusual. I don’t understand it, one moment he was about to speak to the bridge and then he froze on the spot, just…”
Placing the scanner back into the tricorder case, Marriott withdrew a hypospray and searched for an ampoule. “And then he collapsed?”
Schmitt nodded as the Doctor pressed the hypospray to DeVille’s neck. With a hiss, the contents emptied into his bloodstream and seconds ticked by with no overt change in his condition. Marriott was just about to order the Medtechs to transfer him to the gurney when DeVille let out a ragged breath and his eyes flew open.
“It’s the Captain! It’s her ring!”
Marriott placed both hands gently on his shoulders in an attempt to calm him but he pushed them aside and clutched the centre seat in an attempt to pull himself to his feet.
“Tom, don’t make me sedate you…”
But he turned to her, eyes wide yet lucid.
“You don’t have to. In fact get me down to sickbay quickly!”
Marriott exchanged glances with Schmitt, uncertainty and concern reflected in each pair of eyes. Once again, Marriott attempted to coax some sense from DeVille.
“Tom, just relax and tell me what…”
“Just get me to sickbay, and I’ll explain everything.” He turned to Schmitt and pointed at the viewscreen. “Andrea, standby to put the plan into operation but get ready to ditch the containers!”
“Commander…”
“I’m serious Andrea. Don’t ask me why, but I get the feeling we’re out of time.”
Aster was uncertain as to the effectiveness of her desperate plan. For a start she didn’t know for certain whether Thomas DeVille had even been affected by the brush of the creature’s mind back aboard Delta Two, though the creature had told her in its own unique way that it had sensed his mind on the periphery when it had made its first disastrous and abortive attempt to communicate.
Secondly, and more worryingly, the creature seemed to be succumbing to its ever increasing yearning to begin the rendering as it referred to the forthcoming rebirth. It’s thought patterns were becoming…blurred was the best way that Aster could think of it. When she had suggested that the creature try to act as a bridge between her own active mind and Deville’s, it had seemed to take more of an effort to communicate the idea than previous conversations.
Now she could only wait in this pale, pastel hinterland that her mind occupied and pray that the message had gotten through; perhaps more importantly she prayed that it had been understood.
Throughout their short and frantic journey to sickbay, Marriott had continued her scans and confirmed her own initial readings. It was clear from the neurochemical markers in DeVille’s brain that whatever had happened on the bridge had been connected to the field that had incapacitated the captain, their readings being startlingly similar.
Tactfully, she made the Medtechs aware that they should be prepared for anything but, for now at least, to remain in the background.
Stepping from the turbolift she was aware that DeVille certainly appeared physically unhampered by whatever had happened. So engrossed was she with her mental notations that she barely avoided running straight into him as he stopped outside the doors of sickbay. Just outside the range of the doors sensors, he turned to the doctor and sighed.
“Jenny, this is going to sound very odd but when we go in I want you to check Captain Aster’s right hand.”
Warily, Marriott nodded. “And what am I looking for exactly?”
“I just need you to confirm whether she’s wearing an Academy class ring. It’s got an inset black stone with the letters AA on it.”
Realising that enquiring any further would merely delay them in the currently empty corridor, Marriott nodded and led the way into sickbay.
“One other thing Doctor…”
Marriott turned to him and saw that he had his eyes closed, not apparently in pain or confusion. It seemed as if he were searching his memory for something just out of reach before his demeanour relaxed slightly.
“Can you check to see if she has a V shaped cut on her index finger?”
The sickbay doors hissed shut behind DeVille and the two Medtechs who stood a respectful distance from the still form of Aster where she lay on the biobed. After inspecting Aster’s hand without touching it, she waved DeVille over and pointed to both the ring that he’d described and the fresh V shaped laceration on her finger.
“What’s going on here Tom? That cut on Alison’s hand happened after you left sickbay during one of those damned ship shudders.”
Once again, DeVille managed to give a sheepish grin before replying. “As long as you promise not to book me a ticket for the Tantalus Colony. Up on the bridge, that little incident? Well I’m fairly certain…”
DeVille got no further as the ship shuddered, lurched to starboard and the lights went out leaving one of the Medtechs cursing as he stumbled into something.
“This is not good is it?” Marriot’s voice carried no trace of irony whatsoever.
NINE
Andrea Schmitt, now released from command to pursue her primary role of Chief Engineer, idly twisted a strand of hair around her finger as she pondered what DeVille had in mind.
“Ostensibly, yes,” she replied pursing her lips “but that would be in a perfect universe, something which we don’t appear to inhabit right now.”
DeVille knew she was right but with the ship being plagued by false alarms, intermittent faults that weren’t faults at all, he wasn’t about to remain in this mess for any longer than he had to. He couldn’t rely on those alarms remaining false ones.
His plan was to push Delta One out to the limits of its electronic tether to hopefully achieve two objectives. The first would be to make close up scans of Delta Two which had sat patiently (and worryingly inoffensively) 50,000 kilometres distant. They couldn’t be sure what the conditions would be like and whether any results they received back would be intelligible, but that was merely part one of the plan.
If Delta One traversed that distance without complications, then Atlas would follow in its sublight trail. If Delta Two proved as harmless as it was now acting they would then push the drones out in front of Atlas and keep going in a straight line until they hopefully cleared the area.
The ship shuddered slightly causing DeVille and Schmitt to look across towards Skell at the science station. The Vulcan’s face showed no sign of concern as the tremors subsided and he calmly reported to the pro tem Captain.
“More subspace incursions Sir. They appear to be gaining in magnitude which is…concerning as we still have no idea what is causing the phenomena.”
Turning his attention back to Schmitt, DeVille sighed and nodded. “I think the decision’s been made for us Andrea. Let’s try this before we get into quicksand.”
As Schmitt stepped over to the engineering station, DeVille made his way to Lense at the Loadmaster’s console and explained the plan. Lense was operationally in charge of both containers and the two drones although it would be the computer that actually controlled the drones.
“My prime concern is for the ship and crew Michael. If we have to cut loose either the containers or the drones to ensure that safety it’s a trade off I’m willing to accept, ok?”
Lense nodded his acceptance of DeVille’s unspoken order. “I’ll prime a computer protocol that will enable us to cut them free at a moments notice.”
Turning towards the command well, he raised his hand and with a grim smile said “Alright people let’s…” and froze in place, the grin still fixed to his face.
* * *
The movements, which seemed random at first, began to drum a hypnotic rhythm which wasn’t musical but nevertheless triggered a memory in DeVille’s mind.
Three quick taps, a pause, then a single tap, then a short tap with two longs and a short…
‘Morse code!’ He now recognised the tappings for what they were but in that short period of thought had missed many letters. The vision wavered slightly but he concentrated on the hands movement; short tap and long tap, two short, long and short – the vision shimmered – one short tap, short long short…
And as Deville’s mind closed down to a pinpoint of light, he suddenly recognised the ring that had been on the hand.
* * *
Schmitt grunted an obscure but nonetheless effective Andorian curse as DeVille collapsed by the command chair. Rushing to his side, she cradled his head and was glad to see that he didn’t appear to have injured it in any way during his fall.
Within moments, Marriott had appeared with two medtechs and an anti-grav gurney. Wasting no time she ran a medical scanner over DeVille’s still form and frowned slightly at the results.
“What happened Commander?”
Schmitt shrugged, concern written large across her face. “Nothing as far as I’m aware Doctor. I mean…nothing unusual. I don’t understand it, one moment he was about to speak to the bridge and then he froze on the spot, just…”
Placing the scanner back into the tricorder case, Marriott withdrew a hypospray and searched for an ampoule. “And then he collapsed?”
Schmitt nodded as the Doctor pressed the hypospray to DeVille’s neck. With a hiss, the contents emptied into his bloodstream and seconds ticked by with no overt change in his condition. Marriott was just about to order the Medtechs to transfer him to the gurney when DeVille let out a ragged breath and his eyes flew open.
“It’s the Captain! It’s her ring!”
Marriott placed both hands gently on his shoulders in an attempt to calm him but he pushed them aside and clutched the centre seat in an attempt to pull himself to his feet.
“Tom, don’t make me sedate you…”
But he turned to her, eyes wide yet lucid.
“You don’t have to. In fact get me down to sickbay quickly!”
Marriott exchanged glances with Schmitt, uncertainty and concern reflected in each pair of eyes. Once again, Marriott attempted to coax some sense from DeVille.
“Tom, just relax and tell me what…”
“Just get me to sickbay, and I’ll explain everything.” He turned to Schmitt and pointed at the viewscreen. “Andrea, standby to put the plan into operation but get ready to ditch the containers!”
“Commander…”
“I’m serious Andrea. Don’t ask me why, but I get the feeling we’re out of time.”
* * *
Secondly, and more worryingly, the creature seemed to be succumbing to its ever increasing yearning to begin the rendering as it referred to the forthcoming rebirth. It’s thought patterns were becoming…blurred was the best way that Aster could think of it. When she had suggested that the creature try to act as a bridge between her own active mind and Deville’s, it had seemed to take more of an effort to communicate the idea than previous conversations.
Now she could only wait in this pale, pastel hinterland that her mind occupied and pray that the message had gotten through; perhaps more importantly she prayed that it had been understood.
* * *
Throughout their short and frantic journey to sickbay, Marriott had continued her scans and confirmed her own initial readings. It was clear from the neurochemical markers in DeVille’s brain that whatever had happened on the bridge had been connected to the field that had incapacitated the captain, their readings being startlingly similar.
Tactfully, she made the Medtechs aware that they should be prepared for anything but, for now at least, to remain in the background.
Stepping from the turbolift she was aware that DeVille certainly appeared physically unhampered by whatever had happened. So engrossed was she with her mental notations that she barely avoided running straight into him as he stopped outside the doors of sickbay. Just outside the range of the doors sensors, he turned to the doctor and sighed.
“Jenny, this is going to sound very odd but when we go in I want you to check Captain Aster’s right hand.”
Warily, Marriott nodded. “And what am I looking for exactly?”
“I just need you to confirm whether she’s wearing an Academy class ring. It’s got an inset black stone with the letters AA on it.”
Realising that enquiring any further would merely delay them in the currently empty corridor, Marriott nodded and led the way into sickbay.
“One other thing Doctor…”
Marriott turned to him and saw that he had his eyes closed, not apparently in pain or confusion. It seemed as if he were searching his memory for something just out of reach before his demeanour relaxed slightly.
“Can you check to see if she has a V shaped cut on her index finger?”
The sickbay doors hissed shut behind DeVille and the two Medtechs who stood a respectful distance from the still form of Aster where she lay on the biobed. After inspecting Aster’s hand without touching it, she waved DeVille over and pointed to both the ring that he’d described and the fresh V shaped laceration on her finger.
“What’s going on here Tom? That cut on Alison’s hand happened after you left sickbay during one of those damned ship shudders.”
Once again, DeVille managed to give a sheepish grin before replying. “As long as you promise not to book me a ticket for the Tantalus Colony. Up on the bridge, that little incident? Well I’m fairly certain…”
DeVille got no further as the ship shuddered, lurched to starboard and the lights went out leaving one of the Medtechs cursing as he stumbled into something.
“This is not good is it?” Marriot’s voice carried no trace of irony whatsoever.
SFC Subspace Signal
Stardate 1212.11
Delay in mission update reports due to incursion of phenomena known as WORK. Update will recommence shortly.
Keep this frequency clear.
Out
Stardate 1212.11
Delay in mission update reports due to incursion of phenomena known as WORK. Update will recommence shortly.
Keep this frequency clear.
Out
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